Please Follow Me
Mitch Epstein
Mitch Epstein grew up in Holyoke,Massachusetts. His father owned a furniture/ appliance store which has implemented into his current project. Arts first caught his eye as a teenager at 'Williston Acandemy' where he picked up his first camera and recorded the life of his school life.
Mitch studied photography with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind before moving ti NYC in 1972 to finish of his studying.
When looking through Mitch epstein work,I felt all of his work wasn't a recreation of the past nor future but pin pointing and collobrating idea of the present.
Shown on the left is a few of the projects that Epstein involved himself in.
The reason for choosing Mitch as a photograph to study and "follow" was for a few reasons.
1) A current photographer and able to contact to have a personal information blog, therefore helping myself understand him at a personal level and creating my own judgements of him.
2) As a photographer I feel current affairs are very important to the art of contempory and how it enchances and envolves not just the art but the attitude and actions of others.
3) Lastly the meaning behined the pictures and how he doesn't focus on one genre and constanly evolves his pictures, furthermore he doesn't just use colours but understand and creates contrast and depth by implementing different types and formats of photography.
Idea 1
Understanding current affairs can be accepted and viewed from all different types of aspects. In this idea I want to understand forign affairs and their lifestyle and compare and simlairse. " American power" 2003-2009"
"American Power (From the website)
Mitch Epstein's current work examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape. Made on forays to energy production sites and their environs, these pictures question the power of nature, government, corporations, and mass consumption in the United States"
Mitch Epstein's current work examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape. Made on forays to energy production sites and their environs, these pictures question the power of nature, government, corporations, and mass consumption in the United States"
(http://www.mitchepstein.net/work/americanpower/index.html)
The main word throughout both my ideas and Epstein idea is the word "power" What is power? how is it shown? and the outcome and results of this?" I wanted this to collobrate with my "Under the bonnet" project and how we are controlled as a society. The reason for picking "American power" to relate to was because of how the country as a whole is controlled and in certain state of mind.
On the left is the series of "Amiercan Power", the series involves such variation which is where I will cut down on and pin point certain parts of society.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwRPq-lYuY Used a 4x5 camera
http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/a_conversation_with_mitch_epstein/
http://bombsite.com/issues/999/articles/3355
Idea 2: The city
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The City A series of photographs about the meeting of public and private life in New York.
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... The rest is on the link below
http://www.mitchepstein.net/work/city/index.html
Photography has change and has been implemented by citizens fews a lot of the past 40 due to such things as privacy, terrorist acts and people using it for the disasvantages of others. As Epstein said "people not only tolerated but enjoyed having their picture taken" Within 20 years this view had completely change and no one wanted this type of photography to be accepted. This had lead to new laws such as no photos at sports day, photos no longer being taken in court due to the date/personal protection act.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law
Many photographers now get cautioned/arrested due to them trying to show the truth or even to take photos in day to day use. This is where my idea starts where every great artist in anything has broken the rules to capture and create something new, this is where my idea begins
http://www.mitchepstein.net/writing/essays/2001_photodistrictnews.html
In this series he using a total of 85 image, 64 colour and 21 b/w which were all printed full page. In this series he used his Fuji and mamiya cameras.
But in the Nineties, I found myself questioning how a photographer functions in public space: what is acceptable and what is not, because people were, by then, sensitive to the intrusiveness of cameras (of all kinds) in our culture."
"When I was abroad," he says, "the problem was how to know better what wasn't my own, to know the references that would make my photographs meaningful here. Here, I had to learn to move through familiar territory like a foreigner."
Both of these quotes i feel implemented into a lot of his work and how when he moved the city and the movement of people enchanced but changed the outcome of his work. This was how I personally felt about when I moved to london, and how it felt "adbroad" This way I could be a flanur a observer of the surroundings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clqxWnXU2H0
http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/video/exposed-mitch-epstein
http://www.amazon.com/City-Mitch-Epstein/dp/1576871010
Further Photos "The City"
http://www.mitchepstein.net/writing/essays/2001_photodistrictnews.html
In this series he using a total of 85 image, 64 colour and 21 b/w which were all printed full page. In this series he used his Fuji and mamiya cameras.
But in the Nineties, I found myself questioning how a photographer functions in public space: what is acceptable and what is not, because people were, by then, sensitive to the intrusiveness of cameras (of all kinds) in our culture."
"When I was abroad," he says, "the problem was how to know better what wasn't my own, to know the references that would make my photographs meaningful here. Here, I had to learn to move through familiar territory like a foreigner."
Both of these quotes i feel implemented into a lot of his work and how when he moved the city and the movement of people enchanced but changed the outcome of his work. This was how I personally felt about when I moved to london, and how it felt "adbroad" This way I could be a flanur a observer of the surroundings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clqxWnXU2H0
http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/video/exposed-mitch-epstein
http://www.amazon.com/City-Mitch-Epstein/dp/1576871010
Further Photos "The City"
Capture you!
In this idea I want to capture the emotions that aren't "allowed" to be seen, wheather it before randomly walking down the street or a conversation that will never be heard. I don't want to invade privacy but be a flenur and being a third party within the surrounding, observing and showing others what goes on everyday that is overlooked or not seen by others.
In these photos I will be both taking them secretivly by having a 35mm film camera under my coat and see the diversity between using a smaller camera and then seeing how much a reaction to a SLR can change a person. Most of these photos will be taken on the underground due to the close contact with people, furthermore I want to do something that is highly looked down on whereas in the 1970's photos like these would of been acceptable. Other locations that photos will be taken are, local markets or cafe's, in areas where people communicate as friends and relax.
Like Epstein's work I want the series to flow in a certain way as if it was a trip around london showing the different emotions.
Further to this idea I feel most of the photos should be taken on the underground due to how much bad publicity photography has been given for this type of idea. I feel I could create a series underground due to the close contact with others and how this effects people and how they either hide present differently. This series would be be up to 50 photos to the mass scale that Epstein was aswell, however to make the series for personal to each emotion the pictures would be printed at 4x6 or 5x7 so they are personal to each person. These photos will be mounted on black card to increase the direct contact but also due to the varition of colours that will be used the black creates further depth.
Further thinking about the project and after expiermenting with this type of idea I feel the sequence would not be successful. Still wanting to do this idea I have tried to explore going away from this idea and go to the streets aswell. This allows space and comfort for the people being photographed, Furthermore I feel this is more adaptable to Epstein as a majority of the series I am focusing on is taken outside.
I was not the same after this trip. The cost of growth, with its implicit energy demands, had become terrifyingly vivid. I had seen first-hand the grave results of fossil fuel production on human life and our ecosystem.
To further examine the role of energy in the United States, I embarked on a five-year-long, twenty-five-state project called American Power. I photographed a consumerist society inured to the consequences of unbridled consumption. Many living in the shadows of power plants despaired their polluted water and air, but did not have the economic resources to relocate. Growth no longer meant progress, but self-destruction.
I wanted to photograph the dangerous trinity of corporate power, consumerist advertising, and citizens who believe the old American dream that improving your lot means having more and using more.
American Power is an active response to the American Dream gone haywire. My project focuses on the United States not only because I am American, but because the U.S. has exported its model of unrestricted growth around the world in the form of mass consumerism, corporatism, and sprawl.
We need to now export a revised model of growth, a revised American Dream. I included pictures in American Power of renewable energy--wind, biotech, solar--to show that a healthier, more economical and compassionate way of life is possible. American Power bears witness to the cost of growth; and it asks viewers to consider the landscape they have created--and take responsibility for it.
After the project was finished, exhibited, and published as a book, I looked for a way to disseminate this work beyond the art world. I created an interactive public art project with my wife, writer Susan Bell, that used billboards in Ohio and a website to share American Power more widely.
— Mitch Epstein's work won the third Prix Pictet prize for photography and sustainability, announced on March 17, 2011. This year's theme was Growth.
http://www.lensculture.com/epstein?thisPic=3
http://www.mitchepstein.net/work/americanpower/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/06/epstein-american-power-steele-perkins
Second Idea
In these photos I will be both taking them secretivly by having a 35mm film camera under my coat and see the diversity between using a smaller camera and then seeing how much a reaction to a SLR can change a person. Most of these photos will be taken on the underground due to the close contact with people, furthermore I want to do something that is highly looked down on whereas in the 1970's photos like these would of been acceptable. Other locations that photos will be taken are, local markets or cafe's, in areas where people communicate as friends and relax.
Like Epstein's work I want the series to flow in a certain way as if it was a trip around london showing the different emotions.
Further to this idea I feel most of the photos should be taken on the underground due to how much bad publicity photography has been given for this type of idea. I feel I could create a series underground due to the close contact with others and how this effects people and how they either hide present differently. This series would be be up to 50 photos to the mass scale that Epstein was aswell, however to make the series for personal to each emotion the pictures would be printed at 4x6 or 5x7 so they are personal to each person. These photos will be mounted on black card to increase the direct contact but also due to the varition of colours that will be used the black creates further depth.
Further thinking about the project and after expiermenting with this type of idea I feel the sequence would not be successful. Still wanting to do this idea I have tried to explore going away from this idea and go to the streets aswell. This allows space and comfort for the people being photographed, Furthermore I feel this is more adaptable to Epstein as a majority of the series I am focusing on is taken outside.
American Power
photographs and text by
Mitch Epstein
In 2003, I was asked to photograph the erasure of
a small town in Ohio. In Cheshire, houses were being razed by the hour
and streets were nearly emptied of human life. American Electric Power,
one of the world’s largest utility companies, had bought out the town
and instituted a gag order, after increasing complaints that AEP’s plant
had contaminated the health of Cheshire’s citizens. photographs and text by
Mitch Epstein
I was not the same after this trip. The cost of growth, with its implicit energy demands, had become terrifyingly vivid. I had seen first-hand the grave results of fossil fuel production on human life and our ecosystem.
To further examine the role of energy in the United States, I embarked on a five-year-long, twenty-five-state project called American Power. I photographed a consumerist society inured to the consequences of unbridled consumption. Many living in the shadows of power plants despaired their polluted water and air, but did not have the economic resources to relocate. Growth no longer meant progress, but self-destruction.
I wanted to photograph the dangerous trinity of corporate power, consumerist advertising, and citizens who believe the old American dream that improving your lot means having more and using more.
American Power is an active response to the American Dream gone haywire. My project focuses on the United States not only because I am American, but because the U.S. has exported its model of unrestricted growth around the world in the form of mass consumerism, corporatism, and sprawl.
We need to now export a revised model of growth, a revised American Dream. I included pictures in American Power of renewable energy--wind, biotech, solar--to show that a healthier, more economical and compassionate way of life is possible. American Power bears witness to the cost of growth; and it asks viewers to consider the landscape they have created--and take responsibility for it.
After the project was finished, exhibited, and published as a book, I looked for a way to disseminate this work beyond the art world. I created an interactive public art project with my wife, writer Susan Bell, that used billboards in Ohio and a website to share American Power more widely.
— Mitch Epstein's work won the third Prix Pictet prize for photography and sustainability, announced on March 17, 2011. This year's theme was Growth.
Amos Coal Power Plant, Raymond, West Virginia 2004
My opinion of Mitch Epstein's American Power sequence. When looking through the sequence this photo inperticular stuck out to me, the reason for this is because of the contrast of the power station against the small houses, showing development between both rural and urban lifestyle. This shows development and creation in society but further industrialization. Another reason it stuck alot out to me is beacuse various studies talk about health of the population or global warming however this doesn't stop alot of construction. So you have a beautiful landscape where people admire and are glad it is used for natural and pure power (Second picture) which is then overwhelmed by construction, which is applied well with the thirds rule, by having the construction site 2/3 of the picture it applied the thought of overtaking and more power.
http://www.lensculture.com/epstein?thisPic=3
http://www.mitchepstein.net/work/americanpower/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/06/epstein-american-power-steele-perkins
Second Idea
Industrilaztion of both society and techonlogy is what I would like to perform in my pictures. When looking at the picture above it made me think of how this sort of development still occurs but also that it doesn't just happen in America and but all over the world. Now alot of the pictures in the series of 'American power' are diverse and show different aspects of American power and revolution. So this has inspired me to show development and construction but further development in techonolgy. This series will be based around the rural parts of london, trying to show how the development of areas affects the landspace, but also development in the area.
Furthering this is brought forward by the second picture to show the sort of contrast with which is what I wanted to apply in my photos.
In alot of my photos the perspective such as the second photos will be applied, to show the strength of development and how the word 'power' contructs society from a objective perspective.
So this series has inspired me to look at both the word power, man made rather then natural power but further the affect this has on it whereabouts and the society around it. To referance 'power' more electricity pylons will be implemented alot due to the height of power but also to represent construction through time.
In alot of my photos the perspective such as the second photos will be applied, to show the strength of development and how the word 'power' contructs society from a objective perspective.
So this series has inspired me to look at both the word power, man made rather then natural power but further the affect this has on it whereabouts and the society around it. To referance 'power' more electricity pylons will be implemented alot due to the height of power but also to represent construction through time.
During this sequence I will be using a 14 to 40 and 10 to 24 canon lens to get the widest angle, the reason being to get as much of a appropriate perspective as I can to enable the use of construction.
Third idea
This idea reflected on the first idea "Capture you" however it performed it in a different way. Now when thinking of Epstein's work I loved the fact of the amount of photos he took of people and how welcoming they were in that age of time and society. When looking at london nowadays It is a lot harder to take photos of people talked about in the previous ideas. So I wanted to stray away from taking photos randomly of people but to ask them to do simple actions.
In the time of Epstein taking photos people were very welcoming and loved having photos taken of them.
So reflecting on todays society I feel it has changed alot however should we still be as welcoming and diverse as people were then? We should accept how society is today, it is a multi cultrual city/country with many different religons and colours however we are all human. This is where my idea came into it, So in this piece I wanted to do a simple piece of photos of people pointing at eachother but with happy expressions or blowing kisses, and the symbol of a love heart, however this was done in a perticular way that it was facing to another person showing invidually by the space left between the photos but involved in a soceity where there is many different people,cultures skin tone however everyone is the same, which is I wanted to show. This was just simply taking photos against a white/ colour background and asking them to do a action and the person involved deciding how to perform this.
Third idea
This idea reflected on the first idea "Capture you" however it performed it in a different way. Now when thinking of Epstein's work I loved the fact of the amount of photos he took of people and how welcoming they were in that age of time and society. When looking at london nowadays It is a lot harder to take photos of people talked about in the previous ideas. So I wanted to stray away from taking photos randomly of people but to ask them to do simple actions.
In the time of Epstein taking photos people were very welcoming and loved having photos taken of them.
So reflecting on todays society I feel it has changed alot however should we still be as welcoming and diverse as people were then? We should accept how society is today, it is a multi cultrual city/country with many different religons and colours however we are all human. This is where my idea came into it, So in this piece I wanted to do a simple piece of photos of people pointing at eachother but with happy expressions or blowing kisses, and the symbol of a love heart, however this was done in a perticular way that it was facing to another person showing invidually by the space left between the photos but involved in a soceity where there is many different people,cultures skin tone however everyone is the same, which is I wanted to show. This was just simply taking photos against a white/ colour background and asking them to do a action and the person involved deciding how to perform this.
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