John Divola- Three acts

John Divola is a contemporary visual artist, who works primarily in photography. I like his work because he takes a different approach to the theme of community. Instead of photographing portraits he has captured environments or settings. I think this idea is very clever and unique because it offers another perspective of community. I particularly like this photographer because he focuses on environments and settings opposed to people and landscapes.  In my previous post I wrote about the idea of environments having an effort on our memory. Simple objects it being a sofa or the material of a curtain can bring back memories we once had forgotten. I think this is very powerful and influential, therefore the photographs Divola’s produces show a different and unique approach to the idea of community and memory. I like the rawness of the image it shows destruction and anger in the way it has been composed. But then the elegant and peaceful scenery of the sea makes it calm, which confuses the photographs with mixtures of emotions. This is very clever because it invites the viewer into seeing the image as a typical room but there is so much more going on then what appears making it intriguing. 

The second image also has the same effect, it has graffitied walls yet in the centre of the image is a beautiful coloured sky. I think the colour of the sky contrasts with what looks like red shattered and broken glass. I think the environment and minor details are incredibly important for an image especially one which is a narrative. 

What is communitarianism? What’s the origin of communitarianism? How do religions form communities? 

Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasises the connection between the individual and community and the importance this has on political life. It arose in the 1980s as a criticism of two philosophical schools. There are many strong communitarianism aspects in several modern and historical political and religious belief systems. For example, the Hebrew Bible, the Christian New Testament, Roman Catholic thoughts and social democracy. Religion involves the idea of community massively, religions become a community because they share common interest, thought or belief. 

The Catholic religion has key aspects of community within it, it is about being a family and following the law of God. The foundation for Catholic social thought is the proper understanding the value of a person.

I wanted to research into this particular study because I wanted to link the idea of community with religion. Family, community and faith are themes which can all be linked together fairly easily because all of them share qualities and similarities. Religion and in this example the Catholic faith, community is an extremely important aspect of the religion. 

Janet Delaney- South of Market 

Janet Delaney documented San Francisco during the 70’s and 80’s time period. It captures the evolving city, a pivotal time in San Francisco when hundreds of homes were being replaced into more modern constructions. The entire city was changing, communities and neighborhoods were forced to adapt. Delaney says living in South Market crucial to the success of the project. She said she wanted to ‘keep a close eye on things as they were changing.’ But also because she wanted to feel a sense of ownership. The photographs Delaney took of the neighbourhood are barely recognisable compared to the landscape of it today with it’s chain stores and fancy apartments. 

This is an interesting article on South Market: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/south-of-market

Lauren Greenfield- Fast Forward- growing up in the shadow of Hollywood

Lauren Greenfield created a project focused on the youth culture of Los Angeles, it looks at the themes of money, appearances, celebrities and materialistic possessions. It compared the lives of children from the Westside private schools and the graffiti gangs and party crews of East L.A. I particularly like the electric colours featured in these images also the angles at which they have been taken. They appear as though they are casual which makes you feel as though the photographer is apart of the community. It feels like Greenfield is part of both of the groups because she is able to get so close amongst the action. When photographing communities I think it’s important to become part of one. Without that connection or insider’s knowledge and perspective you cannot fully explore the life style, values and happenings of a specific community. 

Atlantus – A Transoceanic Journey

Atlantus is a project which began in 2014 in collaboration with Gareth Syvret at the Archisle. The work initiated by the 350th anniversary of Sir George Carteret naming the state New Jersey after his home in 1664. The aim of the project was to compare the cultural differences and similarities of the island and state on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. The project is to connect these two communities in five stories combining both photographs and text. It is a DIY exhibition of a multi-functional newspaper. The story I find the most interesting is the third, my favourite photographs are also in this section. I like the cow image because it is not a typical photograph of a Jersey cow; it is a great deal more interesting because it captures the cow differently. Furthermore I like the story of the cow travelling to the state of New Jersey and the research gone into the work in order to find the people that have been connected to the gift.

Toft used a combination of portraits, landscapes , still life and archival material. Firstly, Toft used archival material as a crucial part of the narrative, Syvret’s writing has been influenced by the historic photographs. The archive links the project back to the original story, it allows the modern photographs to contrast with the background of the narrative. The landscapes have been included in order to represent the geographical side of the narrative. It compares the two lands and looks at the relationship between the two. In terms of still life photography, Toft photographs the archival records of Sir George Carteret at St. Ouen’s manor library. The point of the images are to outline the context of the project. There are different styles of portraiture that have been used for example, tableaux photography of political leaders and candid photography.

Robert Frank

Robert Frank produced at publication called ‘The Americans’ during the post-war era. It was first published in 1958 in France, it was considered extremely influential photography. The photographs are distinct in portraying both the low and high strata of American society. Overall the book was a portrait of the time that was viewed contemporary values and loneliness. The project is said to project a new view of America, it went against the typical wholesome photo essays displayed in some magazines. Frank’s work focused on factory workers of Detroit and other individuals or groups of people segregated from the American norm. 

I like Frank’s work because it represents honesty and truth. It shows a section of society that had gone un-photographed for a great deal of time. They were the outsiders of America, and Frank wanted to capture people at the time that would portray the reality of the country. In articles I have read there has been a mention of the idea of loneliness in his photographs. I think you can see this emotion abundantly clear in the images produced. There is a certain rawness to the photographs which translate the real feelings of these individuals. 

George Georgiou

Georgiou’s project is to photograph migrations and topography of London. The aim was to explore the movement of the increasing diversity in a western city. Georgiou wanted to capture the landscape and architecture and the rapid change that the city went through regularly. After spending the last nine years living and working in Eastern Europe, Georgiou was shocked by the speed of change and development that had occurred in the city whilst he was gone. I like these images because they show the city in it’s realness, there is no cover up to what we see everyday. I think the third image is particularly interesting as it’s not typically the image photographers normally want to capture. It shows the mundane regularity of people’s lives, rather than photographing the aesthetically pleasing and beautiful landscapes Georgiou is challenging the way we perceive our environment. He has captured the height of our development the way we travel, communicate and migrate creating a diverse culture. 

What is the value of memory? Is there responsibility when one person has all the memories? Do memories have meaning in the modern world or are they just fuzzy interpretations of the past?

Memories are a source of emotion, wisdom and teaching. Memories are meant to be shared, they are secrets of the past which can be passed on to the next generation. They can enliven people or events we miss, they challenge our original ideas and give light to thoughts we may not of considered. The idea of memories stemmed from looking into my grandfather’s past, because he died when I was much younger I don’t have many vivid memories of him. However, the limited memories I have I am going to photograph them in order to symbolize my only thoughts of him. In my opinion memory is an extremely valuable characteristic human beings possess. There are several photographers that focus on the theme of memory in their work.