Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Rainbows for the Colorblind

I'm relieved that the quarter is finally over. Now we can all rest. Or, at the very least, sleep longer at night. I have many plans for my vacation and hopefully it'll be productive. Depending on the fruits of my productivity, I'll put some more pictures up here. It feels like it's been ages since I put pictures up and I think I may need to change that. Over this next quarter, I've decided I need to focus more on what I want from photography. It's been a very long time since I've really taken some time for what I want. Sure, I shoot photos outside of school, but many of those photos are for other people. It's time, I think, to make some time for myself.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Black Milk

"When every expression, no matter how radical it is, can be transformed into a commodity and be bought or sold like cheap soda, how is it then possible that you are going to be able to take "art" seriously?"

I will contest until the end of time that my presentation was circling the drain from the very beginning. I was overtired, underprepared, overspastic, looking at the room that, in my opinion, was overfull, which, consequently, made me overworried that I would stumble over my words. Maybe a bit overjaded as well, if we're splitting hairs. It was over soon, however. Maybe too soon, though, to be able to get a decent grade on the whole...event.
Almost immediately afterward, though, was the beginning of the gallery show, which, contrary to the presentation, went very well. I very much enjoyed the pins that were available to purchase. I hustled all of my friends into buying at least one of them, so I figured my contribution was satisfied. Most of the people that I really wanted to show up did so as well as some very unexpected guests that made the night much better. I also got a very cool shirt.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Untitled, 2008

Last night, while I was talking to a colleague on the phone, I was reminded of a site I used to visit for human interest stories that fell outside the mainstream. Many of the stories are about the prison system or religion in some way, but when I looked through the site again, it became so much more relevant. With stories about the people of the Appalachians that Shelby Lee Adams covered (found here) or Danny Lyon, when he was allowed into the Texas prison system (found here). I found it very interesting, overall, to trawl through the website again and listen to all the old stories again. Some are unsettling, like "The Execution Tapes" while others are very interesting ("My Lobotomy"). They shed light on a part of society that not many people know about. Unfortunately, many of the older programs are in RealAudio format, so you'll need something that can play those files. I would highly recommend against getting RealPlayer as it's clunky, filled with bloat, and will want to take over all of your media needs, which it does not do well. My recommendation is to instead get Real Alternative (found here). All the Sound Portraits are available here.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The update for people that don't drive four blocks to Penco.

Today, I finally saw the video, which will be at the gallery show, and now I have a vague idea of what all the hub bub was about. Of course, there's some B roll of Keith and I attached at the hip and some intense interrogations about some of our Arby's eating habits. But that's okay, we can take the heat. Nevertheless, the video was well done, though I thought it was pretty funny when Colleen asked what I thought of iMovie. I won't comment on how I truly feel about iMovie, but I will say that there is a reason why I use Premiere Pro.
On a vaguely related note, we finally hung the gallery show today and I must say, it looks delicious. I think I'm most excited to see what Keith's panoramas look like hung up on the wall. He and I were slaving away, trying to come up with a proper mounting solution. I'm not afraid to say that 3/16" Masonite has officially made my list. We did find a solution, though, I think. Let me just say that Gorilla Glue is a truly amazing thing, especially when nobody makes a screw for 3/16" Masonite. I'd be very curious as to how the goodly people of Digigraphics expected us to mount the damn things. Moving on. I'm very excited to see what the final arrangement will be and I hope the show will be to your liking.
And in case you were wondering, Team Champagne will definitely be representing at the gallery opening.
Team Champagne for life.