My business phrase in photography has always been "Bringing the World to You." While there are many different types of photography out there, each with their own unique nuances and cliques, my personal favorite has always been the types of photographs that inspire people to view parts of the planet that they may not normally know of or hear about. For me, photography is a way to bring far away locations and cultures to people who may not have thousands of dollars sitting around to spend on a luxury expedition. Whether you're in the Midwest or sitting on the steps of Angkor Wat, the Earth contains of a wide variety of atmosphere that are, surely, unique to someone else. I suppose this is why I am so enthralled National Geographic, as their photography has been bringing locations both near and far to readers around the world for over a decade.
This past Saturday, as Abrah and I were sitting around trying to figure out some way to pass the weekend by, we realized that the Annenberg Space for Photography was opening their newest exhibit, Extreme Exposure. Without much hesitation, we drove down to Century City to take a look. By far, it has been one of my favorites of the three exhibits I've managed to check out. The display featured five photographers and prints that, while not necessarily officially showcased by National Geographic, were no strangers to their mission. Everything I love about travel and exotic photography was on display, with each photographer focusing on a certain area from the extremes of the Earth. Two of the photographers, Michael Nichols and Paul Nicklen, I had heard and seen quite a bit from before from reading NGM. I was pleasantly surprised by the others that I was not familiar with, however: Clyde Butcher and the married team of Donna and Stephen O'Meara.
Upon first entering and being greeted by the always-friendly staff, you are met with an introduction to each of the photographers and what their display was focused on. As we would walk around, the photographers also had displays of items used on their respective journeys, giving the Space even more depth and detail than normal. I knew I would fall in love with this current round of photos because the first photo a visitor comes across in the entrance hallway is that of the famous redwood tree that graced National Geographic only a short while back. It was a picture that made my trip to Muir Woods an absolute necessity earlier this year. Composed by stitching together 84 images, the final image is positively lovely in print with a great deal of color and detail popping out that is hard to recreate via the internet or limited magazine spreads. Even more impressive, Michael Nichols later says in his video that they can easily print out the image life-size; it's a final image that rests over 300 feet tall. I pray that one day the side of the Annenberg and CAA buildings have this tapered on their sides like so many other billboards in Hollywood.
After you notice the redwood print, the first photographer to be highlighted is Paul Nicklen with his prints of the coldest places on Earth, complete with personal drysuit on display. Out of all the photos, I think I loved Paul Nicklen's the most. I had first heard of his work not through his photos but by a story from my Iris Nights lecture with David Griffin. Paul's story was the same "sea lion story" I had mentioned previously. Sure enough, several of the same images I saw from Mr. Griffin's lecture were there in canvas form for display. Apparently, Paul had run across a female leopard seal while doing a story. Feeling testy, it began to snap at the camera's underwater housing. After it realized Paul was not a threat, it actually began to try feeding him by capturing penguins and bringing them back to the photographer. It was a cute story, and the pictures are extremely vivid to see brought to live. His photos of the arctic are colorful and sharp in a world most normally associate with being devoid of much life. Whether it's a lone polar bear or narrowly avoiding a walrus's headbutt, Paul Nicklen's photos are great at conveying a story and atmosphere.
Next down the line were Donna and Stephen O'Meara, a husband and wife team specializing in volcano photography. Their gifts to the display were a giant block of pahoehoe lava and their trekking boots. I found their exhibit fairly interesting, if partially because of the timing. Several of their photos feature Eyjafjallajokull, the notorious Icelandic volcano that shut off travel throughout Europe earlier this Summer (also famous for having Top Gear host James May drive up to its crater in a Toyota Hilux). for myself, the volcano pictures were largely reminiscent of my short time living Hawaii when I was younger. They definitely Kilauea in their displays, with plenty of hot lava flowing from every still.
Clyde Butcher's displays were on the open area next to the center screening room of the Annenberg, and I felt he was the most surprising of the photographers. His work is mostly Large Format and focuses on the Florida Everglades. His prints are definitely to be seen in person to be appreciated. They are composed in black and white and feature a stunning detail I have never seen in print before. He says in his video that he wants "people to feel like they can walk into a photo." The essence is certainly there. His gift to the exhibit of course was one of his large format view cameras, an 8x10 I believe. His statements do seem markedly anti-digital, but his story is certainly inspiring and the format he chooses works wonders. Even though the Everglades seem somewhat less exotic than the other areas featured, he captures them in a way that seems extremely foreign.
Michael Nichols can be found on the exit hallway and the restroom area. It's amazing what this man has accomplished with 25 stories shot for National Geographic, let alone other publications. His exhibit placed an emphasis on more forests, especially the Congo and the redwood range of the Western US. I found Michael's work to be interesting, if anything, because several of the extremely fun photos were taken via remote camera traps, including one with a very slimy and imposing crocodile tail. His were also some of the view to feature people in this exhibit, and to no surprise, captured to most sense of urgency. Much like the Water exhibit, some (but certainly not all) of his photography highlighted issues facing environments today, especially to Congolese prints. This was both a positive and negative to some, as both Abrah and a few others stated this and the Water exhibit similarly focused too much on trying to make a statement. I did not mind, but it was a stark contrast to the other photographers who focused on letting beautiful and foreign lands speak for their own nature.
Overall, Extreme Exposure is a highly recommended showcase if you can make it down to the Los Angeles area between now and April 17th. I believe it has been my favorite and most well-measured display so far with Water close behind. With any luck, these images will help inspire even more to view our world from different angles.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
New Website
So, after a solid 30-40 hours of learning Flash from scratch, I have officially started a website for my photography. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
Wes Smith Photography
Wes Smith Photography
Impressions of New York
I recently traveled to New York City for the first time about a month ago, as you may have noticed from my King Tut blog. With the Yankees in the playoffs yet again (hey, I'm a Cardinals fan, but we fell out awhile back), I figured it was high time to update this page with my trip and impressions.
Abrah and I arrived in the city mid-day Saturday after a direct flight from LAX. She had not been feeling well due to the plane, but I was ready to get out and explore the moment we had landed. It's important to note now that Abrah has been to the city several times almost every year since she was born due whereas this was my first trip. Throughout the next week, she would start to feel better and do her own things, but most of my time was spent meandering without any real purpose or direction through the city. Anyway, we took a short taxi trip from JFK to her friend's apartment that would remain our basecamp for the next few days.
The ride was interesting, to say the least. It's hard to describe someone's first thoughts of Manhattan. It looks essentially what you would expect from countless movies and television shows. The skyline is nothing but skyscraper after skyscraper. What makes it unique, however, is the feel of the city, and emotion that is rather difficult to put into words. As we came out of the tunnel and into the city itself, I was immediately hit with a sense of scale from both sides. I began to realize that, while you are surrounded by these massive buildings, you are still on a limited island. It's one thing to read that, yes, Manhattan Island is only 8-miles long or whatever, but to actually be in the middle of it for the first time is what really puts that scale into perspective. I would be taking advantage of this on my walks later on through the week.
We arrived without problems to our host's apartment and, after getting settled in, the three of us set to work on a theme that would quickly become my favorite throughout our vacation: food. While the girls weren't terribly hungry, I was starving and, for whatever reason, I was craving an authentic NYC meatball sub. I have no idea why this came into my mind, but I had decided I wanted to just walk into some small hole-in-the-wall place and get a sub. So, that's just what we did. I can't remember the name of it (I think it was PJ's Pizza, on 52nd and 10th), but it was, hands-down, one of the best meatball subs I had ever had. It really set the tone for our culinary experience the rest of the trip. And of course, this was only topped by the rooftop view we had from our basecamp:
It was a perfect way to start our journey.
The next day, we each set out for our own separate trips. Abrah still was not feeling well, so I got an early start on walking around. I certainly looked and acted like a stupid tourist, but getting out into a new city is always a rush. I had no idea where I was, but thankfully NYC is set up in such a way that it's hard to get lost. Labor Day weekend was approaching, so the city was still fairly crowded (although I guess it's always crowded) in the touristy areas. I managed to run right into a huge street festival on Broadway, which was a massive timesaver with no traffic to worry about. It was here that I managed to get my legs for the city and approach the idea of jaywalking. In Burbank, that will almost always net a ticket, but in this massive city, it was everyday life. I had no fear here, and was able to get around with my camera to feel out the city easily enough.
Eventually, I made my way into Central Park. It was certainly massive, although I'm not sure if it's exactly what I had always thought. To be honest, after growing up in Missouri my whole life, a park is a park until it gets funded on a national level in my eyes, and CP was not much of an exception. It was certainly fun, and large, but not what I had imagined after seeing it in so many areas. The shade was a relief, to be sure, and I did enjoy watching a couple softball games with the city towers as a backdrop. Perhaps I need to take that "movie tour" that is offered to get a better sense of place. Also, I got lost in the Ramble. Never again.
I eventually met back up with the girls near the street festival and, unknown to me, I had completely passed by Times Square without even noticing. If there was one place in the city that I felt was smaller than what I imaged, it was Times Square. We ate at the Sbarro's nearby (apparently much different than the others), and went off to do some shopping. The night was rather quiet, and we ordered delivery to watch the Emmy Awards in the evening after meeting up with yet another friend in the city.
We awoke early the next day for what would be one of the highlights of our vacation: attending the Late Show with David Letterman. Now, it's important to remember than both Abrah and I work in the industry for George Lopez and Ellen DeGeneres, respectively. We knew the process of a live-taping and were here mostly to see Dave and to see how they run their show. Well, I was there to see Dave anyway. It was a fantastic experience on the whole, and seeing a living legend up close was a dream come true. We were placed front row and both spent a good while figuring out how their audience coordinators handled their seating. Their staff was amazing, and we were happily informed that it was the start of his 17th Season. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested. just remember you have to answer a trivia question before the tickets are granted!
The rest of the trip was spent between museums and shows. I had made the Museum of Natural History one of my major stops, with the King Tut exhibit being a spur-of-the-moment event. You can read about the latter in the blog. The MoNH was really interesting, at the least, and I fell in love with the dinosaur exhibit. The girls mostly stayed behind to chat about girly things or to make fun of how much of a kid I was being. I had never seen many fossils in my time, but the T-Rex made the 8-year-old, Jurassic Park-lover in me delighted. I spent as much time on the upper floor as I could. The other floors were ok, but I have to admit to being a little let down overall. Most of the displays were dioramas, which isn't much after having grown up going to the St. Louis Zoo with real animals everywhere. I also felt there was a ton of emphasis on different tribal cultures, which isn't much of a natural exhibit at all, cool though they were. On the whole, I enjoyed it, but felt the King Tut exhibit was the better of the two museums on the trip.
We also managed to wrangle great seats to American Idiot. We caught up with one of our LA friends and coworker of Abrah's who happened to be in the city as well. Somehow, the girls managed to get front-row Mezz seats via Rush seating. I'm am an avid hater of stage theater after having lived it since the 6th grade (give me motion pictures or give me death), but I had to admit that i did not hate the show as much as I thought I would. They sounded like Green Day, which was the only real requirement I had, and I only disliked the portrayal of St. Jimmy out of the cast. It was the play I had imagined after first hearing the album, and I would consider one of the very (very) few musicals I would be able to tolerate again. After the show, we managed to go onto the stage thanks to some connections our friend had with the guitarist. He was a gentleman, and it was extremely cool to be on a major Broadway stage, if nothing else.
Overall, the trip was incredibly enjoyable and I know what others mean now about falling in love with the city. I felt like there simply was not enough time to see all that I wanted, but I guess it would take lifetimes for that anyway. The city is definitely one-of-a-kind, with its own culture, layout, sights, smells, etc. Just seeing a picture of the city now brings up a ton of different memories (mostly the smell, but you get the idea). I doubt I could ever live there and am happy with the city, but I certainly would not mind a job that sent me over to their coast on occasion. Most of all, regardless of any positive or negative opinions a person might have, New York City proved itself one thing of all others: unforgettable.
Abrah and I arrived in the city mid-day Saturday after a direct flight from LAX. She had not been feeling well due to the plane, but I was ready to get out and explore the moment we had landed. It's important to note now that Abrah has been to the city several times almost every year since she was born due whereas this was my first trip. Throughout the next week, she would start to feel better and do her own things, but most of my time was spent meandering without any real purpose or direction through the city. Anyway, we took a short taxi trip from JFK to her friend's apartment that would remain our basecamp for the next few days.
The ride was interesting, to say the least. It's hard to describe someone's first thoughts of Manhattan. It looks essentially what you would expect from countless movies and television shows. The skyline is nothing but skyscraper after skyscraper. What makes it unique, however, is the feel of the city, and emotion that is rather difficult to put into words. As we came out of the tunnel and into the city itself, I was immediately hit with a sense of scale from both sides. I began to realize that, while you are surrounded by these massive buildings, you are still on a limited island. It's one thing to read that, yes, Manhattan Island is only 8-miles long or whatever, but to actually be in the middle of it for the first time is what really puts that scale into perspective. I would be taking advantage of this on my walks later on through the week.
We arrived without problems to our host's apartment and, after getting settled in, the three of us set to work on a theme that would quickly become my favorite throughout our vacation: food. While the girls weren't terribly hungry, I was starving and, for whatever reason, I was craving an authentic NYC meatball sub. I have no idea why this came into my mind, but I had decided I wanted to just walk into some small hole-in-the-wall place and get a sub. So, that's just what we did. I can't remember the name of it (I think it was PJ's Pizza, on 52nd and 10th), but it was, hands-down, one of the best meatball subs I had ever had. It really set the tone for our culinary experience the rest of the trip. And of course, this was only topped by the rooftop view we had from our basecamp:
It was a perfect way to start our journey.
The next day, we each set out for our own separate trips. Abrah still was not feeling well, so I got an early start on walking around. I certainly looked and acted like a stupid tourist, but getting out into a new city is always a rush. I had no idea where I was, but thankfully NYC is set up in such a way that it's hard to get lost. Labor Day weekend was approaching, so the city was still fairly crowded (although I guess it's always crowded) in the touristy areas. I managed to run right into a huge street festival on Broadway, which was a massive timesaver with no traffic to worry about. It was here that I managed to get my legs for the city and approach the idea of jaywalking. In Burbank, that will almost always net a ticket, but in this massive city, it was everyday life. I had no fear here, and was able to get around with my camera to feel out the city easily enough.
Eventually, I made my way into Central Park. It was certainly massive, although I'm not sure if it's exactly what I had always thought. To be honest, after growing up in Missouri my whole life, a park is a park until it gets funded on a national level in my eyes, and CP was not much of an exception. It was certainly fun, and large, but not what I had imagined after seeing it in so many areas. The shade was a relief, to be sure, and I did enjoy watching a couple softball games with the city towers as a backdrop. Perhaps I need to take that "movie tour" that is offered to get a better sense of place. Also, I got lost in the Ramble. Never again.
I eventually met back up with the girls near the street festival and, unknown to me, I had completely passed by Times Square without even noticing. If there was one place in the city that I felt was smaller than what I imaged, it was Times Square. We ate at the Sbarro's nearby (apparently much different than the others), and went off to do some shopping. The night was rather quiet, and we ordered delivery to watch the Emmy Awards in the evening after meeting up with yet another friend in the city.
We awoke early the next day for what would be one of the highlights of our vacation: attending the Late Show with David Letterman. Now, it's important to remember than both Abrah and I work in the industry for George Lopez and Ellen DeGeneres, respectively. We knew the process of a live-taping and were here mostly to see Dave and to see how they run their show. Well, I was there to see Dave anyway. It was a fantastic experience on the whole, and seeing a living legend up close was a dream come true. We were placed front row and both spent a good while figuring out how their audience coordinators handled their seating. Their staff was amazing, and we were happily informed that it was the start of his 17th Season. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested. just remember you have to answer a trivia question before the tickets are granted!
The rest of the trip was spent between museums and shows. I had made the Museum of Natural History one of my major stops, with the King Tut exhibit being a spur-of-the-moment event. You can read about the latter in the blog. The MoNH was really interesting, at the least, and I fell in love with the dinosaur exhibit. The girls mostly stayed behind to chat about girly things or to make fun of how much of a kid I was being. I had never seen many fossils in my time, but the T-Rex made the 8-year-old, Jurassic Park-lover in me delighted. I spent as much time on the upper floor as I could. The other floors were ok, but I have to admit to being a little let down overall. Most of the displays were dioramas, which isn't much after having grown up going to the St. Louis Zoo with real animals everywhere. I also felt there was a ton of emphasis on different tribal cultures, which isn't much of a natural exhibit at all, cool though they were. On the whole, I enjoyed it, but felt the King Tut exhibit was the better of the two museums on the trip.
We also managed to wrangle great seats to American Idiot. We caught up with one of our LA friends and coworker of Abrah's who happened to be in the city as well. Somehow, the girls managed to get front-row Mezz seats via Rush seating. I'm am an avid hater of stage theater after having lived it since the 6th grade (give me motion pictures or give me death), but I had to admit that i did not hate the show as much as I thought I would. They sounded like Green Day, which was the only real requirement I had, and I only disliked the portrayal of St. Jimmy out of the cast. It was the play I had imagined after first hearing the album, and I would consider one of the very (very) few musicals I would be able to tolerate again. After the show, we managed to go onto the stage thanks to some connections our friend had with the guitarist. He was a gentleman, and it was extremely cool to be on a major Broadway stage, if nothing else.
Overall, the trip was incredibly enjoyable and I know what others mean now about falling in love with the city. I felt like there simply was not enough time to see all that I wanted, but I guess it would take lifetimes for that anyway. The city is definitely one-of-a-kind, with its own culture, layout, sights, smells, etc. Just seeing a picture of the city now brings up a ton of different memories (mostly the smell, but you get the idea). I doubt I could ever live there and am happy with the city, but I certainly would not mind a job that sent me over to their coast on occasion. Most of all, regardless of any positive or negative opinions a person might have, New York City proved itself one thing of all others: unforgettable.
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