S+ART

Be a part of the 2012 Folklife Festival

       

Demonstration of Peace Corps mud cloths, Photo from 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Themes in 2011 Festival included: Colombia, Peace Corps, and Rhythm and Blues.

 

Celebrating 46 years, the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival is bringing traditional performances, live music, authentic cuisine, crafts, story tellers and more from various communities and cultures to the National Mall (beginning on Wednesday, June 27- Sunday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 4 - Monday, July 8).  

What is this festival, you ask?

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is a national and international exhibition of living cultural heritage, treasured and celebrated annually on the National Mall, taking place for two weeks every summer. Nearly every festival has drawn more than one million visitors. One great perk of the festival, is the free admission! The festival is typically organized into three focuses, featuring a nation, region, state, or theme. This year’s programs include three diverse ranges of cultural experiences:

Citified: Arts and Creativity East of the Anacostia River:

Presented in partnership with the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, the program celebrates the art and creativity of schools, churches, community organizations, business and other residential and local venues of the neighborhoods in Anacostia. Identity is expressed through an eclectic range of arts and cultural activities, such as African dancing and drumming, storytellers, hip-hop dancing, comedians, demonstrations of tattoo art and much more!

 

AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall

 

Creativity and Crisis: Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt:

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of The AIDS Memorial Quilt and 30 years of life with AIDS. This year’s program features the unfolding of the 47,000 hand-sewn panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, craft demonstrations, dance and musical performances, interactive discussions, and other activities that bring together individual and communities to remember loved ones. The quilt will be on display on the National Mall and at more than 40 other locations from July 21-25.

Campus and Community:

This year’s Folklife Festival celebrates the 150^th anniversary of the founding of land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which partners with communities putting research into action in the areas of agriculture and food, health care, sustainable living, and education. The events featured include hands-on activities, demonstrations, and discussions.

For more general info on the festival and to learn about past festivals go to:

http://www.festival.si.edu/visitor/general.aspx

http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/FolklifeFest.htm

Enjoy!

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 ~Margaret McClung

Taking notes

 

Picture is Unrelated:  Kayakers on the Potomac River on a hot day.  Photo by Angela Kleis, 2009

 

I cleaned over the weekend and put away a few notebooks and pads of paper that were taking up space on my desk.  Last night, I spent over an hour looking for the one that contained data I needed to develop film.  I finally found it on a bookshelf, of all places (why didn't I look there first?).  But, I couldn't get started without it.

 

Maybe it's my ingrained thanks to my science background, but I tend to take notes and keep a pretty meticulous notebook on all the types of film and developer combinations I've processed.  It helps me understand which types of films can be combined in one tank with the same developer, which ones should never, ever be put together, and if a particular developer is not a good match for a specific film.  Sometimes there are temperature issues and those are logged, too, as well small details I may notice and think will be helpful in the future (some if it is also online). 

 

I have a second notebook for printing that catalogs the negative number, type of paper, which filters I tried (and, which one worked best), time, aperture, and any dodging and burning that was performed.  Though printing is not an automatic process and may vary based on paper and chemical lots and other things I can't necessarily control, it provides a starting point that saves time and materials (and, frustration).  I like consistency and standardizing my methods helps me make sure that the results will be as close as possible to those I have obtained in the past, even with all of the inherent variables throughout the processes.  

 

There are notebooks or pads of paper in each of my camera bags that are useful for logging the film number (there is also a Sharpie in every bag) so when I am looking at an overwhelming pile of film canisters that need processing and want to develop a specific one, I can easily find it.  I have found this process very useful when travelling to note the date, city, places visited, if pushed or pulled the ISO.  These details not only help me locate a roll of undeveloped film, but also to remind me of the places I went.  After all, how many piazzas and fountains are there in Rome?  It's impossible to know.

 

It may seem like information overload or tedious details that most people are able to remember, but I feel it's better to be prepared and save time later by taking a few minutes to write it down, now.  What kinds of methods do you use to document photographic information?  Please let us know in the comments!!

                                                         -Angela

A Colorful Blast from the Past

                         

 Photograph of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry Warnecke Studio for The Daily News/The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The Smithsonian Associates.

 

Survived from Harry Warnecke’s Studio and now on display at The National Portrait Gallery are 24 color photographic portraits of notable stars, athletes, military heroes, and historical leaders. The exhibit, In Vibrant Color: Vintage Celebrity Portraits from the Harry Warnecke Studio illustrates the dramatic shift from black and white to color photography during the last half- century.

Harry Warnecke (1900-1984) was assigned by The New York Daily News to photograph these American idols in a whole new way. Warnecke specifically took these color portrait photographs for the Sunday magazine, which at the time was viewed like everything else in the media, as vague images in black and white. Now characters we have been accustomed to seeing in monochromatic tones are brought back to life by Warnecke’s creation of the one-shot camera, designed for color reproduction. TV and movie stars like Lucille Ball and Irene Dunne shine in their portraits, sporting brightly colored attire and brilliant red lips. Other note worthy gems featured in the show include, military men: Dwight D. Eisenhower, George C. Marshall, and General Patton and other stars on the scene like Ted Williams, Edgar Bergen, and Dale Evans.  

Great links to slide shows, biographies and more:

NPG exhibit, "In Vibrant Color: Vintage Celebrity Portraits From the Harry Warnecke Studio"

NYTimes Slide Show of "In Vibrant Color"

NYTimes Article: "Adding a Colorful Gloss to a Black-and-White World"

Take a trip to the 1930’s where color photography became a whole new phenomenon!

The Portrait Gallery is open 11:30 am- 7pm daily

Located at 8^th and F St. NW ( Gallery Pl-Chinatown Metro )

 

Here’s something to look forward to:

The Smithsonian Associates presents Camera-Ready Color as a Mingle at the Museum featuring the exhibit ‘In Vibrant Color’. During the Event (scheduled to take place on June 6, 2012 from 7:30-10pm), DC based Artist, Alexa Meade  will be exploring the concepts of mixing color, portraiture, personality and photography in her compositions. Meade will be painting a pair of portraits with live models. The first one will be created in a black-and-white scene while the second portrait is created in a full-color set.

Keep a look out for the event, soon to be posted online at Resident Associates- Mingle at the Museum.

 

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~Margaret McClung

The Best Cure for Spring Fever

 

          
           Photo by Margaret McClung

If you’re like me when spring time rolls around, then you must be itching to get outside and bask in the glorious sunshine. How about killing two birds with one stone? You can make your way to the National Mall to work on your tan and infuse your brain with the rich history of the cherry blossoms, the Enid A. Haupt Garden and much more.

Every year, falling between Mach- April  The National Cherry Blossom Festival  takes place. The festival celebrates the 1912 gift of the Cherry Trees from the Japanese Mayor Yukio Ozaki. The gift of the trees resembles one of the many principles of the United States, the significance of friendship between two countries. Today, millions of people travel to DC each year to marvel at the cherry blossoms and partake in the festivities.

Situated in between the Smithsonian Castle and Independence Avenue and above The National Museum of African Art  , The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery  and The S. Dillon Ripley Center   lies The Enid A. Haupt Garden. Enid Annenburg Haupt was a horticultural expert who passionately dedicated her life to funding gifts to build, restore and maintain gardens around the world. The Garden opened to the public in 1987 featuring various landscape components, such as the Parterre, Moongate Garden and the Fountain Garden.

The Victorian inspired Parterre  is a formal structured garden designed with elaborate colors, symmetrical patterns and designs. The specific layout of colorful planting on the Parterre fluctuates between seasons. In conjunction with the Asian inspired Sackler and Freer Galleries, the Moongate   Garden represents a similar design to the architecture and gardens of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China. In Chinese culture, the main two components of the garden, granite and water symbolize the body and spirit of the earth. The garden was successfully designed to be a place of relaxation and contemplation for its visitors. The Fountain Garden, located near the entrance to the National Museum of African Art is a representation of a 13^th century Moorish palace and fortress in Grenada, Spain. The Fountain Garden includes a central fountain and water channels, which symbolize the four rivers of paradise as described in the Koran.

 

Photo by Margaret McClung

Check out these sites for more information on the Cherry Blossom Festival and Smithsonian Gardens:

Smithsonian Garden Tours

Cherry Blossom Festival Events

2012 Bloom Watch

Enjoy!

 

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~Margaret McClung

Angela's Tips: Camera Bags

I bought my current camera bag in November 2001 as I was preparing to go to Paris, alone; my first time out of the country.  I didn't think the bag that I had was appropriate - it was a backpack and fine for carrying around a camera and a few lenses, and plenty of room for other stuff, too, but hard to get into in a hurry.  I didn't really want to spend a lot of time stopping to go through my bag.

After researching camera bags for a few days, I settled on a canvas messenger style that could be worn across my torso rather than on my back.  Two of the pockets had velcro, which I despise, but it wasn't very sticky, so it was tolerable. 

The bag came with removable foam inserts that created compartments to protect whatever it was that I needed to carry.  One pocket was perfect for a wallet, the other carried film, I could slip some filters and extra batteries in the smaller zippered pockets, and the big open pocket on the back was ideal for maps, a guidebook, postcards, a small notebook, a magazine, and anything else I needed to cram in there.

That bag was been to seven countries, I have no idea how many cities, and has pretty much been at my side every outing since I bought it. 

Then, about two years ago, my cameras started to get bigger and didn't quite fit as well as the 35mm cameras.  I got the crazy idea that maybe I needed a newer bag with more room and started seeing some newer bags a few of my friends were carrying.  One of them seemed to have everything I could ever want in a camera bag: a wider main compartment and bigger inside pockets.  After stalking it online for a few months, I received it as a birthday gift that year. 

I immediately transferred everything to that bag and used it every time I went out shooting while my trusty messenger bag sat alone and sad in a corner of my room.  Even though I could carry the Mamiya TLR AND the Bronica 4x6 AND a 35mm WITH an extra lens PLUS film, it didn't take long to realize that this new bag's design wasn't going to work out.  Its design had flaws: getting cameras out was difficult and slow and the bag's weight distribution was awkward and uncomfortable.  More and more, I noticed that I was returning to the old one.

Both bags went to Italy.  After the first day carrying around the new bag, I switched back to the messenger and it never let me down.

But, after 9.5 years, it's starting to show its age.  During my trip a few weeks ago, I noticed a tear.  Over the course of the weekend, that tear grew into a huge rip.  It won't be long before the top flap detaches from the bag entirely.  This makes me sad.  That bag has been with me everywhere.  I don't think that design is still being made.

I guess I'll have to start looking for a replacement.  It will be a long process just to find one that comes close.  Of course, I could just use some duct tape.

 

What do you look for in a camera bag?  Do you have a favorite one?  Please let us know in the comments!!

~Angela
  

Well, My Camera Can Shoot Video

Graphic by Griffin Baker 

If you have been in the market for a DSLR then you probably have come to realize that there are several DSLR cameras out there that can shoot video. In fact, most of the top camera manufacturers put a video function in their new camera bodies. The video function has become a prerequisite rather than an extra; but why? Are not cameras for shooting pictures and camcorders for shooting video?

 Initially this was the case. However with DSLRs shooting in 1080p, they have caught the attention of many videographers out there. Now, DSLRs still have a long way before they even think about surpassing our old friend the camcorder for a few reasons. The biggest one being that most DSLRs do not have an auto focus feature while shooting video. There are some that do but the feature is far from flawless. There are usually many instances of the camera trying to cycle through its focus much like when you are trying to autofocus to shoot a picture in the dark. However, videographers have worked around this by utilizing manual focus and becoming well adept at this technique. So why would anybody want to use a DSLR if it has so many issues? Well, as you photographers out there know, DSLRs offer a little thing called depth of field. This, along with lens variety is the primary reason for using the DSLR for video. Just as in photography short depth of field offers the photographer, or in this case the videographer, the ability to have something in focus while others are out of focus or “bokeh.” This helps to point the viewer in the direction of what is important in a photograph or what to pay attention to in a video. Though the DSLR will probably not replace the video camera, it still can offer creative solutions to your work.

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~Griffin Baker

Post Suggestions

Christmas Card, Photo by Angela Kleis

 

Last week I asked for your help in compiling a list of topics you, the reader, would like me to cover in the upcoming months.  I am keeping the survey open through the end of the month to give everyone the opportunity to offer suggestions on subjects, people, techniques, and anything photography-related that you would like to learn more about.  The topic is wide-open - anything and everything to do with photography is welcome so don't hold back.

 

In the meantime, there are so many cool things to do around town right now that reading my posts shouldn't be at the top of your priorities list - hopefully there will be plenty of snow days (or at least really cold days) to stay in and do that over the coming months (fingers crossed!).  For example, the National Christmas Tree display (complete with trains!! and trees representing each state, territory, and disenfranchised locality), the Capitol Christmas Tree (it's 65-feet tall, so bring the wide-angle), and the National Menorah on the Ellipse (set to start on December 20) are three local holiday lighting displays just waiting for your long exposures and creative processing.  While you're out there, redirect your focus to the crowd for always interesting people-watching - and, I bet enough ugly holiday sweaters to keep you occupied for hours.

 

Ice skating has returned to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden - a great opportunity to practice some of the tips I covered last year for shooting on ice and other bright, reflective surfaces.

 

When it gets cold, head inside.  The National Gallery of Art is photography-heavy with Warhol: Headlines - feating photography and other mediums exploring the sensationalism of contemporary media using news headlines, Harry Callahan at 100 - one of the most innovative and influential photographers of the 20th century, and The Solemnity of Shadows: Juan Laurent's Vision of Spain - a preeminent figure in the history of Spanish photography.  And, that's just the one museum - there are so many more.

 

At home, there are even more once-a-year holiday photo opportunities you won't want to miss, like lights and ornaments, tables of food, that burning turkey deep-fryer in the backyard, more ugly holiday sweaters, the Griswold's eye-searing display next door, family and friends, and that Santa hat you bought on clearance last year for your cat (you know you have one (I do!)).  Pay attention to the background; rather than lining up on the sofa with a distracting painting behind their heads, have kids gather around the tree and sit on the floor.  Open the aperture up as wide as it will go (F1.4. for example), for that sweet, sweet light bokeh background. 

 

This is also my last post of 2011, as it's been a very busy year and I need a writing vacation.  Please take a few minutes and let me know what you'd like me to write about in 2012 and I'll see you in January!  Happy holidays!!

 

~Angela

Shih Chieh Huang: The Luminescence of Creativity

Shih Chieh Huang is an installation artist who builds sculptures that resemble bioluminescent organisms of the deep sea.  He creates his installations from common household objects like small electronic devices, plastic, and computer fans. He then illuminates them with LED lights. The construction may sound a bit primitive, but this is what makes these sculptures so fascinating. He is able to achieve building these machines to move and act, like for example, a deep sea jellyfish out of objects that you probably have lying around your garage. Huang controls the movement of the “organisms” through the use of a TV monitors with eyes on them. Somehow the opening and closing of the eye acts as a switch to initiates various movements for the installations to make. Huang is also noted for building giant “worms” out of painter’s plastic, box fans, and bungee cords in public places. The creations he calls “organic concepts” move about and are made to be for viewer to interact with.

What makes Huang so special to the Smithsonian is that in 2007 he examined many specimens of the Natural History’s collection of deep sea animals specifically those with bio-luminescence. His research allowed for him to understand how these creatures adapt to their dark environments and their biological make-up that allows them to illuminate. Huang has an exhibition currently in the Natural History Museum called The Bright Beneath that is from September 3, 2011 to January 8, 2012 in the Ocean Hall. There will also be a special event featuring his work held by the Smithsonian Resident Associates on December 1, 2011 at 6:30pm. Link Below:

 

 

Check out these links:

Art and Science Meet (special event): http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=223652

Shih Chieh Huang’s website: http://www.messymix.com/index.php

 

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~Griffin Baker

 

 

 

Last weekend I was over at National Gallery exploring and I found a gallery worth seeing. Up in the tower of National Gallery was a collection of work by Mel Bochner. Bochner’s works, which are deemed “thesaurus paintings,” display a collection of words and phrases that are synonymous with one another. He then paints the individual letters with bright colors on a bright background. By bright I mean 80’s day-glow bright, a highlighter rainbow. The color theory behind this work causes a disjointed yet exhilarating response which can affect the feelings that the different words evoke. The words seem to get less formal as the eye moves down the canvas. For example his work Amazing! 2011 begins with words like “Amazing! Awesome!” and ends with words like “OMG! Yesss!.” This transition within the work parallels the movement that our language has made from formal English to slang.

Thanks to this gallery I am now a huge fan of Mel Bochner’s work. I love how the different colors of the words interact with the color of the background. I also found the linguistic transition from proper to slang, clever and witty. This is a great collection of work to see because of its colorful and exciting nature. Fortunately, the gallery is open till April 8, 2012. So pop on by and take a look.

 *Graphic by Griffin Baker

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~Griffin Baker

 

   

 

 

 

The American History Museum’s The American Presidency Exhibit from an Artists Point of View

Photo by Griffin Baker

I recently made my way to the American History Museum to check out The American Presidency exhibition. Many people, including myself, who have visited Washington DC, have seen this section in the American History Museum but every time I have gone I have noticed something that I had not before. On my recent visit, I decided to concentrate on the propaganda surrounding the presidency such as cartoons and campaign collateral.

I found the exhibition through this specific lens to be quite interesting. There was a showcase with collateral used during the Ronald Reagan campaign including such memorabilia as bumper stickers that said “I love Ronnie.” I found this campaign strategy to be interesting because it displayed that he wanted to be portrayed as someone you would have a nickname for, like a friend. I also noticed that many pictures used in the collateral surrounding the various presidents tended to be taken from the viewpoint that you are looking upwards at them. This is most likely to create feelings of admiration towards the potential president.  Another section within the exhibition displayed posters intended to rally citizens to vote. These posters used a combination of text and images to bring citizen into voting booths but what I found to be interesting were the ways they went about doing it. Some posters inspired voting while others scorned you for even thinking about not voting. One poster said “If you don’t vote you don’t count.” This poster did not have an image to go along with it but it was unnecessary due to the fact that those strong words really tend to stick with you by implying that non-voters are somehow unimportant. The posters and memorabilia within the exhibition were really interesting to see, especially when viewing it with a critical eye.

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~Griffin Baker