Winner: Docu-Challenge 2

Our winner, Justin Maceira, recalled Walker Evan's frontal framing, concern with vernacular architecture and distressed surfaces, and ironic juxtaposition of signage.

Missed Opportunity~ Meghan Corbett

Thinking back, my biggest missed opportunity was when my parents took me to Holland Pond in Vermont.  The "pond" was big enough that you couldn't see either end from where we got in the water. There were tons of cool rock formations and little inlets with all sorts of plant-life and babbling brooks.  Every time we'd go around another bend I'd moan and groan about how I had left my camera at home.  Then about half way around the pond we came to a slab of rock that jutted out over the water that you could tell many people had used as a campground.  Of course, I got out of my kayak and explored.

There was a small path back through the trees to a small clearing that had the remnants of a camper's old fire.  Coming back out I saw a bald eagle just kind of hanging out in the trees above my head.  Again, I berated myself for leaving my house without my camera.

There were so many amazing sites to document and I honestly can't wait for this summer so I can go back and photograph this hidden Vermont gem.

Docu Challenge #2: American Photographs

For our second Docu-Challenge we are using Walker Evans's masterpiece, American Photographs, as inspiration. Last week we had a terrific discussion on the content of the images and the effect of their sequencing in presenting the major themes of the work. Many thanks to the MoMA for their invaluable pdf of the first 10 images!

Cheryl Parisi

Kelly Malloy

 

Hannah Schwartz

 

Victoria Espinoza

 

Justin Maceira

 

Jessica Spitzer-Rubenstein

 

Mike Cicchetti

 

Jenn Smulo

 

Lauren Webb

 Princy Prasad

 

Ebube Ezeh

 Alvia Urdaneta

Anna Bautista

 Paul Sarris

 

Missed Opportunity: Jenn Smulo

My biggest missed opportunity involving photography is probably when my brother, mother, and I went to Atlantis in the Bahamas for spring break five or so years ago. Even though I had brought a camera with me, I had been so excited to ride the rides that I hadn't carried it around with me. It was one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been in my life and I so regret that I had not taken my camera out with me everywhere we'd gone to take photos. 

While we were there, my brother and I had free reign of the resort because our mother was working. The place was so full of moments that I could have taken wonderful photos. There was a small village full of touristy shops and restaurants, filled with interesting people from all around the world, a water park, shops inside the hotel, and a small town that we frequented outside of the resort. The people were so diverse that I most regret not capturing that. I haven't been anywhere else where I've seen people from so many places relaxing at the same time. 

Being in the local town was incredible. It was so cool to see how the locals lived and what their town was like. It was so different from what the tourists were supposed to see; many of them lived in poverty. It was an incredible experience that I'll remember forever, but I so wish that I had brought my camera with me to take photos of. 

Missed Opportunity

I think I'm just a trove of missed opportunities. I've always loved taking pictures but it wasn't until my sophomore year in college that I got to treat it as more than another random hobby and I got my camera. Before that I would use whatever point and shoot camera my family owned at the time to take my pictures.

I always remember one event that I wish I had been able to document when I was in the eighth grade. I went on this 'rites of passage', character-building trip with 11 kids from my church's pre-teen Sunday School class (and a few parent chaperones). It was a long week of early-morning 2 hour long hikes/jogs through mud in the middle of nowhere, hours of solitude and reflection/meditation, collectively cooking meals for the whole camp, Bible studies, lectures from chaperones, more solitude, and all with no technology of any sort, and a makeshift longdrop toilet and outdoor shower (read bucket bath station). It was an experience to say the least but what came after, is what I wish I could have documented.

On the last, day everyone's parents came up to surprise us and basically laugh at how worn out and dirty we were. Then they surprised us again with making us cook lunch for everyone (about 35 people). The meal was rice and veggies with chicken stew and roasted goat meat. We had veggies, rice, spices, 6 or 7 live chickens and one very live goat. Let's just say I could have made beautifully entertaining pictures of tired little girls chasing chickens and about 5 dirty little boys wrestling a goat. Twenty minutes later, I could have made portraits of all the sad girls holding the severed chicken heads and an epic group portrait of the triumphant boys parading the goat's head. Of course, one must also remember all the 'proud-parent' shots and my self portrait of blood-stained, sneakered feet. I don't think anyone else but me would have been able to capture the events as well as I did in my head.

Ebube Ezeh

Missed Opportunity: Paul Sarris

The missed opportunity that stuck with me the most through my photography was the summer of 2011 during a family trip to Mexico. During our stay in Mexico we visited Mexico City, Acapulco and San Miguel de Allende. While in San Miguel I was able to capture one of my favorite photographs I have ever taken. I saw a homeless lady with all of her possessions sitting in front of a brick wall. After I took that photograph I turned around and saw a street vendor. The vendor was a man probably in his late 40’s in age selling balloons and little toys for children. That street vendor was my missed opportunity.

The reason that this was my most important missed opportunity is because of the expression and emotion on this face. Just from looking at him I could see his sorrow and hardships. He was standing in a square next to a short brick wall with a lamppost next to it. It was a priceless photograph because of the unaltered emotion and how open and vulnerable he showed those emotions. The reason that I missed the photograph is because I had my telephoto lens on and the zoom was too much to capture the image.

Even though I did not get the image I will take the experience with me being able to see what will make a successful photograph. I will use the skill of looking at the world as a photographer in order to help me capture images that will only get better.  

Missed Opportunity: Victoria Espinoza

I think my biggest missed opportunity is more than just one shot. It was probably multiple shots that I missed out on. I went to Nicaragua with my church when I was a junior and senior in high school, to a small town called Amatitan. We stayed for a week each time, building houses and interacting with the community.

I was just realizing my passion for photography when I was junior, so I brought down my camera but really hadn't learned anything or researched on my own anything about documentary photography. So the photos that I got did document my trip, however they didn't focus at all on what I took away from the trip, which was optimism in spite of the struggles that these people had to deal with each day.

I wish I had gotten more shots of the mothers who volunteered to make us all of our meals each day, cooking in front of an open fire in a tent while it was well over 100 degrees outside. I also wish I got more shots of the children, trying their hardest at pick up soccer games with flip-flops that were falling apart at the seams. There were 100 other moments looking back I wish I documented, and that is definitely what I would say is my biggest missed photo opportunity.

Missed Opportunity - Exploring Movement

   My most recent encounter dealing with missed opportunities was the first time I tried to shoot movement in the photo studio. I had a friend, Stephanie Grover, who really wanted a couple shots of herself in motion since she is a dancer. Being in the dance world myself, I have had quite a bit of experience shooting people during performances on stage or during rehearsal. But, with that being said I have never tried to shoot a series of motion shots while in the confined space of a photo studio.

  Trying to sync the lights with the movement as well as the back drop, was definitely a different set up and production then just shooting around a stage. So after deciding to go bright and white with the back drop to give Stephanie the illusion of hovering in mid air, it was time to start shooting. Most of the moves she was trying she really had to get a few steps head start, or a a prep step for a jump of some sort. It was difficult trying to capture her at, not only the peak of her move, but with her arms and legs in all the right positions, eyes open, and hair just right. I experienced quite a few missed opportunities during this shoot to try and get the exact picture I was looking for, and one that she thought really showcased her talents.

  Timing was really the most important aspect in this shoot, and it took a while to get in the same rhythm that Stephanie was moving in; once I did it was almost like her body was controlling my camera. Our communication with each other, as well as adapting to her style and motion pattern, made for a really great photo shoot. I hope that if I ever run into anymore 'missed opportunities' in shooting a place or a subject like I did with Stephanie, then I can find a way to change up my shooting style or work around them to discover new techniques like I did with her shoot. I still consider part of Stephanie's shoot to be a missed opportunity because by the time we reached our mutual rhythm with each other, she was a bit tired, and even though her shots still came out beautifully, I believe her talent would have shown through a hundred times more in the opening shots when she was not as tired, and a bit more loose.

   I think this will help me with my DOC projects in realizing that I should take some time to explore an idea, or a set up, or prepare myself, so that when the opportunity arises that needs to be captured, I won't miss a beat. I think practice is always something a photographer should be focusing on gaining, so I think with more practice I will be able to capture the photos I would like, rather then doing only one shoot and expecting it to come out perfectly the first and only time.