Submission: Anderson Gallery

Here is proof of my submission to the Student Art Show at the Anderson Gallery. The artworks that I selected are a little older, but I felt were some of my stronger pieces that would stand a good chance at making it into the show.

Slaughterama

I had the opportunity to attend Slaughterama (spelling) over the weekend, which really turned out to be a great event. Basically the whole idea behind it is to go down to the river (Belle Isle), drink beer and enjoy the day. Oh yeah, and bring a bike, because there are all kinds of crazy events that require one. The events ranged from jousting, the gauntlet, team chug, all kinds of races, even a quarter pipe where bikers were getting some ridiculous air. I spent the day trying to get the best photographs possible that would document the entire day, as accurate and honest as possible. Besides that actual event, I spent two days prior to that sitting over my cousin's apartment, shooting away as he prepared all 20 of his bikes to go down to the river. Because I'm so close to my cousin, I tried to shoot objects that portrayed him indirectly, things like his bikes, tools, environment around the apartment. Of course, he did want actual photos of himself, but those turned out to be pretty posed and I'll probably never use them. I felt like this was the kind of event I needed to get away from sports for a little bit, shoot something with a different feel, people and completely different setting. I do think I got some great photos out of it, at the same time, I'm hoping I can get together a series of about 10-15 photographs that can completely tell the story of the day. This is really what I've been striving for the majority of this semester. I'm great at capturing an action from a sporting event, but I've lacked the ability to form narratives within a body of work. I'm hoping this will do the trick, I just needed to pull away from the stock sports genre for a bit and focus on different aspects of photography. I am happy doing so, but at times, it seems like people just keep telling me what to shoot, and by the time I'm supposed to be showing work, it doesn't even feel like its my own, but what everyone else wanted me to shoot. In conclusion the photos never feel completely cohesive to me, which comes as a disappointment. I am still in the process of narrowing down photos, but I will definitely have some posted by tomorrow. Keep checking the blog, I am going to want some feedback because I may want to include some of these within my works to show, haven't really decided yet.

Artist Lecture: Alan Berliner

When I had originally stepped into the lecture of Alan Berliner, I really had no interest in being there, I was tired, wasn't in the mood to watch a film, really wanted to just walk out. But I'm really glad I didn't, he wound up showing his film entitled "Nobody's Business" which made a real connection with me during the viewing. I feel like recently I have been growing up a lot more lately, and by doing so, I can relate to specific issues that I probably wouldn't have been able to, or just didn't feel was as important. Family has always been a huge part of my life and having viewed Berliner's film made me think about a lot of things. It made me think about my relationship with my dad, which is great, me and my dad are very alike, we get along great and he completely supports me in anything I do. I think having me and my brother go through art school may have made him feel a little hesitant, but see how far we've come and how successful we're becoming, he's realized we're exactly where we are supposed to be in life and that theres nothing to worry about. A lot of my dad's characteristics have definitely rubbed off on me, he's a very intricate, technical person, he's the kind of person who gets into a hobby, but has to know everything about it, he can't go into anything half-assed, I'm the same way. For example, when i started playing lacrosse, it took up my whole life, i was obsessed with it. Not only did was I part of a team, worked out and practiced regularly, but I bought around 6 different sticks, learned to hand-string them, all with a completely different style. There is no stone I leave unturned, which is the same route I'm going with photography. At this point, I'm definitely trying to make myself as well-rounded as I possibly can, which should help me out greatly in the future.