Day one! Here goes nothing.
Tonight, I went to listen to photographers Kelli Connell and Will Steacy speak about their photographs currently on display at Marquette University's Haggerty Museum of Art in the exhibition "The Truth is Not in the Mirror: Photography and a Constructed Identity." I had no prior knowledge of these photographers or their works. They were speaking at Eckstein Hall, Marquette's gorgeous new law school. It was my first time in there, and let me say, the place is absolutely amazing. Don't believe me? Have a look for yourself:
Anyway, enough of my gushing about the location. I didn't know what to expect going into this - I have never been to a lecture given by an artist, much less two artists, about their work. I was ready for it to be boring and for me to want to get out of there. Instead, I found it very interesting.
Kelli Connell spoke first. All of her photographs were composed shots of a model who played two roles in a relationship setting. Connell literally duplicated the same woman in two different positions in each photograph. (You can see an example here.) She described her technique, which I found very interesting. She shot multiple photos per scene, each with the model in a different position. After developing the photos (she shoots with film), she cut up her contact sheets to compose the final image, which she then edited in Photoshop. I was also surprised MU let this show up in their art gallery, considering that the photos could imply a relationship between two women - which they haven't taken kindly to in recent times.
Will Steacy was the second photographer to speak. He had two projects that he focused on. The one I really enjoyed focused on life in the inner city in poor areas. As a child of the inner city, Will identified with living in fear in a dangerous place. In eight (I think) cities, he walked from the airport to the city center in the middle of the night, taking pictures along the way. Some of his pictures were unreal. I always wish I knew how to capture emotion in my pictures - and Will's pictures definitely had it.
After the lecture, I went over to the reception at the Haggerty Musuem to check out the gallery. Somehow I never made it into there in my four years of college. Nice place. Not very big, but worth checking out if you have the time.
There was one thing that really stuck out to me this whole night, however. During the lecture, a man walked into the classroom in the law school about half way through. He looked a little disheveled and unkempt. I'm guessing he was homeless, or close to it. He sat through the portion of the lecture he showed up to, payed attention, and seemed generally interested... which was surprising to me. Afterwards, at the reception, I saw him make a beeline for the free fruit and snacks every chance he got. He was scarfing the food down as fast as he could. That was probably his dinner and warm shelter for the night. That was definitely something I thought about as I walked Marquette's pretty snow covered campus back to my car. Not everyone has had the luck and fortune I have to be able to go to school, and get the skills to earn a living. Made me wish I knew a way to improve the lives of those in need.
That's day one. What will tomorrow bring? You'll just have to read to find out!
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