Marin Klimas - "Flower Vases"

The German photographer, Martin Klimas, likes to experiment with simultaneous presence of two distinct states, capturing chaos within a motionless, still life. He does a great job in illustrating this in his work, Flower Vases.  The project Flower Vases is about capturing the split second of the vase shattering into pieces, as the flowers in the vase are shown untouched. Klimas’ main object of this project was the flower arrangements in the vases. The flower arrangements are placed in the center of the photo against more neutral colors, which we have learned is to keep from taking the attention of the viewer away from the photo and object itself. The photo was then taken at the exact moment the vase was hit. Klimas would aim a spring-powered firing device at the vase. Once the steel ball would hit the vase, the vase would burst into thousands of pieces. Klimas would capture the moment with one photo. The camera would be set off by the noise of the projectile hitting the vase at the point of destruction. Within this seven-thousandth of a second Klimas was able to capture the chaos of the water and vase spewing everywhere in the bottom of the photo, while above it was poised and unharmed. Klimas was interested in the transformation of the objet in that fraction of a second, because in the next second the flowers would be thrown down without the support of the vase keeping them upright. Without a camera with a high-speed exposure, we would not be able to see this motion or capture it because it happens so quickly. It is also unique that he experimented with different types of vases. How a glass vase shattered into many smaller pieces, while ceramic and stone vases burst into larger pieces.

            Klimas tells us that one of his most important inspirations was Eadweard Muybridge. He uses Muybridge’s idea of test set-ups. Klimas set up his scenes of the flower arrangements and justified the moment of destruction, just as Muybridge proved that horses lift all four hooves off the ground when they gallop, a question that had been debated by artists back in that time. Martin Klimas’ work also resembles the work of the Japanese photographer Naoya Hatakeyama. He would go to quarry explosions and document the stone flying everywhere with his remote- controlled camera. The photo would show the stone at a standstill just as Klimas captures the vases at standstills in his photographs. Klimas likes the idea of objects transforming into something new.

            When reading about Marin Klimas’ interpretation of his art it was similar to what I thought about the work. His whole project is about experimenting with shattering vases. Klimas only has one chance to get a great photo, once the vases shatter there is no getting them back. Because he can only get one chance to produce a great photo from one vase, Klimas calls his work “Temporary Sculptures,” he can never get the way the vase shatters back again. Martin Klimas likes the idea of experimenting with shattering objects. Not only does he shatter vases, but he shatters figurines, as well. He enjoys seeing the change of peace and calmness turn into chaos and shards flying everywhere as the view looks from top to bottom at the photograph.

            In my opinion, I believe Martin Klimas’ work is successful. He wanted to portray how different materials break and show how you can capture two different emotions in one photograph, if taken at the right moment in time, and he did just that. He was able to capture the different qualities of the vases and flowers. He was able to experiment and find out the exact second to photograph, to capture the vase shattering into pieces, while the pieces are still in the air. He was able to capture everything that he had set out to do, and in my opinion, that is being successful.

"Like Flowers, Like Humans"

In the beginning of my project, “Like Flower, Like Human,” I was looking around for inspiration. I had finally found the inspiration I was looking for when I sat down at my desk and just looked down at it. There I saw the rock I got from a High School retreat. When receiving this rock, they told us that these rocks would somehow lead us in a way and we wouldn't expect it when they did. The rock I received had the word inspire engraved on it. This rock somehow got my mind thinking that I could use my rock along with my friends' rocks that they received, in “Like Flower, Like Human.” The idea of these inspirational words engraved on stones, a “hard” object, relates to the fact that it is “hard” to put these words and ideas into action when you are developing as a person. However, we still push through and develop into unique individuals; no one individual is alike, just like flowers. The inspirational words coincide with the flowers showing how we, as people, grow and develop over time and become these well-rounded, beautiful people just as flowers start out as buds, grow and develop into these beautiful things that we decorate our houses with, just like we decorate our lives with beautiful people. Without knowing it we take these ideas of words to grow into the people we become. I've always liked to watch people develop into who they are today and how they change over time, just like flowers. One of my favorite quotes fits perfectly into this project, “Like photography, we develop from the negatives.” This quote is illustrated in my photos. The black and white photo is the negatives and as we develop we gain the color, life, and positives just as the photographs in this project return to color. People develop when they become inspired, have hope for the future, believe in what is going to happen, and trust that everything will work out in the end.

 

Final Project- Work In Progress

My Final Project deals with the idea of how people grow into beautiful people just as flowers grow into these beautiful objects.Without knowing it we take these ideas of words to grow into the people we become. People develop when they become inspired, have hope for the future, believe in what is going to happen, and trust that everything will work out in the end. These words or ideas are set hard to deal with just as stones are, but we still push through and develop into unique individuals, no one individual is alike, just like flowers. With finishing my project, I plan on choosing the 8-10 photos to print and make one large print of a flower and then other small photos of flowers.

I was thinking about making one photo black and white making it look like a negative with the colored photo right next to it just like the saying "Life is like photography, we develop from the negatives," but I'm still not sure if that is a good idea or not. I guess I'd want other people's ideas on this and how they think would be the best way to present this concept.

Andy Grundberg's Crisis of the Real

1.What is postmodernism? 
Andy Grundberg's writing Crisis of the Real I believe when he talks about postmodernism there is multiple definitions. The word postmodernism has many different meanings in different artistic medias. For example, in the field of architecture, postmodernism meant "eclecticism, the use of stylistic flourishes and decorative ornament with a kind of carefree, slapdash, and ultimately value free abandon" (165). In dance, it was "an attempt to throw off the heroicism and expressionism of modernist dance by making dance more vernacular" (165).  In art, postmodernism means "an attack on modernism, an undercutting of its basic assumptions about the role of the art in the culture and about the role of the artist in relation to his or her art" (166). Therefore, trying to make one final definition from all of these cultures into account would be difficult, but if I had to it would be something around this: postmodernism- to do something different than the norm, being free to do whatever the artist pleases, and making the people think about the art you are creating, not just telling the whole story with the photo, let the viewer try to figure out what it means. 

2. How does postmodernism relate to, and challenge, the tradition of photographic practice?
Postmodernism is all about capturing out of the norm objects. Therefore, it challenges traditional photographic practice. Traditional was all about everything staged and able to retake the photo if necessary. However, with postmodernism it was about taking the photos that weren't staged. The ones that showed how people really were, not just how they want everyone to see them. Postmodern photography wouldn't be able to be restage the exact photo, but maybe a look alike. And because photographers wouldn't have a set style with postmodernism then the photographers wouldn't be able to put their signature, or style, on the photograph. However, with postmodern it challenged the thought of traditional photography because traditional photography practices were all about being doing their own thing, but still being within certain norms. But with postmodernism, photographers could take pictures of pictures and be unique in that way, it took ideas from before and expanded on it if not just copied it. Plus with traditional photography people just take the snapshots of things they like and then go on their way. But with postmodernism they went outside the box and took photos of things they liked and things that others wouldn't like as well, just to push the limits and do things outside of the norm.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I wasn't sure where to start. I was looking around for inspiration. Finally, I sat down at my desk and just looked down at it. There I saw the rock I got from a retreat I went on, in High School. They told us that these rocks would somehow lead us in a way and we wouldn't expect it when they did. Well, my rock said inspire. This rock somehow got my mind working to use my rock and my friends' rocks in this project. I am going to use photos of the inspirational rocks and collage them with photos of flowers that I will take at a florist shop. The inspirational words will coincide with the flowers showing how we, as people, grow and develop over time and become these well-rounded, beautiful people just as flowers start out and are buds and grow and develop into these beautiful things that we decorate our houses with, just like we decorate our lives with beautiful people. I've always liked to watch people develop into who they are today and how they change over time, just like flowers. People develop when they become inspired, have hope for the future, believe in what is going to happen, and trust that everything will work out in the end.

Phone Reactions

In the photos that I took, I tried to show that when people get text messages that their faces change. Whether the text be a cute one from your significant other, a text that makes no sense at all, or maybe even a text that is completely dumb. However, because this was a fiction project I had to ask the people to look at their phones and act like they are responding to a text. When I told people to make a face reacting to a text, some were unsure and did not know what to do, some even refused to participate in my project. Most of my participants were good sports and made some great faces, but others seemed to just look at their phones and be Debby Downers. That is okay though, because for some of the faces I was able to catch made up for the plain Jane faces.

I tried to capture the emotions that can come out while reading a text. However, this was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I did not just want pictures that were face on and looking straight at the subject. I wanted to get the phone in the photo and see the reaction as well. At first I started taking pictures at different angles from above and below, but then I realized that when I am photographing from above the subject I cannot fully see their reaction but I can see that there is no text on the phone. Therefore, it would not actually work for my project. I continued to take pictures, but instead I tried to get below my subjects for from angles that I could see the reaction but not see the screen of the phone.

When I first started this project I was trying to capture my dogs like they were fighting over a cardboard sub and chips, a sign I took home from work with me from Subway. They were going to both be licking the food, but then my Yorkie was going to start a fight with my Sheltie and end up killing her. I was excited to try to capture this, but when it came time to take the photos my dogs would not cooperate with me. The Sheltie loves the camera and just wants to be happy in front of it, while the Yorkie gets scared and runs. That's when I came up with the reactions to the texts. I decided to put a phone in front of the dogs to see what they'd do. I even put a piece of sausage on my phone to get my dog to look like she was looking at it! I got the scared expression from my Yorkie while she hid under the table and I quick put my phone in front of her to get the picture. This is how my new idea for my project started out. Funny what can become inspirational.

On Photography

Question 1:
 When Sontag states that "Even when photographers are most concerned with mirroring reality, they are still haunted by tacit imperatives of taste and conscience," she means that photographers want to photograph reality, but they don't seem to be happy until they get the picture they want. Photographers try to separate themselves when photographing, but we still make decisions and choices. Photographers try not to put too much into it, yet they still choose if they like the picture or not. They do this without thinking. They unknowingly put themselves into the photo. For example, the Farm Security Administration photographic project. It tried to illustrate the depression and poverty, yet the photographers were given specific requirements to go by. The photographers would go out and take dozens of photos and wouldn't be satisfied til they got a picture of what they thought the depression and poverty should look like. I agree with Sontag's claim. Even though photographers think they are being objective, they are still including a sliver of their opinions into the photograph.

Question 2:
In this quote, Sontag says that with photography a person can verify that they have done something or gone somewhere.  Sontag then goes on to say that the pictures are evidence that the vacation or trip was made and that they had fun. She says that when people are on vacation they can take pictures to show that they are having fun. She says "They have something to do that is like a friendly imitation of work: they can take pictures." I agree with Sontag's claim. Many people use photography to show that they were there and to show others what they were able to see. My grandparents travel all over the world. They always take pictures to show everyone what they did, where they went, and on what days they did what. My step-grandma makes a schedule and puts that in the scrap book as well as the pictures of her and my grandpa for example when they were in Italy they got someone else to take their picture while in front of the leaning tower and to make sure everyone could see that they were there, that it wasn't just a picture offline. These pictures clarified to everyone that they were in Italy and they had actually saw all these beautiful things and they had fun while in Italy.