Picture Black Friday

http://www.pictureblackfriday.org/main.html

Every year, Black Friday rings in the yearly holiday shopping season, with hundreds of thousands of people getting up before sunrise to queue for bargains and deals; when the doors are unlocked, the stores being besieged by their own customers. During Black Friday 2008, security guard Jdimytai Damour, was trampled to death by crazed shoppers as he tried to hold back bargain seekers at a Walmart in Long Island . Unfortunately, the uproar in the media was mostly over by the end of the initial weekend.

Picture Black Friday is a photojournalism project that aims to revisit and analyze a combination of forces- a worsening economy, financial desperation, excitement, fear, and a distinctly American cultural tradition- that culminate the morning after Thanksgiving.

More specifically, Picture Black Friday is an open call for photographers throughout the U.S. to go out and produce images that document Black Friday- how you see it, on your terms. Imagine this project as an open assignment: you have freedom to approach this event from any angle you wish, returning with single images or even a mini-project that documents Black Friday like no other media outlet will. A selection of these images will be exhibited on this site.

This project is the brainchild of New York City photographer John Saponara. In 2009 John partnered with Jake Stangel, founder of the photo resource site too much chocolate, and Joerg Colberg, creator of the photoblog, Conscientious, to launch Picture Black Friday.

For 2010 the Picture Black Friday project will be accepting submissions for one week, beginning on Sunday, November 28th through December 5th. Photographers can submit up to 5 of their best images of and about Black Friday. Photographers may submit a short statement to go along with their images.

After the initial submission period ends, the Picture Black Friday judges will make a concise selection of work to be featured in a gallery on this site.
Our jurors will then choose from that selection the best image(s) and the chosen photographer(s) will be featured and promoted through PBF and a variety of outlets in our network.

Our goal is to give photographers around the country an outlet to share their images on consumerism, the turbulent economic times we live in, and the mass hysteria that retailers and large corporations feed the American buying public all in search of the almighty dollar, be it paper or plastic.

Blog 10

3 photo By James

Unknown Artist, Arapaho Light Rail Station

I selected this image because this is one of my first experiences with found art, as i was driving to a friends with my wife I spotted this installation. It appears to be an interpretation of Jeanne-Claude and Cristo's work constructed inside the Arapaho Light Rail Station, it was up for about two days and then was gone.   

I have always found the look of people peering over a object to be both strange and creepy, this photo shows two people looking over a somewhat strange and yet elegant wall, one of them is looking down into the unknown and the other is looking at me, the feeling of contradiction between the lit room or object in opposition and the two people looking over the wall is what I find appealing about the photo. 

I selected this photo because it's been a while since I have seen Tyler, he is a former employee at Denver Pro as well as a good friend which I have used as a model in a few of my photos.  This photo reminds me of him and the fun we had a work, but also create a mood that shows many of the aspects of Tyler in a single photo.  

Hear are a few photo of Tyler that I have made over the last two years.

The Confession, 2009

Untitled, 2009

 Untitled, 2009

Untitled, 2009

Blog 9

From: Life with my dad

Swinging on Sal. 2010

This photo speaks both of the playfulness of being a young boy as well as the life that Asher lives at home with his father. I chose this photo because it speaks to the environment that Asher lives in, his creative and adventurous life. Sal, who even has a face, is the name that he and his father gave to the tree he is swinging on.

"Hurricane" Band Practice. 2010

Both Travis and Asher are talented musicians, they spend a fair amount of their private time working on writing and performing songs. Asher, the self proclaimed writer, performs, writes songs and lyrics, and titles the work. I chose this photo as a portrait of Asher.

Travis and Asher. 2010

Travis and Asher together. I chose this photo because I feel this is how I see them when I am with them, the loving and idolized father with his young and brilliant son who thinks the world of his dad.

Blog 8

Robert Mapplethorpe, Photo of David Hockney 1976

http://www.mapplethorpe.org
The subject as object, one thing that I find interesting about this photo is the nature of the pose, the reclined form with the crossed hands and arm low on the abdomen, legs crossed, in many ways this is the same pose used as far back as the Renaissance and Baroque paintings showing the reclining female nude. The pose is something that is classic to human objectification, but the look on his face, the clothing, the rough wood all works against the soft inviting nature of the reclining nude. The facial expression on his face is something comical, almost a statement of boredom with the viewer and their gaze, as he looks back out at us as if to say I am done with this, or hurry it up will you.  In this photo it is the attitude of the subject that becomes the point.

Allen Sekula, Aerospace Folktales, 1 of 51 images ,
2005, silver gelatin print, 8 x 10 inches,
AS119

Link to: Aerospace Folktales By Allen Sekula
For such a simple and elegant photo I felt this work is loaded with information, each of the subjects with it's own story to tell. The mother stands feet close together in the same area as the man both are engaged in some way, she looks as if she is undoing a button on her sleeve at the same time as the man checks his watch. The action of the two adults in the photos gives the impression that they are expecting something or someone that is now late, the look of the stance and the gesture given seems to be impatient. The young girl in the photo stands to the side, disengaged from the two adults in the photo, she is tossing a ball in the air, entertaining herself because the two adults are to busy worrying about the time to be productive or enjoy life while they wait.  The three of them appear to be standing at a storage facility, maybe they are the tenant of a unit or they are the owners of the facility and are waiting on a tenant, either way there is a hurried feel to the photo. This photo is presenting a social position through the subjects, the unwillingness for an adult to wait, while the child is still enjoying life despite the setback. This social position is created through the signifier in the photos, body pose, gestures and actions preformed by the subjects.




3 Photos by James.

Michelle, Sophia, and Kim, Carving a pumpkin

This photo is a document of the event, showing the three carving a pumpkin and having a good time doing it. We were over there for dinner and some carving. I chose the photo because of the mood that it creates about the enjoyment of the evening and simple social interaction.

Riley as a Blue Pixie. Halloween 2010

I chose this photo because it shows the fun loving nature of Riley, her love for the world and the joy of going somewhere and having fun.

This photo is of a fellow art student, showing a work of his on multidimensional with slides of geometric forms and audio of Carl Sagan, he commented on me photographing him and how it was as if I was adding another dimension to his work. The philosophical side of my brain was intrigued by this notion of a photograph be something of its own dimension.

Blot Out The Sun, November 2010

Blot Out The Sun, November 2010, Scrub Oak And Hickory With Wire. 52"x72"x13"

Installation View, Blot Out The Sun, November 2010, Scrub Oak And Hickory With Wire. 52"x72"x13"