Streamwood High School Photography

Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Seven

2010-02-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Cinemas Project

Photographs and text by Zubin Pastakia

The Cinemas Project visually traces the lives of Bombay’s disappearing single-screen cinema halls.

Once symbols of modernity, the relationship that many of these halls share with the city has changed significantly as colonial Bombay metamorphoses into an increasingly post-industrial Mumbai.

On the one hand, this collection of images is a repository of the architectural form and interior detail of these buildings that range from the classic to the idiosyncratic. These buildings seem to exist today in defiance of the generic aesthetic and cultural experience of the city’s new multiplexes.

However, to view these halls merely nostalgically — and to cast them off to history — would be to deny them a place in the present; our lived present that is in constant play with time past and pending.

As I explored these cinemas, which are simultaneously spaces of dwelling, labour and spectatorship, they revealed themselves to be sites of deep affective investment, traces of which are evident in every nook and corner.

Writing Prompt: Based on the information provided in the imagery itself and the accompanying article, what is the purpose of this photographic series? If you were to create a similar series based on a different, yet also fading architectural form, what would you shoot?

Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Six

2010-02-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

Useless Things

Photographs and text by Leopoldo Plentz

In the series Useless Things I try to explore tiny findings: remains of torn, destroyed, deformed wrappings found on the street. Choosing these wrappings is totally intuitive, just seeing and picking them up, without second thoughts, otherwise reason would take over and then they would be left behind.

The photos were taken in my studio later, without any significant change to the objects — not on purpose, just because the objects made themselves that way.

The images were taken by placing the objects on scanner glass, like photograms at the beginning of photography. This method gave me the coherence and the uniformity of light I desired. A purist may question whether this is photography, even though "photography" means "writing with light".

And my work's making is also contemporary: digital. Guided by my desire to experiment with new paths, along with the freedom granted by technology to edit the images on a computer — where I can impose my will on the images, as I would in a black and white laboratory — I started to investigate the plastic possibilities of color digital photography.

Useless Things is based on the premise that we are the only species that produces trash. Some selection criteria were established: look for shapes with an appearance connected to the human figure; reverse the scale notion, sometimes enlarging the object's original size a hundred times; explore the substance of the objects as paper, plastic, metal; and finally, research color, a new element in my work.

The superfluous, all those things without any value which are generated by mankind in the process and in the consumption of useful goods, materializes in images of what is left behind in our daily life.

While I was producing this essay, there was a basic question always present in my mind: What is useless? Or, from a different perspective: what is essential? By trying to answer these questions I decided to look at the most common things: ghosts of our own existence; to look at what no one notices: beauty and fantasy of those who are carried away by the subtleties of shapes and colors.

And to find in the ordinary, the extraordinary.

Writing Prompt: Is the work presented fine art? Support your opinion with definitive reasoning.

Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Five

2010-02-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Photographs by Donna Pinckley

Writing Prompt: Choose one of Pinckley's works to produce a formal analysis writing.

Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Four

2010-02-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hydrology: Visions in Ice

photographs and text by Douglas Capron

I am inspired by transformations and transitions that occur within nature, people and music.

My photographic opportunities often arrive unexpectedly and I am always fascinated by how our perception of time alternates with various life experiences. I hope my work travels beyond graphic emotional impact and that it will provoke and sustain a subtle dialogue with the viewer.

With my current series, Hydrology: Visions in Ice, my goal was to share with viewers the ephemeral mystery that occurs when water transforms into ice in
a natural setting. The resulting formations are surprisingly dynamic, organically expressive and complex, and pose more questions than are revealed beyond an aesthetic perspective in our relationship with the most basic element that sustains us all.

I was fascinated by the elaborate, unpredictable and beautiful shapes. These formed and morphed on a small lake in a city park over a few days as winter temperatures started to descend and the crystallization process began and then further, gradually evolving into mysterious patterns of solid ice announcing the arrival of winter.

I photographed this project through the use of long exposure times at night to eliminate glare during the day which allowed me to retain detail and texture.

Writing Prompt: What are your reactions to the work presented? When you first viewed the imagery, what did you think it depicted? Did your initial reactions change after discovering the reality of the series through the artist's article?

Sketchbook Twenty-Three

2010-01-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

After viewing the work of photographer Priya Kambli, what are your reactions to her imagery? What stories do they tell you as the viewer? In what ways do these images fall into the domain of contemporary photography? In what ways do these images fall into the domain of historical photography?

Sketchbook Twenty-Two

2010-01-27T05:38:00.001-08:00

Take a look at the work of contemporary painter, Christopher Nolasco via his website: http://www.nolascoart.com/index.htm

Choose an image to create a formal analysis critique defining his style and approach to portraiture.

Sketchbook Twenty-One

2010-01-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the work of famous painter Chuck Close via his website: http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/life/index.html

Choose one of his pieces to produce a formal analysis critique. Also consider the question, how does his work relate to photography?

Sketchbook Prompt Twenty

2010-01-25T05:59:00.001-08:00

Attie, Shimon
$300.00
Behind Piazza Mattei, On-location slide projection, Rome Italy, 2002
C-print
6 3/8 x 8 1/2 inches on 8 x 10 inch paper
Edition of 50

Concerned with questions of memory, place, and identity, installation artist and photographer Shimon Attie gives visual form to both personal and collective memories by recovering untold stories, specifically those of marginalized and forgotten communities, and incorporating them into the physical landscapes of the present. In his series entitled The History of Another, Attie uses modern Rome as his backdrop to project fragments of historical photographs of Roman Jews taken between 1890 and 1920 onto the city's ancient ruins and excavation sites. Attie received an M.A. from Antioch University, San Francisco (1982), and an M.F.A. from San Francisco State University (1991). His work has been widely exhibited at venues including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. His work is in the collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; International Center for Photography, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Maison Europeen de la Photographie, Paris; amongst many others. Attie is the recipient of fellowships from organizations including The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York; The National Endowment for the Arts; and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He lives in New York.

Writing Prompt: What are your thoughts about this work? How do you feel about the image after looking at the price of the piece? How does the concept of money change the artistic value of an image?

Sketchbook Prompt Nineteen

2009-11-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Prompt written by Val, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the work of Sarah Sitkin.
http://www.sarahsitkin.com/

What makes Sitkin's work so different from other's you have seen? How do you feel when you view her photography?

Sketchbook Prompt Eighteen

2009-11-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Prompt written by Olivia, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the work of Stephen Wilkes.
http://stephenwilkes.com/

What are your first impressions of the work? What do you think the significance of the work is? What do the images represent to you?

Sketchbook Prompt Seventeen

2009-11-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Prompt written by Stephanie, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the work of Mary Ellen Mark.
http://www.maryellenmark.com/

Choose your favorite image by the artist to write a formal analysis about.

Sketchbook Prompt Sixteen

2009-11-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Prompt written by Stephanie, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the work of Ralph Gibson.
http://www.ralphgibson.com/

How do you feel while looking at his work. Choose one image by the artist to write a formal analysis about.

Sketchbook Prompt Fifteen

2009-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Prompt written by Stephanie, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the life and work of Ruth Bernhard.
http://www.womeninphotography.org/ruthbernhardAA.html

What inspired Bernhard's work? What was her passion?

Sketchbook Prompt Fourteen

2009-11-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

Prompt Written by Brett, Photography 5-6 student

Take a look at the work of Richard Koenig.
http://people.kzoo.edu/~rkoenig/homepage.html

What are your first impressions of the work featured on Koenig's home page? How do you think this image was created?

Sketchbook Prompt Thirteen

2009-10-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the website of photographer Yisook Sohn.

http://www.yisooksohn.com/

Look through their portfolio and choose an image from their "Whatever" series to write a formal analysis. Finally, share your reflections of Sohn's work, and the emotions you experience when viewing their work. You may reference Sohn's other series work if appropriate.

Sketchbook Prompt Twelve

2009-10-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the website of photographer Rania Matar.

http://www.raniamatar.com/index.html

After reading through her biography,summarize the life of the artist, and her photographic vision. After doing so, look through her portfolio and choose an image from her "Photography in the Middle East" series to write a formal analysis. Finally, share your reflections of Matar's work, and the emotions you experience when viewing her work.

Sketchbook Prompt Eleven

2009-10-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the website of photographer Priya Kambli.

http://www.priyakambli.com/

After reading through her biography and artist statement,summarize the life of the artist, and her photographic vision. After doing so, look through her gallery and choose a image to write a formal analysis. Finally, share your reflections of Kambli's work, and the emotions you experience when viewing her work.

Sketchbook Prompt Ten

2009-10-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Visit the website of photojournalist Julie Denesha. Look through her extensive collection of series works. Choose one specific series to speak about at length. Summarize the subject matter and purpose of the series, and then choose one image from the collection to complete a formal analysis. Finally, share your overall impressions of Denesha's work.

http://www.juliedenesha.com/

Sketchbook Prompt Nine

2009-09-24T21:11:00.001-07:00

Prompt: After viewing the presented series by Edmund Clark, read the following commentary also by the artist. After digesting the work, go in depth on what you believe the meaning, connotation and significance of the work is.

If the Light Goes Out:
Home from Guantanamo
photographs and text by
Edmund Clark

“When you are suspended by a rope you can recover but every time I see a rope I remember. If the light goes out unexpectedly I am back in my cell.”

—Binyam Mohamed, Prisoner #1458

“I went down to the basement and turned on the light. I wanted to see my room which was exactly as I had left it...It was a strange feeling – seeing my black leather couch, my blue sofa bed, my glass fronted wardrobe, and my model shop again. I’d decorated my room when I was thirteen and had never changed a thing.”

—From “Five Years Of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo” by Murat Kurnaz, Prisoner #061

These images are from three places associated with the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay.

Rather than documents to monumentalize the historical fact of the camps, these images illustrate three experiences of home: the naval base at Guantanamo which is home to the American community and of which the prison camps are just a part; the complex of camps where the detainees have been held; and the homes, new and old, where the former detainees now find themselves trying to rebuild their lives.

The post-prison homes illustrate the contrast between the shared humanity of their domestic interiors and the spaces of the prison camps. Motifs of imprisonment and entrapment are present in both, resonating with the prisoners’ experiences — and coming to terms with them. Glimpsing the evening sun through a window is a simple thing but readjusting to having the freedom to do so may not be so simple. Like a net curtain, memories can obscure the view.

On the naval base an American community lives surrounded by razor wire in the last enclave of the Cold War. This is small-town America with a high school, golf course, a mall and familiar fast food chains. It is home to a community where I found echoes of a wider America traumatized after 9/11 by a new post-Cold War threat from a religion and cultures it does not understand.

The narrative is confused and unsettled as the viewer is asked to jump from prison camp detail to domestic still life to naval base and back again.

This disjointed edit is intended to evoke the disorientation of the process of incarceration and interrogation at Guantanamo and to explore the legacy of disturbance such an experience has in the minds and memories of these men.

Still life imagery of personal space and possessions follows a long tradition of symbolism and metaphor. My work draws on the ‘Vanitas’ style of 17th century Dutch painting in which objects like hourglasses, candles, skulls and flowers symbolized the passage of time and the transience of human existence.

— Edmund Clark took part in the 2009 Rhubarb-Rhubarb International Photographic Review.

Sketchbook Prompt Eight

2009-09-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

Prompt: After viewing the presented series by Christian Houge, read the following commentary by Erling Bugge. After digesting the work, go in depth on what you believe the meaning, connotation and significance of the work is.

Okurimono
photographs by
Christian Houge
text by
Erling Bugge

Christian Houge guides us into a mystery. It resides between the ritualized shapes of the traditional and withdrawn Zen garden in Kyoto and the equally ritualized spaces of futuristic, urban Tokyo. For a westerner, Japan might look familiar, since what is held up for us looks like a futuristic spectacle somehow grounded in a western imagination. This judgment, however, is too easy. In Houge’s photographs, the sense of sameness withdraws and a very different feeling of strangeness creeps up on us. In fact, what this series registers is a remarkable place of alterity in today’s global order, a radical difference bang in the middle of the familiar.

This is pushed to the limit in the technological and virtual wonderland of Akihabara in Tokyo, where shop after shop trades in electronic products and computer games, while a weird costume play, “cosplay”, is being performed in the streets. A similar kind of simulation is being acted out in the district of Harajuku, where Houge found some of his motifs. There is no authenticity here, no western “essence” or “reality”; instead, the virtual conquers the carnal body in a purified play of surface, image and the hyperreal. This is exotic. All the while as we are conscious of these notions as pinnacle points in a western idea of the post-modern. But in this sense Japan has always been “post-modern”. It has always integrated the most refined culture and technology from the outside while somehow retained an identity for itself. So, what would this identity be? Houge takes the view of ritual and play. Indeed, Japanese culture seems to be grounded solely on ritual, in business and in sex, in its relation to nature and in religion.

This play transcends the notion of authenticity altogether, unlike the West which is haunted by the “ghost” of origin and beginnings. In Japan, “now” would mean just that; it is a “no looking back”, but rather a flow of intensities integrated in the play and ritual of the ever-present, okurimono. There is no threat of being eaten up by western culture and technology here, for, like in Zen practice, the ritual oversees everything and has no historical drag. Japan becomes weightless, shot into orbit outside the material of earth itself.

Is acting out the role as Lewis Caroll’s Victorian girl driven by a sense of nostalgia? I think not. It is a striving for a moment of perfected presence, in dialogue with Houge’s optical machine. It is the moment of Now. The girl, the Zen garden and the image shares in a perfection modified by small uncertainties, coincidental imperfections that become somewhat oblique points of entry for us - a discarded handkerchief or seemingly unremarkable shapes and reflections in the prismatic play of surfaces.

There is a ghostly, otherworldly quality in these images, even in the fleeting blossoming cherry tree and the play of shadows across a concrete minimalism. The doubly exposed or reflected light on the lens reminds us of the uncertain beginnings in photography’s history, with its widespread belief that the camera was able to perceive more than the naked eye, like spirits and ghosts. In Houge’s images there are different specters, skeletal, natural shapes on the one hand, the machine and the virtual on the other. Here, like some scene from the film Blade Runner, there is an uncanny confusion and mix between the human and non human.

Maybe the search for a perfect moment in the perpetual flow of things is a romantic or melancholic longing for transcendent wholeness, a drive that is harnessed in a rigorous attention to visual detail. This compulsive discipline might seem absurd to any western observer, while longing itself forms a common ground and will ultimately be the basis in our meeting.

— Erling Bugge

Sketchbook Prompt Seven

2009-09-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Prompt: What are your reactions to the work? Do you find the series interesting? Why or why not? What is going on in the imagery? Choose the image that you find most interesting to write about in more depth. Why is that particular image striking to you? Label your description so that others can refer to your chosen piece. The top image is one, the second is two, and so on.

Enchanted Spacesphotographs and text by Marrigje de Maar

I am a restless traveler, who keeps on leaving, but never arrives.

I have been taking pictures of interiors since 2002. In the beginning I worked in worn out, rejected buildings, later I concentrated on private homes.Interiors tell stories about people. In public space people follow the global trends and fashions. In their homes they tend to make other choices. The private space is the only place where we are ourselves.The personal story is told inside the privacy of our home.

I never travel along a pre-fixed route. My trips are guided by intuition and by experiences along the way. Roads that attract me, people I meet and stories I hear. The doors I choose to knock on rarely hold a clue about what I may find inside.I never visualize anything beforehand and my pictures reflect my first impressions.The image comes alive in the existing light.

Many of my interiors give evidence of a frugal life, of inhabitants who are able to make their personalities known with only a few means. In my work I concentrate on this authenticity and dignity.My pictures tell a story about these people, a story that reaches beyond material reality.
Everything visible in the picture was there. I never change anything. I only use the available light. I use colour negative film and print both analog and digital. During this process no drastic changes are made either.

— Maarigje de Maar took part in the 2009 Rhubarb-Rhubarb International Photographic Review.

Sketchbook Prompt Six

2009-09-16T11:16:00.001-07:00

Prompt: After viewing the imagery and the written commentary, what are your reactions to the piece? Choose the image that you find most powerful and write a synopsis of what you think happened the day in which that particular image was shot. Label your description so that others can refer to your chosen piece. The top image is one, the second is two, and so on.

In Whose Name?
Photographs by Abbas

Abbas, a member of Magnum since 1981, takes us along with him on a journey among the believers. This journey started on September 11, 2001 when Abbas watched live on Siberian television the tragedy taking place thirteen time zones away. A year later, confronted with a giant cross erected on the ruins of the World Trade Center, he asked, "Does one form of religious intolerance lead to another?"This led him to embark on a seven year project completed in the book In Whose Name? and soon to be exhibited at the Magnum gallery in Paris.Driven by a desire to understand how the Ummah, the polity of Muslims throughout the world, let violent jihadism develop in its midst, he traveled through 16 countries. From New York to Jakarta, from Kabul to Zanzibar, through Baghdad, Teheran and Dubai his quest was the same:“My relationship with God has always been of a professional nature, I have never been on first name terms with Him. It’s not so much God who engrosses me as other people’s perception of Him and the unacceptable things they do in His name.“

Sketchbook Prompt Five

2009-09-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Prompt: After viewing the imagery by Leandro Piñeirore and reading the commentary by Kate Stanworth what are your reactions to the work? Can you relate to the work? Is the work significant to today's American society? Why or why not?

Fotografías Mínimasphotographs by Leandro Piñeirore
Review by Kate Stanworth

Fotografías Mínimas is a simple and understated, independently published book of black and white street photography by Argentine photographer Leandro Piñeiro. During two separate periods in 2002 and 2007, Piñeiro stalked the busy downtown avenues of Buenos Aires, snapping passers-by literally “from the hip” without looking through the viewfinder or arousing attention.

Giving value to small encounters and chance sightings, we view it in passing fragments; moments of intimacy seen through a café window, a confused figure in front of an internet café, feet traversing a worn crosswalk or people immersed in quiet contemplation.

Piñeiro avoids representing Buenos Aires through familiar iconography. Rather, subtle details such as French style facades, men in tailored tweed suits and well groomed ladies in an elegant street-side café tell of a South American city that draws from the European heritage of the majority of its population. Such elements also hark back to post-war Paris street photography from which Piñeiro finds inspiration.

This vision of Buenos Aires, however, is not the “Paris of the South” that tourist brochures might wish to portray. The images, mostly taken from below waist level, or “from the viewpoint of a dog” as the photographer calls it, seem far from conjuring a sense of grandeur.

The city appears at times on the brink of collapse, with architectural lines bearing down upon its inhabitants, and shop signs crammed haphazardly into the corner of frames. In other photos we come down to the level of a child kneeling, a street musician slumped against a store window, and even an eager canine.

Piñeiro’s style of photography may seem a little raw, but its unpolished, verité feel perfectly encapsulates a place that, even in its most peaceful moments, seethes with potential tumult. Many of these photos were taken just after the economic crisis of 2001/2, which marked a period of social and political turmoil.

However, this context is not made explicit. The photos are left free of any captions that might lead us to any one particular reading of them. “My photos don’t carry a narrative,” says the photographer. “There’s no beginning or end and no message that needs to be decoded.”
The manner in which Piñeiro has pictured his metropolis seems to dismiss the idea that the city can be reduced to any easily digestible whole. His images ultimately point us back to the unrefined immediacy of urban experience, and the chaotic, enigmatic processes of those who meander, crouch, embrace or dream within the city’s streets. His photos therefore talk not only of Buenos Aires, but of all cities.

— Kate Stanworth is a freelance journalist covering arts and culture in Buenos Aires and London.

Sketchbook Prompt Four

2009-08-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Prompt: Above is a series created by Eric Tabuchi. After looking at the imagery, read the following commentary. Tabuchi's series has been compared to the famous work of Ed Ruscha entitled "Twentysix Gasoline Stations." After you spend some time studying the work of Tabuchi thoroughly, research Ruscha's work on the internet and compare and contrast the two artists' perspectives.

Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations
photographs by Eric Tabuchi

French photographer Eric Tabuchi has created a modern day reprise of Ed Ruscha's ground-breaking artist's book from 1963, Twentysix Gasoline Stations. Tabuchi has published a boxed set of 26 oversized postcard-like prints of photos he's taken between 2002 and 2008. Tabuchi's work captures abandoned, rusting, toxic-leaking architectural ruins that blight the landscape and roadscapes of France. In a spirit very much akin to Ruscha's, Tabuchi photographed these abandoned gasoline stations in a flat, objective style, showing them just as plainly as they exist. If there is a moral argument to the story, Tabuchi leaves it to the viewer to decide. Ruscha talked about his own work in an interview with Bernard Brunon, in the book Leave any Information at the Signal: In the early 1950s I was awakened by the photographs of Walker Evans and the movies of John Ford, especially Grapes of Wrath where the poor “Okies” (mostly farmers whose land dried up) go to California with mattresses on their cars rather than stay in Oklahoma and starve. I faced a sort of black-and-white cinematic emotional identity crisis myself in this respect—sort of a showdown with myself—a little like trading dust for oranges. On the way to California I discovered the importance of gas stations. They are like trees because they are there. They were not chosen because they were pop-like but because they have angles, colors, and shapes, like trees. They were just there, so they were not in my visual focus because they were supposed to be social-nerve endings.

Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations is a nice follow-on to Tabuchi's previously published series, also from the highways of France, called Alphabet Truck. Both series seem to reference the history of artists' books, and typological studies like the Bechers', and some kind of hybrid salute to road movies. — Jim Casper

Sketchbook Prompt Three

2009-08-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Prompt: Above you have viewed the work of Scarlett Coten. What are your reactions to the work? Do you find the series interesting? Why or why not? What is going on in the imagery? Choose the image that you find most interesting to write about in more depth. Why is that particular image striking to you? Label your description so that others can refer to your chosen piece. The top image is one, the second is two, and so on. After writing your initial reactions, read the commentary below. Has your opinion of the work changed after gaining more information about the work? Why or why not?

Still Alive
photographs and text by Scarlett Coten

It’s six in the morning and in this month of February I’m crossing a border on foot for the first time! It gives me a real sense of adventure. I leave Taba in a crowded taxi, radio cassette playing in the background, and let myself be carried away, totally alert, toward the unknown. A desert road leads to the water, circled to the west by the mountains of South Sinai. Now and then, a few huts lie flattened on a pure sky, facing Saudi Arabia some miles away. Only a ship traveling to Jordan separates sea from sky. Outside, a narrow strip of beach, men in robes and kefieh, some camels, a huge wooden porch opening onto a horizon of sand. The Red Sea is turquoise, a light bulb swings over a pool table, the wind carries the smell of the sea and songs of love drift through the open windows. The end of the line: Tarabin, a small coastal village. Aïd, the driver, tells me that he is Bedouin and my curiosity is aroused. I accept his invitation and settle in one of their homes, a few kilometers away in the lone hut at the edge of the water. Friends and acquaintances appear, some speak a few words of English, in the evening they grill beautiful fish and invite me around the fire. Two men, in passing, ask me to accompany them to their village, a day’s journey away, in the middle of the desert. They are cheerful and considerate, proud to reveal their world to me. The next day wedged between them on the seat of a bone-shaking pick-up, the crossing takes my breath away. The village is a collection of scattered houses, arranged without apparent logic. Low, rectangular, with corrugated iron roofs and outside courtyards. A few electric poles. No cafeteria or bus station, not even a store. Here, you’re invited – or you are lost. I feel a thrill at the idea of being so deprived of my free will. But the welcome is amazing. Women lightly touch the men’s inclined foreheads and then greet me with a hand placed quickly over the heart. Night falls, in a few moments, a piece of oilcloth on the sand, a shared dish of rice and lamb, a cup passes around the gathering, we’re surrounded by a few men who have joined us and who speak a language that I do not understand, I feel at my ease, and happy. This is the beginning of a long history of love between these people and me, between this country and me. "56,000 miles of nothing" wrote Loti, the Khala, this empty country will become my Eden, my second family. Later I will travel this desert from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Gulf of Suez, from Rafah to Dahab, from Abu-Zenima to Naqhl, from Sarabit to Ras Abu Galum. Day after day I photograph my journey. What happens, what surrounds me, those I meet. My backdrops are the desert, our travels, stopovers. My breadcrumb trail is these. I photograph those who invite me to, those who ask me to, all those who pose. They are at the heart of this project. Gestures, laughter replace speech. The time is different, the people too. The summer is hot. From one shadow to another, we inhale every current of air, every wave of wind. I no longer know which day it is, we live in the present. Photography is a rarity for them and my camera never leaves them indifferent. A joyous complicity develops. The men joke in lascivious poses, the women make their black veils, embroidered with flashing pearls, fly. The generator runs for a few hours a day, the sheikh has a television satellite dish, installed under the stars. Everybody benefits, a bare light bulb flickers over the screen, we switch channels: football, live concerts from Arabia, Egyptian melodrama, CNN, we laugh. Some have never seen a foreigner, they demand my presence. Faced with so much novelty, surprise, kindness, I fall into the rhythm, I dissolve. I gain the trust of women, who show me their private areas. In their bright dresses, between a heart-shaped clock and a stylized palm tree on the wall, the Bedouin pose with all the seriousness and attention that a new experience requires. They smoke, raising their veils with one hand. I love these cheerful, curious people, who agree to pose. With delight. So, between reality and fiction, I photograph the inward journey, I'm witness to my experience, following the thread of my inspiration, where play and mise en scène bring us together, beyond our own cultures, for a moment of shared happiness. At each reunion, I am welcomed by these words: "still alive! " These photographs are the illustration of the humor, the enthusiasm, and the modernity of an unknown people. Forgotten, threatened, but alive. – Scarlett Coten

Sketchbook Prompt Two

2009-08-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

Prompt: Above you have viewed the work of Adam Panczuk. What are your reactions to the work? Do you find the series interesting? Why or why not? What is going on in the imagery? What are the individuals within the series trying to convey to their viewers? Choose the image that you find most interesting and write a synopsis of what you think happened the day in which that particular image was shot. Label your description so that others can refer to your chosen piece. The top image is one, the second is two, and so on.

After writing your initial reactions, read the commentary below. Has your opinion of the work changed after gaining more information about the work? Why or why not?

Actors

photographs by
Adam Panczuk

Adam Panczuk is working on a project depicting the transformation of a Polish village. His focus is on the relationship between human beings and nature, on the essence of humanity in relation to the earth and the seasons, and on passing away and birth as inseparable elements.

The Actors series shows amateur actors from the folk theater company ”Czeladonka" based in Lubenka (near the border of Poland and Belarus). They perform scenes based on old customs and rituals passed down through generations. The actors are farmers, who work in the fields during the day, only working on the plays in the evening.

Often a show is performed by a whole family – sometimes three generations of actors take part in a single performance. The plays are staged outdoors in different parts of the village. The audience follows the actors as they move along with their stage. In the end, the actors and the spectators join together for a feast.

Sketchbook Prompt One

2009-08-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Prompt: Above you have viewed the artwork of Andrzej Kramarz. What are your instant reactions to the series? What do these images represent to you? Choose one of the images and describe the life of the person who you think would own the objects displayed. Number your selection so that others can reference the piece you are writing about. The top image is one, second one is two and so on. After writing this initial reflection read the commentary below. After reading the perspective of the artist, does your opinion of the work change? Why or why not.

Rzeczy
(Things)

photographs by
Andrzej Kramarz
text by
Dariusz Czaja

The displays are arranged on the ground, on newspapers, cartons, strips of foil, and sheets of various colours. The objects are densely packed into the displays, lying one on top of the other, as if following the trends of horror vacui seen in folk art.

The items are for the most part old, obsolete, sometimes defunct, tacky, and of little worth, if any. Just some used and worn-out trash, desolate objects which look as if they've been pulled out of a dumpster and displayed only in pieces. In a word: that, which is left of a previous life; that, which used to live, now leads a life after life, sometimes an imagined existence. The lens of the photographer dives into this trivial space dimension with a definite fascination, and records with sensitivity these fragile remainders of daily life, searching for traces of their (non)existence.

There are so many different worlds, with every one having its unique and individual atmosphere: there is no point trying to resist the forces emanating from this junk store. Knives, blades, spoons, forks, tweezers, candlesticks and holders; a kettle, fruit bowl, decorative plate, a cleaver, machete, metal cross, stoup; a coffee grinder, an eyepiece, alarm clock; a wall-hanger, a padlock with a key stuck inside, weights, clothes brushes ... rubber dolls, medals, meat grinders, a seed extractor, clock faces and various glass panels, watch glasses; springs, mechanisms ... holy figures made of porcelain, mobile phone chargers; a children's' bike, a pipe, wooden angels, computer parts ...

And this is only a fragment of the archipelago of curious objects. When we start labelling them, we quickly notice that their names bear witness to a lesson of forgotten language (siphon, vinyl, stoup, mechanism...). This stocktaking which the photographer has recorded allows us to see the object at our leisure, without haste.

What reigns here is a world which has passed on: either not so long ago (communism) or a few decades earlier (the war, the inter war years) It does not really matter where we place the border, beyond which we speak of "the past", "antiquity", or use terms such as "out of date". What is important is that these items belong to a warm and tangible "today". After all it's not a CD: all these rubber dolls, corkscrews from the times of the People's Republic of Poland, relief carvings of "our" pope or Marshal Pilsudski, glass and crystal ware of varied authorship, all these things are emblematic of this world and the essence of its reality.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty

2009-02-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

Jerry BurchfieldUnderstory, Lumen Prints of Florida Flora

“Burchfield has composed a body of work that transcends utilitarian concerns to explore a mysterious creative arena where chance and skill collaborate. From the earliest photographic experiments with light-sensitive materials to modernist fascination with the subconscious to current conceptual practice, Burchfield’s lumen prints suggest the gamut of the history of photography.”—Thomas McGovern

After looking at the work of Jerry Burchfield and the description of his practice, describe his purpose in creation. What is your response to his imagery? How do you think it was created? Do you find it artistically proactive? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Nineteen

2009-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

“The personal involvement with the making of a photograph is all-important to me—to feel at one with that moment regardless of whether it be excitement, love, fear, or repugnancy.”
-Wayne Miller

After looking at the above work by Wayne Miller, and reading his quote, describe the tone of his imagery.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Eighteen

2009-02-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

Shotaro Shimomura, Roadside of Cairo, Egypt, Silver-Gelatine Print, (1883-1944), 6" x 8"

How is this print different from other black and white works you have seen? How do think this image was created? What does this image represent to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Seventeen

2009-02-02T08:03:00.001-08:00

Roman Vishniac, Berlin, 1922/1960s

Describe the composition used in this piece. Where was the photographer located during the shoot? Do you think this shot was planned? Why or why not? What does this image represent to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Sixteen

2009-02-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

Michael Wolf, The Transparent City (detail), 2007

Does this image have a sense of voyeurism? Why or why not? How does this image make you feel as the viewer?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Fifteen

2008-12-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Candida Hofer, Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig IX, 1997

After looking at the image, read the following synopsis about the artist. If you were to take Hofer's approach to photography, what would you shoot?

I photograph in public and semi-public spaces that date from various epochs. These are spaces available to everyone. They are places where you can meet and communicate, where you can share or receive knowledge, where you can relax and recover. — Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer’s photographs reveal her interest in documenting collections of like things. Over the past twenty years, Höfer has created a systematic visual study of details within public spaces such as zoos, the interiors of office buildings, theaters, museums, and library reading rooms. Höfer’s straightforward and detached style at first seems clinical and purely documentary. Since the early 1980s people have been noticeably absent from Hofer’s photographs. Instead, she uses her camera to note repeated forms within public spaces such as furniture, lighting fixtures, ceiling or floor tiles, chairs, and tables, creating patterns and a sense of orderliness. Höfer also often emphasizes the ironic by drawing the viewer’s attention to things out of place. In Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig IX, the presence of people is strongly implied by the empty desks and lights, as well as by the books at the end of the room, evoking a sense of their purpose as vehicles of collected human history and knowledge.

Born in 1944 and raised in Eberswalde, Germany, Höfer currently lives and works in Cologne. Her works have been widely exhibited internationally: in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and the United States. In addition, her photographs are held in private and public collections worldwide, including those at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Fourteen

2008-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Justine Kurland, Slumber Party (Denver, Colorado), 2000

Describe what is going on in this image. How does this image make you feel? What does this image represent?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirteen

2008-11-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Scott Fortino, 2000-2002

Describe the personalities of these spaces. What people frequent these spaces and what do they do there? How do these images make you feel? What visual elements evoke those feelings?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twelve

2008-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Paul Clark, 2004-2006

If you were to interview this photographer? What questions would you ask him and why?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Eleven

2008-11-12T11:32:00.001-08:00

Jack Bridges, 2002-2004

How were these photographs taken? How do these images make you feel emotionally? What visual elements evoke those feelings?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Ten

2008-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Evan Baden, 2006-2007

When you look at these images, what is your immediate responce? What goes through your mind? After you take a closer look at the work, what does it begin to represent to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Nine

2008-11-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

Next week we will be visting the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Visit their website and create a list of all the works you would like to see during your visit. With each piece listed, include a link from the museum's website detailing the artist's body of work and the reason why you would like to further examine the work.

http://www.mocp.org/

Artist Sketchbook Prompt Eight

2008-09-28T08:27:00.001-07:00

Take a look at some of the work from a recent portfolio Ms. Cress created durng her time in Boston this summer. What thoughts cross your mind when you look at these images? What emotions do you feel?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Seven

2008-09-28T08:20:00.001-07:00

Take a look at the recent images created by contemporary photographer Ernest Cadegan. Do you consider these images artwork? Can "pretty" artwork be considered influential? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Six

2008-09-28T08:08:00.001-07:00

Take a look at the artwork of Barbara Kruger. What thoughts run through your mind when you look at her work? Which image displayed stands out most to you? Why does that particular image grasp your attention? What does that image represent to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Five

2008-09-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

Take a look at the unique work of Sandy Skoglund. What are your immediate thoughts looking at her images? How do you think her images were made? What do these images represent to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Four

2008-09-20T12:42:00.001-07:00

Take a look at the various works by Sally Mann. Do you find these to be powerful images? Why or why not? What makes these strong compositions? Which image do you feel a personal connection with?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Three

2008-07-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the work of Christina McNeill and the following text written by the artist. What do you think about the work? What image stands out to you most? Why do you find that image interesting. What lessons will you take away from the text during your next shoot? Did you find McNeill's tips helpful? Why or why not?

Shooting Strangers, Christina McNeill, 17 March 2008

Shooting a stranger can be challenging, but if it weren't a challenge than anyone and everyone would be able to do it with flying colors! Be it an assignment, a random person you met off the street, a person you noticed on myspace or facebook, lets face it, no matter who they are, they are still new to you! I actually met all of these strangers from the avenue of the internet and thought I would share some words. Here are my ten tips on how to achieve an impacting, emotional and memorable portrait.

1. Don't be afraid to ask. As blunt as this may sound, grow some balls! Really, what is the worst someone could say to you? No! That's right, a measly no! You have to understand that some people really just don't like their picture taken, so respect it and move on. If they are hesitant then prove your worth. Show them some examples of your work, or fill them in on your creative ideas...pulling the student card always works too! If they say yes, than its your lucky day!

2. Offer Goodies. Nobody likes to work for free! Your models are doing such a huge favor for you so in turn you need to make it worth their while to take time out of their day to shoot! In my experience most people are honored and flattered that you want to take pictures of them. However, in any case no matter whom I am shooting I always offer TFP or TFCD meaning, Trade for Prints or Trade for CD. If you are a starving artist like me and your models want cash, just be honest and tell them you can barely afford to pay for the processing but are so passionate about the project. They usually give in!

3. Do your homework! Sometimes models, subjects or 'real people' don't even know where to begin. This is your job to use your creative mind! Find out what they do, where they hang out, what their hobbies are or what scene they are into. I tend to shoot the Indie scene. Reason? Because I love anything vintage, I love the lifestyle, the look, the wardrobe, the props, the demeanor. It all just reminds me of old family albums and inspires me to locate it in the "now", twenty-first century. The people I tend to photograph have somewhat of a sense of style; they have a plethora of fashionable outfits including accessories and neat-o props. Make sure to brainstorm before the shoot to get your mind going, one little object, color, location or piece of fabric might inspire you so write it all down!

4. Be inventive! We all have seen the same cliche image of someone in a cemetery or someone near a railroad track. You are in the big leagues now and need to step outside the box. Juxtapositions are what make images. Think: fat and skinny, night and day, hot and cold, tall and short, happy and sad...whatever contrast you can think of. I have found that shooting people in their own natural environment brings out the best in them. They are usually much more relaxed and willing to do more "out of the box" concepts. Take advantage of your model, location, props and wardrobe. Don't confine yourself to just one location or idea, have your subject move around and try different things. Change your vantage point or have them change their outfit. Also, don't get discouraged if a certain idea doesn't work. Move on and try something new.

5. Get a Model Release. And, I stress this, GET A MODEL RELEASE! The model release is one of the most important things you need to obtain from your model/subject. Once you have it your future options for that particular image is endless; stock photography, greeting card companies, editorial use, you name it. Make it as standard as brushing your teeth in the morning! Do not shoot until the release is signed because chasing someone down after the shoot is not easy nor fun. ASMP is a really great source to get free model releases.

6. Don't be nervous just be cool! Be honest with your model. It does not matter who they are or how famous they are, what matters is the limited time you have, so shake off the nerves or the "star struck" feeling and get to work! If you are nervous, it shows and is contagious. You can simply engage in a little conversation, ask questions and get to know them. You do not want your model to be nervous! The more real you are, the more your model with respect you and relate to you and in turn your images will be fabulous.

7. Avoid the cliche. Why is it that every time I shoot an inexperienced model they result in putting their hands on their hips? This is a mega no! Think back to tip #4, be inventive! You are the director so you are responsible for capturing the right moment. It is easy to detect images that are too forced or feel like both the photographer and the model tried way too hard, which results in an unsuccessful image. Make it simple and make it easy. The second you feel you are trying to hard to get something good from your model, take a break and shake it off. When you acknowledge you are forcing it, you learn and you grow. I tend to have people turn their heads away from me and when I say "go" they turn into the shot while I snap it. The reason I do this is because I try and stay away from the static and too forced pose. The end result is much more real and often unique because everyone is different and always brings a different feel to the image.

8. Let it be. What I mean by this is watch them and figure out their unique characteristics. Every person is unique and has something completely different to offer you. You want to capture their essence; you want to capture the mood and the ambiance. Need inspiration? Spice it up by having them jump, twirl , or scream! Do whatever you can to get their souls on film!

9. Change outfits! When I schedule a TFP (trade for prints) shoot I always tell my models to pretend we are going to play "dress up". You can also suggest a theme or style of clothing. With some girls I have done a "party dress" theme where they bring an array of different princess dresses. With guys I have gone with a color theme, a suit theme, or even a tie theme. Possibilities are endless. I understand that playing dress up might be easier for women, but it's easy to get creative with guys: Suggest to them using their images for Christmas presents, or their avatar on Myspace!

10. Tell their story. You want to shoot more than just a portrait. Take advantage of your opportunity and tell their story by documenting everything. Confining yourself to just a portrait is selling yourself short. Shoot every detail, close-up portraits, environmental portraits, landscapes, props and still life. You will be amazed as your story evolves; you never know how their story flows until you see everything laid out for you. One of the hardest things for me is to step back. I tend to shoot up close too much and it does not allow for any imagination by a viewer. A good environmental portrait evokes an emotion that is related by the viewer, it has props that are relevant to the subject and an environment that helps to tell the story.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Two

2008-07-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the work of Eamonn Aiken and the following text written by the artist. What are your reactions to the work? Do you find the work interesting? Why or why not?

Brooklyn Nights, Eamonn Aiken, 27 March 2008

The first night I spent in the Terminal Market Warehouse yard photographing the progress of its demolition I stood in awe of a modern ruin. The building's commanding presence, even in its crumbling form, was remarkable. Among the most recognizable and historically significant buildings in Brooklyn (Civil War ironclad USS Monitor launched from these yards), the structure was destroyed in a 10-alarm fire that called greater attention to the issue of land use in Brooklyn's continuously escalating real estate market. Though being considered for landmark status protection when it was destroyed (under suspicion of being an intentional "developer's fire"), the site was a reminder that history won't protect modern ruins the way it does ancient ones - the land is too commercially lucrative to be left to cultural importance, and it was therefore important to me to begin making as complete a record of the place as I could before it was (as it is now) completely leveled.

This was something of a new direction in the project I'd been working on in North Brooklyn. I'd been photographing sites that appeared completely uninhabitable, and yet were immediate or almost immediate neighbors to dense residential housing. Waste transfer stations, refineries, sites of chemical contamination, an underground oil spill - all within a few blocks of my home, sometimes just down the corner. Though the burning of the complex released unknown quantities of toxins into the neighboring residential blocks and threatened more widespread severe fire damage had nearby fuel tanks lit, this was the first time the images had begun to also focus on the impact of redevelopment on historic and culturally significant locations. I began shooting the sites at night using long exposures on a large format camera as a storytelling mechanism - these were sites I passed by everyday, that were typically paid no second mind. By leaving the shutter open for sometimes several hours, lighting the scenes with moonlight, street lamps, factory lights, and passing cars, the landscape took on a surreal quality that echoed my own emotional reaction (and disbelief) regarding the health of the land we live on.

Online Sketchbook Prompt One

2008-07-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Untitled, Sarah Cress, 2008

Tell me about your summer. Where did you go? What did you do?

What goals do you have for yourself this year in photography? What type of projects would you like to explore? What techniques would you like to work on? What steps will you take to grow as a photographer?

Welcome Streamwood High School Photography Students!!

2008-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Untitled, Sarah Cress, 2008

Hello Streamwood High School Photography Students!!

Welcome to our online classroom blog!! I hope that you had lots of rest and relaxation this summer, because we have a wonderfully exciting year ahead of us!!

As you know from your previous experience in photography, talking and writing about work is an extremely important element in your artistic development. You will be using this online blog throughout the school year to talk about your own artwork, and the works of others.

Photographically, you will be working predominantly documentary style during the year. Since your classroom time is going to be devoted to shooting, developing and printing, you will be able to critique in the comforts of your own home. Posting your work online will allow more opportunity for in-progress and finished critiques.

In addition to critiquing the works of your classmates, you will also be asked to look at the work of other historical and contemporary photographers, the work of your teacher, and the work of a class of high school students in Urbana, Illinois. We will be inviting the class of Mrs. Gleason at Urbana High School to participate in our online discussions.

I look forward to many thought-provoking discussions with all of you. Sign up for our blog today!!

Best,
Ms. Cress

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirty-Four

2008-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ryan Shude, Photo Essay - Tableau, 2008

Take a look at the photo essay work of Ryan Shude. What are your reactions to this imagery. Which image stands out the most to you? Why is that image so appealing to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirty-Three

2008-04-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the work of Jason Barnhart and read the following text written by the artist. What are your reactions to his work?

Curious and Curiouser! By Jason Barnhart (Text and images found on JPG Magazine website)

I have wanted to work with miniatures for quite a while. I've always found them kind of fascinating and had a lot of ideas and sketches in my notebooks.

The inspiration for this series came from things as wide ranging as books, childhood memories, re-runs of the X Files and the work of a handful of other photographers.

I'm not really interested in creating photos that are miniature copies of life as we might find it. You won't see a straight diorama in this series. Meaning you will never see something that is just a tiny scene or re-creation of life as we know it.

There is a loose set of rules, or formula, that all the images follow to one extent or another but I have given myself a lot of latitude for creativity. I think and work in terms of props. For me this is an entirely different mindset than building a diorama. I also treat my miniatures more as models working within the scene than as part of the propping. At least one of them has a nickname and will likely inspire future images. There will be at least fifteen images in the first run of the series and possibly more.

What ever you might see in these images, know that they are meant to be fun and not taken too seriously.

Stop Action by Lindsey

2008-04-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Stop Action by Kyle

2008-04-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Stop Action by Matej

2008-04-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirty-Two

2008-04-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Youth, Skyler Burt, 2008

What are your first reactions when looking at this photograph?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirty-One

2008-04-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Little Red Riding Hood, Amanda Chapman, 2007

What makes this a strong visual image?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirty

2008-04-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Friends First, Brothers Forever, Michael Van Der Tol

When do you think this photograph was taken? What signs make you feel this way? What sort of emotions do you feel when viewing this photograph?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Nine

2008-04-01T08:33:00.001-07:00

Turn Me Over, Chad Foreman, 2008

Where do you think this photograph was taken? Do you consider this an art piece? Why or why not?

Stop Action Movie By Adrianna

2008-03-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Stop Action Video By Zach

2008-03-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Stop Action Video By KT

2008-03-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

What are your first reactions to this stop action video? What are the strengths of this clip?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Eight

2008-03-11T07:41:00.001-07:00

Gaelle Bossis, Pink Panther

Does this image feel like it was taken in our world? Why or why not? How does this image make you feel? Do you find this image interesting? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty Seven

2008-03-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Steve Berlin, Energy

If you were standing in this place, how would you feel? What would you think about? What makes this photograph a powerful image?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Six

2008-03-04T10:05:00.001-08:00

Alexandru Capsa, By the Window, 2008

How was this image created? What emotions do you feel when looking at this image? Do you find this photograph interesting? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Five

2008-02-24T16:31:00.001-08:00

Julie Blackmon, Hanging, 2003
What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What does this photograph represent to you?

Photography 5-6 Independent Work

2008-02-19T06:10:00.000-08:00

Night Shots, 35mm black and white photography, Sarah Chambers

What are your thoughts when you look at these images? What emotions do you feel? What makes these images unique?

Bea Nettles-Three of Swords

2008-02-01T13:24:00.001-08:00

What are your thoughts after seeing the three different versions of Nettles Three of Swords cards?

Sabrepulse - Twin Chevron Action rmx.

2008-02-01T13:14:00.001-08:00

What elements of this video did you find particularly creative?

Time Of Your Life -STOP MOTION

2008-02-01T13:07:00.001-08:00

What are your thoughts after watching this video?

Minilogue/hitchhikers choice - short version (Longer on DVD)

2008-02-01T13:00:00.001-08:00

What are your thoughts after watching this stop action video?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique Six

2007-12-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Kyle Torres, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What emotions does this photograph evoke?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique Five

2007-11-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

Lindsey, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What emotions does this photograph evoke?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique Four

2007-11-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

Norbert, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What emotions does this photograph evoke?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique Three

2007-11-30T10:42:00.001-08:00

Lindsey, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What emotions does this photograph evoke?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique Two

2007-11-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

Jennifer, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image? What emotions does this photograph evoke?

Student Portrait Assignment, Preliminary Critique One

2007-11-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

Adrienne, Portrait

What are your thoughts when you look at this image. What emotions does this image evoke?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Four

2007-11-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

Kaylynn Deveney
P. Jays Drying from the series The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings, C-print mounted to aluminum, 2001-06

What is going on in this image? What type of composition was used to create this piece? Would you define this work as documentary? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Three

2007-11-16T08:57:00.001-08:00

Tom Young #16 and #52 from the series Recycled Realities, gelatin silver print

What are your first reactions to these images? After looking at them closely, have your thoughts changed? Can you relate to these images? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-Two

2007-11-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Binh Danh
Drifting Souls #4 from the Immortality: The Remnants of the Vietnam and American War series, 2005, Chlorophyll print and resin

Would you define this as a powerful image? Why or why not? Is it important to create powerful imagery? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty-One

2007-11-16T08:50:00.001-08:00

What types of emotions do you feel when looking at this image? What does this art piece represent to you? Is this photograph unique? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twenty

2007-11-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Beate Gitschow
LS #13, 2001, 42 1/2 × 33 1/2 inches, C-printCourtesy of Produzentengalerie Hamburg, Barbara Gross Galerie Munich, Collection of Louise and Eric Franck

Tell me about this photograph. What do you see? What does it represent? Why does it exist in the art world?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Nineteen

2007-11-06T18:05:00.001-08:00

Filipe Barrenho,
Traditional Games Meeting 5

What type of composition do you see in this work? Describe how your eye moves around the image. Is this image unique? Why or why not?

Billboard Design Six

2007-10-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Joey and Becca

What are your thoughts when you look at this billboard design? What are the strengths of the design? What are the weaknesses?

Billboard Design Five

2007-10-09T11:37:00.001-07:00

Jacob, Lindsey and Jennifer

If you were driving along a highway and this billboard was by the side of the road, would it catch your eye? Why or why not? Is this a strong billboard design? Why or why not?

Billboard Design Four

2007-10-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Zach, Marissa, Lauren, Nancy

What are your thoughts when you look at this billboard design? What is the subject matter, and how does it apply to the overall message of the design. What are the design's strengths? What are the design's weaknesses?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Eighteen

2007-10-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Jeanette Hagglund, Countdown

How was this image made? What type of compositional tool is being used to move your eye around the image? Do you find this image interesting? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Seventeen

2007-10-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

James de Cannon

What are your first thoughts when you look at this image? How do you think the image was created? What does this photograph represent to you?

Billboard Design Three

2007-10-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

Paige and Sarah

What are your thoughts when you look at this billboard design? What are the strengths of the design? What are the weaknesses? Does this billboard encourage you to continue in photography?

Billboard Design Two

2007-10-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Matej, Norbert, Adrienne, Kyle

When you look at this billboard design, what are your immediate thoughts? What are the strengths of this billboard design? What are the weaknesses?

Billboard Design One

2007-09-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

KT, Tricia and Adrianna

What are your thoughts when you look at this billboard design? Do the elements included in this billboard fall in line with the characterstics of a strong and successful design? Why or why not? What type of audience are the designers trying to reach?

Teacher Critique Two

2007-08-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sarah Cress

These images are from a series I shot in St. Louis, MO. What are your thoughts? Are these images purely documentary, or do they hold another meaning to you?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Sixteen

2007-08-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jeremy Brotherton

When you look at this image, what thoughts run through your mind? How do you think this "ghostly" effect was created? If this image was in focus, would it's meaning change? Why?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Fifteen: Leibovitz A Photographer's Life

2007-08-19T18:40:00.001-07:00

What are your thoughts when you look at the work of Annie Leibovitz? Choose one image that particularly strikes you, describe the image itself and why you find it interesting.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Fourteen: Modest Mouse Missed the Boat video contest

2007-08-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

How do you think this music video was created? If you were to create a music video in a similar fashion, what song would you use. What type of imagery would appropriately illustrate that song?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Thirteen: War Photographer - James Nachtwey

2007-08-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

After watching this video, how does it make you feel about the current war and other public affairs? Do you think photography can be used as a powerful tool?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Twelve

2007-08-19T18:15:00.001-07:00

If you were to create a similar video using song and imagery, what would be your inspiration? What song would use? What photographic images would you use?

GOOD Presents: Meet the NYChildren Photography Project

2007-08-19T18:08:00.001-07:00

Take a look at this video and record your thoughts online.

Online Sketchbook Prompt Ten

2007-07-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Find the modern day Ansel Adams!

Ansel Adams is a huge figure in the world of photography, and his work is admired by many. Adams created images that are timeless and beautiful. Your task is to research contemporary photographers that work similarly to Adams. In order to do this you must first begin by taking a look at Adams work and biographical information. After gaining a true understanding of the world of this classic photographer, you can begin searching for the Ansel Adams of the 21st century. Once you find a contemporary artist to compare, tell us about their work. Please include images in addition to your written word. Your text must be at least 200 words.

http://www.sfmoma.org/adams/
http://www.anseladams.com/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ansel/

Online Sketchbook Prompt Nine

2007-07-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Below you will find the link to an online timeline featuring the history of photography. I would like you to review the timeline, and choose one key figure or one key concept to research further. Once you have chosen your research subject, you may use any media you find appropriate to provide more background information. Your prompt must be at least 200 words. If you choose a key person, tell us more about their background and contributions to the world of photography. If you choose a key concept, tell us more about the details of it's development and it's influence to photography.

http://photo.net/history/timeline

Online Sketchbook Prompt Eight

2007-07-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Philip Lepage
How does your eye move around this composition? What do you see first? What do you see last? Is this photograph symbolic? Why or why not?

Online Sketchbook Prompt Seven

2007-07-23T12:28:00.001-07:00

Anna Aichinger

What is the message behind this photographic series? What was the artist thinking when creating this work?