Lauren Phillips -> Digital Photo

Lauren Phillips

April 1, 2012

CAMILLE SEAMEN

Digital Photography Essay

A Brief Biography

Camille Seaman was born in 1969. Her origin is Native American. She studied and graduated from the State University New York at Purchase in 1992. She attributes credit to Steve McCurry as being her photography father. Seaman is in between the fluxes of fine art photography and documentary photography. She has a daughter and currently lives in California but travels frequently. She has had several solo-exhibitions and won notable awards like 2007 Critical Mass Top Monograph Award and National Geography Award in 2006. She had a solo show at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. Seaman earned the TED Fellowship in 2010.

The Last Iceberg/ Walking to the Iceberg Cape Town Antarctica 2006

Shown at Knight Gallery “Calm Before the Storm”

This piece shows the expanse of the land in Antarctica. This image has a strong vignette and relatively desaturated in color. The viewer can see a third sky and two thirds land. The iceberg appears to be drifting and falling apart. It seems like it was taken before sunset. You can see a reflection in the water mimicking the objects. This work is truly about scale. She does not identify exactly which camera she uses for each image. She uses both digital and film. She works with a panoramic camera the majority of the time so I can only assume that is the camera she used to capture this image.
Seaman maintains similar subject mater and focus on the Polar regions. To Camille the icebergs represent replenishers of the Earth which add oxygen. Her aim is to take individual portraits. Icebergs constantly change shape. In the photographs they appear beautiful, surreal, and timeless. However, each one has its own varied life cycle representing a vanishing cyclopes of a moment. When I view them I feel an emotive, mysterious quality. When asked she does not comment on global warming which may be the viewers initial response when considering the intent of the pieces. Most of her compositions are minimal and wide in angle. The body of work encompasses a whimsical element. The viewer is left fascinated by the enormous scale engulfing each individual. The work made to be seen large in scale. Minimal editing is done to the photograph she simply presents what naturally exists. Images are not digital manipulated or recreated. With work like this a discussion is created internally among each person. Nothing is universal in meaning nor response. I interpret the pieces as being slices of moments, far reaching from me. The everyday viewer would not have the opportunity to visit the expanse, far away land. She makes it possible for me to escape, dream, and feel apart of the environment. I think the images work collectively mostly rather than individually. The text that indicates the location is crucial for a proper understanding. I deem them to appeal more to me in person rather than on screen. The pieces catch you in a moment that causes you to keep returning to them to find more detail. I would encourage both art critics and art lovers to visit them in a gallery setting. I am critical of Seaman, when speaking of her own work, dismissing the obvious environmental education discussion. Why not, at least acknowledge the popular thoughts of others. Camille keeps referring to them as historical documents and has never had the intention of being a photo journalist.

The artist I chose to be my muse for Project 5 is Rene Magritte. He
is a Belgium surrealist artist. His images are challenging and
thought provoking. I recently researched this artist more in depth.
I can draw so much inspiration from the surreal like qualities of the
image. Considering he chose to work in the medium of painting I feel
that his images can be uniquely re-created and re-originated through
the medium of digital photography. I searched for photographers whose
images were similar in form as Magritte, the closest comparison I
found was Harry Callahan.
My proposal is to use structural architectural content as background
incorporating modern figures. This project will exploit the program
of photoshop. I will have to layer and assimilate multiple images by
selecting the forms. It will be a challenge to give a painterly like
quality to the images. I want to make these modern in technique but
adopt Magriette style. Through his manipulation of images it provides
the viewer with mystery. The artists challenges the viewer with their
perception of scale and combining the viewer with two unlikely objects
within the same space and confines of the image. To me his images are
brilliant even when they are as simplistic as “The False Mirror.” He
works to differentiate subject matter and creates a strange “enchanted
realm.” Magritte’s work is a definite springboard to create this
project.
The images I am most enthused to adopt aesthetic parameters from is
“The Great War,” “The Landscape,” “The Forest,” “Decalcomania,”Black
Magic,” “Not To Be Reproduced,” and “Golconda.”

http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3692

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A924&page_number=115&template_id=1&sort_order=1