Some Body in Motion

Who are you when you think no one is watching?

The car has become not only a mode of transportation, but also a mobile home; it is a place of comfort and seclusion in our travel. The way we drive, the music we listen to, the seat position we have, and the decorations we display are parts of each personality. As we drive, we are lost in the world of the moving vehicle, interacting with countless others yet never leaving that personal space.

This series of photographs capture that unrestrained, very natural act of driving as it is to each individual, yet it mimics the anonymity of the moving individual through repetition. The common denominator is motion and the act of driving, yet even in the simplicity of a commute, each driver is unique.

Here is a glimpse at a few “some bodies” in motion. Separated by glass, speed, and distance, you are welcome into the anonymous space that makes these people into the generic drivers, yet they are someone worth watching, if only in a glance.

Princy Prasad

STREET CINEMA

Summer 2013. Brooklyn NY. I had just moved into my first real city apartment. 5^th floor walk-up in a brand new building with my two best girlfriends. Both recent college grads. After the initial excitement of the big transition died down, and the phase of exploration was over I started to notice how out of place this spectacular piece of architecture was in the surrounding neighborhood we had just moved into. Gentrification was all around us. The second you step outside the front door is a step into a completely mingled and diverse world. I was so fascinated by how many different races, cultures, and religions all coincided in this borough and how each was able to feel like they were at home. The purpose of Street Cinema was to give a peek into the rapidly changing environment that I have now declared my home, and to display how many different walks of life also reside in the same area. From rich to poor, old to young, black, white, Hispanic, Jewish, and every other type of being that walks the earth. Everyone that is anyone is here. All within a very short radius of each other. These photos were shot in my own personal neighborhood so it is a direct view into the scene in which I experience each day. 

Maya Collins

DOC Final Artist Statement

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