David Menuez lecture

David Menuez's lecture at the Crittenden gallery was another one that I was much more anxious about. Again, his orientation is different from most of the school's visiting artists. I have often wondered what a commercially based career in photography might be like but there isn't really any emphasis on that through the school. I always imagined that a commercial career could be lucrative and still creative and original. Doug's lecture kind of showed me that that was still possible. The way I was beginning to see things was that photography is so abundant nowadays that stock photography was essentially robbing photographers of lucrative contract based work. I felt like commercial photography was a bottom dollar business where the agencies who previously contracted photographers for particular assignments for specific campaigns now just sought out the cheapest stock equivalent. Doug's lecture showed me that there is still a value to being good at what you do and having a vision.

I enjoyed following Doug's stories of the places he's been and the people he has met. He started explaining his journey all the way back when he was shooting the people at Macintosh for time magazine while they were in the process of developing their own operating system. He was able to capture really personal moments like Steve Jobs laughing among other things. If you Google Steve Jobs you wont find any pictures of him laughing and his biggest smiles don't even show his teeth. When word got around that he was shooting Steve Jobs, CEO's and different companies started calling him up to photograph them.

That wasn't the only once in a lifetime kind of stuff that Doug has been able to shoot. I wouldn't describe this as luck but Menuez was actually in New York on September eleventh and got shots of the towers. As crazy as it may sound to someone not from New York, Doug and his wife were actually moved to relocate back to New York after being stuck in the city for three days after 9/11. It seems to me that Doug has a rather nurturing heart. Him wanting to be back in New York after such a tragedy is apparently part of who he is. His work in Uganda is just as commendable. Most of the work that he does there is surrounding a camp full of starving orphans who have lost their families after rebels attacked their villages. Doug tells their story as a select few of them get to travel to the U.S for a dance tour to raise money for the orphans of Uganda. Menuez has compiled the stories and photographs into his book Transcendent Spirit. Not only does he tell their story, but all of the profit from that books sales go to the orphanage.

There is a lot about Doug Menuez that I admire. I admire that he is a family man even though at times his work can take him away from them for lengthy periods of time. I admire that when he realized that he was doing exactly the kind of work that he didn't want to end up doing that he was able to just pack up and move on. It's impressive that he could just drop everything and take three years off to be with his family and get back in touch with what he really wanted to be doing with his career. I could only hope to have a fraction of the success and respect that he had achieved. Though he mentioned it briefly at the end of his lecture, I would like to talk more with him about what kind of approach he might take in today's job market to achieve what he has to this point. I feel like he would have some great networking advice as well as general advice about navigating your way through the business.

I really took a lot away with me the night of this lecture. Its a kind of funny comparison but this lecture was like one of those success stories from those late night get rich quick infomercials. It really made me want to get out there and do it and he sold it quite well. At the same time he put everything into perspective by talking about things like how annually the U.S. averages about 5,000 students that graduate with photography degrees every year. So like I said, I took a lot away with me from Doug Menuez's lecture. and really enjoyed seeing his work.

Artist Statement

I make art because I have a way of seeing things that I want to preserve and share. There are certain things that I seem to gravitate towards for whatever reason and whatever that may be isn’t always the same. I love to create. The act of making something is the art. I make art that I enjoy because that’s the kind of art I want to see. If I’m not making my own art, then I’m just going to be surrounded by somebody else’s art that isn’t necessarily the art I want to see. I always feel the need to be doing something. I also feel the need to be productive in whatever I’m doing. My art makes me happy so I am happy creating it. Occasionally, I make art because I have something to say. If I don’t have something to say, I have something to show. I like when people are drawn to areas that weren’t my primary focus and when my work can say different things to different people. I have always hoped for a “dream job” someday where I can make a living doing what I love. Photography can work commercially and as fine art which seems very practical to me. I chose photography as my career choice because it is a means of supporting myself while pursuing my creative interests.

1st Jurried Show Submission

The Weinstein JCC hosted their annual undiscovered photography juried exhibition April 2nd. I was glad to have found a show that wasn't restrictive based on subject matter. This show was pretty perfect for me being my first show. Their eligibility requirements are only that you have not previously places in the undiscovered photography show in the past or have had work exhibited in a major show in the Richmond area. I almost missed this opportunity but I happened to see a flier in the office on the 2nd floor of pollack just before the entry deadline. Here is a pdf link to the flier that I found with the entry form attached:

http://www.weinsteinjcc.org/arts/documents/undiscoverdphotography2009.pdf

I chose to enter this print from my darkroom photo class last semester. Its a photo that I took of the exhaust pipes on my grandfather's f-650. I took the photo from underneath the truck and with the reflections on the chrome finish and the grill around the pipe, the photo has a nice abstract look to it. This photo is representative of the kind of photography I like to do most where the subject isn't all that uncommon yet it isn't immediately identifiable. I chose the white frame for a few reasons. I was told that there was a movement away from the traditional black framed matted photos to opposite extremes like unmatted unframed photos and white frames without the mat. I went with the white frame unmatted presentation because I felt like it best accentuated the photo since I was working with a print that had white boarders that the frame didn't cover. Here is a photo document of my photo with the entry form:

PJ Sykes lecture

I thought PJ Sykes' visit to our class was pretty sweet. I say that because I was really interested to hear what he had to say versus what some of the people from the more formal VCU visiting artist lectures had to say. I remembered PJ from my very first 1st Fridays art walk that I attended in Richmond. I had gone in a bunch of the galleries on broad street and when I was coming out of one of them, there PJ was just outside with a small table set up with an assortment of his photographs. Its funny to me, knowing his interest in music, to see the way he displayed his work. He had them arranged in these bins like albums in a music shop. Its cool that PJ has his roots here in Richmond and isn't in a rush to move onward. That's not nearly the path for me but his dedication is commendable.

Considering that I was not 110% interested in the focus of PJ's photography, following the narrative of his journey so far was more intriguing than just talking about the work that he does. He never made any of his achievements out to be more that what they were and was really modest about everything I thought. Its cool that he had been published in rva magazine because I usually like the art and photography that they feature. I think its awesome that there are people that are in PJ's position that students like us can follow and keep up with and I look forward to doing so.

Stylistically, PJ's work is a much different product that what I might make in the same environments but he and I have separate orientations with our photography. His seems to be his account of things; entirely the way he wants them to be. Mine would have to be a combination of that and the influences of a school that emphasizes fine art. Unlike everyone else the school hosts for lectures, he isn't so art oriented and its refreshing to hear a different experience and perspective. It's kind of relaxing to be reminded that PHOTOGRAPHY DOES NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE FINE ART! I think I tend to forget that more and more now that photography IS my entire academic world.