Tuesday: June 10, 2008

I decided not to individually comment on any of the pictures I took at the World Trade Center site since I already presented them to the class with commentary. Instead I’m going to talk about some photos I took at the Museum of Modern Art! Here are some links to WTC photos though, if you’re interested. The vibe at the site was dark and almost foreboding. There were fences and security everywhere, as well as swarms of tourists gazing around, taking photos of the site and buying merchandise. It was an unsettling feeling to be there, and there was a definite change in what it’s like to be there (with good reason, of course). Everything felt dark, closed off/inaccessible but at the same time was swarmed with people and life all around. There was also a sense of hope, a sense that all of that darkness can and will change soon. I tried to convey this in my photos.

Yesterday (6/9) we went to the Museum of Modern Art. We went to see the photography exhibit, but once I was done I couldn’t help but explore the rest of the third floor a little. These next few pictures were taken in a circular room, the walls full of colored light that changed shades with time. I was obviously attracted to the bright colors, but loved even more that two of the four pictures the people in these photos turned out as dark silhouettes against this bright background, but in the other two you can clearly make out details of their faces/heads.

I also took pictures in a couple more of the exhibits.

This photo was taken in a room full of lights and smoke. It was pretty eerie! I wanted to get a picture of someone walking by it, silhouetted, with light popping out from behind their head. I waited for about 5 minutes and it finally happened! I really love this photo. It reminds me of a dream or something, it doesn’t even seem real to me. This is the exhibit this photo was taken in…

The last exhibit I took pictures in was one that had strobe lights going off very rapidly and water falling from the ceiling. It was really trippy! The two photos I took in there came out completely differently.

vs.

And lastly, speaking of trippy, today when I was uploading photos from the computer to my Flickr something very strange happened! TAKE A LOOK!

Those are just a few! Apparently, the pictures look like this because some of the data was lost in the transmission between uploading these to Flickr from the computer. Bryan told me to save them because apparently there is a whole photo exhibit going on right now with pictures just like this, only done on purpose!? They’re really strange looking, but they’re also really cool I think. They remind me of white noise, only… in color! It’s funny to me that these pictures were an accident, but there is actually an exhibit full of pictures just like this going on. Does that mean that these pictures I made can be considered art? And what is art anyway? I think about that a lot, actually. What exactly is art is definitely subjective, so it’s hard to define what is and is not art on a universal level. This question comes up in every genre of art, also. When I try to define it for myself, the best answer I can come up with is that what is art depends on the intention behind the creation. If something is created with a purpose and meaning, even if it only applies to the person making it, then it is art. I didn’t mean to have the pictures turn out they way, so I don’t see them as art, but somebody else might! And that’s fine with me.

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