Stories in photography! Old Salem

The sky may be gray and gloomy but it sure made my world more colorful instead of bathed with white glare of the sun. So here is my walk around Old Salem, taking pictures that speak to me. The little corners of this colonial part of town, that come alive in my head.

Artist I aspire to be... Tim Walker

The first time I came across one of his photos was randomly on Facebook. Someone shared this photo...

The photo of the girl with soft falling dress all the way down the floor, she is halfway up a spiral staircase , rusty but shows the intricate, beautiful iron banister. The room is decayed and old, rusty and dusty but there she sits among it all. The architecture may be aging but still beautiful. The light crisp blue color matched with the warmth of rust and decay...   

Its a habit of mine to search and find out more about a work and the artist behind it. So that was when I first heard of Tim Walker. He's a regular contributor for VOGUE magazine and it made sense. The empty look and deep soul searching models photographed are pretty much the British fashion photographer's trade mark. 

  

But he goes beyond shooting models with fancy frocks... He tells amazing stories through props as well. Above is his self portrait. 

If I had to pick a favorite photo, I'll find it very hard. So maybe I'll post a couple in the order of favorite first going down to least.

I love his use of props and space to help tell a story. I also love his connection with the old and worn aesthetics combined with nature. The whimsical (or scary) bee serving tea above is a favorite. 

Take a look at the rest.

https://www.timwalkerphotography.com

Progress of the MAKING part.

As in our Studio for Creative Practice we in in the "Making" process I have been creating with clay.

I have been working on creating creatures.
Creatures without spectacle.
Creatures that are simple. The have a significance in the beholder's eye.

As I sat to work, my daughter and apprentice, joined me on the kitchen counter. I gave her a handful of clay and recreated what I did, in her own way!
My human had a bird on its lap. Hers had a lap covered with butterflies. 

The we set off to working on jointed creatures that we can position after the baking process. It has been a learning process. One we will keep working on.

I also had to work on a grey clay project for sculpting class. 

Simple narrative really... The day transitions from the presence of the sun onto the moon. 

Bethabara Park

I love walking through historic towns and nature around them. I find the scenes both mysterious and soothing. I love the aesthetic of historic homes, inside and out. I took a walk to Bethabara Park yesterday and took my camera along. Here are my favorites.

Manifesto!

Art for me is the escape from reality. The world is full of grieve that art is what takes me away from it all. I could be fighting the fight but I choose to flight instead. I find myself influenced by stories and elements of the past. That is what lead me to props and set decorating.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sept 26th Studio Questions

1. Do you think the value of images has been cheapened with social media?

Social media, influencers, art galleries, knock offs and cheap box stores art.  

1. What keeps a person thinking about the art they see/experience after they've left it?

The emotional, physical and psychological connection stamps the image to our minds, whatever that can be. It may be confusing, shocking, warming or sexual.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digging further into WAR!!

After I watched Women Art Revolution!! on YouTube, this above video showed up. As absurd as the art form and controversial the subject is in revolutionary female artwork, I understand the need. I feel the anger when I see above how females are viewed and reduced. As long as this "beauty pageant" exists, and contestants enable the audience to view them as objects, the WAR goes on. 

Album cover art for Hole- Live through this

Satirical photo about beauty pageants.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An artist that I looked into, also featured in Women Art Revolution!! was Howardena Pindell.

https://www.howardenapindell.org/

Personal War

I watched !Women Art Revolution in the midst of a chaotic, sleep deprived couple of days and I felt like our chaos may be related but it exists in a parallel dimension.

Here is my ....err.... Dinner party!!!

I decided to put effort into making Keto Crepes with hazelnut spread and blue berry jelly!! 

They fought a war against discrimination on their own work and sexuality. I fight the fight that is void of sexuality, and replaced by food. Thinking about not having the strength to collectively fight a huge fight. I fight a tiny fight in my own world. Tiny in comparison because its huge to me.

The Dinner Party