Blog Archives

Bara att få hålla kameran.

27/9/2016

Kameran var viktigast i lördags. Bara att få hålla den, höra klicket. Det tog 163 bilder att landa. 163 bilder som "förstabild". Allt det jag sett förut från den blå bron, från hamnpromenaden där segelbåtar skaver sida vid sida, och sen sakta längs vägen mot Kajen.

Med en skjuta-från-höften-bild mot restaurangen Kajplats 9 med sina röda markiser och de där eviga änderna som speglade sig, de jag fotade först, startar ändå tanken. Trots att jag egentligen bara vill hålla i kameran och höra klicket. Och trots att det är dåligt med ljus, inte en strimma sol att trixa med, sker det om och om igen. Det behövs bara ett enda "klick" för att sänka, eller höja, pulsen.

Min kamera och jag en helt vanlig lördag när jag glömmer de petrolblå halvfingervantarna i bilen och värmer mig på en cappuccino-to-go.

Söker sätt att spegla omgivningen.

Förutom att jag utvecklar mitt konstnärliga fotograferande, läs förra veckans bloggpost
Setting the stage for the Mise-en-scène project, intresserar jag mig för gatufotografi. Kanske snarare glimtar av gatufotografi då jag inte befinner mig bland människorna, utan mer reflekterar. Ser världen genom flera lager på ett mer abstrakt sätt än jag gjort tidigare. Här finns också den faktiska utmaningen att bygga en bild i lager utan att bildbehandla - hur många lager jag kan få till genom att använda speglingar och reflektioner.

En helt vanlig lördag. Solen lyste med sin frånvaro... och jag, jag bara knäppte. Höll stadigt i kameran och knäppte.

Agneta

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Setting the stage for the Mise-en-scène project.

18/9/2016

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Mise-en-scène is about staging a story visually and where would I start but at the theatre. As a photographer you do the same as they do at the theatre or in a film - you compose content within a frame. You set the scene, stage the story within the picture. Me personally, I am all about light and direction. I use light to keep the eye of the beholder moving.

This past weekend the annual Kulturnatten, a night of culture, had us all go out, meet in the streets and enjoy all that Västerås offers, in one single evening. My first stop was at the theatre and the open rehearsal of the upcoming production Utvandrarna, The Emigrants, from the novel by Wilhelm Moberg. This is where I literally set the scene, looking at placement, costume and stage lighting.

Experimenting with light and direction.

Standing at one place, using different panning techniques.

I am adding sources of light and changing my panning technique.

Mise-en-scène is an online exhibition project managed by visual artist and instructional designer Cynthia Willett from New York. The directions for the projects were sent out at the beginning of the summer and I have been mulling it over while working on and finishing the literary project CHANGES.

Documenting the scene.

Taking the pictures above I am standing at the same place using the same shutter speed but differing in panning technique, how I move my camera, at what speed and where I pick up my light source. The picture to the left is what it looked like in real and unedited life.

The most important thing is, where do I pick up the light I use to create the content in the frame?

Capturing the sound of music.

Awake Love Orchestra performing at Kulturnatten.

After almost stating the obvious at the theatre, playing around with shutter speed, direction, panning and dragging different light sources into the picture, I go looking for content to fill my frame to create a series of pictures for my Mise-en-scène contribution. The picture above is me trying to capture the sound of the internationally known Awake Love Orchestra, based here in Västerås.

It is the most perfect night, the sound of vocies carried over the stream is like balm to my ears. This is a sound that inspires your heart and soul. As I go on, camera in hand, I add music to my creative process while enjoying an evening of true multitude.

Agneta

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The value of a picture - using Art in education to kickstart imagination.

11/9/2016

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English lesson at the Art Museum. Photo: Hanan Jundi.

You do not need to know anything about Art to appreciate it. Art is an experience and every picture holds a story for every beholder. Sometimes in a group we share the same references, sometimes there are as many stories as there are people in the group discussing the painting.

This semester I have started teaching again and I'm fortunate enough to be doing English only, my passion and incidentally, my Major. I am teaching at an upper secondary school in Västerås meeting students on the regular programs and also working with young adults coming to Sweden from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Kurdistan.

Using Art & Inquiry to kickstart imagination.

In one of the year 2 classes we are doing a creative writing project building a fantasty world creating our own characters, be it hero or villain. The exhibition at KRLSG2 showscases surrealistic paintings from the archives and we kickstart our imagination by looking at Dream worlds, as the exhibition is called.

We talk about the actual content of the picture and give it our own name - Urban Hell.
-How does this picture make you feel? What would it feel like to live in this world?

The Art of looking closer.

Building a fantasty world is all about detail. Using a viewfinder to look at a painting in detail is a simple way to slow the process down. Have you walked through an exhibition only to realise that you remember nothing when you get home? Looking at a picture one frame at a time gives pause and time to connect the dots within the work of art.
- What do you see?
- How has the artist built this particular painting?
- How does the content make up a story, for you?

The thing about art is, it connects the world, and no matter where you come from there is a story in the painting. In my international class the choosen picture evoked discussions 0n environmental issues, saving endangered species, about religion, power, and romance.

We shared the same art experience telling different stories, from different perspectives. And still, as one voice.

Using the viewfinder. Photo: Hanan Jundi.

Seeing the details. Photo: Hanan Jundi.

Imagine you are in the picture.

- Imagine you are in the picture. What is it like?
At this point I add an activity I call Sending a Postcard from within the Picture and the students are to pick a painting of their own choice and send a postcard from the world within it. They choose from blue, green, red and yellow paper for their postcard and go off on their own to look closer, draw a detail from the painting on the front of their post card and send a greeting to a friend or family.

The creative writing project has moved on to the next step - American Romanticism and The Hudson River School.

After building comprehension we create our world.

You do not need to know anything about Art to appreciate it. Art is an experience and every picture holds a story for every beholder. There is great value in the inquiry when the group comes together in discussion and the activity where the student works on his or her own gives pause to reflect.

You can kickstart anything by using a picture.