#11____Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.
The photo was taken on the Presque Isle Lighthouse in Presque Isle, MI. There are 200 steps to get to the top; they are gray and circular with quarter size holes in them so you can see all the way down to the bottom. When you get to the top you have to climb through a small hatchway, ducking your head to get on the final level and through the door to the deck. When you step out you see a crystal clear day with beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds and a 360’ view of Lake Huron, it’s very windy, warm and peaceful. I am there with my two daughters and their friends. As you look to the north the sun is reflecting off the boaters enjoying the sun and passing by, below you can see the visitor parking lot, and a building housing the restrooms. There is a road running the entire length of the park and it turns right and goes directly down to the water. The south side has shadows on the trees and the soft sound of waves hitting the beach as well as a small portion of building skyline from the city of Alpena. Looking west is water and trees, the picnic pavilion and a small, stony beach. Eastward is the caretaker’s home, trees, the lake, a large ship passing ever so slowly in the distance. The walkway is about 4 feet wide and you are able to walk around the entire lighthouse, being careful of the door that will hit you if someone else comes out! If I were to take the picture today it would be a frozen lake and snow, it would seem almost desolate because there would surely be no visitors on this day. When the lighthouse was being used for the ships it would have looked differently because there would be no parking lot, no pavilion or restroom building and the road would not have been as well groomed, possibly a one lane path compared to today’s two lane dirt road that encircles the lighthouse and keepers home.
#12____Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?
The photo that comes to mind immediately is one of me lying on the hammock in front of my cottage. It’s a slightly cool day so I have a blanket covering me as well as a great book on my lap. Behind me there are jet skis flying by, fishermen sitting patiently trying to get the days catch. When I think of the picture I feel peaceful and relaxed. Since the photograph was taken I have divorced my husband, my oldest daughter is a junior at the University of Michigan and my youngest is graduating from high school this year. I kept the cottage in the divorce and now when we go it is less family oriented than before. It looks different because I sold the jet ski and the boat lift for the speedboat. The dock isn’t necessarily as straight or sturdy as it was before and it needs to be painted. The background wouldn’t necessarily look different but I am 5 years older with a little gray around my ears and instead of good novels, I’m reading about photography and Power, Authority and Society. It’s a different type of enjoyment when we go there now.
#13____Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “"New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.”http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx
In addition, at the same time in history artists created (and still do create) “land art” in which they use materials found in the landscape to make sculptures that remain in the landscape. Many of these works now only exist as video recordings and photographic documents.
Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.
A small bridge over a creek comes to mind, the water running underneath is bubbling and moving swiftly, this could be used to create a collage style photograph, using the water, seagrass and stones as part of the shot.
#14____Unknown vs. Familiar Space: When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?
The photo I have in mind is the People’s Church in East Lansing, the faraway place is the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. One way I would create the differences in the images is to take shots from the inside out first, showing the different types of architecture used, building materials and what the building is used for. I would then then take different angles outdoors that showed the extreme differences in style, use and look.
#15____In-Camera Collage: Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe how you might use a slow shutter speed and/or double exposure to capture two moments in one image that tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.
I would take a photograph of the home I lived in for fifteen years and raised my daughters in and then I would shoot a photograph of my new, improved house that I purchased 3 years ago. In my old home I was a mom, girl scout leader, soccer coach, cheering mom, crime victim advocate and wife, with a turbulent married life. I was active every night of the week with some activity for my girls. We owned 15 acres of land, there was a swing set in the side yard and a pool on the opposite side of the house. In my new house I only have one daughter here with me, the other is in college and we don’t have nearly as many evening activities as in our old house. I am much calmer now and our house is much more peaceful and loving, there is no swing set and only one-half acre to mow! I think I would have to use some Photoshop magic to make a double exposure because the houses are approximately a mile from each other.
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