Importance of place and context

I decided to take the time-lapse technique that I been using lately to the "People's Climate March" in New York City. I was one of the over 400,000 people marched that day. I have covered many mass demonstrations including student protests in Chile which usually ended with clashes with the police. In the past, with the intent of a photojournalist, I ran around trying to capture all heightened action seeking out the most emotional, colorful and conflictual. This time I was more meditative finding places where I could set up the camera to capture the vast numbers of people. I initially found places that looked down on the crowd and towards the end of the march, I was right in the middle of street as the marchers streamed past and around me.
Fuck Climate Change, Pointing, Silence, Birds, Rising Tide.

 

Mentor update

This semester I have been meeting with André Ruesch. He has been helpful and insightful. We started off with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of my past work. He gave special attention to my overall vision bringing out both the strengths and weaknesses. He has directed my thinking with pointed questions that have lead to new directions and avenues to explore in my work. He pushed my self directed studio work with new specific assignments. We began getting to know each other as I shared my career and general professional goals. He has helped me greatly putting words to the concepts that I have been exploring. Though our conversations,
Here are some of his thoughts from my mid-term report:
"Of late Mark has engaged in more conceptualized work, leaving the camera on a tripod and capturing images via time-lapse settings. This approach is interesting in that it automates and mechanizes the capture of photographs. It represents a form of empowerment by employing the same observational tactics that capture all of us on security cameras multiple times each day as we go about our daily business. Mark takes this further by deciding on the staging, the canvas in a manner of speaking, and then abdicates control by letting the preset time-lapse intervals impose the regimented rhythm of advancing time to inform his work and his viewers. The implications of abdicating authorship at a certain point are rife with questions about control, the illusion thereof, and the prized photographic “decisive moment” heralded as the ultimate measure of a good street/ documentary photograph and beyond. Still, though very interesting, the lack of authorship represents certain challenges. It is the quality control, or in Mark’s case, conceptual, editorial and sequential decision-making where his ownership re-engages.
Having photographed the outside of things, documented and interpreted them, Mark is interested in addressing the personal and psychological this semester. The dichotomy between the two, the assumption of authorship, and ultimately the integration of these approaches as a sustained inquiry rather than compartmentalization have been central to our dialogue so far."
One aspect that I have been challenged to do is to be more considerate of the place and context where I place my camera for collecting images. The images need to be more compelling with a tighter edit. I need to decide on my authorship and commit to it with deliberate intent. The viewer can't be left with too little. As I approach documentary photography in a new way, I need to find one aspect of concern and if need be, discover this as an editor.
I also discussed with André how I feel like I have two different sides to my practice as an artist. On the one hand I have an interest in documentary, portraiture, and the social practice. On the other hand I have a deep desire to seek and create meaning through a process of internal intuitive exploration. He gave me an assignment to find images of photographers that resonated with me on each side of the spectrum.
It was really interesting to plum the depths of my photo history knowledge to discover how certain photographers have influenced my thinking and my work.
Below are some of the pairings that I considered:

 

  

  

Gold to Blue

I'm exploring the opposite side of the spectrum, moving away from the street and society to look at the simple aesthetics of the changes of light. Below is a 30 sec loop exploring the passing of the "golden hour" into the "blue hour" shot from 30,000ft.

Narrative

I picked out some images from a time lapse series that I shot and put them together into a series that I think tells a story. It may not have a beginning and end, but I think it has potential to intrigue the viewer.

Crops

I've been thinking about how to proceed with further work and one suggestion was to pick one element that interests me from the previous images.
Below are a few trials:

Sun Dial:

Lens Flare:

Work shown at the 2nd residency

Home window: Sodium vapor night, dawn, tungsten light.

This is exhibited horizontally with 1 photo taken every 6 minutes 

Sundial Intersection: Pedestrians, Traffic, Subway

Exhibited in 6x10 grid and book

And as a slideshow:

Below are the individual images:

June '14 Residency Summary

For my second residency I brought a body of work that moved in a vastly different direction from what I came with into the program. In the new series, I was interested in the camera's recording of the aesthetics of the passage of time and observing an urban environment's potential narrative. The following are the themes and issues that came up across critique sessions:

Conceptual:

• The lack of control/authorship is interesting.
• Refine the structure of the process before collaborating with other artists.
• Define the process conceptually with what I am trying to accomplish.
• There is not enough specificity.
• Define what I want to say about time, society or surveillance.

Viewer/Audience:

• How much does the viewer complete the work?
• There isn't enough payoff for the viewer.
• There is too much information.
• The series need to be translated with a focal point.
• I need to define what I want the viewer to walk away with.
• Viewers need more help to arrive at the conclusion that I desire. A title and description could be helpful. The artist statement should more effectively direct the viewer.

Display System:

• It needs to be more polished and worked out with more visual dynamism and sophistication.
• People said the book was more effective.

Moving forward:

• Continue to experiment more in different contexts.
• What really speaks to me?
• Get more complex.
• Take more risks in the location with higher stakes and a location with more meaning.
• Be accountable for everything static detail in the frame.
• Think about the installation.
• I need to engage in a process that works for me.
• I need to define my engagement in social space, whether that be with social media, a local community, or public and private space.
• What questions do I want to raise with the work?
• What is the significance of the location, time, or people?
• What is significant to me with what I'm exploring?
• What degree of engagement do I want with the people in the photos?
• Find a way to have a humanistic sense with generosity and community.

Artists:

Julia Cher, Robert Frank, James Bolog, Jan Dibbets, Roberth Smith, Pierre Huyghe, Zoe Leonard, Richard Mizrat, Sophie Calle, Trever Paylon, TJ Wilcox, Martin Kersels, Alan Sekula Soo Kim, Louis Boltz, John Dicola, Philip LiCordia, Teh Ching Shih, Dan Graham, Nakahira Takuma, Theaster Gates,

Rick Lowe, Steven Berens, Ed Ruscha, Roland Barthes “Mythologies”, Judith Williamson “Decoding Advertisements”, Structuralist photography, Serial photography, Harun Farocki, Carol Squires “What is a Photograph?”, Wolfgang Staehle.