Thursday, September 06, 2007

Chicago Art

The MCA was between shows and had basically nothing to see.


The Art Institute had one big show I wanted to see... photography of Jeff Wall, but after seeing it I was disappointed. Not for me thanks. But as usual, the permanent collection overwhelms.



Yes, it's a monkey.

10 comments:

Peter Hoh said...

Not to hijack your thread or anything, but I was wondering if you think it's important for a young person to learn how to use a traditional SLR.

Rick Lee said...

If by traditional you mean using film, I'd say no. Film for still photography is now a historical medium. You can always learn something from older processes... such as coating glass plates with egg whites and silver, but it's not mandatory in my opinion. I do think it's important to have a fully adjustable camera such as a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses and manual settings.

Brooke A. Brown said...

I recognize the painting in the last photo from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The guy in the black suit gets a lot closer than Cameron did.

Nicole said...

I know that painting.
Sunday Afternoon of the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat. I took art history is school and I never forget anything...I have one of those brains. It's a curse sometimes. Is that the real deal? Or a resproduction?

Rick Lee said...

Ha! I forgot all about that in Ferris Bueller. Yes Nicole, it's the real Seurat. When I first saw it here in Chicago a couple of years ago, well.. first I was shocked at how big it was, and second, I was transfixed. Again this year, we stood and looked at it for a while and then we sat on the bench and looked at it for a long time.

Peter Hoh said...

Rick, thanks for clearing that up.

I've got an old film SLR. Until I can afford to get her a nice digital SLR, she's going to have to make do with that and my digital point-and-shoot camera.

From the looks of it, a nice digital SLR with interchangeable lenses starts around $1,000. Well, I'd better make sure we save our money instead of blowing it developing film from the old SLR.

Nicole said...

Rick
I would LOVE to see that in real life!!!! You're lucky!! I imagine that the pointilissm technique that he used is probably fascinating!

Rick Lee said...

Peter... you can get a Nikon D40 with an 18-55mm lens for 550 bucks. That's a serious camera. There's a real renaissance in amateur photography going on right now because of these great digital cameras available now. The wonderful thing is, if you have a computer already, you get a camera and start shooting and there's no cost involved in shooting. Paying for film and processing meant that most amateurs would never really shoot enough to get good. Now, everybody can be like the National Geographic guy who shot with abandon... firing off roll after roll of every subject.

Peter Hoh said...

Thanks, Rick. I missed that camera while wading through the myriad of cameras available for sale on Amazon.

Yeah, you're right about the ability to skip printing being a boon to amateurs. I remember taking copious notes of all my settings, then sitting down with the negatives and prints some time later and trying to learn from my mistakes and my successes.

Charleston Catholic / Clay Center Project said...

Okay, that's it. I've got to go to Chicago.