MOTORSPORT PHOTOGRAPHER

Film Journal 

1.  ART:21 Chicago 

      Learning about the artists in Chicago was an eye-opening situation for me. Being a photographer, I tend to work hours on editing images, and it also irritates me and makes me worried that an image isn’t going to work out. After watching the Art 21 documentary about Chicago, I learned that other artists stress and contemplate about their work as much as I do. For example, Chris Ware who is cartoonist for his local newspaper, worries and struggles with the thoughts about his work. Learning that other artists go through the same stresses that I do, makes me feel more comfortable with the process of my work. As I edit photos several times repeatedly, I know that I am exercising and sharpening my skills.     

      Barbara Kasten’s photography has one aspect that caught my eye. She uses geometric shapes as her subject for her images and places them in unfamiliar locations, such likes deserts. This aspect is unique to me because she doesn’t use photoshop or any software capabilities to help her capture her desired look. This aspect about her photography amuses me because her images may look unreal to her audience, but the objects and locations are physically real.  

 

2. Art 21: Los Angeles 

       It amazes me to see artists incorporate historical events into their work. In the documentary, Edgar Arceneaux does this sort of thing in his play Until, Until, Until. Arceneaux was inspired to recreate Ben Vereen’s 1981 performance at the Republican gala which was used for Ronald Reagan’s election celebration. Learning about the odd and racist performance of Ben Vereen further inspires me to fight against the injustice and political cracks our democracy faces. I’m happy to hear that Arceneaux is highlighting this point of history that most individuals overlook.  

Arceneaux always has this historical aspect in his work such like, “A Book and a Medal”. The art pieces are two letters sent to Martin L. King Jr. During the 1960’s civil rights movement. The artist made the background of the letter a mirror. The mirror forces you to be reflected which indicates a deeper meaning, that it can be anyone writing those letters for civil justice.  

 

3. David Hockney: Joiner Photographs 

      After watching David Hockney’s photography methods and work process, I understood something special about it. In his Joiner Photographs, Hockney tends to not have a plan or story to picture when he arrives on the scene. For example, when Hockney arrives at his friend's house for tea he doesn't have any idea what or how he will shoot for his scene. As he thinks while smoking a couple of cigarettes, he creates a story and plan for what he wants his scene to be. When he finally discovers his scene, he directs his subjects on what he wants them to do while he photographs the event. 

       I personally loved this work method form David Hockney, because I learned that as a photographer you don’t have to have an idea for an event when you are on the spot. Hockney’s work was slow and intense which was the beauty behind it because he had a chance to think of ideas on the spot without overwhelming himself with days of thoughts. In the past my thinking process could take days to discover what scene I wanted. David Hockney taught me to be spontaneous on the spot but also take some time to process what you truly want to photograph.  

One aspect about Hockney’s photography that caught my attention was the intention to use all the photos that were taken from the scene to build one big image. As he receives his printed images from a nearby photography store, he uses all the images no matter what damage or mistakes were made in the printing process. This aspect is the beauty of the joiner photographs because all the images put together creates a mind-boggling event for the human eye to see. Any mistake that was made still adds to the image and Hockney does a fantastic job of revealing what mistakes were made because it helps tell the process behind the work.  

 

4. Harry Callahan, An American Photographer  

      As identifying myself as a photographer, I do struggle with what to photograph, especially when you're limited to certain recourses in your location. Near the end of the documentary Callahan described using your interests as power. This information taught me a valuable lesson because if you don’t have motivation to photograph, then you need to direct your photography into what interests you in order to gain power to produce work. Being a student in college and having limited objects of interest to photograph tells me to go to more events so I can produce more images.  

      Seeing Aaron Siskind collaborate with Harry Callahan to teach photography was an interesting aspect from the documentary. These two photographers tended to contradict themselves in their teachings but the contradiction made the teaching process stronger. For example, Aaron said “If you work slowly and intensely, you’ll be amazed at what happens”. Harry would say the same thing but switched the slow to fast. I loved seeing the collaboration between the two photography teachers because the contradictions never tore the teachers apart but only made them stronger.  

 

5. The Times of Bill Cunningham 

      This documentary was out of my comfort zone because I have never focused on fashion in photography before. Bill Cunningham described himself as a Fashion Historian, not a photographer and he is correct about that statement. He also described that one reason why he loves street photography is because the people in the streets speak for American democracy. Cunningham documented many events such like, the first gay pride parade in 1970. This was brilliant because he was the first person to document events that no one thought would be worth photographing. This taught me a lesson to always have my camera on my side and document street events because the people who fill the streets speak for what America wants in their democracy. Photographers will need to document events so the world will have a channel to understand what's going on. 

      One aspect about Bill Cunningham was the determination to take the picture. He was so focused on capturing what other people were wearing he never focused on what he wore. Cunningham received dead people's clothes and appreciated that he had them but he cared way more about taking the picture. I loved his pure focus about his photography because he wasn't self-centered about it. He cared about what the people were trying to say on the streets so he documented it with his photography.  

 

6. Art21: Vancouver 

      My uncle lives near Vancouver, and I have thought about traveling to see what it's like. Vancouver is a different space to capture because of its complexity. Stan Douglas makes art in ways I didn’t think anyone would do. He made a video game to represent what Circa looked in 1948. During this time Circa was where the mixed neighborhood was and, in the future, became torn down. I loved that Douglas used his art to make a game that reveals history especially, the art being a video game that will connect to a younger audience. One thing I learned from this documentary was that video games can be looked at as an art piece.  

      One aspect about Jeff Wall’s photography that connected to me was his search for “that picture”. I myself feel the same way when I'm out photographing because, as I see the same old buildings and spaces, I can see an image that could take place. I was fascinated with Jeff Wall’s work because he recreates historic moments with all real objects. His work is so compelling because he respects the large format prints and uses the size to reveal objects that the audience can’t see.  

 

7. In No Great Hurry, Saul Leiter 

      Saul Leiter is a photographer who puts pure confidence and joy into his artwork. I enjoyed the way he works and organizes because being a photographer, I have a hard time organizing my own images. Studying several artists over the past couple of years, Saul is the first photographer I studied that has pure enjoyment in his disorganization. This is one thing that he taught me about photography, is that I and other artists need to enjoy the process of making images rather than stressing about where to put the artwork. Yes, I do think organization is a crucial part of my photography but, watching Leiter explain why he never organized his work calms my stress of organization down. I tend to use his thoughts as a ticket to get away from some organization. 

      One aspect about Saul Leiter’s photography that I loved was his use of color because, most of his images have a pop of color. The reds, blues, and yellows always pop and give you this sense of 1950’s era, even if the images were taken from Saul today. His work was always constant with the same colors and style until he died in 2013. Discovering Saul Leiter’s work grew my interest in photography because his slow, relaxed way of working eases my stress levels about working as an artist.  

 

8. Men at Lunch 

      Seeing the images and videos that documented the steel workers in the early 1930’s was extraordinary to me. Those men had such great courage to work and hang off a thousand-foot building to help America build. These men were immigrants from Ireland and other parts of Europe but, decided to leave the unacceptable terrors of civil war and social injustice for a better life in America. This is one thing that amazed me in the documentary because, these immigrants where so terrified from their own home they'd rather go somewhere else and work in dangerous conditions for pay. These steelworkers where tough in the 1930’s but I do give credit to the photographers who risked their lives standing on six-inch beams to document history. I have always seen the photo of the men sitting and eating lunch on a steel beam, but I didn’t know the complete dangers behind it. This documentary was fascinating, because I learned that the steel workers weren't the only ones risking their lives, it was also photographers capturing the moment in history.  

      One aspect that I loved about the image of the men having a lunch break was the choice from the photographer of why take the image. Most of these photographers that took these extremely dangerous photos work for local newspapers as journalists. These photographers didn't intend to take the most sought-after photo taken in American history. They were just doing their job and documenting of how the workers work and how the building was built. However, this photo was a happy accident because the intention of the photographer to take the photo has inspired others to connect with the image themselves.