Inky Orchard

Today is lovely. My door is open & sunlight pours in. When my door is open, I have a complete panel of glorious light in my room. Wall to wall. Door, window, window.

Today’s calendar square tells me “Begin Winter Quarter,” and that is what I did. What a morning! Alarm at 6:30. Class at 8. (Photo Foundations II.) Kindly introductions around the room, courtesy of the extraverts. Shannon, Shawn, Alex, Zach, Jamie, Ally, Lauren, Rachel, Leighann, Michelle, and me. I think I am going to love my class. Some freshman. About four transfer students. One fifth year.

I got quite a good first impression from my professor. Though he talks rather slowly when he is developing his thoughts, he does go somewhere with them. Quite interesting. Today we were talking about the photograph as a “free-floating signifier.” Tossed around ideas. Heard a quote by Diane Arbus today:

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.”

And I didn’t realize why her name sounded familiar till Wikipedia-ed her and found this image:

The photograph in my mother’s book. It has always disturbed me. Just as it disturbed her.

But the quote. We were talking about a photograph as a symbol that represents a person, a moment, an event. It is not the actual person. It just represents what was in front of the camera at the time. Taken out of its original, real-life context. Details beyond the picture frame are irretrievable. Don’t click on the next photo to make it bigger just yet. Study the image first. The people.

Duane Michals. We don’t know who these people are, their names, their relationship, who else was in the room – we know nothing other than what we can gather from this frame. This moment in time. It is open for interpretation.

However.

We are launching into our first project – exploring the possibilities of how adding text to a photograph alters its interpretation. If you read what Michals has written at the bottom of his image, you will think about this photograph in an entirely new way.

This photograph is my proof that there was that afternoon, when things were still good between us, and she embraced me, and we were so happy. It did happen, she did love me, look see for yourself!

It is not some crummy snapshot. Your mind is directed. You are more limited.

But.

Check out this second example. It will not load here – click on this link. This photograph intentionally steers your thoughts in a completely different direction.

I am very excited about this class. We are doing something with our photography – with our skills. We are applying it. Mixing in some writing. (I love that.) We are communicating.

I love that our professor is encouraging us to expand in this direction.

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Also. I will leave you with some humor.

1. I think this is the funniest photograph I’ve ever seen. (Second row, third image.)

2. Quote from my Color Theory textbook, Color, by Zelanski and Fisher, Sixth Ed.

Interestingly, studies of hallucinogens during the middle of the twentieth century revealed that most people’s responses to color were accentuated by taking hallucinogens. However, artists on the whole were little affected – because artists are already high on color most of the time.