Narrating the Self Response Paper

Overall, I felt this reading had some interesting parts hidden among the sea of text, however the majority of it was a bit dry. There were a few parts of the essay that grabbed my attention and posed a new way to view the definition and/or impact of personal narrative.

On page 21, the authors state, "We immediately transform the present moment into its abstraction. We need only recount an episode we experienced a few hours ago: the dialogue contracts to a brief summary, the setting to a few general features." While some may view this lack of remembering as a negative thing, I personally appreciate these gaps of white space in memory. I feel that it gives us a chance to participate and to recreate our own versions of experiences we had no control over in the first place. It allows room for interpretation and individuality to seep through moments that have become imposed on us.

Another thing that struck me while reading this essay is how we tell memories in the past tense of language. I now wonder why we use the past tense because as we are telling these stories of things that have happened, we are currently recreating the moment in our minds. Therefore, should we not describe memories in the present tense, as we are reliving them currently, not in the physical but in the psychological medium?

NYC: Black & White

The images included in NYC: Black & White are largely a selection of photographs taken in New York City in January of 2011. Many of the images taken are candid moments in time that inspired me with their unique beauty and texture; things in everyday life that often go unnoticed and unappreciated; things revealed in the white space or seams of time.

The book is organized in layers. It begins with travel and modes of transportation. The book then moves toward life forms and emotion. NYC: Black & White concludes with two installation photographs followed by images of the architecture that helps to define the "Big Apple".

Cultural Event 3-Salsa Club

Another awesome event I was able to experience while in New York City was going to a salsa club. It was so entertaining to watch these extremely experienced couple dance together and move their feet and bodies in a way I have never really seen first hand. The amount of improvisation when dancing with new partners was really cool to see too. I had the opportunity to learn some of the basic steps from one of the teachers there who encouraged me to mainly just move to the rhythm of the music. I had a blast! I would love to learn more about that style of dance and how to connect with the music in that very intimate way. I could hardly believe how much you had to really open yourself up and be vulnerable to the initial discomfort of moving and uniting with a complete stranger, understanding how to get your bodies to move and flow together. Wow!

Cultural Event 2-Museum of Modern Art New York City

In the end of January I had the opportunity to visit the MoMA in NYC. I was fascinated to see the different types of art displayed and the many famous photographers' work we had discussed in my photography class hanging on the walls. My favorite section was the photography section because after taking this film class I absolutely have a new appreciation for how difficult it is to create a good quality and interesting photograph. I was especially amazed at how photography has changed over the years. The beginning photographs were mainly formal portraits of men in wigs and women in their enormous elegant gowns while modern photography centers in many ways around candid photographs and offbeat moments where people are caught in a more natural light. My favorite work at the museum was a wall of tiny images from a movie translated into teeny photographs that all combined to tell the entire movie in still form. It was incredible!

Artist Documentary-Annie Liebovitz

I was fascinated with Annie's work and the process of how she became one of the most esteemed photographers in the world. I was amazed at seeing the actual scene she was shooting on the video and then comparing it to the final photograph. The way she captured the scenes and engaged with them in such creative and successfully new ways blew me away. I also thought it was incredibly interesting to see how her images and the manner in which she photographed changed from her work with the Rolling Stones, where she became one with the people she was photographing and a part of the action letting the scene evolve into whatever it became, to Vanity Fair, where she was creating, designing, and imagining the image she wanted to capture.

Cultural Event #1: Next To Normal

I had the privilege of seeing the music Next To Normal at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts downtown On January 13. The play was about a dysfunctional family of four with a schizophrenic mother.
It was interesting to be able to see the different points of view from the different members of the family and how they were affected by her disorder. The husband was convinced she needed to be on more pills and see more doctors while the talented daughter felt ignored and non-existent within the family, and turned to drugs as a result. One thing I did not see coming about halfway through the play was when the audience realized that the "son" had actually died as a baby and the character playing him was simply a figment of the mother's imagination. In the end, the mother finally realizes she must leave her family to be able to heal from her son's haunting presence. Once she leaves, she finally experiences this freedom, but then the father becomes paranoid with his ghost.
The music was incredible, although I was not impressed with the mother's voice. The daughter and son were extremely talented singers, however. The set was quite simple and the lighting was very colorful so it felt very modern.
The play definitely seemed to be a satire on how much americans rely on modern medicine to fix every single problem. I really enjoyed the overall experience, although it was an awakening to how blessed I am to come from a quite normal family and not have to deal with those same issues expressed on the stage.

Artist Film: Sally Mann

I thought the production on Sally Mann's photography was extremely intriguing. It was interesting to see the type of equipment she used, especially her work with glass negatives and extremely slow shutter speeds. I also thought it was fascinating to hear what types of things inspired her to take a photograph and how she achieved inspiration for certain ideas (especially how the man that died on her farm helped to further inspire her work for her show about death). The way in which she described her landscape photography as creating a womb-like effect, I felt was very accurate because that's exactly what I thought of when I looked at her images.
I also thought it was interesting to see her home life and how she sort of drew her fame from her controversial pictures of her nude children. I thought it was sad how that issue affected her and her family for so long because I personally thought the pictures were so beautiful and unique. It also provided greater insight into the daily challenges she faces, one being her husbands muscular dystrophy, and another one many people can relate to, which is her difficulty in beginning to take pictures again after she finishes a show. I thought the movie did a fantastic job of representing her distinguished talent and skill, yet still revealing her as human in showing the challenges she faces that any other artist may encounter as well.