I am beginning a new photo project.  You can check it out at ciarrastalker.blogspot.com.  Keep in mind, these are rough images in the beginning stages of the project.  Feel free to give me any input!

Youtube her! She’s incredible.

You all may have rad me last post about the article in the Atlantic about A.R.  I am considering doing a project inspired by that.  Instead of using “tags” like facebook or labeling people on a digitized looking window, I plan to take photos of people with labels that may or may not match the individuals.  

I don’t wan them to hold signs.  Its already been done, but I think maybe I’ll  use articial tattoos.  Maybe I could manipulate the scene to match/ not match te invidual.  Who knows.  This could be very interesting.  I want to stay away from cliches and overused stereotypes.

The Atlantic was obviously just a jumping off point, but it got the creative juices flowin’!

Eye of the Beholder: Robin Kelsey on Michael Freid’s “Why Photography Matters”

I read this article over and over and got nothing out of it.  It was reading an opinion of an opinion- a bad research paper.  It had its good points but I couldn’t stay focused on this article.  Conciseness is key.  This article was pretty much unbearable for me to read.

The case Fried is trying to make is a great one, but the photos he used back himself up were just poorly framed shots of funky bathroom sand abandoned cleaning supplies.

Sorry, but Art Forum = ads + rambling articles.  NOT a fan.

Flash Art

You all probably remember Chris Burden.  He was the performance artist that did “Shoot,” 1971.  He was supposed to have ad the bullet graze his arm, but it actually hit him.  He says he was trying to test the limits of art or “find where the edge was [between wrecklessness and serious art].”

Chris no longer does work that risks his life, but he says that his idea of limits is relative and his idea of limits is no different than it was in 1971.

 I loved his attitude in the  interview I read.  He was very straightforward and certain about his opinions on things and his artistic intentions.

I loved reading about his piece Jaizu.  He wore a pair of sunglasses and painted them black on the inside so that he couldn’t see people.  He allowed people to enter the room under the impression that they were being observed.  He remained still and speechless the entire time. He had a lot of different reactions.  During this piece, he was assaulted.  Most people just tried to talk to him, but a few left the room crying hysterically.

This really gets you thinking.  These peoples reactions were all the repercussions of individual thought.  They were all completely unprovoked, and their emotional responses were all sort of reflections of their own mental state.

I have a problem with photographing myself.  I normally don’t like the way I look in them or I feel to exposed.  These are my attempts as self portraits…

Successful

Unsuccessful

…AND I am having trouble uploading photos…more to come in the near future!

At the beginning of this film, I hated it.  Poppy got on my nerves at first, but over time, her bubbly unwavering enthusiasm became endearing.  It wasn’t the fact that she was naive, uncaring, or unintelligent that made her happy all of the time.  She simply decided to rise above all of the b.s. in life and try her best and make a positive impact on the world around her.  She just had to realize that she couldn’t make everyone happy.  

The entire film was bright and colorful.  This worked really well in the film because they made a part of the world that is virtually always cloudy and rainy seem bright and sunny.  Although England is normally a dark overcast area, the cloud cover certainly made it easier to capture super saturated color.  When the backdrop of a scene wasn’t so bright and sunny, Poppy was always the ray of sunshine in the room.  Her wardrobe was always playful-almost childlike at times.  

I wish I could be like Poppy:)

The Atlantic (Technology)

Seeing Too Much

Jamais Cascio

This article was based around the fact that augmented reality, or what I would like to call “Terminator Vision” is becoming a reality.  Before long you will be able to view the world as you would like to see it through AR.  Imagine looking through your sunglasses and everything you see is labeled or commented on.  Now imagine looking through glasses and the faces of certain people are blacked out or circled.  Recent breakthroughs in AR will soon make self-censorship possible.  If you don’t like Bush or Obama or conservatives or aliens from Mars or ugly people, you won’t have to look at them.    ”If you want to block out any indications of viewpoints other than your own DONE (Cascio).”

Is this a good thing?  I DON’T THINK SO!  AR should not be banned because it has its advantages, but if the entire world becomes sheltered by their own viewpoints, we will end up with an ignorant, intolerant, and unsympathetic world population.  

For the majority of this film, I felt myself falling into a deep dark depression! HOWEVER; it actually ended well.  I was very relieved that a spark of hope entered all of the characters’ lives toward the end.  

We are all linked by the fact that all of us face hardships and have bad days-bad lives even, but we all have the power to make someone elses a little better.

Photographically, there were two things that stick out in my mind.  The little girl from the sea had the biggest bluest eyes ever, and her red hair made them look crazy-deep blue.  Secondly, there is a huge ironic moment in which the poster of Batya’s mother looks like its sheltering her from the rain, but it’s not.  She looks like a do-gooder, but she’s just a poser.  I thought that the framing was very clever!

The Holiday Season is right around the corner, and most of us are really excited, but I think that we all need to think about the less fortunate during this time of year.  I went grocery shopping Saturday night and broke down crying in the middle of Wally World.  There was a Christmas tree by the far entrance with cut-out paper ornaments.  I went over to read them and on each one was a Christmas wish from a needy child.  They were allowed to ask for one thing.  Most of them asked for a hat or a shirt. One little boy wanted socks and t-shirts.  That’s what broke me.  A little boy gets one Christmas wish, and he asks for socks!  Can you imagine not even having nice socks or  a nice shirt to wear?  We can all sit around and worry about all of the problems in the world, but we need to do something about the problems right in our back yards.  So next time there’s a canned food drive that you just can’t seem to remember, think about the hungry families you could help by remember a couple of canned goods.  Think about how you can make a child’s Christmas bright by spending a couple of bucks on a toy or a shirt.  A little bit of kindness goes a long way!