Steal Like An Artist : Book Review

 I spent an hour a few nights back and read the book, "Steal Like An Artist".  It was a really short book, but it is well written and easy to read.  There is a lot of graphics and pictures throughout the book that explains the points he is trying to get across.  Below is a link to a blog post written about this book by the author, Austin Kleon. 

www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/

Some information about the author, Austin Kleon. He is a graphic designer / Illustrator that currently lives in Austin Texas.  He has a lot of comedy and humor in his work, making his book fun to read.  In the book he talks mostly about how no idea you have is original.  That every idea you have is taken from somewhere else.  A truly original idea is impossible because of everything you experience is part of the art you create.   He wants everyone to realize this and take that to their advantage and purposely steal inspiration from your surroundings.

Short Video on Night Transformations

Yesterday I finished editing my video for the photo series "Night Transformations"

If you haven't viewed my photo series, Night Transformations, you may view it here: Night Transformations

This is a video explaining how I took the pictures, and what has gone into the project so far.

zangzing.com

Over the past weekend I found an interesting site that would be very useful for a group of photo students that want to stay connected to each other and review and comment on their friends work.  Everyone in my class at Marywood is either graduating this May or in December.  We brought up the issue at one time of staying connected after we leave school and to be able to critique each others work.  The website I found was called www.zangzing.com, it allows people to create private albums that only certain people can access.  You have the option of sending everyone a link to your album and every time you add more photos it will automatically send them an email informing them it has been updated.  It also allows comments and has ample storage so we will never have to worry about filling it up.
I think if everyone at sometime makes an account with this company and just creates an album when they start a new photo project, then adds everyone from the class onto the list of people allowed to view the pictures, that this will fit our needs and give us an easy way to keep up and help with the work that everyone produces.
Comment and let me know what you think about this website and idea.

Websites I Created Plus a Video of Chris

Over the last week or two I have created a few websites for my personal fine art photography.  I have also created a few websites for a business that I could potentially create.  The design I choose for my personal website is:

www.JeremyWescottPhotography.com


Then for a website I could potentially use for a business, I asked my friend Chris Hesser if I could use some of his images to fill in gaps in my portfolio, and in return he could be on the website.

www.AMPPhotoGroup.com

Please let me know if there is anything you would change, or even if you just have comments on either of the websites.


For a little entertainment I invite you to watch this video of Chris reenacting how he got hurt in the woods during our aerial photography experiment.  Enjoy

Graduate Tour at MICA

On Tuesday, April 3rd I took a trip down to MICA to help me decide if I want to go to MICA for Graduate School.  The first thing I noticed about the school is that it has a very artistic feel.  I like the fact that there is art displayed in every building I was in and outside the buildings, there were sculptures and installation pieces installed by the students. 
The main building for the Graduate Photography Program is called the Studio Center.  It is a 5 story building and the photography department gets the whole 3rd floor.  There is a individual studio (around 8x10 feet) for for almost every person in the program.  There is a small locked computer lab with 2 - 17 inch printers, 2 workstations for video editing, 1 for sound editing and 1 3D printing.  The other place Graduate Photography students work is on the 5th floor which is called the Graduate Computer lab.  There is 2 - 44inch printers and 1 - 24 inch printers that you pay just for the supplies, roughly 1.50 per square foot and that includes paper.  I thought that was a good price for printing large.
Also on the 5th floor is a locked equipment room with all digital equipment.  They have 3 cameras with a variety of lenses, 3 professional HD Canon Video Cameras, tons of sound recording devices and a studio to record sound.
You get the option to student teach for up to 2 classes during each semester.  Since I would be interested in seeing how it would feel to teach undergraduate classes, I think that would be a great way to get experience teaching and find out if I could see myself as a professor at a college or university.
The last big selling point is that MICA gets alot of great artist that comes to the school to give lectures, and every photographer that comes to the school will meet with each graduate of photography student and review their current work or portfolio.  All in all this will be a big decision I will have to decide between now and the end of April.

D'Arcy Leck

I have been researching Architectual Photography lately.  I have always taken an interest in Pictures of Resorts and Hotels, thinking it would be great to be paid to travel to 4 or 5 star resorts and spend a few days photographing there.  I found a Photographer named D'Arcy Leck, who has a website full of amazing pictures.  I emailed her some questions and she responded with helpful advice I thought I would share with the class incase someone else was interested in Architecture Photography as a career.

THIS IS A LINK TO HER WEBSITE

--------------This is what she wrote me --------------

Jeremy,

I hope you really love architecture photography, because you are going to have to to keep you going in this business. It is a tough one lately. Slow rate of new building – therefore slow rate of photography jobs. But it is nice work when you can get it.

I started out years ago in the film era. It was a little more challenging then to get it right the first time. Now people just rely on looking at the LED screen on the camera to see and correct their mistakes , which has led to a lot more competition from wannabes. I started in architecture by getting a few small jobs with Anderson Windows and then Pella Windows. From there I grew it. I decided to expand it to hotels. Having no portfolio in this area I created one. I just went into  interesting hotels and took what pictures I could get and then built a portfolio from there and eventually got some jobs.

You get what you show is the saying in photography. If you want architecture jobs then you have to show people architecture in your portfolio. And that goes for any specific area in architecture.

I learned to light using additional lighting used in balance with the existing lighting, and I still think that is the best way. I use supplemental strobes and tungsten lights in a way so that it is hard to tell they are there. I have incorporated HDR into my bag of tricks as it can do some good things if used lightly.

You won’t find any full time (employee) jobs in architecture photography. I haven’t heard of one or seen one for a long time. It is something done by independents and freelancers. Just keep building your portfolio and showing it around and eventually the jobs will start coming if you have some talent.

Good luck

D’Arcy Leck

----------- End of What Was Written ----------

Laura Plageman

For awhile I have been looking for another artist who focuses on the manipulation of the photographic print.  Someone who rips, crumples and destroys their photographic print.  Finally, it has come to my attention that the photographer, Laura Plageman is manipulating the photographic print.  I looked at her work and carefully studied it, and really liked the way she sculpted her prints.  I also read on her website that she considers her art part photograph and part sculpture, which gave me inspiration for my latest series of prints.

All of her pictures seem to come out at you and are not flat.  Her pictures seem to be very deliberately sculpted based on the individual print.  The work is not a statement against littering or pollution, it is just a way to manipulate the print to give the photograph a different, more distorted look.  Everything she does is very deliberate and has very high quality, even lighting.    

You can check out her photographs here:  photolp.com/projects/entry/response

So far when I have made my prints, I didn't manipulate the print based on the individual print, instead I have experimented with different techniques and always had the idea that the print had to be pasted flat to foam core.  The prints I am showing in critique on Friday, I have made them into more of a 3D sculpture with multiple layers and multiple photographic prints than a flat photograph.  I am pleased with the results I have achieved, and I think putting together these prints with my old style prints will give more of a variety to the people who are viewing my prints as a series.   

Didier Massard

Didier Massard is able to create images that have a surreal quality to them.  Every image can transport the viewer into a world they could only dream to be in.  After looking through his images, you will conclude that the images can not be real and do not exist in the world.  You wouldn't be wrong if you said that.

He uses two of his talents, sculpture and photography.  If you view the silent video he has on his website, Didier Massard, under the tab backstage, you will see how he creates an image.  Knowing that the creates all of his images by creating the whole scene before he takes the photograph is amazing.  Before I looked at how he created the image "L' Elephant", I could not grasp how he created these surreal images.

The art of his work is that he creates a world through the use of his photographs.  When viewed as a series it becomes a documentary on this world he has created.  From the work he shows on his website, you can see a sample of each part of the fictional world.  His images range from scenes underwater to scenes of elephants towering over the landscape.

It is really hard for me to pin a word or feeling to his images.  The only word I can think of is surreal, but that doesn't even describe the work well.  I want to be able to give insight into this artist photographs, or at least be able to describe the images in words.  Since I am lost for words and don't know how the images make me feel, I would like to ask the audience to help me. Look at the following images, or you may view all of his work on his website, Didier Massard.  If you can describe any emotions you feel or if you can describe his work in a few sentences, please feel free to leave a comment.

Herb Ritts

When I think of black and white portraits I can't help but think of Herb Ritts.  I came across him when I wrote a paper on fashion photography.  Out of all the people I wrote about in the paper, I remember him the best.  He got his start when he was at a gas station by his house and took a picture of Richard Gere, an up and coming actor at the time.  Then when he sent the pictures to Richard Gere, he got his first break and photographed Brooke Shields.  Since then he has taken photographs of countless celebrities until he died from cancer in 2002. The reason he was considered on of the best is because he didn't do what everyone else did, he set up little lighting and made the client comfortable so he could show the true personality of the person he was photographing.

Even though you have seen all these celebrities many times, these pictures are unique because they capture who the real person is.  From looking at the pictures I feel like I know who they are, and that is hard to do consistently in picture after picture.

The lighting in all the pictures show a very clean simple lighting environment.  The lighting he uses in his photographs is always very inviting and makes the photograph easy to approach.  You never get distracted by the lighting, instead you can focus on the subject matter.  Herb Ritts has set the bar in black and white portriature much higher and has gained the respect of many of the industry's finest professionals.

Current Work

This is my first post in my blog.  I have never written a blog before but I am currently an artist working on my first major series.  By creating this blog I hope to gain feedback of my work and to also share interesting trials and tribulations that arise from attacking this project head first.  I am going to lay out a few of my photos first. NOTE: You may view the picture larger by clicking on it

Beauty of Fall - Photo A

Destroyed Landscape - Photo B

Beauty of the First Snow - Photo C

Another Destroyed Landscape - Photo D

When you look at the photographs did you pick up any connection between Photo A and B or Photo C and D?  If not, can you infer from the photographs a message?
In the early stages of my project the issue I am most concerned about is getting a crystal clear connection on the message I am trying to convey using a series of 4 sets of photographs.  The message I hope you got from this mini series is that nature has a beauty when left untouched.  However, with all the damage humanity is causing; greenhouse gasses, pollution, extreme urbanization, and the collection of resources without concern for the environment.  Not only will nature be destroyed, but humanity will also suffer consequences.
I know that in the beginning stages the message might get lost or be hard to read.  Any feedback you can provide will be greatly appreciated and considered when continuing this project.