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Knowing What You Don’t Know
A little more than a month ago I passed by the museum of fine art while on the way to work like normal. I saw this woman standing very firmly directly in front of the main door of the museum, no more than 50 feet from the steps to the main entrance. She seems in her 40s and was wearing all black clothing (old clothing). I noticed that behind her was an old still film camera, and that she was taking a photo of herself looking directly at the large structure. I thought it was odd, and perhaps a little cliche, but continued to walk.
Today, I was in barnes and nobles browsing the magazines when I came across one called “aperture”. I flipped through and about 10 pages in I saw an article written about an artist, Carrie Mae Weems. I saw the same woman with quite a few photos of her standing in front of large structures looking at them (although the MFA one was not there). From what I read in the article, the woman she is portraying in these photos (though her) is her role model, a fearless and hopeful person. Though I was not too flabbergasted when I saw her taking that one photo, seeing all of it composed is a completely different story (literally).
The first three photos and the last three are a part of their own set. With the first three, I really feel a dark presence of herself, one that you can’t miss. Although from what I understand, it is the opposite; it is the establishment of her presence in a positive way. The last three are a part of a set called “kitchen table”. I really enjoy these, she is once again in the center of the photo as a constant as the people change around her. I also really like the heavy grain in those photos, as well as the single source of lighting, the combination of these two really push the light at you and bring the darks away.
See and download the full gallery on posterous
Posted via email from Mark Kammel | Comment »
