Auroras

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050608_mars_aurora.html

Britt, Robert Roy, Auroral Lights Discovered at Mars

Auroras are one of the many natural phenomenon that are visually appealing, of which somehow- someway I would like to incorporate into my work.  Also referred to as the Northern and Southern Lights, these luminous sensations generally appear as bright, colorful bands of light visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth.  

It is believed that auroras are caused by charged high energy particles  from the solar winds.  These winds are trapped within the atmospheric magnetic field of the Earth.  When the charged particles spiral back and forth along the lines of this magnetic field, they become visible.  The colors are a result of electrons colliding with oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere.  The molecules become energized, cool, and emit the actual light that can be seen by humans.  They are most commonly seen in winter months within a 2500km radius of the N and S magnetic poles, or the auroral zone.  It is kind of interesting to note that, as of May 2005 it has been observed that Auroras occur on Mars as well.  

Venezuela's Everlasting Storm

http://www.oddee.com

I've been researching different natural phenomenon that I could incorporate into my imagery.  I came across "Relámpago del Catatumbo" Catatumbo lightning.  This lightning is located on the mouth of the atatumbo river at Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela), the phenomenon is a cloud-to-cloud lightning that forms a voltage arc more than five kilometers high during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours a night, and as many as 280 times an hour.  Interestingly enough, this storm occurs over the marshlands where the Catatumbo River feeds into Lake Maracaibo and it is considered the greatest single generator of ozone in the planet, (this is judged from the intensity of the cloud-to-cloud discharge and great frequency.)  The storm is also known as the Maracaibo Beacon as light has been used for navigation by ships for ages.

Design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_art

I've been thinking a lot lately about the different ways people choose to depict and construct landscapes.  There always seems to be a certain element of design to it, considering exactly what each artist decided to depict, things are omitted and added at their discretion.  I stumbled across this interesting article that explains:
"In Europe, as John Ruskin realized,[1] and Sir Kenneth Clark brought to view, landscape painting was the "chief artistic creation of the nineteenth century", with the result that in the following period people were "apt to assume that the appreciation of natural beauty and the painting of landscape is a normal and enduring part of our spiritual activity"[2] In Clark's analysis, underlying European ways to convert the complexity of landscape to an idea were four fundamental approaches: by the acceptance of descriptive symbols, by curiosity about the facts of nature, by the creation of fantasy to allay deep-rooted fears of nature and by the belief in a Golden Age of harmony and order, which might be retrieved."

Clark's analysis is so similar to my thought process with my current series, and I think my work reflects his theories pretty accurately.  This may help me a bit in redefining my artist statement.

Light Simulation

Systems and Methods For the Real-time and Realistic Simulation of Natural Atmospheric Lighting Phenomenon. Link to Patent Pending. www.freshpatents.com

"Using the techniques, the present invention can provide images and simulations having visually realistic representations of sunlight at any time of day, including from dawn to twilight, along with accurate shadows. Additionally, the present invention can simulate a visually realistic representation of a wide range of cloud formations, resulting cloud cover over the landscape of a scene, and shadows cast by clouds on elements of the scene. Furthermore, the present invention provides a realistic simulation of the visual effects from light scattering by the cloud cover, and also provides visually realistic simulation of water including accurate reflections, refractions, and turbulence. "-Agent: Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP - Boston, MA, US
Inventor: Matthew P. Fairclough 

Searching for some information on natural atmospheric lighting, I stumbled upon a bit of information which may or may not be useful to me in the near future.  The document I found was a form for a pending patent on some type of system that allows for the realistic creation of atmospheric lighting and "related phenomenon that are visually realistic and that can be computed in real-time to render frames of a scene at real-time frame rates per second. The techniques consider the light scattering effects due to sunlight and ambient light in relation to objects, atmospheric particles and other scene elements represented by the image."  This statement is pretty abstracted, and its difficult to tell whether or not this will be usable for still imagery and moving, but I'm anxious to find out.  I think it would be awesome to have some type of atmosphere generator that can be altered accordingly.  This may just be wishful thinking, but I'm interested in the idea at least.

Warp Command

Evening, Martin.  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers. Pages 397-98.  Focal Press, 2009.  

This particular section of the book discusses Free Transform methods used in Photoshop.  I often use these tools to adjust  how large a piece of my image will be, to rotate, distort, stretch out specific layers, or the warp tool which can change the image dramatically to add movement, depth, or perspective.  

A problem that I have when constructing one image from multiple images is that sometimes when you take an element from one photo and put it with another it can become flat.  Most of the time, when I work I have the issue if making foreground objects look like they were shot at the same point of view as the background shot.  The warp tool is helping me immensely with this adjustment that I have previously not had access to with my old version of Photoshop.  The image can be adjusted at numerous points which allows for your manipulations to be more controlled and specific.  

Images from
Web Designer Wall

DNG

Bampton, Victoria.  "To DNG or Not?" Photoshop User Magazine, pp. 78-81.  March 2009.  

The title pretty much explains it all, this article provides answers to the questions about using the Digital Negative format opposed to other raw formats.  This has recently become as an interest to me because of my technical issues, and now with my setup I have no other choice but to use DNG to open my files, so I really want to understand what it is and if it was helping or hurting my work.  The article lists the pros and cons, and is then up to the reader to decide whether this is the route they should take when working with digital camera files.  

The good thing about DNG, is that unlike Nikon and Canon's RAW formats, DNG is explained as being publicly documented.  Meaning that these files will still be able to be opened as technology progresses- which is a huge deal as I found, when computers are not new enough in comparison to the digital camera and their constant evolving file formats.  Other Pros of the DNG format are as follows: All files that traditionally make up a raw file are encapsulated in one file- including the RAW image data, the metadata that describes the data, and an embedded preview- this means less files that can misplaced or deleted; It's lossless compression option is better than that of a digital camera, smaller file- saves space; Conversion to DNG offers early warning signals of file corruption, if the file has potential to be corrupt, it will not convert and explain what has happened, it will then allow u to remove the files and format the card instead of continually shooting corrupted images that will most likely never be usable; DNG works as normal RAW files, with the option to edit the equivalent of a digital negative before actually editing within the photo editing software, preserving the original quality.  The Cons for using DNG are totally worth it to any serious photographer.  Manufacturers software as of yet does not support DNG files, as well as Adobe Lightroom having minor issues with adjusting focusing points of DNG files- a small price to pay for a high quality camera format that will probably never be obsolete.  

The VLA

"The majority of the beautifully crafted sculptures have an easily legible pop aesthetic; but how they are linked to their immediate neighbours and the work as a whole is the result of the more subtle, and at times complex operations.  The result is a portrait of something that appears to involve life, the universe and everything."- Mark Rappolt

Rappolt, Mark. "A Portrait in 300 Parts." Art Review, February 2007. http://www.artreviewdigital.com/index.cfm/artreview-digital/magazine.view/title/february2007.

50 miles west of Soccorro, Mexico on US Highway 60- there's something called the Very Large Array (VLA). The VLA consists of 27 satellite dishes each weighing 230 tons which are pointed towards the heavens.  These huge satellites map out the universe which allows a bit of mysterious phenomenon to be explained.  This very large array of satellites has become more of an attraction in this small town- they have even appeard in movies and novels.  The concept of this is intriguing, how such a monstrous grouping of satellite dishes that merely observe space doesn't really mean much to the common person.  It literally becomes a whole lot of nothing.. but really it is something- a mass of information too large to comprehend.  

The VLA is merely described as "big", in comparison to Keith Tysons sculptures titled Large Field Array- which is described as being magic cubes.  His sculptures are simple and graphic, with the pop like aesthetic that was mentioned above.  They are representations of fragments of information that was collected by the VLA- in translation are completely basic in comparison to the actual details. In conclusion, the sculptures dont even reveal a fraction of the entire picture.  Tyson's work "coheres through a fusion of more or less mysterious "science" and straightforward representational aesthetics."   What I am drawn to about this regarding my own work is that his work forces the audience to realize that it should be taken at more than just face value- that it has something to do with the larger understanding of the involvement of life and just about anything that affects it.  

Brushes

After giving in and just buying the entire Adobe Creative Suite so I can end my troubles here and now .. I began looking into the various Photoshop tools that I could really get into that could help my work.  It never really occurred to me that using custom brushes for trees and foliage would help me tremendously in blending in areas of the background to look more realistic.  And after searching around for free brush sets I found many that I am all too excited to experiment with.  I have used a lot of the brushes that come with the program, but never thought about using others that I could find in the numerous places online that let you use them at no cost.  .. Why? I don't know, probably because I like to make things harder for myself.  I will just need to be careful about not making it too obvious that these things are computer generated, because that is definitely not an aesthetic that I am going for.

(Still looking for a good article.)

Camera Raw

Aaland, Mikkel.  Photoshop CS2 RAW: Using Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge and Photoshop to Get the Most Out of Your Digital Camera. O'Reilly, 2006.

The RAW file format is the uncompressed data file captured by a digital camera's electronic sensor. Shooting in the RAW format, digital cameras save images that are untouched by the processing settings like contrast, white balance, sharpening and saturation. It would be the equivalent to exposed but undeveloped film- the image just as you shot it without all the determining factors of how it may look after it leaves its source. Any photographer can understand why this is so important, any of those alterations can deteriorate image quality in the long run- and in most cases a photographer would want total control of their images and process. Its not always necessary to shoot in RAW, for instance taking snapshots or even doing some grip work JPGs would be sufficient. When doing landscape work with a digital camera shooting in RAW is a must. Mainly because landscape work is really meant to be shot with land cameras for superior quality. Anytime a lot of digital manipulation is involved, it is imperative to shoot in RAW- the more u save a file in JPG the more the file deteriorates.
I've been having some major issues with this because of my new digital camera. Apparently the new types of RAW files created by newer cameras are not supported by older versions of photoshop, and even with a new version you have to figure out ways around the files not being recognized. Almost 2 weeks later, I've resolved this issue. Photoshop CS4 and a DNG converter later, I can now open and edit my new CR2 RAW files. Seriously stressful business. Got some catching up to do.

Lake Nyos Disaster

The Strangest Disaster of the 20th Century.
Posted by Alex in Bathroom Reader on May 21, 2007 at 1:14 am, reposted by www.neatorama.com.

The disaster at Lake Nyos in 1986 remains the worst natural disaster in the history of the West African nation of Cameroon, wiping out almost an entire village of inhabitants, its livestock and wildlife.  This mystery resulted in nearly 2,000 human deaths and 3,000 animal deaths.  This article touches on everything from the discovery of this disaster to the research and efforts to alleviate the problems at Lake Nyos.  

"The remains if the victims offered few clues. There was no evidence of bleeding, physical trauma, or disease, and no sign of exposure to radiation, chemical weapons, or poison gas. And there was no evidence of suffering or “death agony”: The victims apparently just blacked out, fell over, and died."  At this point, scientists had no clue that the lake was the cause of so many deaths, but one of their first clues was the distribution of victims over the land.  All of the deaths has occurred within a 12 mile vicinity of Nyos- the number of deaths increased substantially as they got closer to the lake.  Long story short- The lake was positioned on top of a pocket of volcanic magma which lies beneath the lake- containing extreme levels of Carbon Dioxide.  As in all lakes, carbon dioxide escapes the water- with Lake Nyos, the CO2 does not escape and with its high saturation- basically poisons the water and the air around it.  

This story is intriguing to me .. I've heard about this quite some time ago, and just recently as i've decided to research ideas behind an environment without humans, it became evident that this was something worth investigating.  What gets me most about this disaster, is that when the lake became poisonous it turned this reddish color that became almost mesmerizing ... just thinking about it, if i were to actually be in this environment, I would definitely be curious enough to go check it out.  Which would coincidentally lure me to my own death.  All of this seems pretty morbid- but I cant help but think about these natural disasters that really physically beautiful, but have such unthinkable results.  It can really put an emphasis on the power of nature.

Post-Apocalyptic Future

"Art that fantasizes about a world after humans, and by consequence a world outside history, is one that suggests a change in our relationship with there here-and-now." -J.J. Charlesworth 

Charlesworth, J.J. "Special Focus: Apocalypse, In the Ruins of the Future." Art Review, December 2008.http://www.artreviewdigital.com/index.cfm/artreview-digital/magazine.view/title/december2008.

Charlesworth's article discusses the emerging fascination with post-apocalyptic themes within the art world. He suggests that an abundance of art is preoccupied with a sense of human society drifting towards an uncertain end, gloomy and "in some not-so-far-off, worn-out future." His observations of this phenomenon conclude that its not that artists are insisting the end is near, but they are trying to make sense of, and give shape to a topic which is so vague, but also has a huge impact with its widespread, continually growing feelings of "apprehension and foreboding, to the point that if there is a future, it might not necessarily contain humans." His writings mention the work of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster titled TH.2058, installation art surveying a near future in which people and outdoor public sculpture seek refuge from a hostile climate, also suggesting a near future where culture is nothing more than a constant reprocessing of past fragments. That being said, the work itself is a projection of a dead-end future. Nothing new is made, and the old is constantly recycled.

This article has probably been one of the most fascinating things i've come across in my research as of yet. Maybe because it pretty much directly relates to what I have been trying to achieve, and I didn't realize a number of recognized artists were working with the same themes. Not only the artist mentioned above, but highly recognized curators Massimiliano Gioni and Douglas Fogle are eager to present this type of work, and as Gioni explains, " What these artists share is a desire to to charge art with a magical power, invest it with contents and forms that are meant to contrast its secularization, and aim at bringing it back into a sphere that is, if not religious, at least sacred or obscure, like a mystery cult."

Urban Mining

Hansen, Liane.  "In Cairo Slum, the Poor Spark Environmental Change." 2009, NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89956754 .

Zabaleen, which roughly translates from the Egyptian language as "garbage collectors," is the single term used to describe the urban poor community in Manshiyet Nasser, and their monstrous efforts to sort, recycle every piece of refuse that comes their way.  The Zabaleen has been continuing their efforts for decades, and now teaming up with Thomas Taha Rassam Culhane, founder of Solar Cities- in order to keep their environment from getting any worse in the city.  With poverty and populations of such great proportion, Egypt was cited as an example for having the most potential of being effected by greenhouse gas emissions, and with disproportionate negative effects.  With this, Solar Cities is installing solar hot water heaters on the rooftops of homes in the slums of Cairo.  

After seeing the photographs of the mounds of garbage collection, my first thoughts were "where the hell would they put solar hot water heaters?" .. there refuse is everywhere, including the rooftops of homes.  What really struck me as unimaginable, is that with all the efforts of meticulous recycling- decades of tradition in reusing- this city just appears to be one huge waste dump.  I think that this article was supposed to be inspirational about the future demise of the planet, but for me it did quite the opposite.  How can such an extreme effort result in such a hideous means of living for so many people?  ... This story has motivated me to create back stories to my photographs, in efforts to have more control on their outcomes.  For instance, a world overcome with trash has lead to an earth that can no longer support human life.  

The World Without Us

Q: Your new book, THE WORLD WITHOUT US, poses a fascinating, extraordinary thought experiment: if you take every living human off the Earth, what traces of us would linger and what would disappear? It asks what might happen to our world if humans vanished? What was the inspiration for your book?

A: "For a long time I’ve sought some fresh, non-threatening approach to disarm readers’ apprehensions about environmental destruction long enough that they might consider the impacts of unbridled human activity on the rest of nature – and on our own fate. I’ve found that theoretically wiping humans off the face of the earth intrigues rather than frightens people."

Weisman, Alan (July 10, 2007). The World Without Us. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press.

www.WorldWithoutUs.com

Searching for a topic, I ran across this website that spoke about the book, The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman.  Although I have not yet read the book, I was able to preview some excerpts as well as these interesting videos that covered the basic topics.  His writings question the impact of human interaction with the Earth, a glimpse into the future.  At first it seems pretty overwhelming to take in, and the writing itself sometimes seems far fetched in some ways, but non the less, still quite possible.  What interests me the most is his explanation of what the Earth would be like without humans and the tremendous capacity of the planet to heal itself.  "Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; what of our everyday stuff may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe."

In relation to my work, I have been debating on whether or not to include animals into my images.  According to Weisman, animals play a huge role in Earth life after humans within the first few hundred years.  With that, I may be leaning more towards including this type of life into my imagery.  If not, it would still be interesting to experiment with and could possibly take my work in another direction... But i definitely plan on reading the rest of this book, it may help me in visualizing possible images.

Green Urban and Suburban Spaces

"Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we." ~Michel de Montaigne, translated

Golonu, Berin. "Greening the Revolution." Art Papers: Striking Ideas+Moving Images+Smart Text. November/December 2008, pp.38-44

This article is in reference to the green movement that is rapidly spreading, and catching on to those who are interested in the preservation and rehabilitation of the environment.  Although creating green atmospheres in urban and suburban spaces is occurring in other parts of the world, Berin makes an interesting observation that this green initiative is most relevant in the United States, as it "has one of the largest carbon footprints on the globe." Activists, farmers, environmentalists all play huge roles, while artists are leading the cause by producing a glimpse into the future of what our "green and bountiful" cities may look like.  WORK Architecture company has been working in collaboration to build a fully sustainable farm in an urban courtyard (including the chickens), for the purpose of hosting a fundraiser to gain support for their efforts.  This collaboration included over thirty artists, designers, engineers, farms, and green suppliers.

Some question the idea of art effectively producing practical solutions to the current concerns of our environment, and in the article it is argued that what was created was actually art or not. The way I see it, this huge collaboration created something that forced the community to raise questions, which will almost force everyone who sees it to be immersed in its process, even if it only involves becoming aware of the efforts of others to create a more green society.  In my work, I am creating photographs that illustrate futuristic abundance of "green" .. where nature is dominant and urban structures are set on the back burner.  

Environmental

www.greenmuseum.org

This article examines an artist who works with the Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, to create alternatives to living technology.  Baile Oakes began by designing a yearly solar calendar.  As a sculptor and author, Oakes created a calendar that is described as "a gently sloping plaza and gathering space at the entrance of the main building with a sunset activated spiral fountain.  A six foot tall brass staff fits into holes along the basin and records the weekly location of sunrises and sunsets. Stone monuments mark the position of the sun on Equinoxes and Solstices reminding visitors of the passing of time on a planetary scale. Both environment and timepiece, the Solar Calendar helps reconnect us with our place in the universe."  Many of Oakes' artworks highlight natural phenomena such as the solar calendar, desert landscapes, and the importance of water. His mission is to "Baile Oakes is on a mission to "use our visual language to help bring our culture to a fuller understanding of our place within the living systems of the Earth."

I think that this relates to what I am doing, because I have been trying to figure out how to create a successful presentation for my final, and his work is mainly about the interactions between the art and the people.  I really need to find a way to make my art more involved.  This has made me consider placing my images in nature and re-photographing them, to make it seem more like an experience than just presented images.  

Baile Oakes Artist Statment

Directorial

"Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”- W. Eugene Smith


"DIRECTORIAL MODE: A. D. Coleman's article of this name (in Artforum [September 1976]) identified an approach to photography in which the photographer was more like a film director or theatre designer than a traditional photographer. Emphasis was put on making, rather than taking photographs. To some extent, the principle is akin to auteur theory."

Critical Attitudes toward Overtly Manipulated Photography in the 20th Century
Patricia D. Leighten
Art Journal, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Winter, 1977-1978), pp. 133-138 (article consists of 6 pages)
Published by: College Art Association

This essay explains that every photograph in manipulated in some way. Placement of the camera, and the planes direction are human acts which determine the outcome. Emphasis of manipulation is usually based on the outcome rather than the process, but manipulation of photographs is both a conscious and subconscious act. I am working with planned out images, consciously making decisions on image placement, color, exposure etc. Although, while I am shooting, I choose the angles at which I shoot, I choose the time of day to photograph knowing the lighting effects. I am molding every aspect of my photographs, taking them beyond their original context and setting.

New

“As I hold the future well-being of photography very dear I must see to it that these forces which militate against it be opposed and destroyed.” - Alfred Stieglitz

"This Year’s Models: Searching for Fresh Approaches in Photography"
New York Times
By MARTHA SCHWENDENER
Published: November 26, 2007

This article is about a show called "New Photography 2007" at the MoMa where contemporary photographers are expressing their interests in the ideas and methods of photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, and Clarence White.  The article describes the "new photography" as recycling, and somewhat of a let down.  These emerging photographers are expected to show something new and fresh, and the closest they see to new is from the work of  Tanyth Berkeley, whos images which involve a lot of "social engineering."  Among other photographers mentioned were Scott McFarland who worked with Jeff Wall, coincidentally his work follows his same methods.

Twilight

A state of ambiguity or obscurity.

"Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour, is not about photography at twilight, but rather about photography of twilight, of the moods that have come to be associated with the liminal moment between day and night. "- Leo Hsu

www.foto8.com

This short article informs its readers of the book, as well as exhibit curated by Martin Barnes and Kate Best - Twilight:  Photography in the Magic Hour.  It includes the works of 8 photographers with an effort to describe the cultural resonance of twilight as evidenced in recent photography.  Bringing together these works with suggestions of twilight informs the narrative tone of the pictures. "This task is easier said than done, not least because twilight, while evocative, nonetheless evokes many different ideas and feelings. However, the effect of the book is powerful and provocative due to an interesting argument supported by exceptional photography, and excellent supporting essays."  Within my work I am trying to incorporate a twilight-esque aesthetic by making each photograph in a state where you cannot differentiate day and night.  As described by Hsu, working in this way creates more of a story, with underlying feelings of emotion and  power.  

Ethereal

“Art seems to me to be a state of soul more than anything else.” -Marc Chagall

Ethereal presences in holography and photography
Proc. SPIE, Vol. 6488, 64880M (2007); DOI:10.1117/12.726143
Online Publication Date: 20 February 2007
Conference Date: Sunday 21 January 2007
Conference Location: San Jose, CA, USA
Conference Title: Practical Holography XXI: Materials and Applications
Conference Chairs: Roger A. Lessard, Hans I. Bjelkhagen

This paper is about the ideas of creating 'Presence of Absence' in post-mortem photography and holography, from both historical and lesser-known images as a reference. It describes that death can bean elegant yet horrific aesthetic, the photograph may be beautify screened and yet obscene in its content. "In essence one can be a voyeur, experiencing a mere visual whisper of the true nature of the subject." It is stated that within contemporary photography, death is now presented as a sensual, and at times, a sensationalised art form. In exploring post-mortem imagery, both in holography and conventional photography, absence presents an aspect of death as startling in its unanimated form and detailed in its finite examination of mortality.

Even though my photographs are not dealing with the post-mortem in any way, the basic idea is still the same. The fact that with this absence of life, still created are feelings of unexplainable divinity, and in a way we are adding life to the lifeless. This goes along with my concept of allowing nature to take over run down, essentially lifeless areas. I want to create a feeling of life presence through organic elements.

Presence

"The reader should be carried forward, not merely or chiefly by the mechanical impulse of curiosity, not by a restless desire to arrive at the final solution, but by the pleasurable activity of the journey itself." -Coleridge, poet

Art as Experience, John Dewey. 1934

The Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin USA.

Although somewhat dated in that what Dewey novelly stated long ago at the time of publication, we now accept as obvious. This gives insight to gain an understanding of art both as a producer and as a spectator. The central theme is that life is an experience, and that the goal of art is to recapture that experience. He captures a number of concepts established earlier by Leo Tolstoy in his "What is Art?" but goes deeper into them, expounding on their more practical uses.

This relates to my work because a huge part of my photography relies heavily on the viewer to feel a presence, or other life in the work. Im working partly to capture an experience that could eventually be real, while creating a presence of life at the same time to create more of a personal feeling.