Culture Event #3: DUPB Movie

My last culture event was when I watched a movie in Daniels Auditorium hosted by the DU Programming Board Film Committee. I applied and was accepted to that committee at the beginning of this quarter. I believe that the movies we show once a week can be considered a culture event because movies are part of the American culture. We watch movies all the time, when we are happy or sad, during the holidays, during classes, etc. Movies can educate us about different issues or they can just be there to entertain us. The movies we show are purely for entertainment, but they still show different aspects of the American culture in them. When we showed Captain America is was shown through the movie that people like to see explosions and great fight scenes in action movies. Different movies for different genres show different things about our culture to the people viewing the movie. Also, I think these weekly movies are a great event because it helps to bring people together. I have my friends come to watch the movies with me and our group continues to grow as more people keep coming. I am able to bond with my friends over a funny scene in a movie, or a traumatic breakup scene. I think a culture event is when you want to discuss what you witnessed or took part in after it’s over. I always do that with watching movies, so that is why I think going to the DUPB movies every Thursday night counts as a culture event.

Culture Event #2: Lamont School of Music Concert

Recently, I went to the Lamont School of Music concert. A couple of my friends were in the choruses and I wanted to go and support them. The concert was amazing. Everyone sang really well, but the most interesting thing to me was that a lot of the songs were in Latin. I don’t speak Latin, nor do I understand it at all, but somehow the music intrigued me. I think that is a big deal because that means the music was so captivating that I didn’t even care that I had no idea what they were singing about. I always wished I could sing because I love listening to any types of music. My favorite part of the concert was when the Women’s Chorus did a dance with one of the Latin songs they sung. I was so intrigued by it. My friend Abbey and I, both got really into it and were moving to the rhythm of the beat. I love concerts and I try to go to as many as I can because I am always in awe of how talented singers are. The Lamont School of Music concert was fantastic, and I can’t wait to go to the one next quarter!

Culture Event #1: Destination Trip

Our Destinations Trip was one of the most memorable events of my first quarter in college. I really liked that the group was all-girls because I feel like everyone could act herself and it was a really relaxed atmosphere. I learned so much about my camera during this trip. I love my Nikon camera, but I didn’t know to change the shutter speed, or aperture.  Roddy, you taught me so much about the ways to take pictures manually. Now I rarely use the “automatic” setting on my camera. I was able to start to form a relationship with my camera. Also, this was a great culture event because I got to explore Denver more and see what the city was like. I’ve only been to Denver a couple of times and I didn’t know how it compared to San Francisco. I came from a city where it’s always noisy and the lifestyle is very fast-paced.  It was interesting to explore Denver because it is nothing like San Francisco. They are almost polar opposites in my mind. Denver is much more laid-back and there is not a lost of “hustle and bustle” when you walk around Downtown Denver. This day allowed me to explore the city and I got to learn more about photography.  

Famous Photographer #28: Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is an American photographer who is known for her visual narratives, which show the world of addictive and sexual activities. She left home at age 13 and lived in foster homes after that. She tried to find a substitute family for herself. Goldin ended up becoming part of a group of alienated women and men who were involved with drugs, violence, and sex. In about 1971, she started doing taking pictures. In 1973 she published her first work, which was of transvestites and transsexuals. She photographed drag queens, sexual play, people recovering from violence, or people using drugs. She published multiple series which showcased her work. The Museum of American Art has an exhibition of her work. 

Famous Photographer #27: Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson had his first experience of photography at the Museum of Modern Art at the age of ten. He studied photography at the State University of New York. He graduated with an M.F.A in photography from Yale in 1988. He took portraits of people in the residential area near his family's cabin for his senior thesis. He took pictures of birds, mutilated body parts, and insects, which would later be put together in a series called Natural Wonder. For his next series he changed from colored close-up to bird-eye view black and white shots. His recent photographs have become quite popular among people in Hollywood. They are in color and enlarged to 50 X 60 inches. Crewdson plans to direct a feature film in the future and so his career as an artist will continue to grow. 

Famous Photographer #26: Sally Mann

Sally Mann is known for her large black and white photos. She primarily shot her children, but later too pictures of landscapes. Mann worked as a photographer at Washington and Lee University after she graduated from Hollins College. She got her first one-woman exhibition in 1977 for the photographs she took of the University's construction. Mann is best known for her series called Immediate Family. It was published in 1992. It consists of black and white pictures of her children. The book touches a variety of themes such as childhood themes (dressing up, napping, and playing board games), and much darker themes (injury, loneliness, and death). There was a huge amount of controversy over this book because it was seen as child pornography. The New Republic considered it "one of the great photograph books of our time," despite all the criticism it received. 

Famous Photographer #25: Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman grew up in New York. She majored in painting, but switched to photography in college. After college, Sherman began to work on one of her best-known series called United Film Stills. She was a model in many of her photographs. During the 1980s, she decided to move away form black and white film and started shooting in color. She wanted to concentrate on facial expression and lighting. Many of her photographs reflected concerns about death, insanity, and eating disorders. Many of her pictures and disturbing and she is known for photographing grotesque and sinister things.