Jennifer Little exhibit

Today we went to the gallery at UOP to see an exhibit by Jennifer Little. It was called Sightseers, and was focusing on how views/places are becoming commodities in themselves. I understand where she was coming from; the last tourist-y place that I went to was Niagara falls, which is supposed to be this beautiful, romantic place, and I was not impressed. Sure it is beautiful, and of course I took pictures. But I didn't bother to take too many, because I knew I could just buy a postcard with an even better picture at any of the gift shops. I'd rather take shot of something original; something that hasn't already been done a thousand times by better photographers than I am. I don't remember exactly, but something in Jennifer's statement talked about how technology is creating a distance around us. Like the Dali photograph (here is a link....), those people aren't really seeing the picture for themselves, they are seeing it through the lens of a camera. I've felt like that before, like I am so focused on getting a good photograph, something that I can look back on later, that I forget to experience what is going on while it is happening; the camera makes me an outsider. 

Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides

Hi! Was supposed to do the Goldsworthy review days ago but forgot, so its a bit late. We watched a movie last week about Andy Goldsworthy and his work. He is a sculptor and photograper who works mostly with elements of nature. I thought it was kind of silly that he was taking things that were already there and just moving them around a bit and calling it art; so I was very surprised to find that I liked his work. I don't mean to underestimate him, because he obviouly put a lot of thought into everything. And you have to admire the dedication of someone who will spend hours in the cold putting little pieces of ice together only to have it melt and fall apart later. Bottom line, I thought the artist came across as pretentious, but I don't know the guy and even if I did, it really doesn't matter what I thought of the artist. His work was  simple and striking, and I liked it. 

Retouching Assignment

Below is the retouching assignment. I'm pretty happy with it, although there are a few things I would have done if I had more time. The background is still kind of splotchy and there is some dust that I didn't get to. Using the dust and scratches filter would've lost too much detail, so I only used it on the background.