Week 1

Enduring Eye: The Antarctic Legacy of Sir Ernest Schackleton & Frank Hurley

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Name of Photographer: Frank Hurley

Common Thread: This exhibition highlights the journey and struggles of a crew stranded in the Antarctic. Many themes can be observed through these photographs including: endurance, bravery, brotherhood, nature’s violence and beauty, and time

Photographers Style: This exhibition is simple to categorize because all of the photos were taken in the Antarctic. They all photograph ice and men trying to survive. However, Hurley did an incredible job at capturing just more than he hoped for. His style when photographing the exhibition is more rigid and still. He captures life lost in movement and time. There is a beauty in the way his photos are so raw and truthful; they throw the audience right into the heart of their endurance to survival. Life is persisting and still living in an environment frozen in time.

If I were able to ask the photographer one question it would be: What defines your work to you?

Mt. Page and the Allardyce Range from Mt. Duse by Frank Hurley, 1914

I chose this photo of Hurley’s because to me, it defined adventure. There is still hope, there is still a vast understanding of the unknown. Their journey still lies ahead of them. Its the way we all feel when we start something new. Even though we can never accurately predict what might lie ahead in our futures, their is always an excitement. I love the point of view of this photo. It enraptures all, without disposing any of the secrets that lie ahead in their journey. It reveals all, without revealing anything. It is so far away. The point of view matches the time and attitude of where they were in their journey. They knew the mission, but not its treacherous secrets it hid within the ice.

 

Finger-Picked Goodness

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Just a Little Finger-Picked Magic

I love music. I will never not love all that it has and will add to my life. 
Being a musician myself, I understand the thrill it can give one by just 
playing a note. Its a rush like no other and to perform, only enhances the
true magic of its importance. Music brings the world together in song. Binds
our bodies through beats and melodies, but also culture and tradition. I will
always stop for a minute or two to appreciate those brave enough to set up shop
and play music on the street. It is not a way to make a living, but it a way to
play and add a little music to the days that need a theme song. This man was far 
from the best guitarist or singer, but he was the best for the moment. His 
identity is vibrating in every string strummed. I took a great deal of photos of
him and his guitar, but I chose this one. It was his face. I know that face. I 
make that face. All musicians make that face. It is the one when we become lost in
the notes and the thrill that is music. So in tuned with our playing. It is a deep 
focus and appreciation. I chose to edit this photo into black and white because one 
does not need color to connect with the feelings emanating from the picture. If 
anything, color would become a distraction to the music heard. It is him and his 
guitar. Nothing else needed. Just some finger-picked goodness.

Musem or Castle

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Museum or Castle

I am not very certain on why I like this photo so much. Maybe it is because it holds 
mystery to me. Maybe it is because it is beautiful. Maybe it is the way the gold in 
the sun is the same wrapping the building in opulence. I am not sure. However, I do
know why I took this photo. It was magic before I even turned the lens its direction.
I was captured by rectangular angles and windows. The way the sky contrasted and 
allowed the building to have the glory. Like a best friend, it helped enhance the
overall beauty of the building. The colors are vibrant and living even on a stagnant 
object in the world. I loved the placement of the bicycle. Unplanned, but I knew that
the person who had stopped needed to take a photo for the same reasons I did. An 
unnameable reason and beauty. The way the tree wraps and frames the background. It
all seemed very magical and fairy tale to me. And though it might just be a museum, 
are they not magic too? Museums, like castles, hold the fantasies and creations of
artists who saw and felt the world a little differently. They are documentations
of both reality and fairy tale. So I do not care what this building is. It will always
house magic, wonder and beauty.

A Splash of Pink & Teal

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A Splash of Pink & Teal

There is definitely a time in my life where my favorite color had been teal or pink. 
Each are bright and vibrant in their own way. It is the reason I took this photo. 
It humors me because there is a very clear divide between the teal and pink, as if 
they are fighting for space and importance. A line can be drawn between them, 
marking the territories they claim within this row of cafes. These colors are 
boasting their places brands, dividing themselves from the competition. Though, no 
matter how different, this photo blends their coexistence seamlessly. It is just a 
continuation of color. It is why I chose to take the photo at this angle. It did not
 want to emphasize on their difference, but rather the harmony they share. It does 
not matter how each diversifies themselves because at the end of the day, they both 
seat life. Thousands of people walk, sit, buy, and eat food from each of these colors. 
They probably have more hours logged under people watching then I will ever have in 
a lifetime. To me, that is incredible. I also enjoy this photo, because even though 
there are people in this photo, they are not the main argument. They blend into the 
background and become a part of the bigger picture. This photo is simple and quite 
effortless, an expression of life.

Walking Home From School

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Walking Home From School

If you are one of the lucky ones who were hooked on the show Madeleine, you would 
instantly understand why I had to take this photo. As a young girl, there was nothing
more incredibly magical than sitting down and watching Madeleine and her bandit of 
schoolgirls find trouble and adventure in the Parisian streets. I am sure that is 
when my obsession with everything French began. However, even more important than
that, I tried to emulate the tenacity and absolute need for adventure that seemed to
encapsulate her personality. These girls brought to life a dream I only thought was
a distant memory locked away. It is the uniform, the smiles, the endless search for
fun. 

Children have a funny way of capturing and expressing life in innocence, but also
with the guidance of a thousand pasts. They know all, without knowing anything at 
all. It is an interesting paradox and something one will never regain again in their
lifetime. For me, this photo represents that conundrum. I was not expecting to take 
this photo or even run into these six girls and their chaperon walking home from a 
long day sitting in a classroom. Though, the most beautiful and mysterious 
occurrences are the ones that resonate with our soul the deepest. 

These girls are innocence and life. There is this clear divide of childhood youth 
and the power of discipline of the lips of their chaperon. They are just having fun. 
I enjoy this photo because it was not staged or even asked, it was just taken. My 
favorite photographs are always like that, candid and pure. It is when the camera 
lens and the photographer become the least subjective and manipulative toward the
end visual. 

I love the life I was able to capture. It is an instant that brought me back to the 
days of running home from school in my uniform, but also why I loved watching 
Madeleine so much. It was not just her life and adventures I wanted, but the friends
that she found and the bond that ran through them like the two girls linked by the 
scarf.