Visit to the National Building Museum December 5, 2009
Posted by samuhagedorn in ASPP, Interesting photos.Tags: architechture, Art, Form and Movement, National Building Museum, Phlip Trager, photograph, photographer, skyscrapper, Visual Literacy
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I had never been to the National Building Museum before. The building is astronomical– it’s as large as a European cathedral and has such a mix of architectural styles. It has a vaulted roof, maybe a hundred feet tall, and large bay windows that fill the building with bright light and deep shadows. The ceiling is lined with a row of busts, and Corinthian columns fit onto Roman arches with a red brick exterior. A plaque near the entrance says it used to be the Pension Bureau, but its hard to imagine it being anything other than a testament to America’s unique blend of architectural styles. I snapped a few photos, I’ll post them up here.
After standing dumbstruck in the lobby of the museum for about fifteen minutes, I remembered why I had come downtown. Up on the second floor, there was a glass door to the gallery. When I came in, it was just myself and the curator– the sound of my footsteps echoed around the photographs.
It was almost ironic how stationary the photographs were. Philip Trager had captured buildings and people in the most dynamic ways, and here they were frozen on a wall, in a hundred year old building. Before coming, I had no idea who Philip Trager was. I googled his name, so I knew he was a photographer who usually shot buildings and dancers– but that was about the extent of my knowledge. As I looked at his pictures of the New York skyline, or a colonial house in Massachusetts, I realized I’ve seen many imitations of his work. His photos move– the clouds are churning, the angles are dynamic, and there’s something about the depth of field that just draws you in.
It wasn’t until midway through the exhibit that I found out why his photographs so much more interesting than all the rest. The museum displayed a proof of one of Trager’s photographs. It was covered in silver notes, reminding the artist to brighten this spot, and deepen over here, and up the contrast on another. This was all before digital computers– so Trager would work in the darkroom, meticulously manipulating the chemicals to develop the perfect shot. Next to the draft-copy was the final photograph of a house in Massachusetts. I thought the picture was dull, but the craftsmanship was undeniable. Philip Trager didn’t just take photographs; he made them.
As I sit down and write this, there are two shots that particularly stand out in my mind. The first was called Arthur Aviles and it focused on a man leaping and twisting through the air. The shot looks at the man’s head, arms and legs– it’s difficult to describe because it’s an unusual setup. The man is doing gymnastics and flying toward the camera at the same time. It’s a powerful photograph. I wouldn’t mind it as a poster.
The other is of a front step in New York City. The sun is shining at an angle, so the stairs are partially obscured in shadows. The stone handrail flows in an S-shape that seems to dance along the street. Even though the photograph is all concrete, marble, and iron ornamentation, my eyes were drawn to the movement of the city. I thought it was great. The title is West 122nd St (it would make a great example for a powerpoint about the dynamics of a curved line).
When I had finished looking at the photographs and jotting a few notes down, I left the gallery. I’d forgotten how majestic the main forum was. I think that’s about the best compliment that I can give– Philip Trager’s work made me forget where I was.
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Philip Trager’s Form and Movement is on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. until January 3rd. Trager is still taking photographs, and teaches classes at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, Maine.
American Society of Picture Professionals Meeting September 25, 2009
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“The medium is the message” Marshall McLuhan
On Thursday, the American Society of Picture Professionals hosted “Telling Stories through Pictures”. The guest speakers were Bill Douthitt, special projects managing editor for National Geographic, and Megan Rossman, a multimedia editor for WashingtonPost.com. The lecture was held at the stately Charles Sumner School, across from the National Geographic Society and five blocks from the White House.
I before I walked into the room, I had no idea what the American Society of Picture Professionals was. At the meeting there were around thirty middle-aged to senior members. It was evident from the size of the camera lenses that these people were professionals. After the event, I had a chance to talk with several of the board members and realized how senior and connected they were. Rose, the co-president, was the picture editor for the Chronicle of Higher Education. I met photographers for the Washington Post, Reuters and McGraw Hill textbooks. I even met a full-time National Geographic photographer (apparently they are really rare– NatGeo usually contracts out to the best freelancers). Just for the networking, I think I’ll go again. I was sort of a novelty, because I was the only student there. There was only one other starting out photographer.
The two guest speakers were very fantastic. I learned a few things about using photographs to tell storys, and a little about how to put together a successful powerpoint presentation. Both speakers used Macs (oh I went there).
Bill is the special projects editor for National Geographic. That means he works to put together four issues per year (about 100 pages) that deal with a specific topic. His most recent project was on energy. He oversees a very talented team, with a budget of about a half million dollars per year. The magazine will include 30-40 pictures, and pages of text. Unlike some other magazines, National Geographic focuses on its captivating photography, more so than on the text or graphics. Therefor, Bill spends most of his time getting the pictures right.
To Bill, the photographs have to tell a story. It’s not just about beautiful photos. There has to be a set-up, conflict and a resolution (beginning, middle, end). He starts a project with a concept from the marketing team (hey, we could see a magazine about ________). Not every topic works, sometimes he has to struggle to get a storyline that can be sustained by photography. He then spends a month researching the subject, the photographs in existence, the stories. He hunts for evocative photographs, looking through published, unpublished, photography agencies, NGOs, and university archives. Over time, he builds a catalog of 5,000 pictures on the subject. From there, he narrows down the options and brings in other editors to help collaboratively decide what they should publish.
Often, he struggles with “reconciling the language of words with the language of images”. Ideas that made sense on paper, don’t simply translate into images. Words have specific meanings, photographs have emotions that go much deeper than text. He says the cover is especially difficult to figure out, because it has to capture everything inside of the magazine, and serve as an advertisement for the magazine on newsstands.
His talk focused on the process of putting together a National Geographic magazine. A team of writers, text editors, photographers, researchers and graphic artists all work to bring Bill’s concepts to life. It would make a great documentary film.
Since these people are professionals, I’m not going to repost their pictures here without the copyrights too. But here’s a link to some of the pictures from the energy issue of National Geographic. It doesn’t really have the shots, but its a bit of the picuture. You should have been there! http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/energy-issue/table-of-contents
Meagan Rossman talked about her experience as a multi-media project manager for the WashingtonPost.com. I learned a couple of really practical things from her presentation. Her work was awesome; her powerpoint was not. It was a black background with white text– in the room with the lights killed, I could barely see to take notes. So use bright powerpoint backgrounds.
Basically, her job involves making audio slideshows and video stories. Audio slide shows have a series of pictures with audio recordings of interviews. The artistic difference between audio slideshows and videos are that audio slide shows are “moment orientated”, with powerful still images. Video clips are “action orientated”.
To make an audio slideshow, Meagan takes audio from interviews and combines it with photographs of an event to tell the story. She layers natural sound (things that would be in the background if a web viewer was there in person) and splices the interviews to make a compelling story. A reporter ask the interviewee to tell a story, and focus on their five senses (what are you hearing, what are you seeing, feeling, tasting ect). She recommended mixing detail and wide photographs to keep things dynamic.
I hadn’t ever really thought about making audio slideshows, but the idea was very cool. She showed us some of her work. I’ve got some links here:
To see Meagan’s work with WashingtonPost.com, click here.
To see Meagan’s pulitzer-prize finalist audio slideshow about women dying in childbirth in Serra Leone, click here. As a heads up, it is intense, and a little graphic.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience. They have some events coming up in October– I’m hoping to get out to them.
