Photo Proposal

Jordan Land

Photo Seminar

                Through my wanderings around many towns and cities, it’s become apparent that one of the most common words appearing on signs and notices, banners and readings, is the word NO.  More ‘No’s’ than ‘Yes’s’, More ‘No’s’ than ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’.  And we read these without a second thought.  But what are the values that this readily apparent word imposes?  And how do they effect us? I want to explore how the physical word NO becomes a part of its local environment, and how as a signifier it communicates a certain thought process.  The chosen word in the photography should not and will not be the subject, but will still be legible in the photograph and an easily identifiable factor of the depicted environment.

                I strongly believe that displaying work is just as important if not more so to facilitating an artist’s desired expression.  I don’t believe that this work could be fully experienced through simple large prints (I will print large forever!), beautifully framed and isolated from one another.  Ideally, I would occupy an entire space with very large prints, overlapping in a very erratic juxtaposition.  A vibrant disconcerting array of images that sharply run into one another, not smoothly blend.  However, I lack the space and funds to approach such a project.  So instead, I will opt for a digital projection that enables a similar kind of layout.  The photos will be arranged, irregularly, within a ‘photo sphere’ that enables the user to digitally look around.  I can further expand this by displaying it on the largest screen I can find on campus, within the Meese Auditorium.