First Residency Summary

First Residency Summary Group 1

In the critiques I spoke about my interest in community narratives, and each critique leader brought their own response to the way my ideas were visualized. The following are the themes and questions that came up across multiple sessions:

• What is my voice and my sensibility? What unifies the work?

• How do the images live in the community? Is it through a public exhibition system? 

• Some of the expressions of the people in the portraits feel controlled or guarded, and I need

more psychologically charged and unguarded expressions. 

• What are my responsibilities as an artist to the community? Is it possible to accomplish this

without losing my voice, purpose, and sensibility? 

• Have a greater understanding of the history, ideas and issues of the documentary tradition. • Consider the ethics of photographing other people and cultures. 

• Move past traditional portraiture and documentary to something more conceptual.

Artists that came up multiple times were, Martha Rosler, “The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems”, Rineke Dijkstra, and JR.

I was a bit nervous at the first critique, but it was good to stand in front of three projects that I was proud of in which I had invested a lot of time and energy. People said that I capture a dignified earnestness in the portraits. This is the voice and sensibility that I bring to the work, but it may not be enough in a fine art postmodern context.

In general the installation of the Gloucester portraits at the lobster warehouse on the harbor was received very positively. I need to continue to think about where images can live and what their relation to people can be. If it is for the community, then it needs to be of relevance to them so that people don't become specimens in a gallery.

Some issues were brought up around photographing people. There is always a potential of an exploitative outsider looking in without giving anything back. For the most part I have found a way to make the photos alive in the community while also documenting the community. While I am aware of historical documentary traditions, how do can I do it today without being exploitative? The challenge is to accommodate their expectations, but also have a more experiential dimension. One reviewer said that the images should not necessarily be about the subjects. The photos should be about me and how I see the subjects.

Other problems photographing people is they present guarded expressions or a smiling face just standing and looking at the camera. We discussed techniques of getting images past that such as building trust, catching an unguarded moment, or getting a psychological response. How much control should be used producing the image? There was disagreement on the lighting used in the portraits. Some felt that it added an additional dimension, while others said it felt too charming, too prescribed, too idealized. Another instructor challenged me to have less control and allow some system to dictate the way the imagery is produced. Also, there is a trend shifting away from the tradition representational documentary photography opening other ways of portraying communities and groups of people.

Two additional projects that I brought with me for critiques did not generate very much discussion. One was a series of documentary images from student protests in Chile, and the other was a series of abstract cityscapes. These two projects are not where I want to focus my energies for this program. While I may return to the visual language used I would rather deepen my understanding of portraiture.

Moving forward, I need to take into account the ubiquitousness of cameras and the millions of photos flowing through social media everyday. Social media needs to be incorporated into any community photographic project which includes social practice.

What do I what to keep from the work, and what do I what to let go of? I have worked hard on many projects and have published thousands of images, but quantity and hard work are not enough. I need to be more thoughtful about my artwork. What I want to keep from the work is the aspect of relevance and accessibility to the general public not just making photos that are for gallery viewers and just a discourse about art. I need to research how contemporary artists have dealt with social documentary photography. I want to keep a documentary impulse and a social dimension while continuing to experiment with audience.

Artists: Stefan Maria Rother who published books devoted to one street of Berlin at a time. Edward Rucha's book, “Every Building on the Sunset Strip”, Suzanne Lacy In Morning and in Rage Catherine Opie Sharon Hayes Jeremy Deller's, “The Battle of Orgeave"a contemporary investigation of a deep historical wound and his installation in the British pavilion of the 2013 Venice Biennale.

Rineke Dijkstra, Wolfgang Tillmans, Dan Graham, Jeff Wall, Thomas Demand. James Casebere, Carrie Mae Weems, Book of photographs crowd sourced form 9-11 Taryn Simon's “The Innocents”

Wendy Ewald Dawoud Bey Alan Lomax Roni Horn Andreas Gersky Edward Burtynsky photographs and film "Manufactured Landscapes” Garry Winogrand street photos in the 60s,

Harry Callahan's Chicago Street images Broomberg & Charnin exposing emulsified paper to the environment in Afghanistan August Sander Magnum photographer Gio Perez. Photo essays "OHIO" Alec Soth. Sleeping by the Mississippi & Niagara. Bruce Davidson East 100th Street