School Spirit

 

The only way to show school spirit is to tent all day and through the freezing night, play games and meet new people while waiting to buy season tickets for our Hockey team. At least that is how Denver does it. Our mascot Boone is truly one of our most enthusiastic students on campus. I mean, who doesn't love their school if they always dress up on a costume at all events and gets the crowds riled up. This particular picture of Boone is during the Hockey season tickets campout and he decided to go and commandeer one of our tents and invite us in for a little group picture. I took this picture because i just love the position and gesture that Boone was making, it really captured the aura of the entire night in one person.

Sally Mann

Sally Mann

Born in Lexington, Virginia on May 1, 1951; Sally Mann was destined to become an artist. Ever since High School she knew she wanted to be an artist and at that time it was thought to be unorthodox. Luckily for her, her father loved art, especially sculpting and supported Sally in her dreams. Her interest in photography came when her dad gave her his 5x7 camera and took it up at her University, Putney. Ever since then Sally Mann has always had a camera in her hand taking pictures of anything that catches her eye. Sally Mann had a few books and galleries of her photography; however, it wasn’t until her third collection, Immediate Family in 1992 that catapulted her into international fame. Unfortunately, not all her fame was positive. There came a lot of criticism from the public and media on her collection which showed her three young children in various positions and places that showed all sides of growing up, even the dark and unmentioned sides of childhood, to which Sally answered back that it was a view of a mother watching her children grow up and go through all the changes in which children go through. After 10 years of photographing her children, Sally become bored and started to photograph landscape and fell in love with it. For Sally Mann, there was magic on photographing landscape because you would always ask, “How did I get that?” Sally Mann uses a technique called “wet plate” process, or collodion, where glass plates are coated with collodion, dipped in silver nitrate and exposed while still wet. This gives the photos an unworldly effect, one that can never be produced the same. Sally Mann’s more recent work was on new subject, death. She took pictures of her dead dog in its many forms of decomposition as well as human corpses at federal Forensic Anthropology facility, her property where an escaped convict killed himself and some of the bloodiest battlegrounds in the Civil War. A quote that Sally Mann said has had great effect and insight on me as a person and photographer; “Things that are close to you are the things you photograph the best”.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Thought of as the father of modern photojournalism, Henri Cartier-Bresson was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup-en-Brie, France to a wealthy textile manufacturer. As a child Cartier-Bresson owned a brownie box, which led to his interest in photography; yet, he also had a great interest and love for painting, which he started to learn from his uncle as a young boy. At 19, he attended a private art school, giving him the techniques to later help him become an incredible snap-shot photographer. After a trip to Africa, Cartier-Bresson became inspired by a photo of three young naked African boys running, which led Cartier-Bresson to wonder how something so beautiful could be captured. This was the start of his career. Using a Leica 35 mm camera with a 50 mm lens, Cartier-Bresson started his career as a photojournalist. His pictures ranged from just a regular day to day living, street photography, to then gradually more serious photos that led him to fame. He covered events like the coronation of King George VI, World War II after his escape from the Germans to the funeral of Gandhi, the last stage of the Chinese Civil War (1949). He also photographed the last surviving Imperial eunuchs in Beijing as the city was falling to the Communists and then went to capture the gaining of independence of the Dutch West Indies from the Dutch. We went on to publish many of his photos in series of books, the most famous of them being The Decisive Moment. When interviewed by the Washington Post, Cartier-Bresson said, “Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever”. Henri Cartier-Bresson spent most his life documenting and capturing life the second it happened, traveling the world without any boundaries and capturing great historical upheavals of the 20^th century. His legacy is continued by his wife, daughter and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation to preserve and share his life’s work.

Yes, this is College

There is a first time for everything. For freshman in college, it is doing laundry with 10 other people and not having any parents to ask for help. We have all had our first laundry experience in college, they just aren't all documented. Well I decided it was too important not to document our first time and my friend Cameron agrees with me. As the picture shows, laundry time is going quite well for him. This picture was just too funny not to take at the moment, plus its an important even in every young college student's life.

Forever Roddy

Nothing I write about this picture will truly explain the man in the photograph. Roddy McInnes, better know as the amazing photo Professor Sir Roddy. He has been one of the most entertaining, caring and hands-on teachers I have had the pleasure of learning from. I have had other great photo professors, however, the way he teaches is different and I have really enjoyed it. This picture of Roddy really sums up the kind of person he is and his personality. He is very goofy and funny but also very kind and caring and truly wants the best for his students. He listens to his students, to their wants their pleas and their problems and does his best to help or accommodate in any way possible. I will surely  miss his classes and hope to be able to take another class taught by him soon.

Avary Stone

Strong. Independent. Opinionated. Kind. Beautiful. Caring. Interesting. Fun. Interesting. Smart. These are just a few words that describe my friend and classmate, Avary Stone. This picture does little justice to what a wonderful person Avary is, however,  it still shows that she is a kind, fun and beautiful woman. One thing that I admire in her the most is, she does not care one bit what people think of her and her actions. She does things, says things and believes in things that she purely has believes in and not what people tell her to believe in or to do. She does what she knows will make her happy. The lighting on her is very soft and highlights her perfectly. While the angle of the wall leads the way of the eye towards my main subject in the picture, Avary. I absolutely love this picture for the reasons I have listed and gives me a sense of pride that I have the talent to portray someone in such a nice, beautiful and natural way.

Masked Beauty

Once again I took this picture while at the art museum in Denver with my Photo class. After exploring one of the floors me and a classmate decided to take in the view of Denver and the beautiful mountains. While looking out I saw my classmate looking serene and carefree. I took a picture of her in this position not only because of how carefree she seemed, not only because of how nicely the light falls on the side of her face, delicately highlighting her features; but also because you cannot see her face. Not being able to see her face gives my audience the ability to imagine the expression on her face and to imagine what she looks like; however, her beauty is still shown through the photo, just in an unorthodox way.

Light

I took this picture while on a field trip with my Photo class to a museum in Downtown Denver. The picture is simple, taken of only a bench. However the way the light hits the bench is what makes the picture. The entire day my photo Professor kept calling our attentions to the way light hits certain objects and if it is harsh or soft light. So when I saw this bench on one of the levels all I could hear was "Light! Look at the light!"

The Lonely Ranger

I took a picture of this motorcycle while at a family friends house over Labor Day weekend. I took it because I love motorcycles and it reminded me of when I go out with my dad on our Harley. I also took it because of how alone it was by it self next to a broken wooden box! It shows me that you can be alone, but never truly alone; you are just independent and is not afraid to show the entire world that you are and that you don't care. To me that is what this picture represents and means to me. It is beautiful in every possible way but at the same time very simple.

Annie Leibovitz

Born on October 2, 1949 in Waterbury, Connecticut, was the third child of six to a family that traveled around a lot because of her father’s military job. Annie Leibovitz first photos were taken on a base in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. Using the military base darkroom, Annie Leibovitz continued to take pictures and develop a passion for photos and art in general. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute after convincing her parents to let her live there. In 1970, Annie Leibovitz started working for the newly launched magazine, the Rolling Stone. While working in the photo department, Leibovitz was able to photograph multiple celebrities; her first was John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Her photo shoot of John Lennon was to be on the cover of the Rolling Stones, making it her first cover shoot. Through the shoot Lennon wanted Yoko Ono in the pictures and when they were taken, it had framed their relationship so perfectly and beautifully that Lennon wanted to make sure it would be on the cover of the magazine. Annie Leibovitz was the last professional photographer to take John Lennon’s picture alive, as he was shot five hours later. Leibovitz also toured with The Rolling Stones during their Tour of Americas in 1975, even though it was against most the people she knew. During that tour, Leibovitz took multiple amazing photos, but also started to try drugs, which she eventually got hooked on. After her tour, She came back to be given the position of chief photographer, a title she held for 10 years. In the 1980’s Annie Leibovitz style of bold colors and poses, landed her a job at the magazine Vanity Fair. Since then, Leibovitz has taken multiple photo shoots with celebrities and has done multiple campaigns. Annie Leibovitz has an incredibly unique and distinct photo style, and prefers taking photos for her private clients, saying that they are her greatest works because of the incredible personal connection that is made.

 My sister for her age is very innocent and loves to see the best in people, while not understanding why and how people can be so mean to each other, especially if they are "good" friends. I took these pictures of my sister because I believed that they represent my sister's personality. The top picture is of my sister mining for gold in a recreation at the Taste of Colorado. Here she is truly and genuinely enjoying the moment and goofing off trying to find little gold specks. The bottom picture I took after she bought the blue sunhat she is wearing. The light was hitting her perfectly and the hat was bringing out her blue eyes so vividly that I knew the picture would show my sisters true beauty. Not necessarily physical beauty, even though it does show that, but also her inside beauty which is shown through her eyes. 

 

I took a picture of this piano because it represented unnatural beauty and yet it still catches the eye of people and look at the piano with aw. The piano has been painted over and slashed with color to make it look better than its original state; making the piano more pleasing to the eye. I took a picture of it because it was beautiful, with a little sunlight hitting the top and the color blue just popping out.

Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag: In Plato’s Cave

Reading In Plato’s Cave by Susan Sontag I realized that for Sontag, taking a picture was the equivalent to invading someone’s privacy to the extent that she related it to sex, rape and other sexual terms which are looked down on as negative in our society. However, my perception of In Plato’s Cave is that yes, to take a photo of someone is immortalizing them as well as invading a personal and private space; however, for me it is not at all that same as getting so close to someone like you would with sex, invade their privacy like rape or a Peeping Tom. For me it is more like creating a close and personal yet spiritual connection with my subject; may it be human or an inanimate object. When I take a picture I see it as saving a moment in time that you will never be able to get back and immortalizing that moment, because that picture will live on forever and ever. This is one point in which Susan Sontag and I agree in her book in the chapter In Pluto’s Cave. Photography for me has been an outlet in my life. It helps me cope with things that are going on in my life good or bad, and by photographing something beautiful and forever immortalizing it relaxes me. Also ever since I started with photography I have been seeing the world differently. I see everything as beautiful in their own way, and I always look at objects or people and I see how I would take a photo of them and there the light would hit just right. Yes, taking a photo is forever holding that moment or person in history, but it is also a beautiful connection with that object or person. Not one there is a violent intrusion, but one of a beautiful and calming moment in life.

First Day in Denver: September 5, 2010

Now I don't have a preference of what I specifically like to capture with my camera. However, when I see something that is beautiful to me, I will capture it with my lens. This picture was taken at a labor day bbq in the mountains just outside of Denver. I love how the sun was hitting the hills, just barely highlighting some of the mountain, making it look almost fairytale-like.  What I also love is that the mountains are in the background, is usually meaning that they are less noticeable; but, in this picture the eye is drawn firstly to the highlighted mountains. 

Baby on a Swing

My baby cousin, Jasmine, swinging on a tire swing at my Aunt and Uncle's summer house in Borås, Sweden. Most of my cousins had come up to celebrate her 2 year birthday. We had a beautiful Barbie cake  and lots of drinks! It was amazing to be there with most of family seeing as I don't see them that often. I can't wait till I get to see my family again.

My First Blog!

My pappa, Reimer Ogeborn.
Doing one of his famous goofy poses at a bbq with family friends on Tjörn, Sweden.