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Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Justine Kurland speak through VCU's artist lectures. I feel being able to experience her work and have her discuss it aided me in understanding her photographs a little more. Previously, I had only seen her work in conceptual photo classes, which never applied to the work i was doing, so I never really looked into it deeper. I was impressed with the fact she attended Yale, which is obviously a very prestigious school, with photography as well. My favorite works were when she traveled around the country, locating small villages tucked away in mountains and forests. I don't want to sound shallow, but basically a bunch of hippies, which is fine, I see nothing wrong with living off the earth and needed nothing more than nature, and community. Her photos really captured a essence of what the communities were about, most contained nudes comfortably walking around, but it doesn't bother me. I was just fascinated with hearing her speak about the connections she made between with these people. As she discussed her work, she'd go into these short stories, telling about a specific individual, or what occurred during a photo, it was interesting. I really love to travel, eventhough I haven't had the opportunity to do so recently. Once I get out of college, I'd like to take some time to move around, see different parts of the country, maybe even Europe. I feel that its important to do things like that, as Justine is doing, find something that really interests you, and explore it photographically, continuously study it. Thats the only way you're going to get good, and standout from the rest. It really motivates me to take a ton of sport photographs, I also need to look into what I'm going to do in the future, for sports. I'd like to continue to photograph for the school paper or possibly just VCU athletics. We'll just have to see what happens, I'd like to stay in the college realm, so I don't have to worry about working my way up from high school, if I can continue to gain access as I already have, I'll be okay. Well, I went a little off topic, but I feel she's made me think a lot of about what I am doing, and where I need to go from here. I do think i'm on the right track though, i've got a good internship, and should learn a ton about sports, the latest photography equipment, and the business side of it.
I've been trying to come up with words that I can use for my final presentation, its just hard coming up with something that really combines all the emotions and athleticism that comes from sports. I guess first I can list off the words, then seperately talk about why I've considered these ones in particular. Determination, Athleticism, Aggression, Triumph, Loyalty, Dedication, Sacrifice.
Determination: firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end
within my photographs you see moments where players are giving everything they've got to come out on top, whether sprinting for a ball, jumping in front of a shot, anything really. The idea is that the individual does anything within their power to sacrifice for their team, its about giving your personal best.
Athleticism: possessing vigor : full of physical or mental strength or active force
the idea that the players in these photos show that physical strength and ability and overcome in a play in sports. I see this when someone runs past a defender or jumps beyond their limit, stretching out to make a catch that no one thought possible. Sports amaze me everyday, and i think its because sports have become a lifestyle, athletes these days are getting bigger, stronger, and faster.
Aggression: a forceful action or procedure (as an unprovoked attack) especially when intended to dominate or master
I find in sports that this is always present, whether between strong rivalries or just another game on the schedule. The tension between each athlete, especially in sports involving physical contact, theres always controversy, exchange of words, and cheap shots, its part of the game. But within my images, the acts of playing tough defense, a slide tackle, they all show the ugliness of sports, which is important, because its always present, even in a friendly sports, competition keeps it interesting.
Triumph: the joy or exultation of victory or success
To me, this idea is expressed when you play a team oriented sport, know you've done everything within your power for your team, and end up on top. Theres no better feeling than a victory, and one of my struggles has been to embody this idea as best as i can, whether the exressions on players faces, the winning goal, even the players running onto the field when time regulation runs out. All of these fulfill this definition, but at the same time, its been done before, even though the image is always different, the particular actions are pretty worn out. But learning from photographers before me and their work, I can push to find the new definition of getting a W.
Loyalty: the quality or state or an instance of being loyal
Loyalty has to be one of the most important to me. If you plan to play on a team with others, its obvious, you have to be completely loyal to the people beside you. They have to know they can rely on you, and vice versa, this is one of the most important parts of becoming a successful team, if theres no trust, its difficult to be successful in any team effort.
Dedication:
I couldn't find a great definition, so thats TBA. But dedication, to me, its close to loyalty. Its obvious, when part of a team, you always do as you're expected, and try to go beyond. You also play your part, playing your position to the fullest, you use full concentration, don't hold back. I'm not much of a motivational speaker but dedication means you're reliable.
Sacrifice: destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else
With sports, i find sacrifice comes more often than not, if you're dedicated that is. Most sacrifice comes in the form of your body, injuries that is. I've seen my fair share of them, basically because when i go onto the field to play, nothing gets in my way. Except when I damaged ligaments in my elbow. The fact is, if you're a team players, theres nothing you wont do to get a win, even if it means taking a shot to the body if the goalie comes out of the goal. Anything that comes way, you do unquestioned. Sacrifice comes hand and hand with dedication, you know what has to happen, and you do so, regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
I got the opportunity to shoot one of our club lacrosse games yesterday on University of Richmond campus. Although we (VCU) got out butts kicked, I think i got some good images, which really is all that matters to me at this point. I used to be all about our lacrosse team, and I obviously do cheer for them, because I still have friends on the team, but really, as a photographer, I'm just looking for that great photograph, whether that happens by us losing really bad or winning. My job is to follow the game and document aspects of the game that some may not see or find different aspects of the game that I can bring interest to. It was an afternoon game so I was able to take advantage of the late afternoon, dramatic sunlight, which to me, always makes a great photograph. Ever since I started looking at Simon Bruty's work, specifically his photograph with the dramatic, chierosciro lighting on the tennis player, I really started to thinking a lot more about the light that was present in the frame of my images. One of my main focuses has been to try and replicate that type of feeling that his image gives you, at least for me. I love being able to try and incorporate beams of light stretching across the frame, while capturing an athletic feat at the same time. Doing so adds a whole new level to photographs I feel, obviously you can take great sports photographs but if you can utilize the atmosphere around the game and somehow include that within the images, it adds to the narrative and overall impact the image can have.
I also starting to consider what adjective words i may use for my presentation, it started to make me think more deeply about the real meaning behind my works, and the ideas i was trying to capture through my experience of sports photography at this point. Some words i've been considering include: drama, light, triumph, passion, just to name a few. I'm looking for words that show the dramatic lighting i'm trying to incorporate into my photographs, as well as words that describe the passion in sports, doing everything you can to pull out and W in the end of the game. Leaving everything on the field, shots that show emotion in the face, as well as body language showing the extent of what goes on in sports: on the field, sideline, anything. The thing with sports is there are so many, and eventhough there are certain shots that are comfort shots: ones that you know will be good, there are so many angles and directions you can go with a photograph when including a team, or the geometry of the field, ball, equipment, the list goes on forever. These are things I encounter when I approach a sport through my lens.
Based on the artist lecture from Su Friedrich today, I just wanted to write down a few observations and opinions based on what I saw in the presentation. I feel like she was really well spoken, and seemed like the majority of the audience really liked her work, but to be honest with you, there was very few things about her work that I liked. I felt her videos were a little too abstract for my taste, it seemed like she was explain some aspects of her films, give the audience a taste of what it was about, but when she showed the film, i was completely lost. The imagery within the film appeared really scattered and unconnected. As a respected artist, I don't feel I should hate on her work the whole time, there were some things i did like. I liked the color film she showed that was entitled "rules of the road", the music was really good, upbeat and fit well with the time period that was portrayed in the film. The opening title was really nice too, I like how she did the letters on the cards to spell out the title, it was really original and also played on the idea of being alone. It gave foreshadowing to the game of solitaire she had talked about prior to the viewing. I also feel the game of solitaire also contributes to the idea of loneliness, as it seemed the film was about a past partner she had. I can't remember when she had filmed the video, but I did want to say that I liked the color throughout the film, gave a very retro feel to it, a lot of different elements play on the feel of the film, she executed in a lot of different ways that gave you the sense of 1980s which i enjoyed.
The other film I liked was the tree house fantasy, where two girls were in a tree house and one had discussed what happens when you "do it", which I thought was pretty funny. I don't really want to go into detail about exactly what was said, but it was a humorous touch and got me a little more interested in her work, after the first few films I was pretty uninterested in her work, but after those 2 films, I had more respect for what she was doing. I dont necessarily feel that I am hating on their work, more just not understanding what is going on within the film, whenever I feel lost about the dialogue or narrative, I find myself drifting away and usually ignore other qualities of the work. I feel her earlier works were a lot more experimental and off the wall, which is probably why I had a tough time understanding her work, the later work she was showing seemed to be more finished to me, possibly because they had a narrator and music, which to me helps, especially when I feel a little lost about the issues discusses within the film, having that extra direction makes a big difference at times.
Giving thought about my presentation, I started thinking about different aspects of my photographs. How I was going to present them, what photographers I find myself relating to the most, just research more of less. Thinking scale, I've had a little bit of a tough time figuring out what size to print. First I had thought about printing big, maybe poster sized prints, but when weighing the pros and cons, I feel my photographs would be better off on a little smaller scale. Shooting with my Nikon D70, there were a few drawbacks, one being I could only shoot 1600 as the fastest IS0, it made some of my prints a little on the grainy side, I shot at a high resolution, but the majority of the time the shots I'm photographing either wind up a website or a magazine, not printed any bigger than 11" x 17", so I don't see much reason to sacrifice print quality to enlarge a photo to that scale. Even in the ESPN magazines, the photos that typically wind up on the front cover or full page spreads are portraits of athletes, which are shot in studio, with a high MP digital camera. My other idea was to take multiple photographs from a specific game and create a page layout, as if it were in a magazine. I've experimented with text, but still pretty new to it, could be a good opportunity to mess around. Thats something I can address to the class during the presentation, because its only a working critique, I don't think its that big of a deal not knowing exactly what I want out of the final presentation, I have time to work everything out, just so long as the photographs are good to go.
The editing has been going well, I have about 10 images set out that I want to work with so far. I still need to sort through some of my new images from the past 2 games, I've been swamped with web design and presentations for class that I haven't had time to really work on those ones, seeing its fall break, its a perfect time to catch up on some of that. I have a game I'm shooting tomorrow at 1 PM, so I'll have to download prior to that event, it'll give me a chance to go over those and the images from tomorrows game. I can also just make sure that I have 5 images ready to print for tuesday's critique. I'm not so worried though, I've been shooting a bunch, besides that games that are away, rainy, or night games, but I shoot every chance I get. I'll probably also wind up shooting some tomorrow for Shop RVA, I can just finish up some photographs of Chop Suey and a few other plans after I finish the game, while I'm still in the zone.
Just thought I'd write a little entry, documenting my weekend in shooting. I didn't have as much opportunity to shoot over the weekend, mainly because of web design, but I get out and shoot a lacrosse game. We had a VCU Alumni Lacrosse game, had a good turn out. I only got the first half, our alumni team fell behind, so I jumped in and played the second half, had a lot of fun doing it, first time i've played a game of lacrosse since summer. While I was shooting, I did start to work on different aspects, such as shooting manual exposure, usually I set my camera to Aperture Priority and shoot away, but I've been wanting to practice shooting more in manual, so I can have a lot more control over my images. It gets weird at times, cuz you have to go back and forth on the shutter speed in order to prevent from over/underexposure. Takes getting used to, while you're panning back and forth, following the game, you also have to be turning knobs, and making sure you're turning them in the right direction, its a lot to think about simultaneously. Eventually it will just become second nature, so I won't have to worry about it, just need a start working it more and more, until I shoot full manual for all my sporting events. I do feel like I got some good photos for the lacrosse game, honestly just haven't had the time to look through them all. Its been kinda hectic with all the school work I've been working on: had a paper due, website i've been trying to crank out, editing photos, the list keeps going. But I should be okay now, getting more and more done, so I won't have to worry about it so much later.
Forgot to mention, I should be traveling with the VCU lacrosse team. They alway like to have pictures from their games. I still have to figure out their schedule for fall ball, I don't even think they know yet, supposed they were gonna play in a tournament with a lot of really good teams, we were just gonna be a fall break this weekend, so we can't make it. Would have been a great time to shoot some photos, teams like UVA, Duke, Roanoke, Lynchburg, all top-notch teams. Either way, while traveling with the lacrosse team, I should be able to get some documentary, photos as well, like stopping at diners before the game, showing up at the field bright and early for games. Being able to photograph them in that manner seperate from playing on the field, it'll show a whole other side of the team, and more diversity in my photography. Because I played on the team for 2 years, I am real familiar with the team also, which I feel will help break down the barrier between the guys and the camera, some people find it uncomfortable. I do know a few guys on the team eat that kinda shit up though.
Looking through the Pictures of the Year
website, I found another interesting photographer by the name of Donald Miralle. There are multiple things that came out through his work that instantly hit me. Color in his images just really pop, he really has a great eye for balance within the composition. Balance as in color is what i'm getting at right now. I feel its important within an image to have those splashes of color that draw the viewers eye. It may be easier these days, as sports uniforms are getting more colorful and crazy, but there are so many places from a sporting event you can grab color from, whether its the crowd, the gatorade cooler on the sidelines of the football game, the light-show before the big game. Color just surrounds us, and I feel its the job of the photographer to take this world filled with chaos and color, and organizing them within a composition so that its balanced, and orchestrated. Where the color appears and the focus can say a lot about how the photo will be seen. You may not want bright colors in the background of a f2.8 photograph, the color may be distracting. The photographer really does compose the world around them, from the angle they're shooting, the lens, lighting situations, so many aspects affect the outcome of the final image.
More into the actual photographer, I wanted to discuss one of his images specifically. Because I couldn't find a name, I'll just call it "USC Receiver 82", there is so many qualities that make this a great photograph. First and foremost, the lighting makes this image. Really the situation of this lighting is great timing and an accident simultaneously. The player is leaping into the air to catch a ball thrown into the end zone. At the same time, theres a beam of sunlight peaking through the clouds, which you really can't plan for, when you're following a sporting event. I would almost say the photo was destiny, where it was supposed to be taken. Its almost an act of divinity, the photograph embodies the emotion of sports, at the same time, the light passing through the class could signify a deity. The photo resembles a Simon Bruty photo from one of my previous posts, which showed the tennis player playing amongst the light. The light also plays a role to soften the background, where the audience awaits the play, sitting in the shade, as the USC player basks in the sunlight, while making an athletic move. This is one of those images that, to me, becomes one of those notorious photographs of its time, like Muhammah Ali standing above his knocked out opponent. Its timeless, it shows the emotion, action, and the tradition of sports.
There was another image of his that I specifically liked, the frame is taken underwater, I'm assuming Miralle is underwater, but at the same time, it could possibly be a remote camera, if you can use a remote camera underwater, that I have no idea. The frame is filled with a blue hue that resembles the water you'd see in a photo of the Caribbean. An olympic diver cuts through the water like a hot knife through butter. I know, what an unoriginal metaphor, but whatever. The trail of oxygen (i guess thats what it is), follows behind the diver. The image gives the diver a special presence, as if they have supernatural powers. It just amazes me how you can give different perceptions of an object or person, simple by shooting different situations. Obviously shooting people diving into the water has been done before, but the framing and timing of the photograph gives this genre of photograph a completely different feel. You almost forget the person is a swimming, and begin to believe the flying. The texture of the water, lighting, hue, is all present within the sky, given the situation, so its really not so far to imagine, besides that fact we can't fly. Looking through Donald Miralle's photography just makes me think, there are so many photographs out there to take than what we typically see in sports, so much more going on. Really, its just about the journey, continuous searching of "that photograph", much like the surfer is always looking for that wave of his life. As a photographer, I just need to keep searching and shooting, it will all fall into place.
