jennifer leising

A sample (taken from my phone) of the types of signs I love coming across - old, no longer relevant, but generates personal emotion from me. I think I saw my first punk rock type show here - MxPx in 2001. That was a very long time ago. I talked to a friend and he said the venue used to be called Blind Melons, and they had interesting lineups back in the day. Anyways, this is related to my final project in that, this may not seem beautiful, but I happened to drive by it and it triggered a memory for me. Buffalo is full of these sorts of signs and relics from the past, and in general they fall into slow decline and are in a way frozen in time. 

I’m not 100% certain how I will be tying all of my images together, but it seems that I like to photograph run down businesses, their signage, as well as plant life interacting with manmade structures, such as vines growing on a building, or a flower blooming on the sidewalk, etc. 

I am currently brainstorming various ideas for a final project concept. I was considering certain ideas, such as “things that don’t belong” - an object, garbage, or a structure that has been blown around or displaced and ended up somewhere where it doesn’t quite fit or look right. 

A secondary idea is “beauty in ugly places” or “beauty passing by”, the idea here being whenever I am driving on the highway, I pass by these nondescript areas of beauty or interest but I am unable to document them except to note them as I am passing by. This would be difficult to photograph due to it being dangerous. 

A third concept I am considering is the idea of division - being divided by highway, or splitting (like a tree struck by lightning), the concept of divorce of some way. 

Lastly, I am in awe of all of the development happening around Buffalo, but also acutely aware of how it is changing the landscape (for good or for worse), and I want to document all the development projects popping up around the city. I might contrast this with demolition of old buildings as well. 

The left photo is my first darkroom print experience, and the right is my second printing experience. Between the two sessions I feel like I was able to get a lot more comfortable using the equipment and understanding the link between the exposing of light on the paper and the resulting image. I am working on getting two more rolls of film shot and will have to revisit the development of negatives experience again, which I am nervous about. The best thing has actually been having someone near by also working on the same thing, because we can double check with each other, help out and make sure we aren’t completely lost. 

I will admit that this reading kind of caught me off guard. I think there was a bit of a barrier at first with getting used to the way the author was expressing himself. 

Once I re-read Jeff Wall’s thoughts on photography and liquid intelligence (1989), I had somewhat of a better grasp on what he might be feeling. I like his contrast of photography being both a wet and dry medium (in its process) due to the technical aspects of shooting a photo, being “glassed in” so to speak, and the actual wet darkroom process of developing those images. I really enjoyed the thoughts provoked by his writing, which are definitely more abstract. 

I didn’t fully follow the end of his thoughts though, when he was describing the film “Solaris” and how the water on an oceanic planet was “studying” the people studying it. It did make me want to watch the movie, though. I think I kind of grasp what he is getting at ..if liquid represents nature and organic forms, and photography (which began as both a liquid+dry process) eventually represents only a dry form, the two are at odds with each other even moreso than they were in the past. The photographer can appreciate the liquid not only for its beauty, but appreciate the properties that make it have a mind of its own. 

I guess I think of climate change, since he pointed out that obvious example of nature being sacrificed for even the most carefully carried out uses of technology. We don’t really have any way of knowing where we are going, because we haven’t really been there as a society before either. 

The part that really got me honestly was when he was talking about electronic and digital systems replacing photographic film. He states not whether its good or bad (I get a negative connotation though) that this is happening, but goes on to point out that the relation of water to photography will be further displaced, further separated. “I see metaphorically a kind of hubris of the orthodox of technological intelligence which, secured behind a barrier of perfectly engineered glass, surveys natural form in its infamously cool manner.” Eeek. That just does not sound positive at all, haha. 

We came in ready to roll up our sleeves and get down n dirty with the darkroom experience. We had practiced our reel rolling with dead film and were ready to take our very first film rolls and do it ourselves. Of course, I was nervous but also very excited. 

I rather enjoyed the experience of winding the film around the plastic reels. It helped to have a partner in the pitch black darkroom, because we agreed ahead of time to have a pipeline system to stay organized (I started each step, and handed her my tool when completed). I’m pretty sure we finished that step first and felt like we were pros. 

Until of course, I had to develop my film. I think at that point, my brain went blank. Yes, there is a chart of instructions in the room near the sinks, but there is a distinct difference between the physical motions and mental organization required and just reading off a poster. Not to mention, I didn’t realize the first thing we do is rinse the film first with water before beginning the development process. But, now I know!

I would say my least favorite part was developing the film, due to the precision of the steps involved and having to constantly watch the clock. I am already feeling like I need to be wearing a wristwatch because I don’t trust the clock that’s in there for some reason, but I think I’m just not used to it. 

I did get more used to it as time went on. Ten minutes of agitating and getting my hands wet with chemicals definitely broke me out of the nervousness and more into the impatient zone!

Nothing compares to seeing the negatives turn out for the first time though. 

When it came to the enlarger, once again the apprehension of new equipment usage set in. But, we all helped each other and felt more comfortable by the end when we created our contact sheets. Again, a super rewarding experience. 

My greatest takeaway is - don’t mix up the chemicals, wear a watch or watch the clock carefully, and don’t get sidetracked. 

A few photographers I am interested in as I learn...

Andreas Gursky’s work stands out to me, especially the works highlighting the sprawl of commercialism, such as in his “99 Cent” photograph (1999). Those kinds of stores can be overwhelming. I got this same type of feeling of overwhelm when I went to a Canadian grocery store filled with “no name brand” foods, all in generic yellow boxed packaging. (I will post a photo of that store at a later time).

Andreas Gursky “99 Cent” (1999) 

Another photographer whose work I enjoy so far is Robert Adams. I particularly like the photos of The New West and California. He captures a certain non-glamorous side of the American west that I find really fascinating. I think it’s neat to capture the un-idealistic view of a place, because it’s right in front of us all the time but the things people might post on Instagram would suggest anything but that at times. Adams’ shots of nature are kind of interesting too, capturing a certain deadness or oddness about something that is otherwise beautiful, such as uprooted palm trees.