It has been over a year since I last updated my blog. So much has happened, and so much has changed. I can only really summarize my experiences by saying that there has been some world travel, some soul searching, some coming to grips with reality, some loneliness, some sickness, and of course, compared to the tougher times, a greater portion of wonder and happiness.
I continue my pursuit of photography--the wily profession. This chase has brought me to many places, some of which I would not have guessed at the beginning of things. For instance, at the moment, I'm in graduate school earning an MFA in fine art photography.
"FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY," you say.
"YES," I reply.
"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU," you ask.
"I"M STILL FIGURING THAT OUT," I reply.
Graduate school had always been an aspiration. The question was, in which discipline. In undergraduate, I earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, which means I have a degree roughly concentrated in the liberal arts, and also, of course, in high-brow posturing. And how can I put it nicely . . . Sadie Lou didn't leave me much in terms of a future in higher education. So, I had to work towards something, which obviously became photography.
So let's look at some photographs. I would like to share two images I made from my first quarter at RIT.
This is grad school, so we can't take a step in any direction without discussing influences and context.
I have always enjoyed the work of Jeff Wall and Adreus Gursky. Both photographers are extremely important in that they brought new attention to photography through their use of digital technology. The example images below are composites, or in other words, multiple images digitally stitched into one perfect whole.
This is Jeff Wall's A Sudden Gust of Wind, based on Hokusai's 1831 wood block print with the same title.
This is Andreas Gursky's Chicago Board of Trade II.
Both artists were big in the 90's, and although still highly regarded today, have not been treated with the same notoriety as in years past. Their style became extremely influential (think of Crewdson), but technology progressed bringing their complex stitching techniques to the masses via improved Photoshop versions, which lessened the wow factor. Not only that, the new century (2000's) brought stylistic and cultural changes emphasizing retro technologies like the Holga and Lomography. Once hipsters got hold of easy technology, (think the hipstimatic) vernacular Nan Goldenesque styles came back into vogue.
Despite that, I am amazed by Wall's and Gursky's work. Perfect, painterly, and epic. Yet, at the same time, familiar and lively, only the way a photo-image can be.
The following photo-image was captured in my living room. I used a Hasselblad medium format digital camera. This image is a composite of three photographs. Due to its large file size, this photograph can be printed to any size imaginable with high fidelity. It glows with warmth and a kind of simple spirituality.
The image below was composited from ten separate images. I set my tripod up in one spot and took pictures of people who I found interesting using a Nikon D3. In post I stitched the images together to form an unseen drama. It's sort of amazing to smash all these people into one frame and see what you get--it's hyper-real and simply great (I'm planning to do a series of these in NYC over the summer).
Despite the fairly good critiques I received from my peers during the the fall quarter, the photography department at RIT did not like my work in final reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great any art program is, it's still an institutionalized curriculum of pedagogy. My program is heavily influenced by postmodernism and tends to push students towards personal photography. These images, my department would argue, are fairly Modernist, and don't address contemporary topics and practices (like I said, it's all about what you reference these days).
There is more to come . . . and let me know what you think!
I continue my pursuit of photography--the wily profession. This chase has brought me to many places, some of which I would not have guessed at the beginning of things. For instance, at the moment, I'm in graduate school earning an MFA in fine art photography.
"FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY," you say.
"YES," I reply.
"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU," you ask.
"I"M STILL FIGURING THAT OUT," I reply.
Graduate school had always been an aspiration. The question was, in which discipline. In undergraduate, I earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, which means I have a degree roughly concentrated in the liberal arts, and also, of course, in high-brow posturing. And how can I put it nicely . . . Sadie Lou didn't leave me much in terms of a future in higher education. So, I had to work towards something, which obviously became photography.
So let's look at some photographs. I would like to share two images I made from my first quarter at RIT.
This is grad school, so we can't take a step in any direction without discussing influences and context.
I have always enjoyed the work of Jeff Wall and Adreus Gursky. Both photographers are extremely important in that they brought new attention to photography through their use of digital technology. The example images below are composites, or in other words, multiple images digitally stitched into one perfect whole.
This is Jeff Wall's A Sudden Gust of Wind, based on Hokusai's 1831 wood block print with the same title.
This is Andreas Gursky's Chicago Board of Trade II.
Both artists were big in the 90's, and although still highly regarded today, have not been treated with the same notoriety as in years past. Their style became extremely influential (think of Crewdson), but technology progressed bringing their complex stitching techniques to the masses via improved Photoshop versions, which lessened the wow factor. Not only that, the new century (2000's) brought stylistic and cultural changes emphasizing retro technologies like the Holga and Lomography. Once hipsters got hold of easy technology, (think the hipstimatic) vernacular Nan Goldenesque styles came back into vogue.
Despite that, I am amazed by Wall's and Gursky's work. Perfect, painterly, and epic. Yet, at the same time, familiar and lively, only the way a photo-image can be.
Now for my work:
The following photo-image was captured in my living room. I used a Hasselblad medium format digital camera. This image is a composite of three photographs. Due to its large file size, this photograph can be printed to any size imaginable with high fidelity. It glows with warmth and a kind of simple spirituality.
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| Leaf Study, Misha Tulek |
The image below was composited from ten separate images. I set my tripod up in one spot and took pictures of people who I found interesting using a Nikon D3. In post I stitched the images together to form an unseen drama. It's sort of amazing to smash all these people into one frame and see what you get--it's hyper-real and simply great (I'm planning to do a series of these in NYC over the summer).
 |
| Downtown Rochester Study, Misha Tulek |
Despite the fairly good critiques I received from my peers during the the fall quarter, the photography department at RIT did not like my work in final reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great any art program is, it's still an institutionalized curriculum of pedagogy. My program is heavily influenced by postmodernism and tends to push students towards personal photography. These images, my department would argue, are fairly Modernist, and don't address contemporary topics and practices (like I said, it's all about what you reference these days).
There is more to come . . . and let me know what you think!
I like both of them. I wish I could see "Leaf study" in more detail since it wouldn't let me view the original. It does have a nice glow. Did you take all of the photos for the second one in one day or at the same time on multiple day? I only ask because the shadows seem to be pretty close and I find it hard to believe that all of those people would walk through the frame in a short window of time. Either that or I am grossly underestimating the diversity of Rochester. (I recently posted a photo project. Check it out, feedback as you know is greatly appreciated.)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Misha! I so look forward to seeing more of your work! Posting the two that you did gives us an idea of the variety that draws you.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how you are in a Fine Art Photography program, and yet they tell you what type of photography to do. In all, I think your pictures are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteLet's start the bidding on the "Leaf Study" photograph. I don't want that ending up on some goddamn postcard. That's mine. Going to hole it up in my cold dark mansion. What's the opening bid? And let's be realistic here - you are still a fucking student.
ReplyDelete