Please Note.

We are now going to shift our attention to the Book Project. You will not have to crit your classmates but, I will continue to critique the 115 blogs every Wednesday, and grade that they are being updated. They should be updated by midnight on Tuesdays in order to receive your grade for that week. No exceptions without an email describing a need for an extension of time.
I will also provide you with a grade update as we are approaching midterm. Look for it in your email.
Hope you all are having a great summer!

Assignment for Wednesday, July 2nd!

It is time to start organizing our thoughts on the Book Project.

In Photoshop/Illustrator or InDesign, create three sketch pages that are the dimensions of your book. If you haven't already, visit your LULU account and decide on a size of book that they offer. You can choose other sizes, but it will be more money. You should me making decisions about the font you plan to use, the colors of the font and any accent colors, or whether there will be any words at all.

We have 6 weeks from this critique to work on this book before it is sent to print. It is time to focus gang!

I am very excited to see what all you come up with! Your blogs look excellent too! Keep up the good work!


Page 1 =Book Cover
This is a sketch so do not be afraid to be experimental. This is a very important page because it is what every viewer sees first. You have to make it interesting enough for people to want to open the cover. You may do more than one Book Cover, in fact I encourage it. If you do, post them all.
Page 2= Introduction/Artist Statement
Again, this is a sketch/rough draft. You may put an image here--you may not. I am also aware that some of you may not choose to put this kind of information in your book at all. If you do, it may not live on the second page--maybe on the back cover. That is FINE. I still want you to have that practice, formulate those words, and organize verbally the direction of your book, in order to get your grade for this week. (This is NOT a Word Document. it must be created in one of the image making programs.)
Page 3= First Image Page
Work hard to formulate an interesting layout for your first page. Most of you do not have a final image proof for that first page, so use a mock photo that is relevant to your idea. Again, You may create more than one, and if you do, post them all or your top three choices.

Assignment for Wednesday, June 25th!

Revise your statements and blogs according to the critiques that you have received on June 18th, by Tuesday, June 24th at midnight.

On Wednesday, please revisit everyones blog and do a quick evaluation of its finality. If someone needs more work--say so, if not give them a thumbs up and move on. We are going to dive into our book starting Wednesday July 2nd, so the blog should be developed so that it only needs to be updated weekly. YOU STILL MUST TAKE DAILY PORTRAITS EVEN THOUGH WE MAY NOT LOOK AT THEM EVERY WEDNESDAY.

CALL VAL! 530-848-4110

I am more than happy to hear from you by phone on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, if by any chance you have a question about something. I will answer all calls! Do not hesitate, some of you are confused and tentative and are not writing me. If you would rather call--feel free!

Sincerely,
Valerie

PS--Just don't give my digits to anyone without my permission and NO PRANK CALLING! :-)

Book Idea by Chavis

I apologize to everyone for being so late

I don't have a sketch or sample but my idea for my book is to have a series of pictures telling the story of two people (lovers possibly) stranded on a distant planet. The pictures will be visually inspired by the covers of the Amazing Stories science fiction magazines. I don't know where I am going to shoot but I want some place that looks at least a little barren. I have one model and I have someone in mind for the second but I am still in the process of getting her to work with me. I still don't know exactly how I want to make costumes or props but I'm getting closer to a solution. I plan to begin shooting the first week of July and hopefully have all the pictures I need within a few days. Depending on what type of landscape I can find I might have to do a lot of editing to my pictures in order to achieve a "science fiction" type atmosphere. My finished book will be in the form of a comic book with no text except for a title. Right now the only major problem I have is a lack of funds, but I am trying my best to take care of that. Wish me luck.

Wed June 18th Assignment!

On your 115 blog, post a statement that pertains to that project of self portraiture.
Do not reveal the project as an assignment. Attempt to cover the scope of what your intentions are, and how you expect your blog to function to a viewer.

Remember that you only have to discuss this piece. Do not write an all encompassing artist statement. This should be geared more like a project description--a statement of purpose, written in first person. Three to four sentences should suffice.

Take a look at Felecia Carlisle statements. They are nicely written. Note the differences between the two.

Artist Statement:
http://feleciacarlisle.com/section/30047.html
Project Statement:
http://feleciacarlisle.com/section/30050.html

This is a good resource for later in life!
http://www.artistsfoundation.org/art_pages/resources/resources_arts_statement.htm

BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE YOUR STATEMENT UP BY MIDNIGHT ON TUESDAY AND CRIT ALL OF YOUR PEERS BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY.

The big question is: Does the blog really do what the Statement provided says it will? If not--how do they fix that statement so that it does.

Thom's Book Idea

I'm not posting a sketch because I am not settled on my idea at the moment.

But until further notice my idea is something as follows:

I am interested in depicting modern man in a sort of quasi pre-modern fashion. Staging photographs loosely based on contemporary tribal photography and the stories,mythos, and cultural practices created by these tribes that continue to exist today. Seemingly stagnant in a sort of technology-less parallel universe, the modern world seems to advance beyond them exponentially more and more and at a faster rate each day. In our wake of advancement is a staggering difference but one in which an equally apparent similarity can be measured against. I believe this line that still connects the highly advanced to the tribesman, no matter how far the line has been stretched, is what we have come to know as 'human nature' and it is this increasingly intriguing connection that I want to capture through my lens. As different as we are, we are all human, with animal instincts, religions, gender roles, traditions, and a uniquely human altruism that separates us from every other animal on earth while, at the same time, reminding us that we are all animals as well.

I guess my hesitation is that the idea is so broad that there is too much room for error/clunkiness, coming off condescending etc. I think I need to narrow the scope a little bit and focus on one or two aspects of tribal culture/life, because, objectively, I think it's too broad right now and a lot can be lost in translation from concept to photograph. So I guess I'm still figuring it out.

Please Read!

Hello Class.

I am very disappointed in the lack of participation in this class. There is a handful of students that are right on target, and I appreciate your hard work. You know who you are.

The rest of you need to GET IT TOGETHER! This class depends on you.
You are not treating this class as you should. It is no different than a classroom. If you miss a crit, you are missing an exam! It is unacceptable, and your peers need you to proceed.

You are to RESPOND TO EVERYONE. If someone has a weak idea, they need you the MOST. Help them work it out. That is our job in this class. Do not just praise the folks who nailed it on the first try. Everyone has a different learning curve. If you have not given the students you have posted a critique, I STRONGLY suggest that you get on there and do just that ASAP!

The rules are very simple.
You post your assignment on every TUESDAY BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

Then, upon your awakening on Wednesday, there should be 13 Blogs posted for you to critique at your leisure. You have all day to do so, just be done that WEDNESDAY BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

I WILL ACCEPT NOTHING LESS.

If things are going on with you that are preventing you from doing your best, it is your job to keep an open communication with me. I am very understanding when I know what is going on in the moment.

DO not respond to this post but send an email, letting me know that you have received it, understand its contents, and provide any comments that may help me organize this blog, so that it can run more smoothly for you, if that is the issue. I am happy to have a phone conversation with anyone who needs to be walked through the blogging process. Just send your # and I will call you.

Sincerely,

Valerie

Jessica Emrick

Click image above to see whole image.

So this is my first go at making a layout. The pictures are my first go at them as well.

My idea in a nut shell:
I will be taking pictures of the ends of roads. Dead ends seem to be the easiest to take pictures. I hope to create a layout based on each individual photograph. I think my biggest difficulty is creating a beautiful picture from each place. I also hope to get images from Mississippi and Alabama.

Ray's Photobook

I believe I've decided to basically document the way of life here. This year is different than the previous years of my coming here in that there is a new generation on the rise that is distancing themselves from the "old ways". Teenagers speed up and down the dirt roads, now listening to hip-hop, and more seem to dress in name-brand clothing that are probably made by children only a few miles from here. On the other end, the construction is still done without machinery, for the most part; many houses are made of clay bricks and trees; old men travel through town, saddled on asses, wearing large brimmed hats and carrying a machete under one arm; animals such as pigs, goats, cows, and horses roam the streets as they always have. I have become very interested in the changing society here. I plan to ask a certain question to locals and document their responses as well. I will attempt to spread the question out among different generations so I receive many different responses. I'd also like to have them write their answer on a random piece of paper, so that I may take a picture of the response and it may take up a page next to a photo of that person.

I decided for my book to elaborate on the last photo series I did. Friends and strangers alike will write down the worst name they have been called to their face, which will be revealed in a prison style photo. I am shooting for the book to be 30-40 pages long. Each page will have one photo competely filling the page, no border, no page number. p.s. I apologize for the clarity of the photo, the title is what the page reads. I am in the process of finding a better camera.

Thanks for your comments, Rebekah

Karen Lynch's Book Sketch

The concept is Walking on Egg Shells. I'll be taking images of various situations or instances where one would feel they must be extra cautious with what they say or do, hence the term "walking on egg shells."

There is text on the vine across the ankle, describing the emotion. "That's not what I meant." Click on the image for full size. I'm still unsure if this will be the final concept for the book.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Karen

Rezvan's Book Idea

I want to use text=image as my concept, where the text represents the feel and mode of the photo. I have been taking many pictures at night exploring different lights apparent only at night. I will also be using photographs taken during day light, so i can have a combination of both. PHOTOS will be long and horizontal.

Karmeshia's Book Idea

SORRY FOR THE DELAY WITH MY PAGE. I JUST RETURNED FROM EUROPE YESTERDAY AND I JUST STARTED TO FIX MY PAGE UP. FOR MY BOOKLET I THINK I WANT TO TAKE PHOTOS OF GRAFFITI WRITING ON WALLS, BUILDINGS, AND INTERSTATES. I NOTICED THAT IT IS VERY POPULAR IN BOTH COUNTRIES AND YOU CAN FIND IT IN MANY CITIES. I HAD ANOTHER IDEA OF PICKING ONE ITEM AND PHOTOGRAPHING IT IN MANY DIFFERENT PLACES BUT IM NOT QUITE SURE YET. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??

Sam's Photobook Idea

I've been interested in photography for a while now and in that time I will have usually documented a scene or environment that has already existed. My idea behind my photo book is to get a little more of my hand in the environment in which I am capturing. The space I will be using is my living room; what will change is what choose to wrap/cover everything in. ***I am also working on the lighting situation. I will probably use the lighting kit which will hopefully guide me to something i will like and not something i am just settling for.

Tiffany's Broad Book Ideas

I am still unsure. 

However, here are two still very broad ideas...neither of which I am prepared with an example.

1) I am going to Peru in a few weeks and I am thinking of taking either landscape or architectural photos. However, I am trying to develop a less conventional, conceptual way of dealing with the landscape and or architecture there...I might build on the spot sculptures that mimic the landscape, or architecture, or maybe I can use a different type of camera such as my cellphone, a pinhole, or polaroid. Clearly, I am unclear on this. 

2) Underwater, landscapes, in different bodies of water, also incorporating quickly constructed sculptures. 

Sorry, for not having any example images, but I definitely could use some feedback on my ideas. 

Jeannine's Book Sketch

The concept behind my book is simple. In a mundane world of dark streets and construction signs, there's something greater, something technicolor. I'm documenting this same world, the way I see it- in exaggerated color, light, and motion- through the sounds of pure trance music. This is the style of photography you will see throughout TRANCEPORT.

[SAMPLE IMAGES] Unedited.

It's the perpetual feeling of a drive-by rave. I'm here to take you along for the ride.

Jessica Nall - Book Sketch

For my book I will take natural textures and contrast them with man made textures. The textures will have rich, full colors and will fill the entire page. I want the images to have a emotional quality rather than a straight on texture on texture quality.

- Another idea I have for the book is to take lots of crazy pictures of eyes, but not quite sure how to elaborate. I thought about telling a story behind the eyes, but maybe that's too corny. I guess it just depends on how its represented. Any thoughts?

Andrew's Sketch

I'm really having a hard time narrowing down my concept for the book.

These are two of my ideas:

Digital Erosion Urban Explosion
Pixilated Urban Landscapes
Zero Text
Landscape demensions
A simplistic visual comentary on Western Digital culture, Overpopulation and conservation.
A Stream
"Take want you want and leave the rest"
I recently started filling a note book with spontaneous thoughts and images. I want to take this stream of consciousness and describe it visually next to the text.
I'm interested in the hidden connections that people can extrapolate from the subconscious.
Each individual interpretation a separate art piece. The patterns that might occur a statement of the culture and thought process of the time.

NOTICE!! GRADING AND THE E-LEARNING PORTION OF OUR CLASS!

I would like to take a moment to clearly establish my expectations of your participation for the rest of the semester. I also want to generate understanding about the rules, which we as a class will be living by.

1) Have your Assignments finished by midnight on the night before our crit date. I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE WORK WITHOUT AN EMAIL IN ADVANCE! You will receive a zero for that day. They add up quickly, so be careful.
2) Crit all of your classmates on the crit date. Also, respond to those who ask you questions. I will inform you if we loose anyone.
3) Be tactful and respectful. You are typing, so edit. You have a unique opportunity to craft and hone your thoughts. Make sure that they are constructive. If you like something—explain WHY. If you don't, again, WHY? It is the reasons that are helpful to hear. Use language and vocabulary that is appropriate for the academic setting. Spell check!
4) You are being graded on both your blogs/books and your crits 50/50. You do not want to have missed either opportunity for those points. This is our ONLY class meeting per week. You are expected to set aside class time to focus your attention on your responsibilities of this class.
5) I have no intentions of grading like a kitten. You will get the grade that you deserve based on your performance and commitment. My strongest suggestion for doing well from here on out: Live for Wednesdays! You may contact me at any time to discuss your standing in the class. If you need a greater understanding of how I grade, see the syllabus or contact me directly with your concerns. I am happy to explain my procedure.
6) I encourage and expect feedback. Do not hesitate to offer up suggestions to make this exchange run more smoothly. This is an experimental format so please confer with me on any issues that come up. I will work hard to make it a great experience for all of us, and you have to work hard to be open and honest so that we can make the most out of it! I am open to all input!
7) Please check your email frequently as I may need to run things by you from time to time. Stay in touch and stay connected! Some of you offered help to your classmates with big projects. Contact them and ask for help yourself if you need it. It takes a whole community to raise a baby, right?
8) Have fun and stay focused. Getting good at photography means taking tons of pictures. It is not called an art "practice" for nothing!