Before we talked about photography...we honored our own Carel Struycken and his continuing rise to stardom in his most current role in "Twin Peaks." Today Carel was in Las Vegas on a PR tour. We had two presentations today...Jim Staub "Protest" and Bill Wishner "The Gardeners" Jim's pictures were shot during the LA protest marches. Many of his pictures focuses on the "placard" the protesters carried but he made it clear it was about the message and the people who marched. It was noted that the strength of his shots were the compositions including both elements. We discussed the presence of a photographer in protests and how they (and Jim) are accepted by those being photographed. The B&W asthetic added to the presentation. See some example from "Protest" below: The second presentation by Bill entitled "The Gardeners" was shot in Sunset Gardens in Sonoma CA. The garden was created to highlight Sunset Magazine's outdoor cooking and gardening efforts. Many of their articles have been shot at this venue. "As I strolled around the garden, tucked away, was a stone wall. The wall was constructed by Mexican workers and on the wall were visual tributes to those workers and all Mexicans who migrated to our country looking for opportunity. It also visually pointed out some of hazards these workers face in coming to the US." See some examples of "The Gardeners" below: In a different view of protest...in the NYT (July 8, 2017) about a Sicilian photographer Letizia Battaglia who photographed the Mafia killings in Sicily. Her work is in the vain of Wegee but with a political viewpoint. Here is the link to the article...well worth reading Letizia Battaglia "Archive of Blood" Mark noted a new book about photographer Gaspard-Felix Tourachon also known as "Nadar" a pioneer of portrait photography, balloonist (and yes, he took pictures from balloons), cartoonist and bohemian. Bill noted the new book by Teju Cole "Blind Spot"...a series of vignettes coupled with his photography...that actually or metaphorically relates to his writing. Teju Cole is one of the premier writers on photography. Warning: occasionally his politics get in the way of his photography narrative. Worth reading
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|