Night Club Culture of Minneapolis

There are many things that I could go into as far as the reasons to why I worked on this project.  However, the primary purpose of these photographs are not to portray individuals, but instead show that each individual is apart of a subculture while at these clubs.  They are united by others who share similarities, commonalities, clothing, taste, state of mind, but most of all the are united by the vibe of the environment which  in this case is three different nightclubs in Minneapolis Minnesota.

For me, these photographs have a much deeper value due to the fact that I was there and can recall the actions and events of each individual.  I took these images in a bit of an unusual way.  I would join a group of friends that were planning to attend one of these clubs, dance with them and would then every so often go off and take photos when I though opportunities arose.  I enjoyed this method because I was able to experience the thrill of the environment and still work on this project from within.

I would highly suggest going to a club every so often to experience the thrill and excitement that these people love so much.  It is truly a different culture when entering a night club.

Separator

Everything Inbetween

Heat

Cheers

Attention

Center Stage

VIP

In It

Beach Bums

Drinks to All

Transformation of Perception

Here is a project of mine that I started and finished back in the spring of 2008.  For some reason it took me forever to scan the images.  In either case, here they are…

Bruce

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Dianna

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Tyrone

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Caleb

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Terryl

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My primary focus that I aimed for while taking and developing these images dealt with how our perceptions of people change the more we try to understand them.  The method I used to do this was extremely simple.  I would walk up to an individual on the street and ask them for their permission to take some photos and ask them a few questions.  Once they gave me the “go ahead”, I took pictures of the individual as I first saw them, meaning I would try to capture them in the image as I first saw them on the street.  I then proceeded to ask them where they were going, where they were coming from and then I would also make note of any other little details about them that we talked about.

When an individual looks at these images, they will usually look at the image and then the words under them;  the viewer captures their biased perception of the individual … but in most cases, the words which describe the person and where they are going/coming from changes this initial perception.

The point is that it is impossible to truly understand or know someone unless we eliminate our biased perceptions of people.  The problem however is that perceptions are an underlying, subconscious thought.  Once you start to notice this, you can begin to appreciate the uniqueness in each person you see.

5 x 5

Within this Bethel project, I was given the assignment of shooting five rolls of film within a 5 x 5 ft square.  It was put upon us to take this assignment as we thought of it; be as creative as we wanted.  The only rule was that once the first image was taken, you must keep taking pictures within that 5 x 5 square; no changing locations.

These images were taken within and outside of my current residence.  I decided to tape off a five foot square on one of my sliding doors that leads to the porch.  By doing this I was able to get images that were both inside, outside and everything between.

Best and Worst

This project took place within the “First Avenue” venue.  For the past four weekends, I had attended their “Too Much Love” dance events which were amazingly fun.  I was fortunate enough to meet some super chill people and take some interesting pictures.

This project (the best and the worst) was described to our class as so: Photograph with the intent of making two photographs of the same thing.  They should both be attempts to represent the same idea, concept, subject matter, or theme.  For the first you will make the photo the best possible representation of your idea.  For the second you will make the worst possible photograph of your idea.  Spend time thinking about what makes a good photograph and a bad one.  Think about how these things affect the content of the image.  The first image should leave us in awe, and the second should cause us to ridicule you mercilessly.

I hope I have done so…

Vision

The idea, concept, subject matter, or theme within my photographs dealt with light, and how it can create, but also destroy of photograph.  In this case, we have a relatively common “night club photo”, but the way that the light manipulates it creates an interesting image.  There are other little details within this photo that I absolutely love.  For example, how the man’s hand lines up almost perfectly with the beer, and how this balances out the picture.  I also love the hidden lady on the right.

Typical

The worst photo.  I think that the worst thing about this photo is the typicalness of it.  “Hey, lets all get together and get a picture”.  This phrase is being screamed out loud from the picture.  My light concept however also plays a significant role in this.  The light in the background makes the people in the foreground illuminated in an unnatural, uniteresting way.  I believe that there is only one interesting thing about this photograph: the goofy face of the man in the background and the woman in front of him, seem to relate to the best photo.

These two photos have similar relations to eatchother, but are still on the oppisite ends of the spectrum.  One final detail I would like to mention is that the best photo seems to show a sense of “being there”.  I say this in light of an idea or concept.  Looking at it makes an individual have a sense of there is no camera man, there is no “scene”, its just the people, the club, the dancing.  The worst photo does not do this in any way.  I feel as if you are the photographer, and that you are the audience instead of being there in the club.

Once again, any comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks for looking.

New Hobby: Stencil Canvas Art

It was about four years ago now, that I was in Mall of America and stumbled onto a book highlighting a person labeled Banksy; an English stencil graffiti artist who leaves the name “Banksy” behind on all his work.  I’m guessing like most people that have viewed Banksy’s work, I immediately found myself thinking about how I could create work such as his.  Although I was influenced by Banksy, my personal work does not carry the same themes or values as his.

My thoughts of stencils however remained over the next three years and hadn’t really turned constructive until this last August (2008).  I don’t pretend to be anything that I am not, and I do not consider myself to be a straight up artist, but I do consider myself to be a person to try new things in order to keep life exciting.

These three stencils are pieces that I have created since last August.  As of now, the three canvas’ do not have relationships to one another, but are completely random creations.  I haven’t found that reason, purpose, theme, or drive to why I created these stencils, but I have found that creating them is a great stress reliever.  In light of that, I hope you enjoy.

I would also like to mention that any comments or suggestions would be greatly welcomed because I still am trying to techniques and methods of creating these paintings.

September 2008

1940 Golfer

December 2008

Glacier

January 2009

Facial Features