list of artists

1. Florian Maier-Aichen
2. Sally Mann
3. Richard Billingham
4. James Casebere
5. Paul Graham
6. Jeff Wall
7. Robert Heineken
8. Garry Winogrand
9. Helen Van Meene
10. Zoe Strauss

Chapter 1 Response

I thought that the chapter was somewhat hard to read. There was a lot of information given. However the two parts of the chapter that interested me the most were the part discussing Susan Sontag relating the power of a photographer to that of someone in the military with a gun, and the part relating photographers to writers.

I myself think that Sontag had a point in saying that the camera is like a gun in terms of wielding power when it comes to documentation but less when it comes to art. I feel this way because the camera can document things people may not want seen and therefore has immense power through possibly exposing the intricacies and private parts of life that people do not want seen. I also think it has the power to let the photographer show a reality in a way that may not be true but seems true because the photograph is so real. A photo can crop something out and create a completely different shot. However I do not think we can compare artistic photographs to that of a gun because the power is internal. The photographer holds the power of persuasion but it is not a forceful power instead it is a much more subdues suggestive power.

As for the part about photographers being like writers I completely agree. I have even been told to try writing the stories and scenes I want to show before I do shoots. I love the idea of thinking of the clues and codes that photographers use to portray what they want to get across. In some ways photography is easier to use to portray realities and explain situations however sometimes it can be far more complicated because writers can write down what they want and photographers have to rely on codes.

I liked the post I read in the Art21 blog with pictures of an installation called "I give you all my money" by Cathy Wilkes. It involves mannequins in different poses by cash registers. One mannequin has a cage around her head and scraps of fabric draped around her. I think read it as an interesting take on how money and capitalism can be controlling and overpowering. I am interested to look further into the pieces because the blog doesn't talk much about them, it mostly just shows pictures.

Top Three Chapters

I am interested in looking at chapter 4, 1, and 7.
Chapter 4 is about objectifying the subject matter. It deals with voyeurism which my photography project for Senior Seminar deals with. My project also deals with risque subject matter and I want to make sure I stay away from any pornographic or lude imagery which I think this chapter can help me with.
Chapter 1 is about some of the history of photography which I have always been interested in. We talked about it in Contemporary Art and Theory a little.
Chapter 7 is about the electronic aspects of photography. I think it's interesting separating photography from other electronic aspects.