Kaylynn Denevey

February 11, 2011 Kaylynn Denevey presentation at UCA Farnham
introduced by Anna Fox:

• Phd in Photography at Newport
• interested in hos she negotiated dealing with people

the presentation:

• [eddie adams workshop in NY}
• the were given assignments but not being aggressive finally got a church assignment
• 'How do you feel about me phtographing you?'
• Drawn to peoples inner lives
• how do other people do it? wants to know how
• Freelance for Albuquerque Tribune (10 years)
• more minorities than whites there
• photographed a family coming to the US and having a child
• big problems with the language barrier
• spent first yar with them working and going back and forth to mexico
• she wrote the texxt and photographed but none of her text got in
• took 1yr sabbatical and went to Belfast 
• made the work in '97
• Abotu a day in Belfast any day other than July 12th
• met people anywhere she could
• heard about the MA in Documentary at Wales Newport
• quit job to do the degree
• for the degree photographed a couple in a nursing home
• they got there a month ahead of her
• Edit wanted to be with Len who had fallen, so she was there early 
• A long term project about life in one room

[similar to the work of Brian Atkinson at BYU-I]

• she wanted to know how they felt
• they got close as photographer and subject
• it was hard to decide whether to photograph Edith crying or hold her hand
• for her project it seemed to work best as a book
• spent 9 months photogrpahing them 
• hard to say good bye

'Day to Day Life of Albert Hastings'

• Fascinated by how he was watering his garden with plastic bottles
• spoke to him
• showed him edith and len book
• he agreed to be photographed
• made the photos
• let him write the captions-sometimes he waxed poetic in them
• photographed over 5 years

'Cinderella Ranch'

• An American notion of the ideal home
• homes built long ago
• Nice when they were built
• Not so nice anymore
• variety of styles
• most fun she has had photographing

Questions:
Who made you fall in love with photography?
Kaylynn-took photo class for and easy 'A'- a guy brought in terrible photos-she went to speak to him-wondered how to use photography as a Language

Paul-an experience photographing his fathers work place burn

Donovan-Walker Evans-Photobooks

How do you know a project is finished?
Deadlines imposed by others

Three main reasons in photography

1. Therapeutic
2. Record
3. Political

Donovan Wylie

February 11, 2011 Donovan Wylie presentation at UCA Farnham
A Magnum Photographer

• Left school at 16
• No qualifications
• Photography gave him confidence

Seawright taught him how to process
began to find hisself 14 yrs ago when he thought he couldn't take pictures
No knowledge of History or theory
Took 'Walker Evans' book to bed each night [Really fond of Walker Evans]
Sent his work to Magnum-became a photo journalist
it was difficult -never had done it-learned to make Reportage photos-got thrown out basically for a time
Began to study-realized that it is a hugely complicated and responsible business
Went back to Ireland
Felt like a loner growing up-mixed marriage parents-felt disposed by both sides
looked at his fathers background an obsession to know more or something took over him
Went to his uncle, he ided week later was searching there at his house, found a 'scrapbook' it is one of the last things he has published.
trying to make sense of himself at this point
But was basically making something about Northern Ireland
Searching everything for photos, started with his family
Walker Evans-about this time-more about human nature
Claims he wasn't trying to say something about the conflict -just collecting-
Felt it was wrong to make it a historical narrative early on
When it was edited and put together it brought closure
[Therapeutic]
'The Maze'
 Researching books helped him realize how difficult it wass to decide how to shoot the prison
The prison was a human trap, a machine, you could not hide, the repetition of it was designed to grind you down.
Seeing it as a machine-decided to photograph it as a machine
it is a statement of a machine doing a job, not about Northern Ireland
showed us photograph of one of the towers-explained how it symbolizes vision, sight and power, repetition
Loves photos with history in them-Not about history
Loves the idea of vision and sight having power-stems from the photo of the watch tower

'British Watch Towers' Steidl(publisher)
the structures have a brutal beauty-a tension between them and the landscape
took a year and a half to photograph
it began being removed-questioned where it goes? to Afghanistan some of it
all the towers are gone now

His own work-trying to get something from it
Went to Iraq-a work on the green zone
-an American Buble

'Outposts'
-Went to Afghanistan
-a continuation of Watch Towers
-1 year of research
-access is the trouble
-not allowed in to photograph
-when they are pulling out, then he got in but can't publish until they are out
-allowed to shoot images from the tower
[his images contain: Architecture, Landscape, Ideas. It reveals: Human nature-controlling, occupying, surviving]
-in one area it took 6 hours to go 3 or 4 kilometers due to IED's
-connecting towers and views
-grand landscape views emerge
-no idea this would happen
-the towers look vulnerable but are very strong in Reality
-Trying to say-I follow what interests and excites me shaped by where he grew up, discovering ideas. vision. control. power

Getting Access?

1. Persistence
2. They have fears-eliminate the fears
3. Give them the power
4. Having partners helps

Donovans Primary goal for his photographs is the wall-but a photograph of Edith and Len on the Wall doesn't make sense it should be in a book

Paul Seawright

February 11, 2011 Paul Seawright presentation of some of his works
Studied at UCA the yr after Anna Fox
Teaches at the University of Belfast

Clive Limpkin "the Battle of Bogside"

• Discussing the book in his sons history class - that is a bad place for it he says
• The imagery was typical of work being done in Northern Ireland at the time

Pauls work tries to deal with conflict photography in a different manner

• showed Roger Fenton from Crimea 'Valley of Shadow of Death'
• the cannon balls represent the dead
• it is similar to one of Paul's photos where there are shells from modern wars littering the battle field

*Weapons and Technology change but war and the scene is still the same*
He has spent his career finding strategies in response to wars and new ways to image them
'Pig in the Middle'- Typical images you got at the time
Pauls photos are different but still evoke conflict
his images are his narrative and personal to him

the social landscape of Northern Ireland
'Troubled Land' paul graham

• Initially Seawright was annoyed by this work
• admits it was powerful and inluential to him

'windows and mirrors'

• he grew up protestant
• met catholics for the first time in Farnham
• In book removed reference to protestant or catholic to bring back the human nature to it
• the images don't reference any specific religion instead they show it as human nature

[I wonder what his thoughts on religion and god are]
'Joel Sternfeld' a landscape of a place in LA- for his photo to function you have to know what happened there (Rodney King was beaten there)
It is the same reason we have plaques telling us about history in places we visit

'Orange Order Work'
Photo journalists latch onto someone and tell their story. He wanted to make images that stood alone

'Inside Information'

• photos that stood for conflict not policing
• things could innocent but represented in a way that they aren't (this is deliberate to create the narrative)

'Conflicting Account'

• commissioned
• struggled due to being gone so long

'The missing'

• about missing persons
• photographed similar to the police work

When it comes to commissioning he often turns it down

One place he was told was safe during the day but not at night

• he attempted the opposite creating beautiful images at night

lighting trees at the edge of forests
the welsh valleys-between belonging and not belonging


Went to Africa

• Referenced the colonial past
• ther is no work
• people are inactive
• they are waiting
• did the work in 4 or 5 trips 3 weeks each time

Photographs of wars come to stand for that war

• but that subject must be interogated
• important for artists, playwrights, etc to go to places of war
• Joe Sacco-draws his work into grafic novels
• the disasters of war-a coloring book-it says war is accepted in our culture
• Verna Herzog - lessons of Darkness
• Frederic Setereau

'Hidden'

• landscapes of the Afghanistan War
• (always does research before going out)
• 1st week there was a panic, never had done this type of photography
• Camera allowed him into a landscape he couldn't go because it is littered with mines, bombs, terrorists-all hidden
• Day/night
• Interior/exterior - all utilized in his photos

'Volunteer'

• making work of Afghanistan with out being there
• about military recruitment centers
• showing where they are situated not the actual recruiting center
• post 9/11 Landscapes
• miserable spaces

[The work shows the economics of the time as well]

Maryam

January 1, 2011
'Jahangir Razmi' a MFA in Photography 1st year Student Workshop
Took photos of Iran Revolution, also the Iran/Iraq war
The sha left
The new power killed many politicians with out a trial
Homeini came
Kurdish shot by government
Iraq attacked without warning
[He was working for a newspaper but became a war photographer because of his assignments and coverage]
Photos of modern cities that were completely destryoed
[The color photographs look more graphic than the B&W's]
After the war was over he quit
now works as a photographer in his studio in Iran

he won the Pulitzer Prize with an anonymous photo. due to the situation at the time he couldn't put his name to it. Other Photographers knew it was his work though. There is a film about it.
in the film he stated that photography during the wars 'affected his soul and body' he tells himself, 'he was doing his job' and teared up just talking about it.

Reza Deghati-also Iranian
The film was made for Aljazeera but couldn't be shown at the time and still can't I guess.
However the film was made very well and shows the investigation into who made the photograph, the circumstances behind what happened in the image, and how it won a pultizer anonymously yet the royalties of selling have gone to a photographer that isn't the real copyright holder because the magazine that printed it needed to pay someone for it, thus the one who turned it into them got the money, and then another Iranian in Germany was put to the test with a camera to see if he could have been the one who made the image. Clearly he wasn't the photographer.
This film should be made available to all but can't be.

Yuri Gomi

January 13, 2011
'How to Exhibit Photographs' a MFA in Photography 1st year Student Workshop
Hidasahkawa
How to mount Photos in a mat:
1-Take measurements
2%Calculation
cut the matte with a bevel
(This is exactly what I learned from Darren Clarke at BYU-I)
make photos corners with paper and white Artist Tape

2-Preparing wall
work out spacing
positioning nails
Hanging of pictures

3-setting up the lighting

4-making titles and captions

Toshio Shibata

• Large format
• 8X10 Camera
• Both colour and Black and White

Maoki Ishikawa

• Climbing Mountains

Keizi Tsuyouguchi

• Hokaido Prefrecture
• Joining Japanese and Aboriginal culture

Anne Ferran

• Australian
• Archive of mental patients in hospital

20 Students also displayed in the Gallery

Realization

Attended a lecture given by Donovan Wylie, Paul Seawright and Kaylynn Denevey on Friday 11, February 2011 at UCA Farnham. Each explained there background and Photographic practices. Each is producing really interesting documentary work. It was during Kaylynns lecture that I realized that I have producing a social documentary of my own that borders on self-portraiture. My wife and I became the parents of twins almost 4 years ago. They arrived 2 months and 1 day ahead of their due date. Kaylenn described the decision to pick up a camera and photograph her subjects instead of holding there hand or giving them space. There are times when I pick up the camera to photograph my child when I could be cleaning up the mess they made or holding them. In all honesty taking a photograph takes only a moment and if the child is not in immediate danger it is possible to get a photograph. If there ever has been danger or they have been hurt then obviously I take care of it before taking a photograph. However as I look back at the posts on my personal blog I see that I have story to tell about being a 'Married Latter-Day Saint Student Raising Twins and now a Third Child'. I wonder if it is possible to organize my photographs to show how we have been able to do so and continue to do so while having moved countries to work on a Master of Fine Art degree in Photography. ? Answer coming, hopefully.

BOMB Magazine's 2011 Fiction Contest by BOMB LITERATURE

This contest has a price to enter and have your work read and judged. I think there could be a possibility of having your work seen through this competition though.
http://bombsite.com/issues/0/articles/4770