Week 3: Forum Responses

Coming up this week in JN134: 

I will take a portrait of someone.  The subject matter is still awash to me, so I may end up straying from my initial thoughts, however I think it would be interesting to ask Jim Whittemore to allow me to take his portrait. We met through Corvallis Experiments in Noise, a collective of musicians who take an abstract approach to music through compositions of funky timbres and theories that intersect hacking circuits, making instruments from objects commonly known as other functioning items, etc. 

Jim Whittemore is more than just a member of a collective, he has had many years of experience in building chip software and wave forms for synthesizer companies.  He has also toured the United States as a sound engineer.  He has a garage, full of equipment and hosts Corvallis Synth DIY at his home. His props naturally correspond to the music and builds within his environment.  I know I could easily ask him on Facebook, since he is a professional acquaintance.

It is clear that I need to think about this more, since I only have one idea.  There are many titles and careers to consider, as well as things that make someone an individual. That being said, I think that as I contact people on Facebook, in the hallways, or walking around, someone might be willing to send me in the right direction, or surprise me with their own story.


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Self- Critique  Best/Worst

From blog post "March For Science: Corvallis, Oregon"

When it comes to self- evaluating I really ask myself some key things: What is happening?  Do you see context and does it hold your attention? Does it reflect the true moment within these constructs?  Technically speaking, is it in focus, balanced, unified as a composition?  And no matter my own response:  Was there anything unrealized or different I could have done to make it better?

I would say that the photograph above falls into the best photograph that I have taken so far, given the previous context. 

One can understand what is happening immediately while looking at the picture, and the expression on the woman's face is very stern.  We know that she is serious and given the giant sign she bares, it is a protest or community activity that is coming together to make a point.  If the sign were in another language it would still register as such an event.  It reflects the truth in the moment, and it is in focus, balanced and unified.  However, I do think that if I had been able to follow her and see if her expression changed, or had been able to find her and ask her name, that the context would have been supportive as captions, etc.  I also cropped the photograph.  It is not the first way that I looked at the photograph while taking it.  If I had been standing differently, or crouching, would this photograph even be something that I would have posted or would I have seen something else, entirely?

This level of being able to capture an image, would make the photograph's quality more key and possibly resonate differently/deeper for the viewer.

My worst photograph that has been posted on this blog would be from my first blog post, from the American Red Cross blood drive.  It does hold context.  There is a laughing expression and a shared moment with the patient.  Also her chair borders the frame well, however, it does not resonate with me at all.  It seems rushed, the axis of the plane is tilted at an odd angle, and there is room next to the patients feet, but the back of her seat is cropped out of frame. (No editing this time, just the RAW file)  The ceiling above and negative space makes the moment seem bleak and stale in contrast to the overall tonality of The American Red Cross Blood Drive. 

Criticism is something that continues to happen.  Hopefully, I can learn to build some of these learning experiences into something that happens naturally during the action of taking the photograph, rather than during the editing labs.

March for Science: Corvallis, Oregon

Around 2,000 individuals congregated on Saturday, April 22, 2017 to protest during The March for Science in Corvallis, Oregon.

Corvallis, Oregon joined many cities and towns as they came together in alliance with The March for Science on Washington D.C. on April 22, 2017

Homemade signs and chanting such as, "Science Not Silence!" livened the non-partisan event, in order to raise awareness for the scientific community on April 22, 2017.

Photographer of the Week: Sergey Ponomorev

Sergey Ponomorev's photograph was selected to win The Breaking News Pulitzer Award in 2016, among contributing photographers for The New York Times who covered the refugee crisis in Libya during 2015.

It is difficult to prescribe Sergey Ponomarev's notoriety with a single photograph. However, the photograph above has distinguished Sergey Ponomarev's career by internationally linking his content to a wider audience.

The photograph was part of a series taken on an assignment following the European migration crisis in 2015. Captions from Sergey Ponomarev's website explains the photograph's context, "Migrants arrive by a Turkish boat near the village of Skala on the Greek island of Lesbos. The Turkish boat owner delivered some 150 people to the Greek coast and tried to escape back to Turkey; he was arrested in Turkish waters."
 
The image is euphoric and also tragic, aligned with Sergey Ponomarev's motivation for documenting the lives of people who span beyond the conflict that surrounds them.
 
This photograph was initially my favorite. It demonstrates that one man with little power can still save 150 individuals with his actions. I was immediately drawn to the photograph with the liquid environment, foggy horizon and commotion that leans the boat. The only aspect that changes my initial favoritism, is that Sergey Ponomarev is good at his job, so the more I see, the harder it is to choose.

Sergey Ponomarev began working for The Associated Press in 2003 from his home country, Russia. According to an interview conducted by Daria Litvinova of The Moscow Times in 2016, when Sergey Ponomarev expressed his sentiments on moving away from The Associated Press in Russia, toward The New York Times he states, "The vast majority have lost their independence and are now on one or the other side of the fence. I prefer to work for outlets that are more independent." Sergey Ponomarev has contributed numerous works over the years as a freelance photographer without allowing himself to remain confined to the borders of countries in order to procure images and "stories that disturb the world".

Sergey Ponomarev often captures moments of conflict or desperation, however, that is not always his focus. He also captures what is in between the crux of cause and effect.

For instance, in 2013, Sergey Ponomarev worked on the photographic series, "Assad's Syria". His narrative details citizens as they move and survive through the motions of life, adapting to the violence that encompasses their environment. As opposed to telling the story of Syria through the brunt of conflict, he remained vigilant to speak on behalf of individuals and families that did not actively function as members within the conflict. Part of this was due to adaptation. Since he is from Russia he was only able to arrive in Syria through the side of the Syrian government. Despite his parameters, his approach was distinct and vital to the quality of images he produced.

His flexibility can be seen in the aesthetic of his photographs as well as the content. On April 8, 2017 Sergey Ponomarev photographs for "Will London Fall?", were published by The New York Times. Sergey takes a more experimental approach to photographing London after the demise of Brexit. He utilizes a slow-mo video technique, in which the scene of the photograph is stretched out over several frames, in order to synthesize a single moment. He explains his logic in an interview with The New York Times, "It's like a photograph but an extended moment before and seconds after the click. You can understand what a photographer sees and what he thinks when he takes a photograph."

Topic 2: Lynsey Addario, "It's What I Do" : Response to 'Prelude' and 'Chapter 1'

Required reading, "It's What I Do", and notes from JN134

 

Reflection and Impression 

 

In the 'Prelude' to Lynsey Addario's book, "It's What I Do", Lynsey Addario jumps into an immediate anecdote detailing Libya's rebellion troops and their conflict with Assad Qaddafi's troops in 2011. She trails the rebellion front from Benghazi into Tripoli. From there, the account takes us into the moment she is kidnapped along with her colleagues, Tyler Hicks, Stephen Farrel, and Anthony Shadid. 

Lynsey Addario leaves us in the moment of her mortal vulnerability, to transcend the dialogue into a responsive sentiment upon her happiness, sacrifice and experience within her work.  She then utilizes this explanation as an anchor into her first chapter, which begins with an account of the surrounding familial culture of Lynsey Addario, her life as a child and into a woman.  She establishes generative growth in her experiences from a child into a woman parallel to an adaptation and progression of how she begins her life as a conflict photographer.

The transition from her kidnapping and into her story is fluid, if not captivating. Through her use of personal anecdotes and emphasis on the people within her surrounding environments, Lynsey delicately balances both personal and professional skills and directs us to their origin.

The crux of her own questioning in 'Prelude' seems as though it moves in order to exploit the strenuous measures it takes for her and others within her profession to capture a single photograph. The role of conflict photography in international society is important yet, the necessary risk is a measure often taken for granted from both readers and those within the industry.  Lynsey approaches the reader in first person narrative.  The strategy seems as though it could have derived from which the perspective of the modern audience is collectively, a convenient reader and is constantly exposed to thousands of images everyday.  By choosing a first person perspective and making an immediate stance of what it is we are doing here, as reader and author, she is able to give a linear account of the images that define her environment and we can share them, both socially and learnedly. As a writer and photographer, she is exceptionally smart, not only contextually but within her process. 

She demonstrates that the meaning of her work is equal to the importance of the people that surround her, and each inserted photograph is a visual encounter of their lives as a narrative. For me, the immediate feeling she invokes is passionate and terrifying. I can not even think how I would react given the immediate crisis that she experiences while documenting international conflict.  Yet, despite flying debris, blockades, dodging shrapnel and snipers, all while being in the open, Lynsey Addario uses logic to push through her fear, and also captures the image of its impact on surrounding peoples.  By giving the reader a first hand encounter, her narrative sheds light on the difference between what is primitive reaction, logic, and how it is separate, though related, from one's intuition.

She accentuates the feeling of her intuition from the very beginning, as a looming mood that she tries to gauge as though it has become a machined tool, and she pushes to understand it.  When she succumbs to her instinct to leave the front lines of the rebellion in Tripoli, it is too late and she is then kidnapped, facing her own mortal disposition.  

We are left with the image of her shoe, found three months later at the location of her capture, as though to say, 'Take a look at where I have been and why I chose to walk here'.  The strings are gone, and she hands us a manifesto.

Lynsey chronicles the delicate balance of instinct and skill in 'Prelude, in contrast to 'Chapter 1' where she runs amok with her intuition freely. She exemplifies honing her logic while learning to support herself, exploring in Mexico and making mistakes, both technical and metaphorical. The reader bares witness to her learning process.  She saves money to travel to Cuba on her own, where she realizes that in an unknown culture, social resources are almost monolithic to a body of contextual work.  Congruent to the way Prelude shifts into a Chapter where Lynsey introduces us to her home as a roaring child, she concludes the chapter as a young adult, when she focused on her options in New York, and once again, for the last time, she is living at her birthplace. By doing so, she alludes to her new metaphorical home, behind the camera.

In the concluding photographs she exhibits at the end of 'Chapter 1', we are shown an image of a man combing the hair of his girlfriend, a transgender who works in the streets of New York.  It is an intimate moment, that despite the tough exterior of their lives, Lynsey Addario finds an identity among transgender women who are cast into the lower rungs of society and one way or another, end up selling their bodies.  To these women, Lynsey Addario becomes more than a photographer, but someone they can trust with their cultural identity.  They are also able to forget or become bored with the concept of the camera, and this level of acceptance is accomplished by sincerity and careful patience. Of Prelude and Chapter 1, it is my favorite photograph.  It is the second hook, the first example, of the kind of story one can expect from her book as well as, the evolution in her body of work.   

Applicable Skills and Learning Experiences

By only peeking into the beginning of her story, there are generally applicable skills that translate into JN134, and also in documenting the lives of others as they exist within their own communities and larger society, even after the course.  One of the more conceptual skills would be patience.  She openly states that it is the most important lesson that her mentor, Bebeto, conveyed to during her stint as a stinger in New York for the Associated Press. 

When Lynsey Addario finally comes to grasp this, she is able to move forward in her career.  She figures out the technique behind becoming a ghost (without rendering herself voiceless) in places and among members of cultures where she sticks out like a sore thumb.  There is a focus behind seeing what is in front of you, and what becomes the defining moment to capture in order to expose an environment for who or what it is.  This is something to heed.

Additionally, the extent of her organizational skills and time management is admirable and something to note.  Even though she opens with a description of skeletal equipment for protection, she still knew where everything was at all times, in order for her to shoot.  She was also well connected, which was an effort she mentioned took a great amount of time.  There is information and resources everywhere in this book.  As she draws you into her learning experience, it's harder not to take her experiences as advice. Though we do not shoot conflict photography in Photo Journalism class, there are also technical applications to consider when referencing her opening account.  One of which, is to get closer to the subject, especially when it references action and know the context well enough to render the physical proximity necessary.   

Week 2: Public Safety Officers Practice De-Escalation

Instructor Chris Matson guides Linn-Benton Campus Security through defensive strategies in Public Safety's De-Escalation Class, which meets monthly on Albany Campus in the Aerobics Room.  During the class, public safety officers work on defensive strategies that protect others and themselves from violence without the use of weapons.

Marcene Olsen and Sam vanTeijn practice counter blocking.  The De-Escalation training was on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.

Adam Weaver and Sam vanTeijn practice defensive strategies to keep someone safely restrained without causing damage to either person.

An Introductory Note:

Salutations!

My first photograph was one of those cliche pictures of my father's feet.  I have come a long way since 1994, and though I tend to capture decent images with an entire human figure, there are still many aspects of photography to explore.  The concept of creative pursuit has always pushed me forward. 

In 2012, I picked up an internship that quickly became a paid position as a sub-contractor for a multimedia company in Alabama. It was here that I was able to fully submerge myself into the techniques of DSLR operation.  Though I enjoyed the lifestyle and career as a 'Multimedia Mercenary', I felt as though something was missing.

Eventually, I decided it was time to move toward something more meaningful for the community around me. 

So, naturally and impulsively, I decided to sell everything and move to Oregon in May of 2015. 

After a year of working and living in the Willamette Valley, I decided to go back to school.  I am currently enrolled at Linn Benton Community College as an Associate of Arts Transfer student. I am en route to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with an emphasis in Sculpture/Technology at an Oregon University.    

As a student in #JN134 (Photo Journalism), I am hoping to find a balance in the composition that allows the audience to see the raw tendency of life in society.  

I think that we, as a society, often find ourselves humming from place to place, or filtering ideas and thoughts into our own world without much contemplation toward what can be found outside of comfort zones.  I have fallen into this cycle before and am hoping to find that Photo Journalism allows me to understand objective, quick decisions based on life as it happens in pursuit of mechanical and visual truth.

I took this class to step outside of my own comfort zone and work on scale, composition and rendering as life presents itself, while also adapting technique to visually communicate the events and people I come across in a clear, objective manner, rather than a predicament of subjective statement or sentiment. 

Thanks for reading,

Angela Scott

 

First Week of Spring Term, 2017

David Kidd demonstrates measuring distance to his Civil Engineering Survey Class in the Albany Campus Courtyard, at Linn Benton Community College on Thursday, April 7, 2017.

Anne McGratten accepts submissions for the Student Exhibition on Wednesday, April 6, 2017.  The Juried Student Exhibition gives art students an opportunity to exhibit, sell and win scholarships.  The exhibition will be held in Santiam Gallery at Linn Benton Community College in Albany, April 8, 2017.

Jill Smith, phlebotomist for American Red Cross, laughs with blood donor, Sandy Corliss.  The American Red Cross held a blood drive at Linn Benton Community College in Albany on Wednesday, April 6, 2017