portraits project; liani

portraits project; laura beth

week four current events

week three current events

first, more baseball.

1. suspensions given for fight started at yankee stadium in game versus the toronto blue jays on tuesday, september 15th
after reviewing the events of the tuesday ballgame at yankee stadium, two players now face a three day suspension each to begin wednesday. new york yankees catcher jorge posada as well as toronto reliever jesse carlson will both be out for thier teams' next three scheduled games. even as a serious yankees fan, i see the punishment as fair for both players. posada is one of the yankees' most valued and talented players, his presence on the active roster is necessary for the team- especially as the competition for the pennant race thickens.

link:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090916&content_id=7002438&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

week two current events

i love baseball with all my heart. so im'a talk about some baseball.

1. american league race for the wild card spot; rangers fall further behind
after an embarrassing four game losing streak to the oakland athleticss, one of the worst teams in the league right now, the rangers are now a disappointing six and a half games behind the red sox. boston is currently in a series against the los angeles angels, the first place team above the rangers in the west division. the angels lost their games against the red sox on tuesday and wednesday this week, adding to both the count on angels' lead in the division and the red sox's lead in the wild card race. the article goes on to explain the increasing pressure felt by every rangers player, thus causing the team to not be hitting the way they're used to. rangers need to focus less on the pressure and get their heads back in the game in a normal sense. with very few games left for the rangers to once again take the lead for wild card, fans seem to be hanging their heads in belief that the red sox already have that wild card spot secured.

link:
http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090916&content_id=7004514&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex



2. punches thrown at yankee stadium in game versus toronto blue jays
as tuesday's game in the bronx brought punches

link:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090915&content_id=6987710&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

september seventh; four portrait photographers you should know

1. diane arbus
on march 14, 1923, diane arbus was born in new york city to a wealthy jewish family. after marrying her childhood sweetheart in 1941, the couple opened their first and only commercial photography business. after the births of two children, doon in 1945 and amy in 1954, the couple separated and later divoriced in 1969. diane participated in numerous classes during the 1950's and later became a teacher and taught photography at three different colleges in the 1960's. after a very successful career, diane arbus took her own life at the age of 48 on july 26, 1971.

2. philippe halsman
philippe halsman was born on may 2, 1906 in riga, latvia. after suffering head injuries while on a hike in the austrain alps with his father in 1928, the two were held in the country for four years imprisonment for patricide. after being released he moved to france where he began doing photography for vogue magazine and quickly gained a reputation for being one of the best portrait photographers in the country. with help from close friend albert einstien, philippe gained a visa to live in the united states where he first gained recognition for his work in 1941. the following year he began work for life magazine. the same year he met and began colaborating with surrealist artist salvador dali, and the two began and produced images that remain famous to the art world today. he continued work with numerous famous people of his era, photographing them for various publications. in addition to many exhibitions worldwide, philippe recieved the life achievement in photography award in 1975. four years later philippe passed away, leaving a legend behind in his name.

3. hiroh kikai
born in japan on march 18, 1945, hiroh lead a happy childhood in a small village with his family. after completing school for philosophy and working as a truck driver for a short period of time, hiroh began taking photos in 1969. the 80mm lense hasselblad 500cm he aquired that year is the same camera he used throughout his entire career. his first body of work was photographed aboard a tuna fishing boat and was pulished and awarded the following year. while hosting solo exhibits between the years 1983-1984, he became a freelance photographer. following the publications of his work of all variations within the portrait relm, he became a teacher for sometime before finally becoming discouraged by the students' lack of enthusiam and quitting. hiroh has traveled and lived in many countries, producing a great number of published books and exhibitions. his work is celebrated all over the world with great respect.

4. anne geddes
you see her work everywhere. it's recognizable by the constant use of babies and young children depicted in her photography in angelic forms and fashions, often costumed as insects, flowers, fruits or vegetables, etc. her work never strays from this one form of portrait photography. anne was born on september 13, 1956 in queensland, australia where she would spend her childhood living on the family's large cattle farm. in between her duties on the farm, she would lose herself in magazines such as national geographic and life. by age twelve she had a determined goal of one day becoming a famous photographer. in later years she would marry and move to hong kong, where she first began photographing portraits of close friends' children. in 1992, ten years after her first portraits done in hong kong, anne released her first publication of work- a calandar that was sold door-to-door and in various small businesses. the calandar benefited the prevention of child abuse, a charitable cause that anne supported so much that she would later create the nonprofit Geddes Philanthropic Trust. following a second published calandar and her first book publication anne was recognized on the oprah winfrey show for her work, which sent her career into hyperspeed. several awards later, anne's images have been pulished in 83 countries, and has sold more than 18,000 copies of her books worldwide.

week one current events

two current events for this week

1. mlb american league race for the wild card spot in this year's world series
i love baseball and follow my two favorite teams daily, the new york yankees and the texas rangers. my home page is set to mlb.com so i never miss a single stat or change in players or games. one of the best parts about baseball, in my opinion, is that every single part of the game as well as each individual player is recorded and calculated. the world series game is the annual champion game played by the best clubs of that year's season. there are two leagues that break up all of the mlb teams nationwide, the american and the national. within each league there are three divisions according to the region of the teams' home towns: east, central, and west. my very favorite team, the new york yankees, are in the east division of the american league and have secured their spot for the pennant race preceding the world series game. for each league four teams move on to the pennant race leading up to the world series, one for each division and one overall best team from the whole league called the 'wild card'; this team being the best second place team from one of the three divisions. currently my second favorite team, the texas rangers (west), are battling the boston red sox (east) for the wild card spot in the american league. aside from the fact that the player strength for the texas rangers has pleasantly surprised many fans, and in my opinion deserve the wild card spot for doing so, i absolutely hate the boston red sox and would cringe to see them take the spot in the playoffs. right now boston is leading ahead by two and a half games; this number is determined by games won and lost. a full game is tallied by one whole number on a day where both teams play a game (not necessarily against each other) and one loses while the other wins; example: yesterday texas played the blue jays and won 6-4 while boston lost their game to the rays 8-5, so the rangers earned a full point in the count taking the number from three and a half to two and a half. the way a half point game is earned is on the days where one teams plays and wins their game while the other team has a scheduled day off. the article talks specifically about the rangers' individual player achievements and injuries in recent games as well as the necessary actions needed to be carried out by the team in order to regain the lead for the pennant race and have their chance at making it to the world series. twenty-nine games are left in the season and with crucial players out with injuries the rangers must step it up and continue winning in order to accomplish their goal of securing the wild card spot in this year's pennant race.

link:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090902&content_id=6753660&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb


2. michael jackson's glove auctioned for $48,400 in american dollars
as a person who appreciates and understands michael jackson's achievements in pop culture and the music industry, i do not particularly consider myself a fan. in the wake of his death, fans and media all over the world seem to have a new obsession with the great artist, michael jackson. ignoring all previous accusations and widespread controversy of his court trials where he was charged for sexual misconduct with young children, people from all corners of the world seem to be praising mj in every way since his passing on june 25th earlier this year. on sunday, a devout fan from australia paid a whopping AU$30,000 equivalent to $48,400 in american dollars for a white bejeweled glove mj once wore. while i agree that his music and dance abilities are something that forever changed the pop music genre in many countries, and are something to respect as people still today attempt to follow in his footsteps and examples, i also offer the opinion that the obsession over any last artifacts of his career and life is out of control. people should get real and celebrate his life in a normal fashion, such as playing his cd in your car or something of that nature. i'm getting tired of every clothing, music and various other companies all the sudden producing michael jackson memorabilia to be put on shelves of what is increasingly becoming every store you walk into. i can only hope the australian fan that purchased his glove for the amount of money that is often more than an american citizen earns in a year, truly enjoys his new mj artifact.

link:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/michael-jackson/news/michael-jacksons-glove-auctioned-in-australia--61993594

entry the first; questionaire

1. name, phone #, and e-mail:

my name is emmie. you can ask me for contact info whenever necessary.

2. What’s your major? What year will you graduate?

i'm majoring in photography, and doing so pretty slowly.. thus all i can say about a graduation date is that it's definitely a few years down the road.

3. Why did you choose a photography class (or photography as a major), and what do you hope to learn from school in general and this class specifically?

i very well may be a living definition of the word indecisive, save for the one thing i have always loved and surrounded myself with: photography. deciding to major in photography took no time at all, and i don't think i'll be someone who ever changes my mind and cease to pursue photo in school. in my classes i hope to further my knowledge of not only equipment and tools for photography, but the various aspects and ideals of accomplished photographers. for this class specifically i presume i'll already be more than familiar with the materials we will learn, but look forward to even more so embedding these things into my second nature.

4. What are your goals after graduation? Please list your goals in reverse order, starting five years out, then three, two, one, and six months.

i'm the worst at making any kind of future plans, both short and long term. i guess a rough estimate might be that five years from now i will be either at grad school, preferably school of visual art in ny, ny, or on my final steps toward getting to grad school. three years from now i hope to have a start to some kind of portfolio i can be proud of, as well as at least one internship experience.. unrelated to photography, i'd like to be in a respected position in the sigma zeta chapter of chi omega here on campus. two years, hopefully a good gpa and a successful, steady continuation of classes needed to graduate tamuc. one year, a more developed, mature attitude towards being a successful student in general. six months, out of the classes i am having to retake because of poor choices made in the past.

5. What artists, musicians, photographers, writers, movies, books have influenced you/your work?

artists: everyone loves andy warhol, and all the classic artists who changed the world of art.. claude monet, piccaso, etc.

musicians: anyone who sings along to the music in their car and does it with passion. also, jack johnson, lil wayne (because he goes to the studio as if it were a day job, and creates his own music and lyrics), the octopus project, why?, neutral milk hotel, coldplay, old blink 182, everyone likes the beatles... and also anything nineties alternative, or even the crappy pop music i used to love as a kid.

photographers: i love tierny gearon, she's controversial without trying to be and experimental in her photography without being targeted as someone merely copying another artist.

writers: anyone who writes against the rules of "correct formats" and uses more than enough descriptive words so you have no choice but to be thrown into the world created by their writing, while hearing the conscious they create through their words.

movies: all things from grandma's boy to for love of the game to babel to being john malcovitch to the notebook, and of course the answer everyone gives- fight club. also, numerous documentaries and movies in black and white. anything will farrell, except the ice skating and soccer coach ones... the only movie i ever walked out of in a theater was ghost rider; nicholas cage is such a terrible actor and the movie was even worse.

books: lord of the flies, the chosen, a million little pieces (i don't care if it's "fake", it's written brilliantly), beautiful boy, cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

6. Where do you get information about current national and international events?

the east texan newspaper. otherwise i go to my grandpa for information, because i can't stand to watch the news on tv because i don't like to hear about the car wrecks and burgluraries and other various petty crimes that show how crappy our society can be to one another. call it immature, i don't mind.

7. Are there any important websites that you are referencing for art/photo competitions and/or information?

none in particular. i love when nicholas minton shares all the cool websites he runs across with me. i use deviantart but that's nothing special.

8. What museums and/or galleries have you been to in the past year?

fort worth museum of modern art, kimbell, dallas museum of art... i can't remember his name right now but there was an artist who did these spectacular sculptures of people of all ages and scales.. his work included attention paid to every little hair and freckle and detail of the skin, he used a mold that looked true to real skin and placed each hair in it's spot one by one with tweezers and painted the skin spots and details of that sort with precision unlike any other i'd ever seen. dang i wish i could remember his name.

9. Have you had any photo projects and/ or training in the past?

i took this class previously with another teacher last fall semester, both introductory and contemporary photo history, visual conceptions, as well as high school photo classes and three years on yearbook staff at mckinney high school as a photographer and one year in a leader position for the photography staff as photo editor.

10. What is the value of art for the artist?

never the same as the value to the viewer.

11. What is the value of art for the audience?

never the same as the value to the artist.

12. Is photography a vocation or an avocation?

i think the beauty is that they go hand in hand. professionals almost always pursue it as a hobby as well and a good number of people who use photography as a hobby often offer services for friends and family, or try selling their prints as small time free lance.

13. What is your passion?

photography, and through photography trying to capture the beauty of the hidden secrets and wonders of the world and the people that live in this world. plus i really like crossword puzzles and doodling, finding things in people that make them who they are, anything chi omega related, baseball- specifically the yankees, driving without any particular destination, going to the park or getting lost in nature, science museums, gatorade.

14. .. What are you afraid of? What makes you uncomfortable?

i'm afraid of failure, but i'm okay with it when i don't always succeed. i know it hardly makes sense. i hate the dark and picky eaters and people with bad grammar make me uncomfortable.

15. Do you have a passport?

nope. the one time i've ever left the country was when my mother took a trip to england while pregnant with me. i was there, but i never got to see a thing.