Posts made in July, 2010
LARISSA CLEVELAND
(Photo credit: Larissa Cleveland, She Doesn’t Know Why She Likes Them)
Larissa Cleveland’s series Collector examines the compulsive Western impetus to own mass quantities of particular things. Titled with Cleveland’s abridged takeaway of the sitting, these environmental portraits feature subjects often dwarfed by their massive collections.
In her own words:
This image is from a body of work that represents my investigation into an individual and societal preoccupation with collecting and the narrative or symbolic power of objects. My experiences as a child surrounded by my father’s mass collection of civil war artifacts has prompted my continued interest in the pursuit of collecting and also to question the nature of hobby versus obsession.
See the rest of this series and more of Larissa’s work at http://larissaphoto.com
Read MoreJON FEINSTEIN
(Photo credit: Jon Feinstein, 12 grams)
After brief experimentation, early twentieth century physician Duncan MacDougall concluded that the weight of the human soul was 21 grams. Photographer Jon Feinstein conducts his own measurements within a more corporeal context. Titled by weight, the photograph 12 grams transforms the hamburger from fast food staple to scientific specimen.
“Fast Food” is a typological exploration of the food on its own. Hamburgers, French fries, chicken nuggets and “specialty” sandwiches are scanned on stark black backgrounds, isolated from their common context, without name recognition, nearly floating in space. Under austere, uniform lighting; stripped of branding, packaging and iconography, the food takes on a disgustingly scientific, yet ethereal quality.
The rest of Feinstein’s series can be seen at www.jonfeinstein.com/fastfood.html
Read MoreRYAN BOATRIGHT
(Photo credit: Ryan Boatright, Untitled #5 (Rooftop) from the series Exurbia)
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
Photographer Ryan Boatright knows just what Malvina Reynolds was talking about. Beyond the suburbs lie the exurbs. Thought of as an upper middle class escape from the lack luster suburbs and the decay of urban neighborhoods, these high price enclaves seem to promote sameness and excess. In this series, Boatright searches the skylines of a Kentucky commuter town for a new definition of home.
In his own words:
Focus your critical attention on the fortress-like nature of exurbia. A vast, gray sky surrounds the emptiness of these structures. Builders construct homes of similar design for occupants who in turn conform to neighborhood codes and restrictions. This photograph describes the formal commonality of design that homogenizes mainstream American culture.
More of Boatright’s work can be found at www.ryanboatright.com
Read MoreTAE YOUNG CHANG
(Photo credit: Tae Young Chang, untitled no. 1)
(Photo credit: Tae Young Chang, untitled no. 5 )
Is there a better testament to a persuasive ad campaign than a product that is 100% identifiable without the label? Photographer Tae Young Chang examines the ingrained identities of products in the series Untitled. Chang was awarded a Director’s Honorable Mention for these images.
In his own words:
Read MoreThe series “Untitled” [was] shot after covering the surface of the existing products with a uniform tone … By removing the logo and peculiar color attached to the product, it tries to minimize the advertising effects … The fact that the original product can sometimes be recognized even in this altered circumstance demonstrates how the form itself, as an image, still has the power to stimulate our desire.
PLEASURES AND PITFALLS
Carrot Cake House, Erin Gleeson
Please join us tonight from 6:00 – 7:30pm for Consumption: Its Pleasures and Pitfalls
The discussion will be led by Philip Cafaro, Associate Professor of Philosophy, at Colorado State University and Hamidah Glasgow, Executive Director of The Center for Fine Art Photography. Consumption raises provocative questions about human needs, desires and their resultant impacts on the self and in the surrounding environment.
Don’t forget to RSVP at contact@c4fap.org to reserve your seat. This event is free and open to the public.
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