Sarah Baranski

Japan

2011-03-14T16:50:00.004-05:00

Ive been watching the news and looking at images/video footage of the tragedy in Japan for the past few days. I am so far removed from this situation. I don't know what an earthquake feels like; as I've never gone through one knowingly. I also don't know what it's like to see my loved ones and possessions swallowed up by the sea. The words 'Nuclear Meltdown' mean absolutely nothing to me. Yet there are millions(?) of people right now dealing with these issues and more.

I am considering making a class assignment which will asks students to respond to this tragedy. As removed as we are, we should still be thinking about what is going outside of ourselves.

This image really struck me:

I often think about the function of photography in my life. Family photo albums are a large part of that function. This image describes the current devastation which most families in Japan must be going through.

Relaxation

2011-03-01T22:03:00.002-06:00

I'm finding relaxation a rare occurrence these days.
I've been thinking a lot about prayer and relationships.

I need to keep making images, even if they aren't for anything but this blog. It's important to keep making images, or I won't feel like myself.

If I was a dancer....

2011-02-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

A new series I'm doing in b/w. This is a first image...hopefully they'll get to where I envision them soon.

Dad with Tomatoes

2010-10-15T16:37:00.002-05:00

And he's smiling.

New Image

2010-10-01T12:12:00.001-05:00

Trying to change things up by shooting something I've never shot for this project before; in the rain, near dusk, and with movement. Not sure if it fits.

My sister

2010-08-19T08:20:00.002-05:00

My sister is now living in Oregon. This is slightly inconvenient when I'm working on making images that talk about my family, and she's not here. So, I had an idea on how to keep including her, as well as talk about her absence. This is just a digital image of my idea. The light wasn't right at the time, so I didn't want to waste film. Thoughts?

What is this all about?

2010-07-04T11:11:00.006-05:00

I have been endlessly thinking about my project: Was Once Home.

What is it about?

Thoughts that were purposed to me from a colleague:

:I am not sure who the characters are, and what their relationship to you and each other is.

:Don't be too ambiguous. Some images are not informative enough.

:The best familiar photo projects often thrive on our voyeuristic tendency to really want to know how other people live. We sort of bounce our own persona off the others, to either compare or reflect or to gain confidence that we're above (ie. our fascinations with celebrities).

What am I interested in with this project? There are a few things, but I know I need to narrow it further. For now, here are where my interests lie.

:My displacement; not having a home of my own.

:The need to explore the setup and changes of my parents house, and how the space I inhabit begins to mimic my parent's home.

:The people who inhabit the space. Their relationships with each other and myself.

:The subtle history the home holds.

Can these all come together in one narrow idea? Do I need to leave some of these thoughts out? Which is the most interesting to someone whom is not familiar with my family?

Renovating

2010-06-28T14:09:00.002-05:00

Still working on this image. Can't seem to get the colors right, especially at the top.

An image of my dad's progress stripping the last of the carpet that came with the house when they bought it. He gave me a square of it. I loved this carpet!

Mother's day and Web Posting

2010-05-25T09:14:00.005-05:00

Here are a few images from mother's day

My sister and my mother.

Self portrait #3 in this body of work.

http://www.photoreview.org/competition/portfolio.php/23/2

This is the 2009 competition that just was posted with one of my images!

Lighting

2010-05-15T22:01:00.002-05:00

Tried my hand at lighting with this image. I still have some work to do on it, but I like how it turned out.

Alternative Crit Space and Website

2010-04-16T09:33:00.004-05:00

The weather has been working on being warm off and on lately. I hate not being outside when it decides to warm up. Usually I'm in class or doing work in my apartment. Since I'm the teacher, I was able to make the decision to have class outside. I didn't want my students to be distracted, so we went under the overpass and did an inprogress crit on the walls of that space. It was a lot of fun. A literal welcome breath of fresh air!

Also, I've been harboring endlessly on my website. I still have one more section to update, but for the most part it is up. Check it out. Any feedback would be great!
www.sarahbaranski.com

Dad

2010-03-01T08:20:00.002-06:00

I have a few different versions of this image. I worked a little more on this one, so I could give it to my dad. He wanted one of him smiling. I think this is the best image I have of him to date. I was shooting with Kodak Portra instead of my usual Fujifilm, so I decided to try different lighting to help with that. I like how it worked out. I'll be posting more soon, and hopefully an update on the website by the end of the month.

Eugene Richards

2010-02-13T09:56:00.014-06:00

Went to the Gage Gallery Thursday night to see the opening exhibition for Eugene Richards photographs:
A Procession of Them: The Plight of the Mentally Disabled

The images are powerful. Taken in Mexico and Paraguay at institutions for the mentally disabled, Richards shows the shocking conditions people of the aforementioned nature are thrown in. There are puddles of urine and patients lying in their own filth. At some of these institutions there may be one attendant for a least a hundred patients.
There is text on the wall which reads as powerfully as the images:

"It's a prison that chases us day by day and kills us by injecting us with medicine."
"There's an old woman who's been here for forty years, left over from the past."
"I don't have a comb, a toothbrush, clothes. I don't have socks. No one has."

I admire Richards work. I even included his work in my thesis paper for graduate school. What I admire most about him, is the change which happens from his work. Some of the institutions he photographed were shut down because his photographs were able to irrefutably describe the inhumane nature of treatment towards these people. His narratives are so powerful, and the inclusion of text makes them so. My thesis paper argued that text is needed alongside the photograph in order for the viewer to correctly interpret the image. Richards solidified my argument by saying in his lecture that he doesn't trust images, which is why he includes large amounts of text.

I awkwardly went up to him after the lecture to thank him for his images, to tell him about me including his work in my thesis paper, and to ask him to sign my books. He signed one of the books (50 Hours), which included text by his late wife Dorthea Lynch, "For Sarah, From Dorthea and Gene". I thought that was sweet. 50 Hours incorporates images of a birth and images from a protest, as well as text by Dorthea dealing with having cancer and not being able to have children of her own. The images and text all tie together about the concern for the future of children. It's a very powerful book.

I had a hard time finding images of his that were large enough to include in this post. So, instead of posting one body of work, I've posted a retrospect of Richards' work.

More of his work can be seen at www.eugenerichards.com

Teaching/Newish Photo

2010-01-19T19:52:00.007-06:00

Had a crit with Bill a week and a half ago. Here is one of the images that Bill liked, and I agree with. I think this image is the beginning of a good direction with my project. I've given up relying on the sun to come out in order to make the pictures I want. I think I'm going to try my hand at lighting. We'll see how that works. I think light plays an important role in this project. It establishes reality from nostalgia.

I'm teaching a Digital/Color class at Judson this semester. Really excited to be teaching a medium I somewhat work with.

I have challenged all my students to post at least one image weekly on a class blog. They are supposed to write about why they chose that image, and what it means beyond themselves and their subject matter. A little weighty, but I think they're up to the challenge.
Here's the link:
http://judsonphoto2.blogspot.com

Check it out, and leave feedback. Anything constructive would be great.

Portraits and Self Portraits

2009-12-21T17:52:00.007-06:00

A few images I made late in the summer.
Still a lot more touching up to do on them.

I was thinking about artists today. What is the motivation for making art? I'm sure it's different for everyone. I know some of it must have to do with the aesthetics of art. But is it more than that? I think about the images of Kiara above and wonder, what is the point of me making them (besides the obvious quality of the light)? Will those images ever become something more than ink on paper? Will these images (or future ones) create change? Do they need to?

I remember having a critique from Dawoud in graduate school. He said that I needed to make 'good' pictures. That the point of me being in Cabrini would be a waste if I didn't come out with 'good' pictures. I know he was right. Even though I learned a lot about people and developed relationships that I will cherish until the day I die if I didn't make 'good' pictures, I would have nothing to show for it.

I stopped photographing in Cabrini because of one person. I'm okay with it because that person is important to me. But now I feel as though the work I'm making is no longer important. I'm not out to prove anything with these images. I don't even know quite what they mean.

High School

2009-11-07T13:52:00.006-06:00

Took my AfterSchoolMatters class to the Lincoln Park Zoo yesterday, and here are a few shots I took with one of the point and shoot cameras.
The weather was amazing. I've missed the sun.

Community

2009-10-13T20:54:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about community recently. Partly because I have been writing about my Cabrini work for a review binder I'm putting together, and also because I have been working on making images of community with my ASM teens.
I am so attracted to community and people. Unfortunately my busy schedule has kept me isolated from the people I want to be around most. Hopefully that will soon change.

I have recently been reading books by Chaim Potok about the Jewish community. One in particular: The Promise. This is a book about relationships, and the psychology of people. I can't do it justice by writing a summation here. All I can say is that I was changed by this book.

Currently I'm reading: No Compromise, A Keith Green Story. This book is about the life of Keith Green. It takes the reader through his trials and journeys finding faith. I find it interesting his pull towards Jesus, and all the circumstances that led him there. His music has always touched me. He died in a plane crash at 28, and was married with 3 kids and one on the way. What I find interesting is that he was only a year older then what I am now, and seemed to have a much more fulfilling life then what I've had.

I am unhappy working so much. Perhaps I'll be happier with less jobs, less money, but more time to involve myself in a community. Why else are we here, if not to make relationships with one another?

Questions

2009-09-02T18:21:00.004-05:00

I have 3 slight variations of one shot. The one on the left is the first one, and the two on the right have yet to be color balanced. Which one has a more interesting composition? I can't get rid of the shadow on the far left of the original, because it's from a wall.

Bill posed:

Why would anyone else care about pictures of your family? (paraphrased)

Why would they? I am interested in that change that takes place in the family dynamic after you left home and then start returning as a guest in that very home you grew up in. I am also interested in the physical change that takes place. I think that is easier to see.
Are these two separate ideas?

Statement

2009-09-01T16:51:00.002-05:00

I've been putting off writing a statement for my new work for a while now. Partly because I will actually have to focus and make work according to that statement. I think that commitment scares me for some reason. Being out of grad school and not having the feedback on projects that I'm used to has been hard on me.

Here goes:

My childhood bedroom now stores boxes of my grandparent’s photo albums, my sister’s belongings from college, my mother’s wedding dress, and my father’s random supplies. With the exception of a few photographs hanging on a mirror and the yellow painted walls, nothing in that room reminds me of my years living there. This place that I once called home is no longer my home. My life has been in somewhat of a transition state since college. I have not considered any of the places I have resided in as home.

I am interested in the changes that have taken place since I have lived in that house. I am interested in the objects my family surrounds themselves with as well as my constantly evolving relationships with those family members.

Family Photos, Doug Dubois

2009-09-01T10:01:00.011-05:00

His images are full of tension. The family seems unhappy and almost overwhelmed. They rarely interact with one another. Often, even though there may be more then one person in the frame, they are usually not acknowledging one another. The rare acknowledgment by one subject is almost never reciprocated by the other. I think his portraits use light nicely, but some of his candids seem static. I don't always understand how some of the interior shots fit in with the rest of the series other than the fact that they have been taken within the home environment.
The series is interesting. It has gotten me to question what kind of photographs I'm trying to make of my family.

Crit last night

2009-07-24T07:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Amy, Bethany, Bill, Chris, and Nate to a wonderful crit last night! I enjoyed the viewpoints and fresh pair of eyes. I am looking forward even more now to shooting again, and making a tighter edit of the work.

It was refreshing to talk about work that is on a much higher level then Photo 1.

I'll be working on a rough artist statement and hopefully posting it sometime in the near future.

Nebraska

2009-07-18T15:42:00.001-05:00

This is where my ancestors are buried. Folk who came from Sweden, whom I've never met and yet I feel a connection to them. We went to the farm my grandmother grew up on and it was strange to think that she set foot on that same ground many years ago. A place that I had never been to; yet was as familiar as home.

Some newish ones

2009-06-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

I still need to edit through these. I like the one of my dad, but I don't think I will use all the rest of these. Perhaps the banana one (although I don't know if I like this one or the one from the previous post) and one other.

I wish I had better access to an imacon. I have so many other images to scan, but I can't right now. Spent all day Monday painting my mom's kitchen with her and my sister. I took a few images from that. Hopefully something will pan out.

Bananas

2009-06-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have a better image of this that i still need to scan. My mom spreads bananas out on the table to keep them ripe longer. A quirk of my parents house.

Coming Home

2009-03-31T13:08:00.000-05:00

I went to the art institute a few weeks ago and looked at some landscape paintings.
I took this image at my parents house yesterday between classes while the snow was melting. My rendition of a landscape painting.

Jeremy

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been uninspired photographically. I miss making pictures, and I have come up with many excuses not to. I need to come up with more excuses to make pictures. Teaching wears me out. I wish my art could stand alone as an income, although I would miss the classroom time with my students.

I made this image on Friday at the high school I work at. This kids inspire me to be a better person. I have really enjoyed working with them over the past two years.

I've been reading a book by Chaim Potok called 'The Gift of Asher Lev'. It's the sequel to 'My Name is Asher Lev'. It's about a Hasidic Jewish boy who is interested in art, and makes art that shuns him from his Jewish community. It's about his struggle with his desire between Art and Religion. I find it fascinating. The book has been talking a lot about Picasso, and in the book Asher actually went to the Picasso museum in Paris. I've been there. I want to go back. I think I need a trip to the Art Institute.

I took all the pictures I made off my wall. It felt like a baptism. I completely rid my walls of my old ways of thinking.

Time to make new work.

Home

2009-01-10T20:27:00.000-06:00

I'm posting a newer photograph from my Was Once Home series. I had an crit with some grad friends today, and the response to this photograph went well. I sometimes feel as thought the thoughts I can't express through words always come through in pictures. I'm glad that happens.

Update Website

2008-11-09T14:15:00.000-06:00

I'm almost completely updated my website. Check it out and let me know what you think.

SarahBaranski

Was Once Home

2008-10-26T20:43:00.001-05:00

I took this picture last summer between the months of June and August. This past September, we put Sadie to sleep. I took her to the vet, sat in the room with her, and waited for the vet to come in. My dad would not come at all, and my mom stayed in the lobby of the vet's office. I watched the vet inject a needle into Sadie. I watched her breathing go faint, and then... nothing. She was dead. That was it. The life that was in her was no more. Everything changed. I use to come home and she was there to greet me. She no longer is.

I started this project of photographing my parents home, while I was finishing my thesis for grad school. My thesis focused on two photographers. The photographer whose images inspired me for this project is Larry Sultan (Pictures from Home). I am interested in the change that happens over time. The house I grew up in, the one my parents bought before I was born, is the one they still live in today. Although I haven't lived there for years, it is still home to me. Yet at the same time so much of it has changed that I don't always feel as though I belong there. It is weird to be there when no one else is.

Race and Relationships

2008-07-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

I went on a road trip this summer to PA, and took this image of my best friend, Rochelle, and her husband, Anthony. I asked them to individually write how race may or may not play a role within their relationship. This is what they said:

"Race has affected my view of family at the beginning of our relationship. My parents were a little uneasy about the idea of a life commitment to another culture; especially if children came along. As time passed they saw the beauty of diversity, although that does not remove the hardships life will throw at us, it does make and keep life more interesting. Besides, everyone has hardships and all hardships are not the same, no matter what race you are."

-Rochelle

"Race has not played a major role in my day to day life. We view life similar, eat similar, and understand the differences in our races. I feel race will have some type of major impact at some point. People still feel strongly about race."

-Anthony

I forget how to use this thing

2008-07-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

I made this blog over 2 years ago, and never used it. I've always wanted to post new images I've taken, and write about art on here. Maybe I'll start now, or maybe this will be my last post for another two years. I just have to figure out how to use this thing. Anyways, this is a recent image I made earlier this year. I think it's probably one of the strongest images I've made for this project, which is suiting because it is most likely one of the last. I'm moving on with a new project. It's exciting, and sad.