Blog Entries 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

#11____Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.

There is a lookout, “Big John’s” on an island that I have spent a lot of time at over the years. I do not have a picture of it; however, I can see every aspect of it in my mind. I used to hike down the cliff and watch sunsets there. Right under the edge of the cliff there was a fox den that I would climb in. Over the years the den got smaller. The cliff never seemed to lose its magnitude. Colors of green, blue and brown in every hue imaginable flooded the area. I have been there with friends at time, family at others and alone most of the time. Standing on the cliff you can see the dunes all the way to the end of the island in both directions and the coast of Wisconsin and Michigan on a clear day.


#12____Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?

I would say it is nearly impossible to pick one photograph that I remember most. Clearly there are a few that come to mind, but I love looking at old pictures and could never just pick one. In a picture that is close to my heart my mom and I are out in the snow in front of our house, we both have the largest smiles. I have gotten older and it is interesting because I now strongly resemble my mom in the photograph. I would assume the place looks the same if there was the same amount of snow; however, we do not own the cottage any more. I would reenact it the exact same, with a giant hug from my mom, playing in the snow. Another picture that stand out is a photo of my grandfather and I ice fishing. I am in a bright pink snowsuit and we are holding up a fish that is larger than I was at the time, this scene could not be reenacted, he is no longer living.


#13____Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “"New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.” http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx
In addition, at the same time in history artists created (and still do create) “land art” in which they use materials found in the landscape to make sculptures that remain in the landscape. Many of these works now only exist as video recordings and photographic documents.
Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.

I was watching someone blow leaves off of their lawn and driveway and thought it would be interesting to paint leaves different colors and watch them interact with the suspected colors of nature.
I always enjoy looking at the rock sculptures people make when hiking near the lake. It would be interesting to recreate a sculpture out of elements in nature.
It could be interesting to use ink on sand to create something similar to the way Buddhists make mandalas.

#14____Unknown vs. Familiar Space: When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?

Photographs taken of a familiar place are often specific and describe an aspect of that place where as photos taken of a faraway place cover the broad area. I would photograph places that have been touched “very little” by humans by showing hem from a birds eye view or by comparing them with a highly “touched” area, possibly overlaying that area on top of the pristine untouched land.

#15____Collage: Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe two photographs that you might take that could be collaged together to tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.

An important place in my past was where my grandparents lived, Turtle Lake. I was very young and adventurous. I spent a lot of time there with my grandparents and loved the time I spent with them.
An important place in my present is on the water in Lake Michigan. Being on the water makes me calm and at peace. It clears my head while filling me with peace.
Combined these places enable me to see where my love of water and boating began, for my whole life I have been doing both. What I once did with my family I now do alone and they have made me who I am. I have a Polaroid of my grandfather and I playing near a small sailboat on the lake where he lived. I have many photographs of Lake Michigan that I could combine this with. Being on the water is an important part of my life that connects me with my family and myself.