View from my window

2/100

Part of a new project I'm working on with the 100 sheets of expired polaroid film that I bought awhile back. Simply put, it shall be a series on my life.

This is what I see everyday... the view from my window. I'm quite excited to continue with the series; working this way, with such little control, is completely different from anything I've ever done.

Sophia Darling

Some of you may remember my sweet cousin Sophia’s story. Three years ago they found a tumor in her brain, around the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. After surgeries, weeks in the hospital, and an outpour of prayers and support, the tumor was successfully removed. Sophia is now ten years old. I never imagined that I would be writing something like this again, but we found out early this week that two tumors have recurred around the hypothalamus. The feelings are heart-wrenchingly unexplainable. The only thing I can do is to pray and ask for all of you to please, please keep Sophia and her family in your thoughts and prayers. The next steps are to make decisions about the tumor removal... many things are unknown at this point. I have uploaded a rather recent photograph of her. Please feel free to pass it on, post it on your blogs, send it in emails. You can link back to my deviantart/flickr, as I’m sure I will have updates, but more importantly, my aunt and uncle regularly update her CaringBridge website, with day to day journals on everything that is going on. www.caringbridge.org/visit/sophiawilson/ We need a miracle. Thank you all dearly, Antonio

Inspiration - Ryan McGinley

I've been really inspired by Ryan McGinley's photographs lately, so I figured I'd put some of my favorites on this blog.

These images are from his road trips across America or from his recent series Moonmilk, which was done in caves. The images are so free, youthful, mysterious, fantastical.

Makes me want to road trip.

"I am interested in reaching a broader audience with my work. It’s one of my goals. Youth, movement, and freedom are the ideas that inspire my work."— Ryan McGinley

"I like the idea of taking people outside their element to photograph them. They lose themselves. We spent two to three months together all day everyday. We are naked together each day. We are creating a life that doesn’t exist. My photographs are my fantasy life. They are like the movies of my life. I mean, everything in my photographs happens but it happens because I make it happen."

— Ryan McGinley

"My photographs are a celebration of life, fun and the beautiful. They are a world that doesn’t exist. A fantasy. Freedom is real. There are no rules. The life I wish I was living."

— Ryan McGinley, New York Times, 2007

Young, once

Some images of my cousin and baby lamb over Christmas break. I have to do a lot of begging before photo shoots with him, but I am always so amazed by how effortless and intense he is. I don't have to tell him absolutely anything, and he gives me everything I want in an image. People often don't realize how much a photograph depends on the actual subject; he makes my job so much easier. I miss the little guy terribly while I am away at school.

Last Death

Images taken the day before my youngest sister turned thirteen. :-(

It's always a challenge to take photographs in the winter here, but I'm kind of pleased with the way these came out.

First film scans

I finally scanned a few images the other day at an extremely high resolution. I'd like to do some digital prints of them eventually. The look is very different than fiber in the darkroom, but it's so much more economical to do things digitally. Only scanned about 10 images, most of which have already been uploaded to my flickr. But next quarter I am not going to waste time and will actually put my lab hours to good use. There are soooo many ignored and forgotten negatives that I would like to do something with. Below is one such image; I'm not too crazy about it, but it's sort of growing on me.

Am looking into purchasing the mamiya rb67, as I'd really like to experiment more with medium format. Need to do more research though.

I'm home for christmas break now. There are a million ideas in my head, but all the snow and freezing weather makes it a little more complicated.

Cheers people.

Oceans Never Freeze

I'm not so good at this blog thing. Considering how rarely I update it, I am surprised by even the few views trickling in. I will try to be more regular with the updates from now on.

Anyway, I'm back at school. Busy. And I've been looking for a job like a mad man. It is ridiculously competitive. I've also been trying to get some work together, along with an artist statement, to start applying to galleries in the area. I figure it's time to try to do something with my work instead of letting it sit on my hard drive.

Besides that, my camera has been neglected for months. I've been itching to take new shots. There are finally a few ideas bubbling in my head, so hopefully new work will follow.

Above is a shot from the summer. He is my cousin, brother, muse.

Title: Oceans Never Freeze, which is from the Stars song

E & B

I never like these in-betweens.

East of Eden

This shoot is a few weeks old. Model is my sister in my backyard.

What is your art about?

I took photography classes for the first time this past year, and it was an incredible and humbling experience. I learned about film, developing/printing in the traditional darkroom, the zone systems. But I think one of the most rewarding things I realized was the importance of being able to talk about your own work (and that of others).

Sure, I am all for ambiguity and self interpretation. The viewers should be able to take something from a piece without necessarily being guided by what the artist intended. But at the root of it all, an artist should be able to support their own body of work, to understand the layers that compose it.

I was having a conversation with one of my photography professors one day. I had gone into her office to discuss classes and then I decided to ask her advice on a book I was creating. I needed help editing the sequence of images.

As she was helping me narrow photographs down we had a conversation that went something like this. My professor began by asking, “What is your photography about?”

“Ummm. My family,” to which I quickly added, “and the relationship I have with them...?”

I felt like a fish out of water.

And then she responded, “Is that what your work is really about? Because quite frankly, I don’t give a damn if these photographs are about your family. I think your work is about much more than that. If it is about your family, fine. But you need to convince me as to why. Does the viewer actually care if the people in these images are related to you? Does that matter?”

She continued by asking me what I want the viewer to take from my photographs. What message do I want to convey and story do I want to tell?

She recommended that I think about this, to write things down when they come to mind.

I have gone back to this conversation so many times, and have begun to formulate my own ideas as to what themes underly my photographs. I have a better grip and understanding as to what I think my work is about, and I know that I still have a lot to analyze.I have realized that my photography is not entirely about my family. The fact that I photograph the people I love is only a small component of my work. I’m not going to go on and necessarily share what I have come up with. I just want you, the reader, to think about this for yourself -to reconsider and reevaluate what you are doing with your own art? What is your art about? What underlying themes are there in your work? And what do you want us viewers to get from it?

Think about it, and share it if you’d like.