Cultural Activity 2

Over the weekend I watched the movie “Biutiful” starring Javier Bordem, playing the character Uxbal.  The movie was surprisingly depressing, and at times very difficult to watch.  It took place in the slums of Barcelona, Spain.  The plot revolved around Uxbal trying to help out everyone in his life.  It is evident that Uxbal’s under an immense amount of stress having tried to care for everyone he knows; everything that happens in Uxbal’s life is a struggle.  He has to take care of his manic-depressant wife, the houseless, jobless immigrants from china and Africa, and his two children. The money he makes by helping the immigrants find jobs, he saves to keep for his children.  The entire movie is centered around the relationship he has with his two children. It was a very painful film to watch because my heart really went out to the characters in the movie as well as their living conditions.  Throughout the movie I couldn’t help but think of all of the people who actually do live in these confitions.  Ultimately, Uxbal could not escape his destiny and he died due to cancer.  His children were left with a friend, since the wife was unable to care for herself, let alone her two kids.  Bordem portrayed the depth of the film very well and because of that I found the movie to be a success.  I probably would not see this film again but I’m glad I saw it.    

Cultural Activity 1

One of the culture activities I went on was the class trip to the library.  Overall I really enjoyed the trip because though there was only one floor, there was a huge range of different pictures, colors, and ideas mounted on the walls. 

The first series I saw when I entered the 5^th floor was that by Raven James.  He took pictures of American landscape with hints of dreamlike imagery.  All of the photos were in black and white and though each was different, when they were all shown together, they really highlighted one another.  I enjoyed the picture “Lacuna” very much.  It was a photo taken from the back of someone’s head with sweat beads flying in the air.  It was a very clear and visually pleasing photo.  I also liked “Sunrise” because it was a very peaceful picture of the sun shining through the trees.  The light wasn’t too intense, but rather calming.  The final work of his that I enjoyed was “Profile.”  There was a deer head thrown into the air with a wide landscape background.  I thought it was sort of a disturbing picture but it definitely got a reaction out of me.  I’m not sure I really understood the picture but I liked how bizarre it was.

The second artist I really enjoyed was Robert Welsh.  He had two pictures of ordinary households up.  I’m not sure whether they were staged or whether they were actual houses but it was a very old, semi-retro feel.  It felt like my grandparents house, which is why I think I liked it.

Katy levy was the third artist I was drawn to.   I adored the picture “Johnny Rays Fridge.”  It was a refrigerator with many personal pictures taped up on it.  It had family pictures and individual ones, both new and old.  I could see the old tape marks and could tell this was actually someone’s old fridge.  This was exactly what the fridge in my house looked like when I was growing up.  This picture really allows all the viewers into “Johnny Ray’s” life.  It is more of a picture, this is someone’s life.  The exhibit provoked some unique reactions, as well as showed many very interesting pictures; I ended up really enjoying this fieldtrip. 

Sally Mann

Sally Mann has been a both an extremely gifted yet controversial photographer since her beginning.  The film we watched progressively went through her most recent exhibits as well as the motivation behind these exhibits and photographs.  Sally Mann may be most well known for the photos she took of her three children.  Many of the pictures were nude, from when the children were very young to about the age of pre-teen.  Her children inspired her and were always willing to model. Though she became famous, she was accused of taking child pornography and had a very difficult time handling these accusations. 

Mann explained how she saw beauty in everything, making it easy for her to take pictures.  After a while she decided to switch her artistic focus from pictures of her children to pictures of landscape.  People were excited and surprised she could take such beautiful landscape photographs.  She explained in the movie that she also loves when something goes wrong while either taking or developing a picture.  She loves when dust is blown and hits her negative, or exhaust smoke comes out in her prints, which seems a bit counter-intuitive.  When these unexpected things would happen, she thought it gave her photos a more organic feel.

Her last three sets of work explained in the film were a series of her married life, a series revolving around death, and a series of self photographs.  The series of her married life stared her husband and daily marriage activities.  The series of death was very dark and it was the result of her fascination with death.  She wanted people to fully embrace life and to love the people you have while they’re still here.  The final scenes were of her taking self photographs.  The series was not finished but it looked promising.  I really enjoyed learning about Sally Mann, especially since I had admired pictures of hers previously, without knowing they belonged to her.  My favorite of her series are the pictures she took of her children, I thought they were remarkable. 

Johnston's fame grew as a result of a few different things. Her artice "What a Woman can DoWith a Camera" was published in 1897.  She assisted with an exhibition by 28 female photographers in the 1900 called the Exposition Universelle.  In her thirties she became an avid traveller, photographing everything from coal miners to sailers being tattoed on board ships. In 1899 she photographed quite possibly her most successful series of works,  buildings and students of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute.  This series was done to document the ordinary life of the school.

Hampdon Institute Science Class, 1899

From the 1920's on she became incresingly interested in photographing building and did an entire series of 247 shacks and mansions.  Soon afterwards, the University of Viginia hired her to photograph buildings in North Carolina in order to preserve its architectural history.

Old Dunbar Quarters, Falmouth

Her works have been purchased by the Met in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. She continued to photograph until her death at the age of 88. 

She was given her first camera by George Eastman, creater of the Eastman Kodak cameras.  Johnston also received training in both photography and dark room techniques from Thomas Smillie, who was the director of photography at the Smithsonian.  She got a lot of pracitce by taking photos and working in the Eastman Kodak company in D.C.  In addition, she took many photos of her family, and of the weathy American class and celebrities. 

Alice Roosevelt, eldest daughter of Teddy Roosevelt 1906

Frances Benjamin Johnston

An independednt, strong-willed woman and the only survving child to two wealthy elite parents.  She grew up in D.C., and studied in the Acadamie Julian in Paris, as well as the Washington Students League. One of her most famous photos, the self portrait "New Woman."