Here are some images that I have been playing with from my piece that I am working on for my El Salvador project on The Spanish school. In El Salvador, unlike say... Mexico, you can not get my with English, hardly anyone can speak English enough to help you get by. In the town of Suchitoto they have developed a program for visitors of the country. the locals teach Spanish to visitors, all classes are taught completely in Spanish, English, or any other language for that matter is not aloud to be spoken while class is in session.
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I lovveeeeeee these erika, these pictures tell a story and have beautiful light, nice moments of contemplation or just subtle fidgeting like the middle. Its so interesting how places like these they just let the walls turn whatever color or peel and the beautiful color combinations that happen because of that. What a contrast from here where educational spaces can look so sterile, white walls desks lined up perfectly. The picture you posted before doesnt even compare to these images, i know youre trying to tell a story and thats the situation that was given to you, but the way you use natural light and the interesting angles in these give me more of a story and also make a pleasing picture. You have the talent and technical skills to pull the same kind of beauty off while still telling the story that you want, the picture before this post doesnt tell me a story, he could just not know how to decorate or make his bed and be messy, i dont know his financial situation from that picture. Its obvious you can take great PJ photographs, while still letting a fine art aspect creep into them, if you want photographs to tell a story then give more content, these pictures and the ones that you posted before prove that you can do that successfully. keep on keepin on.
ReplyDeleteWell yes, I agree, yet the last post was ONE photograph. And... this was shot in film, med format, my fine art choice of approaching things. Its nearly impossible to tell a story through one photo, I was just proposing an idea. I dont want to seem defensive about the last post but... I wouldnt have posted it if, it hadnt been so fussed over in class. my instructors love the approach I'm taking with that image so I wanted to share it. Im so not feeling fine art right now (with what im doing) and I really dont want this project to have anything to do with fine art. If it ends up looking fine art in a few photographs then thats great but really, its not my intention. And, I NEVER move anything in my photos, I try to stick to ethics.
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome, I loveeee the saturation of life and color and light. The light in the first is really graceful, and in the last the whiteness of the room is really working for you. I think they are great.. they are beautiful photographs and they show a story and have a feeling of the life in El Salvador. I understand the school environment, it seems like a beautiful place to learn.. I'm really jealous of this class.
ReplyDeletestrangely, it seems like your work transcends a particular niche (fine art vs pj) when you work in the square. and maybe also when you're using film. these images are fantastic, but yeah, maybe their beauty hits first, followed by the story/document. is that wrong? it seems like the beauty of the light/colors draws us in and the interest in the story keeps the viewer engaged. i suppose when i think of the most compelling pj images in my memory, they are painfully beautiful AND illustrate a compelling story.
ReplyDeletethis whole issue of fine art vs pj is something i have never thought about. so, i'm really glad you're raising the issue. keep it coming!
regrettably, i didn't read through all of these comments before commenting on your last image...what about the last image was so compelling for your professors? i am not at all trying to argue. i really just want to understand the perspective you're coming from.
as for the defensiveness, its ok. negative feedback can be challenging for any of us. my understanding of this blog was, in large part, to create a safe place to solicit feedback of all kinds from people we know well and trust with our work. even if someone isn't in love with something that's been posted, the critical remarks can be extremely helpful as we move forward in our work. honestly, i trust you guys more than most people to give positive responses AND critical reviews of my work, because i know its coming from a place of care and honestly wanting to help the work improve. criticism can be used to harm (to build up the criticizer/tear down the criticized) or to help (to shed new light on work that might be so personal to the creator that they are not in a position to see all the various responses/perspectives). i like to think we're all in it for the latter kind of criticism.
the other thing is, we're all sort of diverging in our focus. so, even if the feedback is meant with good intentions, it might not actually be relevant. and that's ok. i like to think all of the comments are made and received with a level of care and mutual respect. sometimes we might rub each other the wrong way. and yet, i hope we'll be able to keep coming back and posting/commenting!
thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your work and honest feedback! i know i'm kinda the sappy one here, but i'm really impressed with the progress of this little blog. 40 posts in a month!!! this has really enriched my work and creative process. hope the same for all of you!
I completely agree, I'm not taking the negative feedback personally, and I don't want to seem sour about it, if its intentions were fine art then yes, I agree. I also trust you guys on here more so then I do most of my peers here in DC. My instructors went crazy over the last image because the blank-ness ( and random clutter) of him room still conveyed a lot, along with my caption and summary it all makes perfect sense, like I said before, next time I post something I'm serious about I will make sure to post the whole thing caption and summary included.
ReplyDeletewell, well, well..I don't really know if I have anything that has not already been covered but, I will say it anyways :)
ReplyDeleteIn comparison to these beautifully lit, intensely colored El Salvadorian images, the one of the boy in the bed does not come close. And whether it be a battle upon the fine art to the pj, either way, it becomes less successful for me. Maybe it's because it's a twenty-something subject seemily in college and living life like most messy boys, whereas these images evoke a sense of passion and story. If pj were totally upon terms of just telling a story, why would there even be schooling? For me, and as Tricia said, it becomes a definite mix of the beautiful and setting the story, and these do that for me.
I appreciate all you do and maybe us fine art kids are a little bias to the beauty, but who isn't? We are a fresh audience for you to bombard us with, so natural dictinction between better and worse is necessary.
I'm glad you are considering presentation, as for the next post you will put alongside the text, which I imagine in your field is detrimential. I love seeing your work and the debate you brought, lets see more honey :)
story telling is journalism, thousands of people go to school for journalism, thats why their is schooling, its writing.
ReplyDeleteDEAD PAN people.
you took that out of context. i was obviously stating that there is more to photo journalistic images then just taking a picture. more than simply a pretty eye, you have to learn how to show the story. remember where the criticism is coming from...
ReplyDeleteSo Erika, I assume these photographs are of the english/spanish classes? They look great, they have the same aesthetic/style as your last set of images in El Salvador, even though they were digital(I think?). Dreamy, in a way. But clear.
ReplyDeleteNow, extended from my question at the beginning of this comment, if they are of the classes, would these be the images that you chose to show with the story?
Yes, I will be showing these images because my story is about the Spanish school and then I focus on one of the teachers there. I still need to scan many more but this was just a preview.
ReplyDeleteAnd Gabby, I know, I just get really frustrated on this blog sometimes because I get one type of crit from my peers here and then I get another from you guys, I value both, and I have to realize that the context of which my images will be looked at on this blog is far different then what I'm actually doing. I need to learn how to seperate myself between the two worlds. Part of me wishes that the pj and the fine art world could always go hand in hand but the fact of the matter is, its a miracle when they do that seamlessly.
I think that we understand how photojournalism functions though. All of us our members of mass society ingesting news and stories. I think that there should and can AND YOU DO THIS, a combination of compelling image with compelling story. This image will never be able to escape fine art to us because you made it and we are looking at it with artists eyes. I understand PJ doesn't have to be beautiful, Fine Art also doesn't have to be beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThis images are beautiful though, and the story is rich exotic and.. beautiful.
You other story is equally compelling, but it is not a beautiful story. Its something that brings anxiety some more intense than others its an embarrassing pit in our history people are suffering. So I understand that your image is not hoping for a "fine art" beauty. Honestly to me it is on the verge of this really intense isolated scared feeling. I just think there is something that need to be pushed in that one, I'm not sure what it is.. but I like it and I would like to see more of the rest of the story.