Individual Art Review

I PASSED!

For those of you who do not know. I am a considered a junior at Northern. As a junior I was required to create a body of work. Create a statement of intent explaining my work. And then finally show my series to a panel of faculty. The faculty then decides if I pass or fail. If I would have failed I would have had to retake this class and it would have postponed my graduation date. And that is something that would not have made me happy.

I am going to put my statement of intent below and then below that will be a link to my flickr page where you can view the images in a slide show.

Thank you to everyone who was a willing participant. I couldn't have done it without you.
Statement of Intent

My photographs address the issue of privacy and surveillance. In 1791 Jeremy Bentham designed the Panopticon, which can be viewed as a metaphor to contemporary surveillance issues. The Panopticon was a prison building with a guard that was able to observe the inmates without them knowing they were being watched. Michel Foucault adopted the notion in his book Discipline & Punishment: The Birth of the Prison, suggesting that groups or classes of people were watched at all times. The observer would then have the potential for unlimited power.  In contemporary society, the camera is used in partner with the idea of control. We are photographed almost everywhere we go. There are cameras at the ATMs, tollbooths, traffic lights, hotels, and places of employment. We are constantly surveyed, watched, and monitored.

Since the invention of photography in 1839, personal privacy has increasingly dissolved.  My photographs show an invasion into someone’s privacy. I was able to observe my subjects without their knowledge from outside their homes as I photographed from the street. I held the power, and had the ability to observe without being observed. My photographs underscore the idea that we are always being watched. We have an expectation of privacy that is constantly broken.

The close proximity to the subjects makes the viewer feel as if they are looking at something they shouldn’t, at an event that shouldn’t be seen. The primary figures in my images are partially blocked by either a curtain or blinds. These barriers execute the idea that the viewer is outside looking in. The shift in the light balance acts as a second kind of curtain or barrier, and heightens the awareness of being outside in the dark looking in.


SLIDE SHOW OF IMAGES

more from MN

I didn't want to leave out my side trip to the suburbs on Thursday night. I have known my friend Samara since we were 18. I hadn't seen her for over four years, so while I was in town she picked me up downtown and I got to spend the night at her house. Through her blog I've been able to keep track of what she's been up to, but it's always good to get face time.

Thank you Jeff and Samara for making the haul to and from downtown to come get me. I know it was short but it was worth it.

for additional photos (yes, there are actually pictures of me) our class set up a blog while we were on the trip.

Go HERE

minneapolis BFA photo trip

"spring" break

I thought that I would post some pictures before I went to bed.
They were taken in the couple of days that we went home to Grand Rapids for part of our spring break.
Miss E did not stay still for very long, so I didn't get many pictures of her.
Little Ava doesn't see any bigger to me, but I believe that she is cuter!
We took Maggs with us, and he did great in the car.
At Debby and Denny's he settled right down after checking everything out, and he really liked being able to play in the back yard.

Funny story about Maggs:
Debby took him for a walk and when they got back she didn't close the door all the way.
She went out in the garage to get something and out shot Maggs.
She chased him all over the neighborhood, through the woods, and he just kept running...
that is until he heard the school bus.
He came tearing out of the woods and as the bus driver opened the door to let the kids out, he jumped in.
He ran up and down the aisle for a while before the bus driver caught him by the collar.
It was actually a good thing he jumped on there, otherwise she never would have caught him.

Miss Emily on the floor.

My new dishes I got at Target.
Jason washed them and when I got home from work, they were sitting there so pretty, I had to take a picture.

This picture is for my mom.
She sent me these stones she had engraved and thought that I would just put them in a bowl...silly lady.
I found a really tacky "Home Sweet Home" painting at Good Will and repainted it to put my stones in it.
Thanks Mom! I love it.

Ava after her bath...so sweet.

Emily didn't want to miss out either, so she got in the bath tub too.

Look at those cheeks!

So happy!

See what I mean about not standing still for very long.

Hockey goal in the ice.

Grandma's photo prop, made into a photo.

Ice drops by the creek.