An Isle of Dog Photographs: A review of William Wegman’s Photography

It’s probably my love for dogs that made me look into William Wegman. But every single person I showed his photographs to, had a hearty laugh! That speaks of how innovatively funny Wegman is, not to mention incredibly talented in photography. Every photograph of Wegman is pure entertainment mixed with novelty. Even the first dog he worked with is named Man Ray!! Entertaining on all levels!

Left: William Wegman with his dog Man Ray;  Right: Man Ray, the photographer

An interesting aspect of his photography was the intense criticism he faced on the apparent cruelty in forcing the dogs to pose. However, Wegman always defended saying that his dogs were more than happy to have been photographed by him and even more, Man Ray would sulk when he wasn’t being used! One such criticized photograph is shown below, where his dog, Fay is photographed standing atop a weird table. Keeping the criticism aside, I find this image particularly interesting for the parallelism in the legs of the dogs versus the legs of the table. The use of shades of brown all over in the photograph also in an interesting aspect, which matches to the color of the dog. There is also an inherent symmetry to the entire photograph.

Another interesting photograph for me was his dog Man Ray staring at a clay sculpture of its own face. This gaze was so intense, looking from a neutral observer’s point of view of the photograph. I recollect seeing an interesting parallel photograph long ago, which was of Aristotle looking at a bust of Homer, painted by Rembrandt. The play with shadows is also interesting in Wegman’s photograph. And like every other photograph, his use of props and setups is extraordinary. This photo almost makes me feel that the dog is like a surrogate to Aristotle in the painting.

Left: William Wegman’s Photograph; Right: Rembrandt’s painting of Aristotle looking at Homer

One of the most captivating photographs of Wegman was his “Red Toy”. At first, it looked so abstract yet innovative. Here, the dog is not in motion and is covered by seven pieces of some red material. This photo made me remember the rule of thirds and the importance of positioning the subject in the picture. I felt this was very accurately placed and there is an added relationship between the parts of the dog and the parts of the red material covering them. Though my first initial reaction to this was humor, I increasingly felt uncomfortable looking at it, contemplating if this photograph has anything to deal with imprisonment and punishment. Added to this was the look on the dog’s face, which I feel is a mix of perplexity and confusion. The red color also stands out uniquely.

Photo Resurrections

Nina Hein talks about a very interesting cultural and traditional aspect of manipulation of old photographs in Vietnam. The reasons could be many, but most importantly, it’s about fitting the photograph to the occasion. With specifics to deceased people, its quite understandable that out of the sentimental attachment, people would want to remember those departed in the best possible way, which could not have been photographed before. Nina discusses how the photograph of her grandparents was altered manually by addition of an ear in the picture. This disturbed her, though the intention was very clear to show her grandmother in the best possible way that they all would want to remember going forward.

Though not very similar in traditions, I have had a similar experience myself back in India. This was when my grandmother passed away 10 years ago and for the traditions to be followed after her demise, a photograph of hers was framed. I noticed several manual alterations that were done to the photograph, which I did not reflect upon back then. In addition to wanting to represent her in the best possible way, another major reason for the alteration was also the lack of availability of photographs from yesteryears. The only decent photograph that we had of my grandmother was from her marriage, photographed along with my grandfather. But since an individual portrait was required, alterations had to be done on that available photograph. This I believe would be also the case with many more people, just because photography hasn’t always been easily available to everyone from all economic backgrounds. I remember my grandfather once telling me that it was so rare to get photographed when he was a child that it meant a great deal to everyone. So, I can imagine those especially in the eastern world and even more so those living in rural areas do not have any photographs but have all the “virtual photographs” in the heart of their minds. And to have a specific contextual photograph from a very limited set of available photographs would definitely call for some alterations and editing.

Also, this reading made me reflect on the fact that it is increasingly getting difficult to identify photographic modifications and changes, with the evolution of digital photography. Most photographs in circulations are edited and photoshopped to suit the needs of the photographer and publisher. The editing has moved from physical alterations to subtle color and texture alterations, which are even harder to grasp and realize.

Blogpost #18: Photo Resurrections Before and After Images: An Ancestor Story by Nina Hien

As a first generation Chinese American with relatives abroad that I only know peripherally, this article resonated with me. Thankfully, all four of my grandparents were alive long enough for me to have strong memories of them, but I only saw them in person during my sporadic trips back to China with my parents. My grandfather on my mother’s side died when I was about 8 or 10. My grandfather and mother on my dad’s side died within a year of each other, shortly before I planned to fly back to China to see them when I was about 20. This past January, I was able to see my grandmother on my mom’s side. It was great to be able to talk and care for her in that month, but my visit to see her was made slightly tragic by the fact that she could not see me. By that point, her cataracts completely blinded her from seeing anything other than silhouettes.

It’s common for grandparents to always exclaim, “Wow, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you! Let me get a good look at you!” I sadly missed that opportunity with my dad’s parents, and most recently, in a sad twist of events, with my mom’s mom.  Though there is more to a person than just their appearance, I still found a sort of comfort in how my relatives cared for how much I had changed. Visiting China is more about catching up with my relatives, letting them know who I am now and getting to know who they’ve become.

In a similar vein to Hien’s experiences, I have also seen my parents act in a different way toward my ancestors when we visit their grave sites. My parents are usually very cheerful and rarely reverently serious. During our trip to China, it was strange to see them as silent and contemplative as they were during those excursions. They don’t really tell me about who my ancestors were or my relatives are; I only realize their existence during my trips back to China. Hien’s article made me realize how similar our experiences were and made me question why this seemed to be a general trend among Asian American families. I’ve never really wondered because it was always just how we were. Is it because of the distance from the US to China? Are Asian families characteristically about “keeping your head down and moving forward”? I’m not really sure, and I don’t think my parents really realize it either.

Blogpost #17: Echo and Narcissus

The connection between Narcissus and the dangers of self-portraiture is clear as is the warning message: if you seek to portray yourself, look beyond the surface or else that will be all you see. In the case of Narcissus, who believed himself to be too beautiful for anyone to have, was punished to want the only thing he couldn’t have: his reflection. The pain of loving oneself too much can lead to this anguish of never being able to feel this love come from anyone else. Despite the fact that Narcissus had many nymphs proclaim love to him (meaning he definitely had enough admiration from others), he could never see their love as being worthy enough for him. This kind of bring a whole new meaning to the statement: “no one will ever love you as much as I do.”

This analysis can also apply to self-portraiture. Portraiture in the past was largely about capturing beauty, power, etc. It was capturing an image of oneself to be projected to everyone else. Self portraiture is a bit different in that the subject and painter are one and the same. They have 24/7 access to each other, which can be dangerous in the context of vanity. A man who loves his image too much, but has to pay the price for it is less likely than a man of the same disposition and lifetime free service to become infatuated with himself. Like Narcissus, eventually nothing else in the world will matter beside studying one’s image. That is the dangerous line self-portraiture balances itself on: portraying oneself without obsessing over every detail to make it perfect.

This brings up the question of where that line actually is. When depicting ourselves, is caring about our physical appearance the only thing that makes us vain or can our portrayal of our character/personality make us the same thing? What is considered too much self love in terms of a self-portrait? Can a self-portrait be critical of ourselves and still be considered narcissistic?

#16: Ideas for the Final Project

After arranging my photos for the midterm review, I found that some of my favorites were from the set of monuments/statues juxtaposed with elements of modern life. One thing I like about this idea is that it gives me the freedom to experiment with portraits, nature photography, etc. in my modern photos. Since I was working with the photos I had taken thus far, some of the comparisons were not as clear as I wanted, but I still believe the potential is there for this idea.

I was researching photographers who have done similar things, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find much in my search. In my talk with Lara and Angelos, I hope to learn about any photographers whose work I can view for more inspiration.

While I can make very obvious visual comparisons between these statues and scenes from everyday life, Lara suggested that I learn more about what each of these monuments represent and use that to influence my project. I think that including some social commentary in the presentation could make for a very interesting project, becaused it forces the viewer to think more about the subject matter in the photographs and find parallels that might not be immediately obvious.

I still have extra rolls of black and white film left, so I’m flirting with the idea of shooting the monuments and statues in black and white, and the modern photos in color. After playing around with Photoshop in the previous class and learning about how we could make digital copies of our film, I came up with the idea of using color in my B&W photos to bring attention to certain parts of the image. I don’t plan on haphazardly addung colors to the images, but instead using it to accentuate parts of the image that are related to the parallel I am attempting to draw between the images.

 

Blogpost #17: Narcissus

People who take lots of selfies are often teased about being Narcissists. In some ways, this teasing makes sense — it seems like these people are obsessed with themselves. However, I don’t think that taking excessive selfies in the usual sense means that a person is a Narcissist.

As some others in the class have discussed, selfies are popular on social media, where they are often used to try to portray a somewhat idealized version of oneself. I think that this usage of the selfie is antithetical to Narcissism. This way of taking selfies involves using filters, flattering outfits/poses, and photo editing to make yourself more beautiful, and then posting that image to try to get approval. Though Narcissists want constant admiration and approval, they want approval for themselves as they are (or as they think they are), not approval for the version of themselves they know has been idealized and improved.

Narcissus

The myth of Narcissus has exhibited continued relevance throughout the years since its inception. Narcissus’ tale is especially pertinent nowadays in the age of the selfie, where the water Narcissus gazed into could be replaced with a mobile smart phone. Self-documentation has created an entirely new social enterprise where value is derived from the number of likes one gets on a photo or text post. Social media is a new outlet to derive envy, attention, and praise from others. However, unlike Narcissus, this new, mutated form of narcissism isn’t directly frowned upon and monetary value can be derived from it giving sustainability. Interestingly, while many people realize how narcissistic social media can be, they are still drawn into it.

Narcissus Poeticus

A woman in the comments of the analysis reading of the myth of Narcissus had a very interesting conjecture that was different than normal interpretations of the myth. She stated that everyone goes through a stage of “narcissism” when they are in their teenage years as they are trying to discover who they are and what constitutes their person. Most times, people figure this out and move out of the stage. Occasionally, a person doesn’t make it out of this stage and gets caught “looking at themselves in a pool of water” for the rest of their life. Social media may be disrupting this transition, as an instant-gratification reward system mixed with an ego-boosting system makes it hard for children to escape — especially if their parents share their enthusiasm for social media. Social Media really started to become popular when I was in my teenage years, so soon we will be seeing children who grew up with the presence of social media their whole life. It will be interesting to note developmental changes that this may cause — especially regarding a kids’ social levels.

Echo and Narcissus

This is a typical Greek mythological story where the nature of human beings is brought out in the form of a relatable story. Since these Greek stories have been around for a long time, each character stops being a character and becomes an embodiment of a quality as the time progresses. In this case, Narcissus being self-obsession. His character develops to show the problems of being too much into one-self, where he dies unable to get out of himself. This is also added to the fact that he never got to love back any of the others that actually loved him. This must have influenced everyone so much so that in modern day life, narcissism is something that is associated with an inherent quality of every individual. It’s the love for oneself, to whatever extreme it is.

Echo and Narcissus, a painting by John William Waterhouse (1903)

 

While I was reading this story, I was deeply reminded of a Black Mirror episode titled “Nosedive” where the entire life of someone is dependent on the cumulative score of what other persons around you rate as. This is by no means an exaggeration, as we are slowly but steadily heading that way. We associate Uber drivers with their ratings, social media posts with their “likes and comments”, people with their number of “friends” etc. The list is growing, and the only thing that’s mattering is the “number”. The love for oneself is mostly shown in the modern world through social media and photography is a major means of doing that. Most “friendships” depend on whether you like the other person’s photo or not, and this is not just an activity anymore, it has become a part of many people’s life. So much so that I heard a friend of mine saying xyz didn’t like here last two photos and so, she’s not replying back to the other person. Photographs are one’s reflection of his/ her thoughts and “liking” a photo is being felt as accepting oneself as a person and their personality. The constant hankering to get other people’s approval of oneself is what narcissism is all about and I feel that the modern society is so much associated with it.

17. Reflection on Narcissus

I find Greek myths interesting because of how they address flaws of natural and raw human behavior. The myth of Narcissus in particular is about egotism, conceit, and human tendency to think about oneself before others. While it is not at wrong to put yourself first at times, it can become problematic to only think about yourself and completely disregard others.

It is also interesting to think about how this story applies today, in the context of images, digital technology, and social media. For instance, people often use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat as a self-confidence booster in a way, trying to post interesting images and witty comments to earn the most number of likes, comments, and views. I find that the way that people get sucked into using these platforms, almost like playing a popularity game, is similar to how Narcissus was unable to stop adoring his mirror image in the lake. People tend to build an ideal profile of themselves on these platforms, especially on Instagram, only posting photos when they look their best, are at social events surrounded by friends, or are doing something unusual or extraordinary. When other users on these platforms see these profiles, many feel the need or simply desire to also post perfect versions of themselves. These carefully constructed profiles are similar to Narcissus’s mirror image, since both are not “real” in a physical, tangible sense and represent an idealistic self.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I was considering doing something related to the relationship between art and mathematics. I was considering using 2D fourier transforms to create some interesting pieces from my digital photographs. Periodic structures in the image produce beautiful effects in the magnitude plots of the fourier transforms. Below are a few examples of the images made by plotting 2D fourier transforms of the adjacent photographs:

 

 

 

In addition to producing interesting fourier plots, 2D fourier transforms can also be used to alter characteristics of a photograph:

In my project I might explore one or both of these ideas. In the fourier plots, I might look to produce photographs (analog or digital) that exhibit interesting periodicity.