Artist Lecture: Todd Wright

Last night, local Richmond photographer, Todd Wright, came to speak to my Advanced Studio class taught by David Stover. Todd began his career in photography after spending his last couple hundred dollars on a camera. He knew that is was what he wanted to do and was determined to succeed. This attitude and persistence, which he continues to exude today, has been the reason behind much of his success. Always the eager student, Todd assisted local photographers for about 4 years before deciding to open his own studio. Today, Wright has amassed an impressive body of work and shoots regularly for clients large and small.

Todd began his lecture by telling us a little about himself and how he got started. His easy-going nature and friendly demeanor make him easy to be around and learn from. The class spent much time laughing and joking along with him. His then did a demonstration with a ring flash, a piece of equipment that most students didn't know about or have had the chance to see in action. Wright began his career primarily as a fashion photographer and has used the ring flash countless times for jobs and test shoots. He loves the classic beauty look that the ring light gives and it's ability to wrap around the subject. He demonstrated that the closer the subject is to the background the less shadow there is and said that he will often go into an image in post-production and remove the tiny shadow all around the subject as he loves the crispness of a no-shadow image. Wright also demonstrated how a ring flash can be used in ways other than the typical placement of around the camera lens. For a different look, he will often place the flash on a light stand and used it from an angle. He said that it is important to experiment with your equipment, to learn new ways to use things and truly make them your own as this is how one develops their own style. I found this statement truly inspiring and was motivated to get into the studio and be creative.

He also brought a large octodome with him, a light encased by an eight-sided softbox; his light of choice when using strobes. He demonstrated how to use it from above when shooting portraits and difference between using black and white cards on either side of the subjects face. This demonstration was again extremely exciting, if only to see the the way a certain photographer thinks and the way he uses standard equipment. After the demonstrations Todd showed us his website and went through his portfolio with us, image by image, giving background info and explaining how he got the shot and what he did in post-production. This was probably the most educational part of the lecture as it was like getting behind the scenes information from 40 shoots. This was a great lecture and I left feeling educated and inspired, as well as excited, because I will interning with Todd beginning very soon and I know that there is so much that I can learn from him.

All images by Todd Wright
Richmond Bride Magazine
Fall 2008

www.toddwrightphoto.com

Stephen Shore

An image from Details magazine

As soon as I came across these images I was immediately drawn to them. They are fashion images but without any models, a rare occurrence within the fashion industry. They are real and glamorous and allow the viewer to envision or create their own story as to how these objects came to be where they are and who is the person that owns or was interacting with these things. There are so many subtle details that give information that one really has to pay attention to glean all that they can from the images. I have been inspired to work in a similar manor with objects that can be metaphors for a repression of emotions, a mask; and a flawed human being, broken glass. I am currently working with ideas of how to use these objects in a way that seems as real and unpropped as Shore's images.

Images from an Elle magazine editorial piece:

Images from a Chanel campaign:

Masks

I have been working with ways to express a suppression of emotions in a metaphorical way. An obvious metaphor that came to mind was a mask. A projected image of what one wants the world to see, regardless of what is truly going on inside, behind the mask. I have done some research on masks in art and culture and here is what I found interesting:

We Wear the Mask

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

Funerary mask of Tutankhamun

"Funerary masks and other facial coverings for mummies emphasized the ancient Egyptian belief in the fragile state of transition that the dead would have to successfully transcend in their physical and spiritual journey from this world to their divine transformation in the next. Hence, whether worn by the living or the dead, masks played a similar role of magically transforming an individual from a mortal to a divine state. " -source: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/masks.htm

Mardi Gras Mask

"Imagine walking through a true masquerade ball of olden day New Orleans. Men dressed in their finest tuxedos and women in magnificent ball gowns. Everyone dons a mask leaving much to the imagination. Elaborate stick masks entice others at the ball with only seductive eyes and sensuous lips exposed. The mystery behind a mask lives today in New Orleans for one magical day, Mardi Gras.

Masks have been worn in New Orleans during masked balls for centuries. Masking originated with secretive organizations (carnival crews) and the secret upper class. No one knew who they were and they could stay anonymous. The concept of wearing masks moved to the street where everyone would wear a mask and have a big celebration on the street."

source: http://www.mardigrasday.com/mask.php

Ryan McGinley

I have been a huge fan of Ryan McGinely for many years and always love everything he does. I find his latest series, Moonmilk, to be quite inspiring although seemingly a bit different from his past work. While still using naked models in outdoor/environmental settings, the lighting and overall feel of the images is different. Obviously, shooting inside a cave would require lights but his choice to use colors (gels perhaps?), rather than natural lighting, brings a whole new element to the images and really allows the model to blend in with the landscape, which seems to be an important part of the series. Some of the images require the viewer to search for the person hidden within. In his past work, such as the series I Know Where the Summer Goes, the images are very open, airy and light, speaking of freedom. This series has a completely different feel. Even in the images that are in large, open areas of the caves, the nature of the jagged rocks encroaching from every angle give the images a claustrophobic feel.

I feel like this relates to my current work as I'm seeking ways to portray psychological issues such as repression of emotions. The claustrophobic look and feel could be an interesting thing to explore in terms of metaphor and eliciting emotions from viewers that are similar to those being presented. The idea of blending in with one's environment as to appease others is another thing that I have taken from these images. Hmmm... I have much to consider.

www.ryanmcginley.com

Philosophical Intuition

In an attempt to bring meaning to my work, I have been revisiting things that have inspired me in the past. One of those such things is a selection from Henri Bergson, a French philosopher, influential in the early 20th century, titled Philosophical Intuition.

Here are a few quotes that I find inspiring, (this first one is my favorite of all time):

"The mater and life which fill the world are are equally within us; the forces which work in all things we feel within ourselves; whatever may be the inner essence of what is and what is done, we are of that essence. Let us then go down into our own inner selves: the deeper the point we touch, the stronger will be the thrust which sends us back to the surface."

"...it is the essence of the philosophical method to demand that at many moments, on many points, the mind should take risks."

"Instead of a discontinuity of movements replacing one another in an infinitely divided time, it will preceive the continuous fluidity of real time which flows along, indivisible. "

"Let us on the contrary grasp ourselves afresh as we are, in a present which is thick, and furthermore, elastic, which we can stretch indefinitely backward by pushing the screen which masks us from ourselves farther and farther away."

Larry Sultan

Larry Sultan is an art as well as commercial and editorial photographer. His work has a particular real quality that is seen in his personal as well as commercial work. His images seem as if he just happened along and photographed what was already going on. With this said, there is also an element of a constructed reality to his images. It is this unique combination of a constructed reality appearing or feeling real to the viewer that makes his images for fascinating for me. The emotions that he captures feel very genuine and always draw me to believe that his work in speaking on multiple levels, many below the surface.

Images from Pictures From Home series:

An interesting exceprt from an article I read on this series:

As Larry set about creating his version of the Sultan family experience, his father Irvin struggled with the role his son now gave him, as the following exchange reveals:

Irvin: “I'd get set, I'd get comfortable and he says to me 'Don't smile', which would absolutely irritate me because when he says 'Don't smile' in my own mind I have no idea what he is projecting. What is he trying to tell me to do?" "I remember that picture so distinctly sitting on the bed, shirt and tie dressed up and I looked like a full on lost soul and I look at the picture and I say 'That's not me!'"

Larry: "In fact you went even further you said, 'That's not me sitting on the bed that's you sitting on the bed. That's a self portrait'. And I thought that was right. And you said this too, you said 'Any time you show that picture you tell people that that's not me sitting on the bed looking all dressed up and nowhere to go, depressed. That's you sitting on the bed and I am happy to help you with the project but let's get things straight here!'"

"The daily practice of a photographer is to be distanced, to have a little bit of room between what you're doing and how you see, what you look at. For me the biggest surprise was that the distance I thought I needed as a photographer slipped. It wasn't about 'these' people it was about 'us'."

I find it interesting that his father would say that it was not himself sitting on the bed but his son, the one who was directing his actions. It is again the unique combination of reality versus the constructed.

Images from Bottega Veneta Ad Campaign:

I have loved these images from the moment I saw them and was not surprised to find that they were by Sultan. They definitely have that distinct quality of looking as if they might have been snapshots of reality while still retaining a bit of the constructed feel. There is also a moodiness to them that hints as something deeper. I am exploring within my own images, ways to hint at this deeper emotional meaning, and I think looking to Sultan is a great place to start.

Larry Sultan at Bill Charles Agency:
http://billcharles.com/catalog.php?categ_id=22&page=1

Type C Coping Pattern

The example that I have been using thus far when speaking of the Mind-Body connection is the "Type C Coping Pattern". It is what I found most interesting when writing my research paper and it has been the forefront idea when considering how to proceed with my research and execution of this series.

Here is an excerpt from my paper providing the background and explanation of the Type C Coping Pattern:

Psychological, as well as biological, research led to the development of theoretical “cancer personalities”, paving the way for a better understanding of psychological factors that contribute to disease progression. In the 2004 article, “The Healing Truth,” published in Alive: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition, Curtis Foreman, a professional writer and grandson of a cancer-survivor – who fought the disease using mainly alternative therapies, writes about the misconception that unwavering positively is a must if one wants to survive when faced with a cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Foreman cites the 1978 book Getting Well Again, by Carl and Stephanie Simonton, as one of the first pieces of “hard evidence” in the oncology world – Carl was a radiation oncologist – as opposed to the psychology world, to make the connection between the psyche and the possibility of it making a difference in cancer outcome (108). The Simontons “profiled what they saw as the typical ‘cancer personality’–the ways an individual’s reactions to stress and other emotional factors can contribute to the onset and progress of cancer” (Foreman 108). Although seemingly similar to the coping styles addressed above, in that it is based on the way an individual relates to stress, this study took the evidence gathered into the theoretical realm, hypothesizing a specific “personality” that would be the more likely than others to be diagnosed with and experience a fast progression of cancer.

In 1987, psychologist and internationally respected leader in biopsychosocial oncology–the study of the biological, psychological and sociological factors implicated in cancer occurrence and progression, Lydia R.Temoshok, published an article in which she took the idea of a “cancer personality” a step further when she described what she deemed the “Type C Coping Pattern”, a learned response to a constant repression of emotions (Temoshok 387). Drawing on hundreds on patient interviews and case histories, Temoshok created a surprising portrait of what the Type C individual looked like: always kind, pleasant and appeasing, and most interestingly, unable to express emotions, especially anger (Foreman 108). In her 2002 article, “Connecting the Dots Linking Mind, Behavior, and Disease: The Biological Concomitants of Coping Patterns: Commentary on ‘Attachment and Cancer: A Conceptual Integration”, Temoshok recounts the section of her 1987 article in which she describes the theoretical development of the Type C coping style within an individual:

As a result of genetic predisposition and/or family interaction patterns, a child learns to cope with the inevitable challenges, stressors and possible traumatic events of early life in a certain manner. A given coping style is successful to the extent that it reliably ensures psychological, biological, and environmental homeostasis, even under stressful conditions… What may begin as a conscious suppression of physical complaints in order to please others (e.g. “I wont bother Mommy now by telling her I’m hungry”) may end up as a habitual pattern of ignoring and ultimately not even recognizing such biological signals as pain or fatigue. A similar pattern is thought to occur for psychological needs: loneliness, sadness, fear, and so forth, which may be considered signals that some thing is wrong and should be changed, are suppressed so as to not antagonize or burden others (387).

This most interesting theory of development is linked to cancer incidence as Temoshok further explains what takes place as this theoretical child grows into an adult. The patterns of repressed biological needs and emotion learned from childhood become increasingly ingrained and habitual over the years, to the point where a Type C individual will constantly be existing in a state of biological, psychological and sociological stress, without even realizing, because it is what they are used to (Temoshok 390). The constant exposure to stress wreaks havoc on the immune system and other physiological components, thus placing Type C copers at a higher risk for cancer incidence and progression.

Tamoshok, as well as others, has done much research on individuals who fit into the Type C coping pattern and clinical trials have confirmed that the suppression of emotions has a negative affect on cancer, as well as HIV, progression. Temoshok states, “My colleagues and I have found that Type C coping after diagnosis of cancer or HIV is associated with negative prognostic indicators and faster disease progression” (Temoshok 388). Foreman cites a study by Temoshok that provided evidence of a positive correlation between expressing one’s emotions and experiencing a slower progression of cancer. The study found that melanoma patients who rated higher on a scale of emotional expression had less aggressive tumors and stronger T-cell immunity (Foreman 108). In the article “How Psychological Therapy May Prolong Survival in Cancer Patients: New Evidence and a Simple Theory”, Alastair J. Cummingham and Kimberly Watson, both doctors at the Ontario Cancer Institute, look to Temoshok’s pioneering work and thorough methods of data collection for the cancer trials. Unlike many studies on psychological factors influencing the progression of cancer that simply look to statistics of survival, Tamoshok used markers of disease progression and severity such as tumor thickness, level of invasion, mitotic rate, and number of lymphocytes located near the tumor (Cunningham and Watson 217). This provides further evidence that the results are legitimate and measurable, again providing great insight into the power that psychological factors have over the physical body.

Cunningham, Alastair J., and Kimberly Watson. “ How Psychological Therapy may Prolong Survival in Cancer Patients: New Evidence and a Simple Theory” Integrative Cancer Therapies 3.3 (2004): 214-229. PubMed. Sage Premier. Cabell Lib., Richmond, VA. 29 July 2009 <http://ict.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/

3/3/214>.

Foreman, Curtis. “The Healing Truth.” Alive: Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition Apr. 2004: 106-108. Alt HealthWatch. EBSCOhost. Cabell Lib., Richmond, VA. 25 June 2009.

Temoshok, Lydia R. “Connecting the Dots Linking Mind, Behavior, and Disease: The Biological Concomitants of Coping Patterns: Commentary on ‘Attachment and Cancer: A Conceptual Integration’.” Integrative Cancer Therapies 1.4 (2002): 387-391. PubMed. Sage Publications. Cabell Lib., Richmond, VA. 30 June 2009 .

The thing that has jumped out at me as I have been reviewing this and other research of this nature is the fact that the passage of time plays an important role in the development of any psychological factor potent enough to affect the physical body. The passage of time is also important to this research as duration is a key factor in any psychological factor affecting the body. A week, month or even a year perhaps, of someone suppressing their emotions is not particularly going to affect their health in some grand way. This connection is based on prolonged exhibition of specific psychological factors, whose affects compound over time to the point where a recognizable physical difference occurs. I am excited about this realization as the passage of time is a topic I have worked with in the past and is something that I am very interested in exploring still. I feel as though I have opened up another side to my research and series.

Steven Meisel

I have noticed lately that so many of the fashion ads and editorial spreads that I love and find inspiring have been shot by Steven Meisel. He is considered to be the most prominent fashion photographer in the industry. He shots the cover of every issue of Italian Vogue, as he has for the last 20 years. This is the only relationship between magazine and photographer of its kind. What makes Meisel stand apart from his peers, and relate to the work that I'm doing, is the fact that he uses his fashion editorial spreads to comment on current events. The relationship he has with Italian Vogue allows him to work with the editors to create content, not simply shoot what he's told. They recently collaborated together to create the first ever issue of the magazine featuring only African-American models. I find his work inspiring because not only is he an amazing and gifted photographer but he uses his talent to say something with his work. Many fashion photographers can fall victim to simply portraying fashion trends and not make a statement with their art. It is an enviable position to be in when one can do what they love in the way that they wish.

Images from Series in Italian Vogue:
Super Models Enter Rehab

Images from Series in Italian Vogue:
Make Love, Not War

Link to his portfolio at his agency Art and Commerce:

http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP=SlideShow_VPage&IAPA=1&STY=A&L4=2U1XC583Y1WG&L5=2U1XC583YX5A&L6=2U1XC583YDU0&XX=Artists