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. 

Famous Photographer #24: Francesca Woodman

Francesca Woodman grew up with parents who were artists. She took most of her photographs in black and white. She would shoot herself and female models usually. Woodman is from Colorado, but attended Rhode Island School of Design for college. She moved to NYC and began a career in photography there. Unfortunately, no fashion photographers were interested and Woodman ended up committing suicide. Some videos that she shot at while in college are displayed in museums around the world. Before she died, she created many artist's books. She only had a few exhibitions during her life. In 2000, the movie The Fancy was created by Elisabeth Subrin and it examined Woodman's life. People seem to find Woodman's work favorable and intriguing. 

Famous Photographer #23: Robert Adams

Robert Adams is known for his photographs of the landscape of the American West. He particularly enjoyed shooting California, Oregon, and Colorado. He work was inspired by his joy for landscapes. He wanted to show how great the land was because it was degraded by residential and commercial development. He showed two kinds of landscapes. He wanted to to show the landscapes of ones damaged by people and the other is how landscapes somehow beyond their power to harm. He took pictures of housing tracts that were being built in Colorado. Certain elements recur in Adam's landscapes. These elements are cars, boxy houses, loneliness, and isolation. Also, Adams made a series of photographs focusing on the people who lived near Denver. He started to travel to different places to take pictures and started to take pictures of people in addition to landscapes. 

Photographer #22: Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus got married at age 18. During the war, her husband studied photography in New Jersey Signal Corps. Both of them were fashion photographers. They took equal credit for their published photos. They separated, but remained good friends. Arbus took portraits of people for Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. They were mainly traditional subjects, such as actors, writers, and activists. Her non-commercial work was awarded Guggenheim fellowships. It was oriented towards people who were not famous. She committed suicide at the age of 48.  

Famous Photographer #21: Robert Frank

Robert Frank is best known for his collection of photographs called The Americans. It was faced with a lot of criticism. He became a photographer at the age of 24. He worked for Harper's Bazaar magazine as a fashion photographer. He left fashion after thinking the work was too limiting. He traveled to Peru and America from Switzerland to explore taking pictures with a 35-mm camera. He returned to Europe and published a series of photographs called The Americans. The book contained text by Jack Kerouac, who was an American novelist. His style was characterized by bold composition, and social commentary. This publication established Frank as a creative photographer. In 1959, he turned to cinematography and his first motion picture was Pull My Daisy. 

Famous Photographer #20: Robert Capa

Robert Capa exploited wars and it made him a legend in modern photography. He found a job as a darkroom apprentice when he was 18. He scored his first scoop with pictures of Leon Trotsky. Capa was sent to Spain ad his picture of a dying Spanish soldier made his famous overnight. He went to China and took pictures of the Battle of Taierchwang. He came back to Spain and covered the Spanish war. He eventually went to America and became part of the Life magazine staff. He continued to travel allover wherever work took him. He became the most colorful war photographer because of his pictures of war on Omaha Beach. Later, Capa became a businessman selling photographs. 

Famous Photographer #19: Henri Cartier Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson is a French photographer who is considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. When he was younger, Cartier-Bresson used a Box Brownie for taking holiday photos. He helped form the Magnum picture agency in 1974. He traveled all over the world to take pictures for major magazines. A 400-print retrospective exhibition was a major milestone in his career. The exhibition toured around the U.S. in 1960. In his first book, Bresson wrote about his approach to photography and it become a creed for photojournalists everywhere. Some people criticized him for being nothing more than a snap-shooter. He is known for talking about the "decisive moment" approach. Most of his photographs showed human details. He also would start to use the flash for photography. 

Famous Photographer #18: Margaret Bourke White

Margaret Bourke White got a degree in Herpetology from Cornell University. Her photography career started at Cornell when she sold pictures to students. After graduation she moved to Cleveland and opened a studio. Henry Luce offered a staff photographer position to Margaret Bourke for Fortune magazine. Her first published work was in 1931 and it was a book called Eye on Russia. She was assigned to take pictures of the drought and it opened her eyes to human suffering. Later Bourke started working at Life magazine. She also photographed wars and these pictures revealed horrors of the world. She was a member of the American Artists' Congress. She supported the state-funding of the arts and was against discrimination against African American artists. Bourke became a war correspondent for Life magazine during World War II. This was huge because she was the first female war correspondent. She was the first female permitted to work in combat zones and permitted to take pictures of the Soviet Union. 

Famous Photographer #17: Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange is best known for taking pictures during the Depression era and for her work for the Farm Security Administration. Her photography showed the consequences of the Great Depression and she influenced documentary photography. Lange went to Columbia University and studied photography. After school, she opened a successful portrait studio in San Francisco. She was employed with Resettlement Administration and later the Farm Security Administration because of her pictures of unemployed and homeless people. Her images became icons of the Depression era. Lange took pictures of the forced evacuation of Japanese Americans after the attack of Pearl Harbor for the War Relocation Authority. In 1952, she co-founded the magazine Aperture. After Lange died, she was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. 

Famous Photographer #16: Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz was known for making photography an accepted art form. Besides photography, he is known for introducing European artists to the U.S. He was married to painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Stieglitz traveled through the countryside in Europe and he photographed peasants working on the Dutch seacoast. Stieglitz was the editor for American Amateur Photographer magazine. He was forced to resign and decided to helped rebuild the New York Camera Club's newsletter. He created an organization called Photo-Secession that was invite-only. He wanted the art world to recognize photography "as a distinctive medium of individual expression." Buffalo's Albright-Knox Art Gallery set attendance records, and Stieglitz organized it. Stieglitz took pictures of Dorothy Norman and his wife O'Keeffe and these were some of the first pictures to recognize the isolation of body parts.

Famous Photographer #15: George Eastman

George Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak Company and he invented roll film. This helped to bring photography to the mainstream. In 1884, he patented the first roll film. He perfected the Kodak camera in 1888. Eastman established the Eastman Kodak Company in 1892 in Rochester, New York. His firm was one of the first to mass-produce standardized photography equipment. In 1889, Eastman created flexible transparent film, which was vital to the film industry. 

Famous Photographer #14: Richard Leach Maddox

Richard Leach Maddox is best known for his invention of lightweight gelatin negative plates. He created this process in 1871. Before he created this process, he was known for photomicrography, which is photographing organisms under the microscope. Maddox was noticing that the wet collodion was affecting his health. Maddox suggested that sensitizing chemicals cadmium bromide and silver nitrate should be put on a glass plate in gelatin. Photographers could use dry plates off the shelf instead of having to prepare their own emulsions. 

Famous Photographer #13: Lewis Hine

Lewis Hine took pictures that were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the U.S. Hine became a staff photographer for the Russell Stage Foundation in 1906. He captured the life of people living in the steel-making districts. He became a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee in 1908. In Europe Hine photographed the American Red Cross relief during and after World War I. He made a series of portraits, which showed the human contribution to the modern industry. He was hired to photograph the construction of The Empire State Building. The Library of Congress has more than five thousands of Hine's photographs. 

Famous Photographer #12: Jacob Riis

Jacob is known for being a "muckraking" journalist and for being a social documentary photographer. He is known for using his skills to help the impoverished in NYC. He discovered the use of flash in photography. Pistol lamps were becoming too dangerous, and so so Riis created the method of lighting magnesium powder of a frying pan. Because of the use of the flash, Riis was able to photograph New York at night or photograph dark places. He documented the hardships that the poor and criminal faced especially in Mulberry Street. 

Famous Photographer #11: Timothy O’Sullivan

Timothy O'Sullivan was commissioned in the Union Army, and he fought numerous battles. After he was honorably discharged from the army, O'Sullivan he started working for Mathew Brady again. He was joining Alexander Gardner's studio and because of this he was able to publish his photographs in the first Civil War photographs collection Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of War. O'Sullivan created his most famous photograph, "The Harvest of Death," which showed dead soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg. In 1867, he became the official photographer on the U.S. Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel. He photographed the mines and work done during this expedition. During his last years he was in Washingoton D.C. as an official photographer for the U.S. Geological Survery and the Treasury Department. 

Famous Photographer #10: Alexander Gardner

Alexander Gardner is best known for his photographs of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the people who conspired Lincoln's assassination. His interest in photography began when he saw Mathew Brady's photography at The Great Exhibition in 1851. Gardner ended up working for Brady. Gardner was the chief photographer under the U.S. Topographical Engineers. After that short appointment, he became a staff photographer for the Army of the Potomac. He published books showing his war photos. Not all the photos were Gardner's, but he credited the producer and printer of the photos that were not his. 

Famous Photographer #9: Félix Nadar

Gaspad Félix Tournachon, also known as Félix Nadar, was poor but talented. Nadar became famous before he was a photographer because of his writings and illustrations. He had a successful career as a satirical cartoonist. His skill for it was effective in capturing his photographic subjects' personalities. In 1854, Nadar opened his first studio. During his six years of practice, he focused on psychological elements of photography. He wanted to show moral personalities. His subjects were usually his friends. Nadar was one of the first photographers to use artificial light.

Famous Photographer #8: Julia Margaret Cameron

At the age of 48, Julia Margaret Cameron started her photography career. Her home at Freshwater was where she produced most of her work. She took pictures of her family, neighbors, and servants. She was in the highest circles of society and she photographed intellectual leaders within her circle of friends and family. Much of Cameron's inspiration was from literature, and in turn her work influenced writers. She was inspired by from the paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Giotto. She is known for her portraits of famous people. 

Famous Photographer #7: Francis Frith

Francis Frith worked as a grocer before becoming a photographer. He opened the Frith & Hayward photography studio in Liverpool. When Frith went to Egypt, he photographed the entire trip. He used three different camera: two large format cameras and a stereoscopic camera. A major photographic publisher published Fenton's pictures the following year and the firm Thomas Agnew and Sons offered the larger prints. After a couple more trips, two to Egypt and one to Syria, Frith opened up his own firm near Surrey. His firm published his own images as well as the work of other photographers. Frith and Company stopped operating in 1971.

Famous Photographer #6: Roger Fenton

Many say that Roger Fenton's photography career was great but brief. He was a photographer for only twelve years. He is a founder of the Photographic Society in London and he photographed the British royal family. He made the first photographs of Russia and the Kremlin. The British Museum invited him to take pictures of their collections. The first large-scale photographic documentation of war was Fenton's photographs of Crimea in 1855. Fenton photographed many genres including landscapes, still lifes and architectural design. Even though Fenton exhibited and sold his own pictures, he grew disdainful of how commercialization of photography increased. He returned to law and gave up photography in 1862. 

Famous Photographer #5: Frederick Scott Archer

Frederick Scott Archer invented the photographic collodion process also known as wet plate collodion process.He invented the new process in 1848 and published it in The Chemist in March of 1851. It allowed photographers to combine the fine detail of the daguerreotype with the ability to print multiple paper copies like calotype. He did not patent the invention and so it was a gift to the world. He later developed the ambrotype with Peter Fry. An ambrotype is a photograph that creates a positive image on a sheet of glass using the wet plate collodion process. Because he did not patent his invention, he died impoverished.

Famous Photographer #4: Hill and Adamson

In 1843, David Hill and Robert Adamson formed a partnership as photographers. Hill wanted to take pictures of each attendee who was at the Free Church of Scotland meeting. He was introduced to Adamson and it took them more than a year to create calotype portraits of each person in attendance. During their partnership they made more than three thousands photographs. The photographs included landscapes and architectural design. Some of the earliest examples of social documentary photography were Hill and Adamson's portraits of working men and women from the fishing village of Newhaven. Hill gave up taking pictures for years after Adamson's death, but he still sold prints. In 1858, Hill became a Council Member of the Photographic Society of Scotland. 

Famous Photographer #3: Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot published his first article in 1835. it showed his first discovery of paper negative. He published a book with photographic illustrations and it was called The Pencil of Nature. Talbot developed the calotype process in 1840. He obtained a patent for the calotype process. His process improved the daguerreotype process. His process involved the use of photographic negative which multiple prints could be made. The method of converting a negative to a positive is the basis for modern photography. He is considered to be one of the two founders of photography.

Famous Photographer #2: Louis Daguerre

Louis Daguerre was an inland revenue officer and then became a scene painter for the opera. In 1822 in Paris he opened the Diorama which was an exhibition that showed pictorial views. In 1829 Louis Daguerre partnered with Niepce which began a cooperation which lasted until Niepce died. Louis Daguerre invented daguerreotype process of photography. Daguerre first exposed silver-coated copperplates to iodine which created silver iodine. Next he exposed them to light for several minutes, and then he coated the plate with mercury vapor that was heated. Finally he fixed the image in saltwater. The plate produced an exact reproduction of the scene. This process only took 20-30 minutes. Also, Daguerre's name is one of the 72 names that is inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. 

Keith Carter: My Version

Keith Carter has said, “I don't just look at the thing itself or at the reality itself; I look around the edges for those little askew moments-kind of like what makes up our lives-those slightly awkward, lovely moments.” I try to do this too. When I take pictures I attempt to find those special moments and capture them. One aspect of Carter's photography that interests me is that most of his pictures have something blurred in them, whether it be the edges, the subject, or anything else in the photograph. I believe that it the blurriness of  pictures that make them seem mysterious. The mystery of the photograph makes me look at it longer and I usually take more time to see everything in the photograph because the blur allows me to notice different things the longer I look at the picture. Carter's photography interests me too because he only shot in film. I wish I knew how to shoot with film. It is such a long process and I am in awe of anyone who uses film. A photographer who shoots in film needs to have a lot of patience and I want to be more like Carter where I can shoot in film and try to find the awkward moments in life. Carter is able to take pictures that attempt to reflect hidden meanings in the real world. He is such an inspiration because he is able to take something ordinary and take a picture of it, showing the world how extraordinary the thing is. 

Plato's Cave

Plato’s Cave is about people who see shadows reflected in a cave, but believe it is reality. That can happen when people view pictures, too. Everyone can interpret photographs and their meanings differently. Susan Sontag explains that people do not have all the knowledge of the world. “Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire.” (4). Photographs do not represent the whole truth; they show parts of the world and people shape them into whatever they want to believe in. Therefore, everyone who views photographs has their own perception of the world. Susan Sontag wrote about how photography can influence peoples’ opinions. “In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking and what we have a right to observe” (3). People all around the world will be influenced by what they see. Photographs can make people think one subject is more important than another, or that something is not worth looking at, thus, altering the person’s view of the world. Since photographs are supposed to be proof of reality people just assume that what is in the picture is real.

When looking at anything I have often fallen into the trap of thinking that this is what reality is, when really it is just my version of reality. With wars we are often shown pictures of soldiers fighting for our country, but sometimes what we do not see is the innocent civilians killed because they are in our way. When I see photographs I assume that they are showing the truth about our world, but I do not take a moment to look at the picture and question it. Sometimes I realize that the photograph does not represent reality, and other times I do not. I think everyone sees things that they think represent the truth, but really they are seeing the world in their own way and do not notice that it is only their view of the world. Also, when I take photographs I believe that they show others proof of reality, but really they only show my idea of the world. Photography is all about perception. Everyone will have different ideas about photographs they see or about the messages behind their photographs. Everything about photography is pure opinion. I will always perceive the world differently than others.

I believe people, including myself, sometimes get caught up in the act of taking the picture and do not really take the time to appreciate what we are seeing. Sometimes I only look at something and then take a picture of it. Other times I see something that I think I can turn into art and use my camera to create a masterpiece. I believe that photography is about capturing what one sees, in one’s own artistic way. I recently got caught up in the moment of taking pictures was when I went to the music festival called Outside Lands. I kept snapping pictures of the different bands, but did not take the time to appreciate what I was seeing. A couple times I had to put the camera down and just enjoy the music. Photography can be a double-edged sword because it can allow one to show the world their artwork, but it can also make one loose sight of the importance of enjoying what they are seeing. 

Famous Photographer #1: Nicéphore Niépce

Nicéphore Niépce is a French photographer. He is known as one of the inventors of photography. In 1822 he took the world's first photogravure etching of Pope Pius VII. Unfortunately, when he tried to duplicate it the original was destroyed. The first surviving etchings were of a man with a horse and of a woman with a spinning wheel. In 1825 Nicéphore Niépce's first photograph was created. He used a process called heliography. In 1829 he collaborated with Louis Daguerre and they developed the physcautotype. That is a photographic process that uses lavender oil. Aside from improving the photography process, Niépce created the Pyréolophore. It was the world's first internal combustion engine. He invented it with his brother. Nicéphore Niépce paved the way for photography.

How I Perceive Sally Mann

Sally Mann said, "It is my philosophy to try to make art anywhere, everyday." I love this philosophy and I think it's a an important idea all artists should live by. Sometimes people get so wrapped up with their lives, that they forget to take a moment and appreciate their surroundings. I know that I take things for granted, and through photography I am able to appreciate nature and my life. I try to create art everywhere through my lens. When I walk to class I always take my camera with me and I make numerous stops along the way to capture the art I see. Sally can make a print of a subject that would usually be viewed as "ordinary" and when someone sees the print they see the beauty of the subject. I have had this happen to me. There are pictures of bikes, walls, or other objects that I thought were ordinary, but then I see pictures that show these objects and I am speechless. Photographers are able to see these objects in a different way then I was able to see them. The photos completely changed my view of how I look at things. Everything has the potential to be seen as beautiful if the person look at it takes the time to find its beauty. One thing Sally Mann and I have in common is our love for shooting landscapes. I love shooting a place and making it look magical. I want my landscape pictures to be so moving that people want to go to the places in the photos. Sally succeeds in doing this because I love the locations of her pictures. A huge difference between us is the materials we use to take pictures. Sally shoots in film and only makes black & white pictures, whereas I shoot with a digital camera and I take color and black & white pictures. Sally Mann definitely has a different way of looking at the world. I think her photographs are more raw and untouched than Annie Leibovitz's pictures. Sally isn't afraid to photograph controversial things such as her children naked, or decaying bodies. It was extremely interesting to watch this movie because I enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences between Sally Mann's life and Annie's Leibovitz's life.

How I See Annie

Annie said, "My work is the greatest relationship of my life." This has proven true for her. She works all the time and photographs anything and everything where ever she is. I think Annie is such an incredible strong person. It takes a strong person to be able to work through her sorrow. Annie uses photography as a way to get through obstacles in life. I do the same thing. If I am ever stressed or upset, I will take my camera and just go on a walk. Taking picture is a stress-reliever for me. I agree with Annie when she says that you can never take too many pictures and that she loves to photograph her family. If I am comfortable with specific people I enjoy photographing them. I love taking pictures of my parents, brother and my dogs! Another thing I loved about Annie Leibovitz is that she likes to tell stories through her pictures. I love her themes. She photographed a lot of celebrities, and the theme was Disney. An example of one of the pictures was Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony posed as Aladdin and Jasmine. Annie shoots in film and digital too. I like that she uses different mediums to take photographs. It gives pictures of the same things variety. I don't know how Annie was able to deal with the loss of Susan. If my best friend died, I don't think I would be able to get over it. Annie was able to deal with her loss through photography. Photography helps Annie in so many ways, and it helps me in so many ways too. I love it. It can make me happy, relieve my stress, and allow me to deal with sadness too. Annie and I have many similarities that I was not aware of before I watched the documentary about her. I loved the movie and enjoyed learning more about Annie's life. It has inspired me to photograph more and see the world in a different way.

Annie Leibovitz

When asked what a photographer's life is, Annie said, "It's a life looking through a lens." Annie will shoot subjects with a digital camera and with film. One person called her a  daring photographer. Hilary Clinton called her "a major chronicler of our country." Annie came from a huge family and had five siblings. During her childhood, her family moved constantly and the family unit was the only constant thing. She lived in her car, and was able to see the world through a frame, the window frame of the car. Annie's family saw the camera as another part of the family. Her father was stationed in Vietnam and her family moved to the Philippines. Annie started taking picture of the base and around the military base. Annie went to school in San Francisco in 1967. She wanted to be a painting major, and wanted to be an art teacher. She realized she couldn't be an art teacher until she became an artist. She took a photography workshop that summer. Photography clicked with her, and there was something about the process that she enjoyed. The School of Photography at the San Francisco Institute was where Annie learned to take pictures. Annie says she and Rolling Stone's magazine grew up together. By 1973 Annie had become the Rolling Stone's chief photographer. Annie said, "The magazine is an empty canvas and is just waiting to be filled up with imagery." She's shot everything from celebrities, to astronauts, to people sitting on the street. Annie believes that, "In order to get the best possible pictures you had to become what was going on." Arnold Schwarzenegger  said, "Annie is very good at adapting to her surroundings when she takes pictures." Annie photographed The Rolling Stone's while they were on tour. Annie enjoyed taking pictures of dance. She would study the dance and pick moments to re-create in a photograph. Bea Feitler became a mentor for Annie because she needed a teacher. She started to investigate other photographers' concepts and their pictures. One of Annie's most famous pictures is the portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. She took that picture the day Lennon died. People who have worked with Annie says she's tough, and can be difficult sometimes. One person called her "Barbra Streisand with a camera." When Annie moved to Vanity Fair she was faced with new obstacles. She would shoot the covers for Vanity Fair, but those weren't photographs. She says they were more like advertisements to sell the magazine. Annie and Susan Sontag had a personal relationship that was later confirmed in Annie's book. Vanity Fair started to become glitzy and glamor and Annie had to change how she usually took photographs. Annie works for Vogue in addition to Vanity Fair. Annie said, "What I am doing as a photographer is getting a little slice of them [her subject]." Annie brought a "sense of poetry to her lose," by photographing people who died.

#5- San Francisco

Dear San Francisco,
I feel that throughout my whole life I have said "I hate San Francisco. It's always cold, grey, and windy." Well now that I am leaving the Bay Area, I have come to realize how much I will miss this city. I have not given you enough credit. Even though you can be extremely cold, you have many things to offer. I enjoyed attending Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. During those three days it was pretty sunny and didn't become too cold at night. Having cable cars definitely make you an unique city. I love riding the cable cars around to different parts of San Francisco. My favorite part of San Francisco is either Pier 39 or AT&T Park. I love going to the pier because there are so many different things to do there. There is the mirror maze, watching the sea lions, going shopping and there so many different restaurants to eat at. San Francisco has so much to offer, and I know that I have taken advantage of its opportunities. I should be more thankful that I live near a city where I can go shopping, go to concerts, ride on paddle boats, etc. Thanks for all allowing me to experience so much in your city. I have had a wonderful time growing up and exploring San Francisco.
Love,
Irene

#4- Mom & Dad

Dear Mom & Dad,

A letter is not enough to show my thanks towards you guys. From the first day you adopted me until now when you are about to send me off to college you have showered your love upon me. You two are the ones you instilled in me the values that you were brought up with. I can always count on you to make me laugh, to be the shoulder I can cry on, or just support me in whatever I choose to do. Mom- I shall miss our car rides, where we sing and dance to the songs on the radio. Dad- I shall miss your corny, but sometimes funny jokes. I shall miss coming home to people who I know will be there for me until the end. You are the best parents anyone could ever have, even my friends agree! I know I will miss you guys while I am away at college, but I know that this experience will only solidify our relationship and make us grow closer. I can't wait to tell you all about my college experience. It will be hard saying goodbye Monday, but I know I will get to see you in October! I love you guys! 

Love,

Irene

#3- David

Dear David,

I love this picture of us. We have taken similar ones over the years, sometimes they are forced, and sometimes they are natural. First off, I can't believe what I am wearing. I think it's an exercise outfit? I don't really know. Secondly, look at my hair! Why would Mom ever cut my hair like that? I look like Aladdin! I love this picture of us and I have loved being your sister! When we were younger we used to be very close. We would play on the playground together, race cars, or just laugh together. As we got older we started to grow distant, and it wasn't until this past year that I started to grow close to you again.  I have loved becoming close again. It has been so fun telling each other about our high school experiences and being there for each other. I hope that we remain on good terms while I am away from college and I hope that we still talk whether it be through texts, by phone, Facebook, etc. I can't wait to hear about your junior year, and I look forward to tell you about my first year in college. Thanks for being there to support me, for being the person I can yell at, knowing you will forgive me, and for being an amazing brother. I know you have my back, and I will always have yours. It won't be a goodbye when you leave Monday; it's a "see ya later."

Love,

Irene

Crazy For Chinatown

Today I went to Chinatown in San Francisco. I love going there because it's so different than any other part of San Francisco. I decided to take the picture on my phone with an application called Hipstamatic. Now there is a very popular photography app called Instagram. Instagram allows for someone to choose different filters to apply to a photo. I like Hipstamatic more because it's like a real camera. I can change the lens, the film, whether I use flash or not. Hipstamatic allows me to make more decisions on how I want the photograph to look like. I like this photo because of the angle. I decided to take this picture from an upward angle. I wanted some of the sky to show because it creates a good contrast against the building. I loved using Hipstamatic to take this picture because I don't usually take pictures with it and it pushed me out of my comfort zone.

First For Everything

This is the first photo taken of me. I was a couple days old when it was taken. I think looking at this photo no one would know that I was East Indian. Comparing how I look now to how I looked when I was baby, no one would know the person in the two pictures was the same. 

This is one of the first photos I took. It was on a disposable camera. I don't remember how old I was when I took it. I think I was around 5 years old. I asked my mom if I could take a picture of her, with my aunt and Grandpa and she said yes. I just looked into the view finder of the camera and clicked when I could see them all in it. 

This is the first photo I took where I looked to photography as an art instead of just snapping pictures to remember events. I was 14 when I took this picture, and it was then that I realized that I could used a camera to show my art to the world. Since then I have looked at photography as an art and I always try to take photographs in new and interesting ways. 

Color Blend

Today I used photoshop to blend two photography I took. I decided to keep the piano shot in black an white, so that the background colors from it wouldn't distract the person looking at the photograph. The emphasis is on the flower, which is why I left it in color. I like that the flower is transparent because it creates a unique effect. I decided to try different things on photoshop, and I really like to blend photos together. Taking two photos and blending them can create a whole different look. Doing this pushed me as a photographer because I am not too used to using photoshop, and it caused me to be open to new things as a photographer.

#2- Balki

Dear Balki,

When we first got you and Minka I thought it was just going to be fun to have some dogs, but having you guys as meant so much to me. Whenever I come home and walk up the stairs from the garage there you guys are wagging your tails ready to greet me. If I am having a bad day, knowing that you guys will be there makes me smile. If I am sad I can always come to you and you will lick my face or just sit on my lap and make me happy. You and Minka are part of the family and I will miss you a lot in college. I will have no one to come greet me when I come home to my dorm room and no one to throw toys to when I am bored. I know it's weird, but I will miss talking to you when I am in a bad mood or just when I need someone to talk to. When I come home from college, I will look forward to seeing you as I come up the stairs again. 

Love,

Irene

#1- Grandpa

Dear Grandpa,

I can't believe you are 90! You have been a part of my life for 19 years and I love you so much. You are always able to make me laugh, and you can put a smile on your face when I am having a bad day. Since I was little, I've always looked forward to our visits. You have taught me how to become a better checker player, how to play a little on a guitar, and you have helped me become a better person. I love looking at all your paintings and having you tell me the story behind them. Your stories about when you were in the army always interest me and I find them very interesting. I can't wait to share my college stories with you. Thank you for supporting me all these years. It has meant the world to me!

Love,

Irene

Sprinkle Sweetness

Yesterday I had a chocolate cupcake. I got out my camera and took pictures of it. I picked this photo to create a variety of shots for my blog. This shows my food photography skills. Food is one of my favorite subjects to shoot. I used my Nikon D5000 to take this picture of the cupcake. I love that it's a close-up shot, which is different than my other photos. Taking the picture of the cupcake while I'm close to it allowed me to capture the cupcake with all of its detail. I can see the creases in the frosting in this photograph. Taking this picture pushed me as a photographer because it made me take a close-up shot, which I am not used to.

Go Go Giants!

Two nights go I went to another Giants baseball game with my friends and family. I took this picture of the sign of AT&T Park because during the summer I was at a baseball game almost every other week. I love wearing Giants gear to a game. I love screaming at the top of my voice with 40,000. I love the moment the Giants win a game and everyone goes crazy. I love AT& T Park. I know where everything is in the park, and I feel comfortable in it. Going to the games is one of my favorite things to do. I took the picture of the sign with a regular point-and-shoot camera. I shot the picture in color to show that the AT&T Park words are in Orange and therefore contrast against the rest of the sign. This shot tells people where I was, and because of that they know that I was at a baseball game.

Peace, Love, Indie Music

A couple weeks ago I went to a festival called Outside Lands with my brother and a friend. It's a three-day festival held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. About 60,000 people were there everyday and it was one of the coolest experiences ever. I loved listening to the different musicians and I loved noticing the different outfits people were wearing. I took a picture of two people in bright tie-dye clothing. I love their fashion sense and that they like to stand out. I was sitting down when I took that picture, so it was taken with an upward angle. The second picture I took at Outside Lands while Muse was performing. We were in a crowd of thousands of people watching Muse. It was incredible. Muse is one of my favorite bands and they put on an amazing show. I like this picture because it shows the bands on stage with the lights, but it also shows all the people in the crowd. I think this picture is a good representation of Outside Lands.  

Back In Time

My family and I recently went to Los Angeles and visited Universal Studios. We went on a tour that showed the Backlot, which is the place where the movies are filmed. All the different sets are on the Backlot and I took a variety of pictures of them. I liked this picture because it showed all the buildings that looked identical. I shot the picture in black and white because I wanted people to focus on the buildings when viewing this picture. I didn't want the colors in the photo to distract people who were looking at it. I liked this set a lot because the buildings look like the buildings in New York, and I love that city! This photograph shows a different side of me as a photographer. I don't usually shoot architectural photos, but I really liked this one.

How High

We were walking back to the hotel one night and decided to walk on the beach on our way back. My friends and I started taking jumping picture in the water. My two friends, Mackenzie and Kristen, were trying to see who could jump higher. I like this picture a lot because I think it almost looks like it was taken with a camera that only uses film. The colors are dark and there's spots in the picture that gives it a different vibe. I like the dots because they look like water droplets and I think it makes the picture look like it was taken a long time ago. This picture shows the subjects and the surronding area too. I was able to capture the surf coming in and my two friends, and even include the black night sky.

Out of the Ground

On this day our group went snorkeling in the ocean. We went on a boat and went to different lagoons where we could see turtles, coral, eels, and schools of fish. I love taking landscape pictures, so I chose this one for my blog. I like that the island creates one line that is almost flat, but the rocks create a variety of lines. The rocks make the picture more interesting. The variety of colors make the picture interesting too because there are light colors and dark colors. I think this picture is a good representation of Hawaii and what it looks like. I took this picture with no unique angle. I just wanted to show the landscape of the island and it's natural beauty. I like that there are no building or man-made things in the picture. It shows Hawaii in its natural state. 

Sparkles in the Sky

While we were in Hawaii we went into a shop that sold different kinds of nicknacks. I looked up at the ceiling and there were hundreds of different things hanging from it. I loved this shot because everything in this photo just sparkles, and I love sparkly things! I love the upward angle of this shot and the different colors shown in the picture. I think it's a unique photograph because people don't usually see this sort of thing in a shop when they go in. I like how everything has a bronze tone to it and there isn't too much white in the photo. The subject of this photo is different than in my other photos because there are multiple things in it. Usually when I take a picture I only have one subject, sometimes two, but this one has multiple objects in it. This picture shows how the different objects unite together and look similar and alike. 

Nature's Beauty

I was away on a vacation in Hawaii, but I took a picture a day that I am now posting. I love taking pictures of things in nature, and flowers are one of my favorite things. I love the color and the small details that make each flower different. Hawaii was amazing, and I loved seeing all the different flowers. Waking up and seeing all the color and smelling their different aromas was incredible. I like that the flower's color pops against the green background. I think the angle is interesting because it's a little bit of a downward angle on the flower, not the usual straight-on angle that is used to photograph a lot of objects.