Photographer of the Week - Gordon Parks

Gordon Parks

Parks was an African American man, born in 1912 in Kansas into poverty and was inspired from a young age to begin taking photographs after seeing pictures of migrant workers in a magazine. From the time he picked up a camera, Parks began to use his photographs to cover the social and economic impact that racism had on the time period. Parks would later join the Farm Security Administration, put in place to combat rural poverty, so that he could use his talents as a photographer to document the nation in the social and political climate of the time. As an African American, Parks had the edge over his contemporaries of the time; being able to gain amazingly personal photographs of members of the African American population around the country and using his disadvantage to his advantage.

Parks was particularly interested in the issues of civil rights and poverty, which is quite evident throughout his work. One of the works of his that most stood out to me was that of his photo series with Ella Watson, government chairwoman in Washington D.C. In the photo series, we take a look into the life of Ms. Watson, her children and grandchildren, and the living accommodations that they stay in. Yet arguably the most impactful image of the series is that of Ms. Watson posed in front of the American flag holding a sweep as to mimic the iconic painting, American Gothic. 

Parks style of being able to capture the raw expressions of the African American community, such as in his 1967 photograph of a family at a welfare office. For the remainder of his career, Parks would continue to capture haunting and compelling images filling every inch of the frame.

Week 7 Forum

TOPIC 2: ACTION/SPORTS PHOTOS -- Now that you've got some tips on how to shoot action ...

1. WHAT is your Sports/Action subject?
2. WHEN and WHERE are you going to shoot it?
3. Karl/Scobel talked about their approach to shooting sports/action. Your approach must include an "overall,” "medium” and a "closeup/detail” shot. While one of these can be a “sideline” shot, you must have at least one good ACTION PHOTO. List your ideas for:
1. OVERALL --
2. MEDIUM --
3. CLOSEUP/DETAIL --

After listening from Scobel Wiggins and Karl Massdam on how to shoot action and sports events, the two main tips that really stuck with me were that of shooting in aperture priority and looking for the moment shots. For shooting in aperture priority, I think that this is a really important idea for shooting since the idea of blurring out the background in order to focus the image on the subjects in the foreground. Also, looking for the "moment" shots I think is also a really important idea to always keep in the back of your mind. Getting shots of people at a baseball game eating a hot dog is a great example of one of those moment shots that doesn't necessarily have to be of the main event but that is able to bring out the emotion of the event.

For my Sports/Action photos, the subject that I am looking to photograph is Corvallis Ultimate Frisbee held at the Crystal Lake Sports Field on Wednesday's starting at 6pm. My idea for trying to get the overall shot of this event is to try to get a shot of the crowd in the background of the photo and have a few of the players, hopefully in action, in the foreground. I think I'd like to play with the way that either blurring out the players and keeping the crowd in focus or blurring out the crowd and keeping the players in focus would look. For the medium shot I'd like to get either a photo of some people in the crowd or some of the players running around. For the close up though, I'd like to try to get a shot of two players two are both trying to challenge for the frisbee at the same time, freezing the action in time.

Week 6 Forum

For the "My Neighborhood/My Hometown" photo assignment for next week, the city that I'm planning on shooting is downtown Corvallis. I do not live downtown area of Corvallis, but I spend most my time there either in transit or going around doing errands. As for the ideas for photos that I can take around town, I was thinking of going over to the Corvallis Courthouse because it is such a recognizable building that often when you think of Corvallis your mind goes to the courthouse with its contrasting white and red color scheme and classic "Big Ben-esk" clock. Another idea for a photo that I had in mind was that of taking a photo of one of the employees at the Browser's Bookstore which is located right across from the courthouse. The reason I had this location in mind was because I spend a good amount of time looking through their seemingly endless book supply. My last photo idea is to head over to the Corvallis Farmers Market to capture a photo of people going around the different booths. I think that the photo that I will have the most difficulty with is actually the one of the courthouse. The reason for this is because of the fact that the courthouse has been photographed hundreds of times, so trying to find a way to capture it in a way that is in its own way unique, will be difficult. 

For the photo story assignment I have two photo stories in mind. Currently I am thinking about either doing a story on the Heartland Humane Society or homeless in Corvallis. For the Heartland Human Society I was thinking about trying to get a behind the scenes look at how they run their operations at the center and take a look into the lives behind some of the people who work there. For the homeless in Corvallis, I was thinking of trying to see if I could interview some of the homeless people around Corvallis and take a look into their lives, what they do, and how they might have gotten to where they are. I was also thinking of going to the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center to see if I could go talk to the people over there and get some more information from them as well.

To go about getting these photographs, I would try to make contact with an outreach coordinator at the Heartland Humane Society and ask them to see if they would allow me to get some more personal access to the center than that of just simply walking around. For the idea on the homeless in Corvallis I think the best way for me to go about getting in contact with the people would be through the "middle man" so to speak, which is the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center since I think that that would be the best way for me to approach the people.

My Hometown/My Neighborhood

At the heart of downtown Corvallis stands the Corvallis Courthouse. Since opening its doors in 1889, the Corvallis Courthouse remains one of the last courthouses to continue to serve its original purpose. Renovated in the1970's, the courthouse now looks as much as it would have over 100 years ago.

  

Janett Brinkley works to shelve books at the Browser's Book Store in Corvallis, OR right across from the Corvallis Courthouse. Inside of the bookstore, you can find books from floor all the way up to the ceiling ranging from Fiction to Children's books to an entire corner of the bookstore dedicated to Science Fiction. If you can think of it, Browser's will more than likely have it.

Event goers mill around at the Corvallis Farmers' Market on Saturday 19th, 2018. Nestled in between 1st street and the Willamette River every Wednesday and Saturday from April until November, the Corvallis Farmers' Market is prime and ready, set up with all the fruits, vegetables, and homemade goodies ripe from the harvest.  

Diversity Day (News/Feature Event)

Leonel Alcantar, accompanied by Daniel Castillo (on the guitar) and Robert Mendez of Gerencia Elegante, performing in the LBCC courtyard for the Diversity Day on May 9th, 2018.

Dakota Carter (center) leads the LBCC acapella group, Blue Light Special, in a rendition of the classic NSYNC song, "Bye Bye Bye."  

Week 5 Forum

TOPIC: LYNSEY ADDARIO

Now that we're more than halfway through "It's What I Do," let's reflect on the work of photojournalist Lynsey Addario. This covers chapters 2-7. 

Similar to earlier in the term, in a NARRATIVE that's about 200 words (or more?!) ...

• Tell what you think of Addario's adventures/work in chapters 2-7.
• What two things have made an impression on you? Explain!
• What lessons can you apply in Photojournalism? What techniques can you use? 
• What personal sacrifices do see that Addario has made to pursue her profession? 
• What's your favorite quote (copy and paste it!) and why?
• What's your favorite photo(s) and explain why?

In Lynsey Addario's book, It's What I Do, Addario delves into both her work and personal life, giving us a glimpse of what it is like to work as a female photojournalist and all the ups and downs that come along with the job. So far, I have really enjoyed her book which has really given me a better understanding of the personal requirements that photojournalism demand. After all of her daring and death defying adventures, I am always impressed by her relentless to continue to get back out there in the line of fire and the depths of conflict in order to get the perfect photo. Also, her determination to get the photo that she wants to get regardless of what people, like the Times Magazine correspondent who though her presence would restrict their access in Afghanistan, think. Reading Addario's work, I feel that there are quite a few lessons that we can get from her work. 

Primarily for me, I think an important lesson that I have learned from her stories is networking; being able to make connections with people in order to have a better idea of the area and to often times gain access to locations that would have otherwise be off limits. One of the more challenging obstacles that Addario faces is that of making personal sacrifices for the sake of her work. The two biggest examples of this would be with seeing family and also with keeping relationships. Since Addario has such dedication to her work, anything beyond that often takes a back seat.

Reading so far, my favorite quote would have to be, "The photo editors made me a proposal: If I could sneak onto the set of Evita and get a photo of Madonna filming, they would offer me a job...My image of Madonna at the Casa Rosada made the front page of the newspaper that morning, and I got a job at the paper, where I was paid $10 a picture." I think this a perfect example of how if you really want something, you'll put in the work to make it happen, no matter what it takes.

So far in the reading, my favorite photo would have to be the one right at the end of Chapter 3 with the women and girls who are studying and reading the Koran. I really liked this picture because it shows the defiant nature of these people to not allow the rules imposed on them by men to dissuade them from learning.