Photography

MAN RAY- PHOTOGRAPHY

Man Ray is an American visual artist born August 27, 1890 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a well known Photographer and considered as the explorer of surrealist photography. He made a huge impact in the artistic world through his images and it was more valuable than an actual handmade art. Although, Photography being his most passionate field, he was also a painter, object artist and a filmmaker. After graduating from high school, he received an opportunity to study architecture but decided to follow art as a career. At first, Ray was influenced by cubism/surrealism and did most of his work around that theme by working in several areas such as sculpture, painting, film and photography but after he met with Marcel Duchamp, he applied some movement into his art. With the help of Duchamp and Francis Picabia, Ray became the focal point of Dada movement. One of his popular work was "Violin d' Ingres" in 1924. This The picture showed a naked posterior and Ray added a "Flavor' of his own after it was styled Jean August Dominique. In a humorous manner, Ray drew two black shapes on her back to make it seem like a lyrical device. He had a lot of success working in photography in New York and Hollywood. In his concluding period, Ray progressed his best art works, with exposures in London, New York and Paris. He dies on November 18, 1976 in his favorite city and leaves a history behind.

DADA Collage

DADA COLLAGE

(Assignment # 3) Renaissance Vs Baroque

The Denial of Saint Peter

“The Denial of Saint Peter” illustrates St. Peter denying the allegation that he is a follower of Christ. According to the New Testament, on the night Jesus is captured by the soldiers of the high priest and sentenced to death, he tells Peter “the cock shall not crow this day, before thou shalt thrice deny having known me” Peter does not trust the prophesy, and when Jesus is taken to be interrogated by the high priest Peter follows him. As he waits outside the priest’s quarters for Jesus, Peter came in contact three times and was under a suspicion of being a disciple of Christ. Each time, Peter denies the accusation. Finally, when he denied it the third time, a rooster crows and he realizes in sorrow that the prophecy has been accomplished. There has been a diverge of Peter's denial in the Holy Gospels by the authors. According to Matthew and Mark the first person to approach Peter is a maidservant, accompanied by a second maid and a group of eyewitnesses. Luke's Gospel depicts a maid making the first allegation, followed by two anonymous men. It's a girl servant, a group of officers, and a male servant who confront him in Gospel stated by John. Though each depiction is somewhat different, in every case St. Peter is approached and identified as a Christ follower by a female servant. Michelangelo Caravaggio created his painting “The Denial of Saint Peter” in 1610. He was born on September 29, 1571 in Italy. When you study his paintings, it has a sense of “Touchy” feeling because of how down-to-earth it looks. The sentimental and materialist with the sensational use of blistering helped shape the Baroque period. Although, unfortunately he passed away at the age of 38 but the type of legacy he has left behind in the artistic world will always be remembered.

Mona Lisa

Leonardo Da Vinci painted one of the famous painting called “Mona Lisa” and it was painted as an oil on wood. Leonardo was living in Florence from 1500-1508, that was when he made this painting but it’s currently under the Government of France and placed on the wall in Louvre, Paris. Leonardo was born in Vinci, Italy on 05/15/1452 and the theme of this painting was happiness but art in general is viewed in different perspective by everyone. One of the most influential artist in the Renaissance period was Leonardo Da Vinci. He wasn’t only gifted as a painter but was also the most talented person to ever have existed in this world. In the Renaissance which brought together all human activities, art meant science, truth to life: Leonardo was a proficient figure because he absorbed the glorious strive of Italian art to dominate all-around worth, who combined within himself the unpredictable perceptiveness of the artist and the deep knowledge of the scientist. He passed away when he was 67 years old and the impact he’s had on the painters that came after him and in the modern time is a great accomplishment. 

Assignment # 9: The Wasteland

This documentary is a sense of wake up call to those who live a very luxurious and comfortable life. It reminds us about how we shouldn’t take anything or everything for granted. This film doesn’t only portray the lives of various characters but the amount of waste that are being produced everyday by many people. Vik Muniz, who is a Brazilian artist happens to come from the same root as many of the garbage pickers. At one point of his life, he was shot in his leg by a rich man while trying to break up a fight. To his fortune, it opened the door for him to travel to New York to pursue his passion. In order to give back to his people, he decided to make an art through garbage’s. He used the help of people who work at Jardim “Garden” Gramacho, which is a landfill in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil by taking their photos, learning about their life/struggles and creating a strong bond with them. His patience, time and effort does not only help him to execute his art project but it also earned him a lot of respect, success and popularity. This documentary revealed that no matter what you do, if it’s for the better cause you should keep striving and going forward regardless of how many obstacles come your way. Tiao Carlos dos Santos, the founder of ACAMJG and the success he has gained and making a difference in other’s lives in his respected country. He talks about how nobody, including his father believed in him when he started the organization and now it’s finally being revealed in a bigger platform with the help of Vik, who has a made a reputation for himself. Tiao is considered a leader and looked upon by a lot of people. This film has made a lot of the people’s dream come true such as Zumbi. The money he gained through the portraits there has been Library’s inaugurated with 15 computers at the office. This art has made a lot of changes in people’s lives in a way that nobody will look down on “Garbage Pickers”. Their jobs might be considered low level but they have a sense of pride and honesty and hard work, which was noticed at the end of the film. Bringing this sense of awareness by Vik Muniz, the audience won’t think of themselves in a superior level but everyone will feel and treated equally.    

Assignment # 1: Egypt & Greek Style

Ancient Egyptian religion was a very complicated system because of their polytheistic beliefs and rituals that was an essential part of ancient Egyptian society. It focused on the Egyptians communication with many god or goddess believed to be present in, and in authority of, the universe. They are surrounded by desserts on both sides of the Nile which reduced many of the outside impacts and kept their many years of styles steady for twenty five hundred years. The Nile River was a important part of the rural development of Ancient Egyptian civilization and it’s considered the longest river in the North. The Ancient Egyptian believed reincarnation and they buried people after their death. Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts originated from the civilization of ancient Egypt in the lower Nile Valley from year (3000 BC to 30 AD). Ancient Egyptian art attained a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly designed and had their own meaning behind it. The image below is called the "Ankh" which is also known as crux ansata by Coptic Christians, symbolizes life and immortality. It was also used to represent the merging between men and women, particularly the union of Osiris and Isis, which was believed to flood the river of Nile therefore it brings fertility to Egypt. That is the point why the ankh is also called the Key of the Nile.

There was some traits in common between the Ancient Egyptian and the Ancient Greek culture but in Greek, their poses are stiff but they seem more lively and more expressive. They had more relaxed poses capable of movements and emotions. The Ancient Greek culture has a different mindset towards being a human than the Egyptian. In Greek culture human form was examined the highest establishment of nature. It was considered the closest thing to perfection with an ideal proportional form connected with the capability to reason from which the democracy evolved.  The image below is an image of a pottery from Ancient Greek period known as “Food in Ancient Greece.” Food is talked about a lot in Greek and it reveals their true characteristics. Greeks had two types of symbolism in their food from which, one was religious. For example, a wine, related to Dionysos; bread with Demeter. Another symbolism for the Jews when it came to food was to differentiate themselves from their neighbors. Greeks used food to show that they were civilized in a savage world, meanwhile the Jews used food to show they were the chosen people religiously. The Greeks approached both eating and drinking moderately, to feature their idea of themselves as poor but independent people.   

Assignment # 4: Impressionist Vs Post-Impressionist

     

CLAUDE MONET - FRENCH  “WATER LILIES”
1916-19

Claude Monet was a French painter and founder of the French impressionist painting. One of the painting below is known as “Water Lilies” painted by Claude Monet. Much of the paintings from the impressionist time shows how it was all about brightness and color in that time. They would not only communicate to their audience but also define the subject matter through applying the visual element color as the main building block. Painters in the past used (Renaissance) allegory in most of their paintings because of the fear of going against the Church and the government but painters in the impressionist era were against it. In addition, Artist in the past worked in studio but impressionist enjoyed working directly from nature. They would apply optical mixing in their paintings which makes the color vivid in the eyes of the viewer and it's because of their firm comprehension and strong relationship with the colors. The invention of photography had a big impact on their lives because they started to visualize art from deeper value.  

VINCIENT VAN GOGH - DUTCH “OLEANDERS” 1888

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch, post-impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential person in the history of Western art. Post impressionist abandoned the style of the impressionist and part ways to discover his own personal art. Although they didn’t follow the same path as the impressionist because of the limited aim but they applied everything they have learned from them in their painting. In addition to incorporating all the techniques they have learned, post impressionist took their art to the another level by adding more affection, more feeling, more articulation in their art work. Through the help of the color they were able to send a message to the viewer what they felt about the universe in which they live. Representative and highly personal meanings were particularly of great significance or value to Post-Impressionists such as Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh.

Tenzin’s Bio

My name is Tenzin Tsering and I am from Tibet. Tibet used to be an independent country until it was annexed by China in 1959 and now considered a city inside of China. Me, my mom and my older sister immigrated to the United States in 2008 when I was 9 years old. I live in Queens, New York and it has been almost 11 years since we arrived. I am grateful for all the opportunities and things I have been able to accomplish after coming to the United States. This is my first semester at LaGuardia Community College and my major is Journalism. I aspire to be an NBA Journalist/Analyst in the coming years and make my family proud.