Idea Blog - Family

As the semester winds down and I start to thing about the last four years that I have spent at  the Virginia  Commonwealth University I realize how much of impact my parents and family had on me not only coming back to school but for the project itself. It’s definitely fact that family life is important “A family unit is the unit which builds up a person’s personality. How you behave and what you become in life is very much dependent on your family life. Psychologists believe that a child learns the most from his or her family life. The way your family members deal with you has a life long effect on your personality.[2]”  It all started when I took trip out west to meet my sister.  I saw a new part of the country for the first time and realized that I truly did enjoy photographing for the reason that it allows me to present my preserved notions about the world.  Without the suggestion and support of my parents I would have never gone back to school.   In relation to my project my parents have been constantly been interested and provided input into my artist statement and which images the liked.  Many photographers would consider family an influence on there work.  Although it might not always be as clear cut as in Sally Mann’s famous series Immediate Family.  Sally Mann said “There is something about this process, and about the whole 8 by 10 business, that takes it out of the arena of the snapshot, even though, of course, I’m always desperate for that feeling. I wanted those family pictures to look effortless. I wanted them to look like snapshots. [1]”  It’s interesting to me to think about the immediacy  of family the relationship of aesthetic to technique.  It was amazing to me how much tension could also be built just by using technology.  This is one reason that I had to get rid of a technique that calls attention to itself.  I feel that Sally Mann was using a technique to bring something more to work which what I initially set out to do.  Having gotten mixed reviews I am glad I found a method of processing that doesn’t call attention to itself.

"Art21 . Sally Mann . Biography . Documentary Film | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mann/>.

"The Importance Of Family Life." Grandmas Profitable Free Business Craft Guides Corner. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. <http://www.grandmascraftguides.com/Family_Corner/>.