projects / pictures

Western New York Film Group on Flickr

2012-01-18T16:24:00.002-05:00

I've started a Flickr group for film photography in Buffalo and Western New York. The group is called "They are without memories, without plans", and is open to any analog photography originating in Western New York and the Niagara Frontier. Spend some time to look around, enjoy, and share!

by Flickr member Linden Tea

2011-12-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

Britten Walker

Erie Community College, Orchard Park

Britten’s prints are striking for theirprecision, the vividness of the detail, and his attentiveness to tonality andcontrast. The compositions are orderly yet organic, usually eschewingarchitectural rigidity in favor of a response to the subject and forms withinthe environment. In “Untitled (waterfall and rocks)” the materials of rock,water and flora all find harmony within the frame, the water dissolving intothe atmosphere above, the tiers of shale and peat anchor the vapor of trees along the top.

“Rocky Waters” distills much of this into a bare poeticexpression – the opening 4-minute chord in "Vorspiel", the prelude of Wagner’s Das Rheingold. The sluggish exposure renders the water as abstract strokes,perpetual motion, a force. Alone near the top third of the frame is the onlystatic subject, a point of rock barely rising above the rush of water. With noreference to context or scale this is a wholly different kind of naturalabstraction than that of, say, Edward Weston. Speaking most keenly to senses ofsound and kinesis, the image is not formal, but elemental.

Britten also utilizes this awareness of harmony and discord to create visual puns and sleight-of-hand, as in "Untitled (G.E.)". The challenge presented to the student photographers was to photograph typography in a way that would emphasize its pictorial, sculptural and formal characteristics rather than simply repeating existing meaning and context. Here the icon of industry and artifice is blended with the anti-electric, the snares of branches and twigs whose forms are an imperfect symmetry to the vine-like character of the classic logo. Better yet, the luminous branches suddenly appear voltaic, small charges of electricity emitting from the weathered insignia.

I’ve seen a photo of Britten in front of the stark ridges and snow-capped granite peaks. It was taken in Central Afghanistan (though it reminded me of parts of the Eastern Cascades inWashington State I grew up seeing). He’s standing in full combat gear with his gunon its base and tripod and an array of heavy rounds on the ground. We talkedfor awhile about his experiences, about landscapes and about precision. As a civilian, his heightened awareness of space, environment, and conditions has become an essential part of his creativity.

Britten favors the Nikon FE for most of his work, and mostoften uses a Nikkor 50/1.4.

Images: 1. "Untitled 1", Gelatin-silver print, 2011; 2. "Untitled", Gelatin-silver print, 2011; 3. "Untitled", Gelatin-silver print, 2011; 4. "Rocky Waters", Gelatin-silver print, 2011;

2011-12-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

projects / pictures' new format.

Since its inception, this blog has been presented as a "photostream" (a la flickr), a sequence of usually single-image posts wherein I choose an exemplary recent photograph from a student and post it with minimal peripheral information. This format was chosen in part to isolate the images from the parameters set for a particular assignment, opening up the images to new possibilities of interpretation by creating a gallery-like environment. The encounter is thus with the image alone, on its own terms (itself a dubious assertion).

These de-contextualized images are always compelling in their own right, demanding no explanation to justify their presence. On reflection, this format has its own set of implicit biases, first and foremost privileging the image-object of the person who authored it. It also seems to suggest that early student work is not consistent enough to merit a more thorough presentation, and that the assignments I create are subterfuge, an elaborate game designed to produce stand-alone images and art works (this is only partly true!). However, on reflection, students in art and photography begin carving out a niche, and an individual approach simultaneously while still learning even the basics of the process, and more advanced students invest a lot of artistry and critical thinking in producing a consistent and compelling body of work within a given assignment, and even over multiple projects.

The new format will address these issues and latent strengths. Posts to this site will now be focused on a more generous, in-depth look at a student's work, showcasing multiple images whether from a single series or from across multiple projects. For each artist, I will also include a short review discussing the form, style and content, and include more relevant information provided by the artist.

Additionally, I will periodically post the original assignment outlines, so that readers can refer back to the themes and parameters to which a student was responding. There will be vestiges of projects/pictures original format, but I'm certain this new approach will be more amenable to all, and present a clearer sense for the artistry and learning taking place around me on a weekly basis.

x
Joel

2011-12-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

Danielle Young

"Secured" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-12-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

Nick Lavin

"When the Sun Met the Moon" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-12-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

Brin LaFleur

"Untitled", 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-10-08T18:11:00.000-04:00

Continuing on from last Spring, I discovered the location for the old glass neg we found in the Photo Labs at ECC. It wasn't Main St, it was one block over, on Michigan. Here's a recreation of the photo using the location as it stands now. This was taken on a Voigtlander Vitessa with a 45mm Zeiss Tessar on TMax 100 (neg scanned on an Epson V750).

And here's a closeup of the same section of the image as the original. The glass neg is definitely sharper owing a lot to its giant size. The TMax 100 with the Zeiss lens is pretty impressive though, a testament mostly to improvements in film and continuing superiority of Zeiss lenses.

2011-10-04T01:13:00.000-04:00

Meghan Smith

Digital photograph, 2009

2011-06-05T10:20:00.003-04:00

Lauren Palmieri

"Untitled (after Harry Callahan)" 2011

Digital c-print

2011-06-03T10:12:00.000-04:00

Christopher Jackson

"Untitled" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-06-02T12:08:00.000-04:00

Alicia Bukowski

"Untitled" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-06-01T11:24:00.001-04:00

Nicole Ciaccia

"Unitled (after Bruce Nauman)", 2011

Digital C-print

2011-05-30T23:21:00.000-04:00

Kelly Pass

Untitled, 2010

digital image

2011-04-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

Photographer unknown, printed by Morgan Makowski

"Untitled (Main Street at Ferry)"

Gelatin-silver contact print

(click for hi-res image)

I found this glass negative in the photography storage closet at ECC South. It measures about 6.5" x 8.5". Though there is some distress to both base and emulsion, the image has remained relatively intact. This is a flatbed scan of our contact print, made on Ilford RC-DeLuxe with a #2 1/2 filter, the scan is unadjusted except for a minor unsharp mask and curves.

Here is Morgan holding the original negative near our light table.

Thanks to the resolving power of large-format negatives, we were able to use our loupe to read the only street sign visible in the frame. It very clearly read "E. FERRY ST." I assume the mural is no longer there, but maybe I'll luck out.

Based on the presence of the streetcar and my memory of the building facades, I'm pretty sure this is looking south on Main Street at the intersection dividing West and East Ferry. Next step...

2011-04-01T11:15:00.001-04:00

Aaron Ingersoll

"Untitled (Nick)" 2010

C-type, 35mm neg

2011-04-01T11:05:00.001-04:00

Ashley Shufelt

"Untitled (Little Theater)" 2010

Digital image

2011-04-01T10:44:00.001-04:00

Alanna Stecura

"Untitled" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-03-31T14:35:00.002-04:00

Sarah Reinhold

"Untitled (after Sieff)" 2011

Digital C-type

2011-03-31T10:45:00.002-04:00

Kristina Wood

"Untitled" 2011

Gelatin-silver print

2011-03-21T10:33:00.001-04:00

"Untitled" 2010

C-type

2011-02-14T16:46:00.001-05:00

Samuel Goodwin

Untitled, 2011

35mm color negative

2011-01-20T16:09:00.001-05:00

Aaron Ingersoll

"Untitled (Creative Minds series)", 2010

C-print from 35mm color negative

2010-12-19T10:10:00.001-05:00

Rachel Holy

Untitled gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-12-15T11:26:00.001-05:00

Kelly Druziak

Untitled photo, 2010

35mm color negative

2010-12-14T17:26:00.001-05:00

Reta Jabar

"A Longing"

Digital photograph, 2010.

2010-12-13T17:14:00.001-05:00

Kara Edwards

From "Across the Universe"

Digital photograph, 2010

2010-12-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

Christa Mastro

"Untitled (after Gordon Parks)"

2010

2010-12-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Aye Myo Aung

"Untitled (Burmese Refugee Series)" 2010

Gelatin-silver print

2010-11-21T09:08:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn Bayne

Untitled photo, 2010

35mm color image

2010-11-17T09:05:00.001-05:00

Lela Mayfield

"Porträt (After Thomas Ruff)"

Digital C-type print, 2010

2010-11-16T11:54:00.002-05:00

Suzana Sobot

"Martine's Legs (After Henri Cartier-Bresson)"

Digital C-type print, 2010

2010-11-15T10:10:00.001-05:00

Meghan Smith

Untitled photo, 2010

35mm color image

2010-11-14T12:26:00.002-05:00

Photo by Nicole McNerney

Gelatin-silver print, 2009

2010-11-13T10:18:00.001-05:00

Reta Jabar

Untitled digital photo, 2010

2010-11-12T08:50:00.001-05:00

Photo by Seth Skionecki

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-11T10:11:00.002-05:00

Photo by Ryan Walter

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-10T10:07:00.008-05:00

Photo by Sam Maccalupo

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-09T09:57:00.003-05:00

Photo by Rachel Holy

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-08T09:55:00.002-05:00

Photo by Aye Myo Aung

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-08T01:58:00.004-05:00

Rebecca Larsen

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-07T10:15:00.003-05:00

Photo by Sarah Benson

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-06T10:14:00.002-04:00

Photo by Anna Van Huystee

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-05T09:53:00.004-04:00

Photo by Sam Maccalupo

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-04T09:53:00.003-04:00

Photo by Rachel Catalano

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-11-03T11:36:00.002-04:00

Photo by Patrick Kitson

Gelatin-silver print (from pinhole negative), 2010

2010-10-29T02:15:00.002-04:00

Megan Tweed

"After Andy Warhol"

Digital print, 2010

2010-10-28T12:18:00.001-04:00

Kaitlyn Bayne

"After Don McCullin, 1968"

Digital C-print, 2010

2010-10-27T14:25:00.002-04:00

Photo by Anna Van Huystee

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-05-19T14:09:00.001-04:00

Dan Miller

"After Larry Clark, 1971"

Digital C-print, 2010

2010-05-18T11:58:00.001-04:00

Erica Diederich

"After Bruce Nauman, 1966"

Digital print, 2010

2010-05-15T13:42:00.001-04:00

Sara Gromek

"After Gilberte Brassaï, 1932"

Digital photograph, 2010

2010-05-03T16:44:00.005-04:00

Geoffrey Redick

Digital print from the "Batavia" series, 2010.

2010-04-29T14:02:00.007-04:00

Megan Smith

Digital c-print, 2010

2010-04-29T13:47:00.005-04:00

Rebecca Dirschberger

Gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-04-12T11:23:00.001-04:00

Regina Cecconi

"Untitled (signs)"

Relief montage, digital print, 2010

2010-04-10T11:29:00.001-04:00

Erin Mirando

From the series "The Real Cancun"

Digital photograph, 2010

2010-04-10T11:19:00.001-04:00

Kelly Pass

"Tokyo"

Digital photograph, 2009

"New York"

Digital photograph, 2009

2010-03-09T01:19:00.002-05:00

Andrea Peek

Untitled photograph, 2010

35mm color negative

2010-03-04T13:25:00.006-05:00

Andy Hinton

Untitled digital photo, 2010

2010-03-03T11:44:00.003-05:00

Kaitlyn Bayne

Untitled 35mm photograph, 2010

2010-03-02T07:59:00.004-05:00

Anna Hoffman

Untitled 35mm photograph, 2010

2010-03-01T09:58:00.003-05:00

Bethany Pryor

Untitled gelatin-silver print, 2010

2010-02-28T22:57:00.004-05:00

Kara Oliver

Untitled digital photograph, 2010

2010-02-27T18:54:00.007-05:00

Linda Rizek

Untitled film image, 2010.

2010-02-09T22:29:00.004-05:00

Sarah Sessana

"Untitled (Bridge)", 2010
Gelatin-silver print from pinhole paper negative

2009-12-22T08:54:00.003-05:00

Brittney Hammond

Untitled silver-gelatin print, 2009.

2009-12-21T08:39:00.002-05:00

Olivia Bitetti.

Digital photographs from the series "Some of the People I Love," 2009.

2009-12-20T16:39:00.001-05:00

Olivia Bitetti.

Digital photographs from the series "Some of the People I Love," 2009.

2009-12-17T10:03:00.002-05:00

Olivia Bitetti

Digital photo from the series "Some of the People I Love," 2009

2009-12-16T09:24:00.002-05:00

Photo by Remington Reid

Gelatin-silver print, 2009

2009-12-15T10:16:00.003-05:00

Colline Landry

"New Flapper"

Digital photograph, 2009.

2009-12-13T17:29:00.002-05:00

Shawn McDonnell.
Digital photograph, 2009

2009-12-10T19:15:00.002-05:00

Photo by Nicole McNerney

Gelatin-silver print, 2009

2009-12-09T07:35:00.002-05:00

Rachel Phillippi
Photo from series "Would You Go Back?", 2009

2009-12-08T07:35:00.002-05:00

Heather Moffitt. Untitled digital photograph, 2009.

2009-12-07T13:41:00.002-05:00

Heather Backlas. On-site chalk drawing and digital images, 2009.

2009-12-06T09:45:00.005-05:00

Photo by Ella Krouse

Gelatin-silver print from "We Don't Belong Here," 2009

2009-12-01T17:32:00.002-05:00

Luke Lorenzetti
Digital photograph; Untitled study for "Living for the Not-City," 2009

2009-11-24T07:39:00.001-05:00

Gabrielle Marek

Untitled gelatin-silver print, 2009

2009-11-23T07:15:00.004-05:00

Vincent Brunetto. Untitled digital photograph series, 2009.

2009-11-22T10:15:00.001-05:00

Karin Freyer
Untitled digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-21T07:30:00.004-05:00

Jessica Bill and Hannah Sharp
Untitled digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-20T07:15:00.002-05:00

Photo by Patrick Stafford

Gelatin-silver print, 2009

2009-11-19T07:15:00.005-05:00

Kelly Pass
"Toronto"
Digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-18T00:07:00.003-05:00

As mentioned by Teresa in relation to her recent project:

PostSecret

2009-11-16T14:31:00.005-05:00

Savanah Hauck
Untitled digital image, 2009

2009-11-15T11:39:00.003-05:00

Photo by Julia Juron
Digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-13T19:10:00.003-05:00

Stephanie Jarmusz
Gelatin-silver print, 2009

Printed from pinhole paper negative.

2009-11-12T07:46:00.003-05:00

Photo by Cathryn Mason
Digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-11T07:00:00.009-05:00

Photo by Jason Ochterski
Gelatin silver print, 2009

2009-11-10T06:45:00.003-05:00

Digital photograph by Christina Englert

From the project "Living for the Not-City", 2009

2009-11-08T19:27:00.002-05:00

Kayla Hogan

Digital photograph, 2009

2009-11-03T22:38:00.004-05:00

Shawn McDonnell

Digital Photograph, 2009

[detail]

2009-11-02T13:29:00.003-05:00

Savannah Hauck

Digital C-print, 2009

2009-11-01T13:26:00.006-05:00

Photo by Donna Dziak
Gelatin-silver print, 2009

2009-10-31T14:13:00.002-04:00

Justin Krall
Digital photograph, 2008

2009-10-30T13:46:00.003-04:00

Olivia Bitteti

Digital Photograph, 2009

2009-10-29T21:58:00.002-04:00

Michael Baird

Digital Photograph, 2009

2009-10-28T20:54:00.003-04:00

Jessica Bill

Created for "Living for the Not-City", 2009

Digital C-prints, collage, readymades

2009-10-26T16:36:00.006-04:00

Photo by Nicole McNerney
Gelatin-silver print, 2009

Printed from a pinhole paper negative.