fototazo: Matt Johnston

Showing posts with label Matt Johnston. Show all posts

7.21.2014

Medellín and Coventry Image Exchange

Composite of images from the exchange - click to enlarge

During the last three months, seven fototazo microgrant recipients worked on an image exchange project with students of Matt Johnston from Coventry University in Coventry, England. They carried out the exchanges on Tumblr, with one side of the pairing posting three new images approximately once a week, and the other side of the pairing then having one week to respond with three more new images. The project aimed to connect photographers from two locations through visual conversations that provided an opportunity for them to share, interweave and react to their respective photographic visions.

The results can be viewed by clicking on the "Exchange" links below:
Exchange 1
Kat Ullman and Natalia Lopera

Exchange 2
Lucy Bartlett and Margarita Valdivieso

Exchange 3
Imogen Wall and Andrés Sanchez

Exchange 4
Stephen Ma and Edwin Ochoa

Exchange 5
Tom Tierney and Juliana Henao Alcaraz

Exchange 6
Jonny Bark and Mónica Lorenza Taborda

Exchange 7
Jess Bell and Alba Bran

An online page with all images in the project can be found here.

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Matt has curated a selection of images on his site here. Below I have done the same, but in my case I have selected exactly one image from each photographer involved in the project from the exchange. We also asked those involved for comments about their experience in this project; comments from three involved from Medellín follow the images.

Natalia Lopera

Kat Ullman

Alba Bran

Stephen Ma

Mónica Lorenza Taborda

Margarita Valdivieso

Andrés Sánchez

Jess Bell

Imogen Wall

Jonny Bark

Lucy Bartlett

Juliana Henao Alcaraz

Tom Tierney

Edwin Ochoa

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Comments from participants
This project has been very interesting because through it we all achieved a form of visual communication, a cultural exchange through images in which we have shared visions of the city, of moments, of people and of spaces. These are experiences framed in the context of two different locations that communicate and interweave stories from two worlds.

In my particular case, I focused my interest in the portrayal of people in everyday environments in order to document and share situations I encountered with my family, friends or strangers that I found in Medellín and its surroundings. In that sense, I have felt very satisfied with the responses of my partner because his photographs also shared his local context. Our images communicate and expose the differences of two places separated by geography, but united in the lens of two photographers that without meeting each other manage to tell a single visual history of portraits and culture.

Thank you.
- Mónica

The experience we have had with the photographic conversation was quite rewarding, we have enhanced our visual and technical vocabulary. The interpretation and the answer to your photos is always something unexpected, like a verbal conversation that brings up secrets that few know and in the same way we can start a whole new topic with a single trigger that changes the conversation. We can see images made far from our own country that are stored in our mental library for future photographs, future trips or future conversations.
- Andrés

My experience as part of the Coventry/Medellín exchange has been very interesting, because it's a very loose and open exercise and we have had the freedom to choose what we want to post, but at the same time it has also required us to be very concrete as we have only three images each time to say something, to respond to what your partner has proposed and in turn to propose something new. This game allows you to react differently each time, to think of different possibilities to approach photography and to learn to be agile in your visual thinking.

I like the idea of keeping a photographic conversation with a person on the other side of the world and seeing what could be built in this way very much. I think it would be good to continue this type of project for further improvement as photographers and to be able to build increasingly interesting and strong projects.
- Edwin Ochoa

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Comments in the original Spanish

Este ejercicio ha sido bien interesante, porque todos a través de este proyecto logramos una comunicación visual, un intercambio cultural en donde por medio de imágenes, compartimos visiones de ciudad, de momentos, de personajes y de espacios. Experiencias enmarcadas en el contexto de dos lugares distintos que se comunican y entretejen historias de dos mundos.

En mi caso particular, centré mi interés en el retrato de personajes en ambientes cotidianos, con el objetivo de documentar y dar a conocer situaciones alrededor de mi familia, amigos o de personajes que encuentro en Medellín y sus alrededores. En ese sentido me he sentido satisfecha con las respuestas de mi pareja, ya que con sus fotografías expuso también su contexto local. Nuestras imágenes se comunican y exponen lo diverso de dos lugares separados por la geografía pero que se unen en el lente de dos fotógrafos que sin conocerse, consiguen contar una historia visual de retratos y de cultura.

Gracias.
- Monica

La experiencia que hemos vivido con las conversaciones fotográficas ha sido bastante gratificante, hemos podido enriquecer nuestro vocabulario visual y técnico. Pues la interpretación y la respuesta siempre es inesperada, al igual que con una conversación verbal van saliendo a colación secretos que pocos conocen y de la misma manera podemos empezar un tema completamente nuevo con un solo detonante de cambio. Podemos ver imágenes que son ajenas a nuestro propio territorio y que se van almacenando en nuestra propia biblioteca mental para futuras fotografías, futuros viajes o futuras conversaciones.

- Andrés

Mi experiencia con el intercambio Coventry/Medellín, ha sido muy interesante, porque es un ejercicio muy suelto y se tiene la libertad de elegir qué es lo que quieres postear, pero al mismo tiempo te exige ser concreto ya que solo se tienen tres imágenes cada vez para decir algo, para responder a lo que tu partner ha propuesto y proponerle algo nuevo y ese juego permite reaccionar diferente cada vez, pensar en diferentes posibilidades de acercarte a la fotografía y aprender a pensar visualmente de forma ágil.

Me gustó mucho la idea de mantener una conversación fotográfica con una persona que está al otro lado del mundo y ver que se podia construir de esta forma y creo que seria bueno continuar con este tipo de propuestas para seguir mejorando como fotógrafos y poder construir proyectos cada vez mas interesantes y fuertes.
- Edwin Ochoa

8.10.2013

Classroom: Edwin Ochoa Vélez

fototazo began a mentorship program in 2012, matching young Colombian photographers with mentors from across the spectrum of the photographic world - gallery owners, bloggers, academics, art directors, and working photographers. The goal is to provide the young photographers with commentary and advice on their work from professionals in the field and to expand their network and knowledge of resources beyond Colombia.

The program has until now been behind the scenes, but in an effort to create a singular conversation, share with readers work being made by the photographers, and under the belief that the advice, insight, and ways of talking about images offered by the mentors will be useful and interesting to other photographers, we are going to experiment with making the process a public one.

We will be featuring a selection of images from a photographer involved in the program and comments from mentors approximately once a month. The current photographer and comments will be housed under a new classroom tab above and older posts will be available through the site links page.

This post features the work of Edwin Ochoa - who was our ninth microgrant recipient - and comments from Jaime Permuth, Kevin Thrasher, Matt Johnston, and Charles Guice. Edwin's statement and images as well as the comments from the mentors are below.

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Edwin Ochoa
SILENCIO / SILENCE

I am interested in the search for silence as a state of being, where we can hear our own thoughts and maybe have more clarity about what is and what is not important for ourselves.

But this task can be difficult in a contemporary society where there is always something loudly calling for our attention, where there is always something to see, something to hear.

This series in progress is an exploration of the moments and spaces that can be reached to realize the connection between the external world of everyday life and this internal state of consciousness and peace that I consider so necessary.

From Jaime Permuth:

I enjoyed Edwin Ochoa's series for the sense of wonder evoked in his photographs. I was particularly interested in his exploration of the intersection of nature and culture. In his best images (#1,4,6,9), the architecture of urban spaces contains or interrupts the natural world in ways that suggest disquiet, yearning and silent contemplation.

In his Artist Statement, Edwin writes that he seeks clarity about what matters and what doesn’t matter in life. Nature and culture both place demands on the individual. At times, such demands can be at odds with one another and result in a divided self. How do the human figures represented in the work form part of this equation? What is signified by having them turn away or placed at a remove from the viewer? Should we file them mentally under the heading of "what matters" or "what doesn’t matter"?

Areas of improvement:

I would suggest working to unify and refine the color palette. Also, I'm not convinced that the series is made stronger by including the human figure; its role hasn't been fully resolved.

JP

From Kevin Thrasher:

Your visual language to depict these moments is heavily made up of:

Chiaroscuro, reflection, clouds, sky, unidentified figures.

I think you are trying to make photographs about being a photographer. I think the moments of clarity you are trying to depict are your own, via making photographs in the world. Each image seems like your clarity more than that of the subjects. In many cases people are looking off into somewhere, I'm not convinced that the people are coming to a pinnacle of what is and is not important. Your idea is very interesting but I don't know that the images are clearly describing this internal thought and feeling that you write about.

In the images with people, the figure is too tightly cropped in their environment for me to be able to understand the moment or to make a mental leap in creating a narrative about their mental state, without seeing their space.

Image #2 I can’t understand the red object in the top right corner of the frame.

Image #12 the two horizontal lines coming out of the right corner of the frame look like they were Photoshopped poorly.

The moments aren't there enough for me yet. I don't think you have connected with each subject showing them in a moment, #16 & #10 are good starts.

The spaces need more work, they are too detail driven for my taste. I want to see more of the whole and less specific, pointing detail of the space.

Kevin Thrasher

From Matt Johnston:

Hi Edwin,

If I understand your statement correctly there is a great deal of interest at the moment in the themes that you are exploring through your photography. While this can be a supportive thing, ensure that you can disentangle your own ideas from others (this does not mean change what you are investigating). If you have not already, you might enjoy reading Henry David Thoreau's "Walden’ and Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on "Self-Reliance" as jumping off points.

I can certainly link the images you have made with the concept although would not perhaps have arrived at such a connection without the statement as a prompt. Aesthetically many of the images shown are strong and work in some sense as stand-alones but in considering them a part of a series, and a themed series, I believe more work is needed. The bold colours and harsh lighting makes it hard for me to move from one image to another or make pairings in the mind - I see this as a collection of 16 images rather than a series of 16 images.

That said, this is by no means a bad position to be in. I would suggest that you try to understand how you can use silence in your own work rather than a constant communication. Can you justify each of those images against your concept and can you reason that each says something the others cannot?

Look forward to seeing more
Matt

From Charles Guice:

Edwin,

I was struck by the cinematic aspect of your images, and was immediately reminded of the opening sequences of many of Terrence Malick's films. I mention this because, as a matter of practice, I prefer reviewing an artist’s work before reading his or her statement. This allows me to read and approach the work as most viewers do, all who will bring their own preconceptions and interpretations, as I did with my reference to Malick's films. I then read the statement to see if it supports what I've just seen.

One of the comments I often make when reviewing work is that, as an artist, you’re never really sure how someone will "enter" your work. Your first, second or even third image may not "hook" them in. Sequencing is an important aspect of most portfolios, but an artist must also be mindful of the fact that the success or failure of a body of work—at least in the perception of the viewer—may rest on the strength of a single image.

With that in mind, some of the images are more successful than others at holding the viewer's attention. As single images, Untitled #1 (night cityscape with reflected interiors), Untitled #5 (woman in yellow), Untitled #10 (woman standing before curtains) and Untitled #12 (man in purple) are, for me, all engaging images. As pieces of the larger narrative, they work well to shape a story, threading what could be disparate images together.

That thread can be found in the images themselves. The cityscape carries the viewer from the first to the second image, the bird in the second to the parachutist in the third, and so on. At the same time, some of the images are less successful on their own. Untitled #3 (parachutist) is difficult to read, as is Untitled #6 (storm clouds), and does little in the way of carrying the viewer's interest.

I say this, again, to draw attention to the fact that these two may be the first images the viewer sees and, if that's the case, it is doubtful that they would engage him or her. With that in mind, I would suggest photographing a skydiver that sits larger in frame and, perhaps, adding another element in the foreground of Untitled #6.

Overall, I think your stated search for solitude—or "silence," as you put it—is reflected in the work, but that this message is presently somewhat muted. To better achieve that may mean adding five or six additional images, or re-imaging and re-shooting some of the images you've already made. Nonetheless, I will be interested in seeing where you take the series from here.

Charles

6.03.2013

Classroom: Natalia Lopera

fototazo began a mentorship program in 2012, matching young Colombian photographers with mentors from across the spectrum of the photographic world - gallery owners, bloggers, academics, art directors, and working photographers. The goal is to provide the mentee photographers with commentary and advice on their work from professionals in the field and to expand their network and knowledge of resources beyond Colombia.

The program has until now been behind the scenes, but in an effort to create a singular conversation, show readers work being made by photographers in the country, and under the belief that the advice, insight, and ways of talking about images offered by the mentors will be useful and interesting to other photographers, we are going to experiment with making the process a public one.

Every month we will be featuring a selection of images from a photographer involved in the program and comments from their two dedicated mentors as well as any other mentors that contribute during the month. The current photographer and comments will be housed under a new "classroom" tab above.

This initial post features the work of Natalia Lopera - who was our second microgrant recipient - and comments from Kevin Thrasher, Matt Johnston, Oliver Schneider, and Charles Guice. A statement from her, her images, and the comments from the mentors are below.

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First, as part of this inaugural post, let me give the overview of the program. It is increasing from the four initial photographers involved to seven, each matched with two mentors. An eighth photographer as well as an additional mentor will be added in the following months.

The pairings are:

Photographers: Natalia Lopera and Margarita Valdivieso
Mentors: Matt Johnston co-runs The Photo Book Club as well as Phonar; he is a Professor at the University of Coventry in England; Kevin Thrasher is a photographer based in Richmond, Virginia

Photographers: Juliana Henao Alcaraz
Mentors: Julia Schiller co-runs the site Actual colors may vary; Oliver Schneider co-runs the site Actual colors may vary. Julia and Oliver will be considered one mentor and Juliana and a second photographer to be added to the program in the coming months will be paired with a third mentor.

Photographers: Edwin Ochoa Vélez and Monica Lorenza Taborda Gutiérrez
Mentors: John Edwin Mason runs the blog John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History and is a Professor at the University of Virginia; Wayne Ford runs Wayne Ford's Blog and co-runs The Photo Book Club

Photographera: Aura Lambertinez and Alba Bran
Mentors: Charles Guice is Founder of Charles Guice Contemporary; Gwen Lafage is Founder of Gallery Carte Blanche

Bryan Formhals, Founding and Managing Editor of LPV Magazine, will be serving as a floating mentor and guest critic, periodically reviewing work from all four program photographers.

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Now on to this month's work and comments.

Here's Natalia's starting statement to the mentors:

At this point I'm an observer of my own portfolio. I know there are things missing.

I want to become fluid with the handling of the camera because I think that's very important for my connection with my subject.

Honestly, I wait for the moment when the photos just become better.

In my way of working, it becomes difficult when it becomes time to talk about the concept, but inside I feel it's becoming more clear - just don't ask me to say what it is!

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Comments from the mentors:

Kevin Thrasher's comments:

Looking at the images makes the following words come to mind - life, aging, young, old, wonder, feet, birds.

I understand the need to make work and the problem of having to explain it to other people because speaking of work is an issue. I think you need the homework assignment of writing 2-4 sentences about each image. The images look like a mixture of exploring and access to people in your life.

It feels like you have a few different subjects in this grouping of images.

The portraits of older individuals express a closeness to them, they are playful and tender at times.

Life cycles expressed through animals.

Another group of images is harder to name the subject matter i.e. images 1, 2, 3, 13, 16, 17, 18
And others show the relationship with someone. Images 1, 9, 20

Things I see in the work:

You see good light and you use it well.

You are recognizing pattern and that comes across in your editing of the work. Image 2 and 3, 15 and16

You photographed people asleep and people covering their face.

In photo 2, you have an interesting subject, but my attention in the image gets broken by the white power cable in the background.

Image 1 is really green. Is this an aesthetic choice? Image 13 and 19 are too magenta for me.

Images 13 and 17 I keep going back to. I can't tell you why. I feel like I have seen another version of these somewhere. These two images are filled with a sense of wonder and ask more questions of me then they offer answers. Image 5 is another strong image. The light, color palette and shallow depth of field all combine for a unique feeling that is also shared in images 8 and 10.

Look at the work of these photographers: Rinko Kawauchi, William Eggleston and Alessandra Sanguinetti. It's helpful for me to call out work that I'm reminded of, but don’t look at this work as a suggestion for you to make work like them. If you want clarification about anything I have said here, please let me know.

Matt Johnston's comments:

Don’'t sweat the talking about your work just yet, that will come to some degree in time (very few photographers can talk about their work well [although most think they can]), and as you point out you should become fluid with the handling of your camera, especially in these delicate moments you are operating in.

As this is not presented as a series, I feel a little harsh for bringing up the matter of an inconsistent palette but I did find it a distraction as I progressed through the work; for example we go from the hyper-real and super-saturated image number 3 to a muted image number 4 (there is nothing wrong with either, just that together they sit slightly at odds with one another).

As Kevin has pointed out, you see, and use light very well indeed, I would add shape to that also and looking at Kawauchi’s work may help you see more in your own. Overall I am thinking of contact, touch, proximity and intimacy in these images and I think there are storylines here that I am not picking up on. I would be interested to see you make short (very short) stories using 2-4 images at a time (don’t concern yourself with accuracy, just the narrative).

Just a thought ,but experiment with these sequences on a large white, blank canvas, as it stands I don't think the linearity of the web gallery is working for the work and it would be interesting to see you arrange these 2/3/4 images more fluidly.

You might be interested to explore the work of Joanna Ornowska ("Awake") and Bim Hjortronsteen ("The Ice is Getting Thinner") but I would reiterate Kevin’s comments regarding not taking these as suggestions.

Any questions please get in touch
M

Comments from Oliver Schneider:

Hello Natalia and everybody,

It's really nice to see your work develop (we've already commented on them earlier)! Often receiving submissions for our blog ACMV in very varying quality in writing, I see the importance to be able to write about work. It's probably not the most pressing issue for an ongoing artist, but it might make it clearer for yourself what you want to achieve, I think. Julia and I are invited to speak publicly about our blog in Belfast and we have a hard time to figure out why we're doing our work and why we choose the work of one artist over the other. It started an ongoing discussion about our way of working and about what we think about art and photography, which is fun and interesting. So I think the homework Kevin and Matt suggested is a great idea.

One more thought about colors and consistency: in my opinion, your work is an ongoing, long story or a lot of short stories combined in one long story. When I was tired of thinking in the classical series format, it freed my work and I felt freed. But it's hard sometimes to continue and not to feel lost - in that way it might be easier to have a specific, fixed frame to work on. On the other hand this is what makes the work of Rinko Kawauchi or William Eggleston so touching and profound. I just think the consistency in color and maybe format (horizontal, vertical, square etc) is important then to have to feeling of an ongoing, consistent storyline.

Best wishes from Oliver & Julia

Charles Guice's comments:

Hola Natalia,

I enjoyed viewing your work and saw it within the framework of a project about memory. I was also struck by a number of stylistic devices and themes, e.g., your color palette and use of selective focus, and then recurring images of feet, hands, birds and people at rest or asleep.

Several of the photos appeared to be intentionally desaturated, particularly Untitled #1 (Feet in water) and Untitled #7 (Woman sleeping) and, in those that were not, you carried the suggestion of this palette forward by photographing green subjects, as in Untitled #2 (Dried berries), Untitled #3 (Grass) and Untitled #8 (submerged hand and minnows).

The most dominant theme, however, is the idea of memory, sleep, dreaming and recollection. Untitled #3 evokes a sense of what had been, Untitled #5 (Bird in cage), uses selective focus to achieve a similar feeling, while Untitled #6 (Woman and dog sleeping), Untitled #7 (Woman sleeping) and Untitled #12 (Man sleeping) all capture their subjects at rest. And covered, closed and/or downcast eyes are sometimes signifiers of recollection, as in Untitled #11 (Woman covering her eyes) and Untitled #16 (Woman with bowed head).

There were several images that didn't seem to fit your narrative, particularly Untitled #9 (Man with woman), Untitled #17 (Glass horse on windowsill), Untitled #18 (Hand with string) and Untitled #19 (Woman with hand to face). I might suggest editing these out in favor of some future images.

And I'm not sure if your sequencing was intentional, but it was interesting to see a bird in Untitled #6, another dead in Untitled #10 and then "resurrected" in Untitled #15. I have to assume, however, that it was intentional with your opening photograph of feet in Untitled #1 and then again in your closing image, Untitled #20.

I like this work. Photography can take on many forms, Natalia, and I’m often drawn to work that challenges the traditional norm, such as Sophie Calle's. If this narrative feels right to you, I would pursue it by adding additional images, which will strengthen the series.

Best of luck,

Charles