The narrow, straight edges of the white paper and the pop of color from the photos on the pages.

If one sees a book, the person might see the illustrations or the words on the pages. They will rarely notice the way the pages fall or how they the pages look when they reflect from each other.  This is what the photographer, Mary Ellen Bartley, is documenting in her project called Standing Open. She is from New York, and this is her fourth series about books. The subjects of the photographs are books, and the main focus is on the pages and illustrations, rather than the words or binding. The “pigment prints” were mostly created in 2011, but a few were created in 2010. The photographs are named after the books title, as you can see at http://www.maryellenbartley.com/standing-open. Mary Ellen Bartley explains in her artist statement, “While shooting my stacks and rows of tightly closed paperback books I began seeing some of the standing books loosen up, allowing a view of the space between their pages. I was drawn into the unique interior space of the books. I began opening all kinds of books and placing them standing open around my space where sunlight might fall on them.” The pictures themselves have a complex relationship between the narrow, straight edges of the white paper and the pop of color from the photos on the pages. This series offers the view a unique and private encounter with the books. This piece has a high level of abstraction and a contrasting relationship between detail and mystery. I believe that the series gently explains a few things to the viewers. First of all, I think it forces the viewers to look at a book differently. The purpose of the book changes in a few ways. It is no longer thought of as just what holds the beautiful pictures together. Instead, there is a relationship between the binding and pages that creates meaning in the series. It conjures an idea of “Beauty in Banality.” The images also arouse a sense of mystery and gives the viewer a false sense of knowledge. There is a great amount of detail in the pictures, however, many pictures are blurred and the viewer only knows what lies on the pages shown.  In fact, the viewer does not have a clue of what lies on the pages before and after what is photographed. Although, the books seem to open up themselves and sit perfectly, one knows that the photography played a part in it. This also helps explain that the photographer is picking the books that she wanted to use. Her use of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photography in her shot, Hiroshi Sugimoto, reveals a lot about recycling images in her work. She explains, “On another level I’m fascinated by conceptual ideas concerning appropriation and reproduction in a mechanical versus digital age that the work can’t help but throw into question.” When I noticed this particular image, I felt she had a small connection to Sherrie Levine. Although, she just recycled and represented the images in a different way. She had some want to use those books. Basically, through her work she addresses apportionment and the purpose of certain objects. In turn, this changes the way we see how books function in our lives and how new art can be created. Maybe this series expresses her desire of books, passion for photography, or is a way for the viewers to understand what she thinks of books.

I disagreed with a few of the critiques, because many explained that the series was hyper sexual. According to artsatl.com. “Likewise, Mary Ellen Bartley’s black-and-white photographs from her “Standing Open” series, “Untitled Diptych (Neck)” and “Untitled Diptych (Hip),” give us an interesting take on traditional scopophilia. Her images offer fragments of the female form, glimpsed between the pages of a book that resemble vertical window blinds. Not only a reference to erotic literature, these voyeuristic compositions play with notions of the hidden and the revealed, and their combined effect on the erotic imagination.” I believe that the pictures were taken for beauty and art, rather than pleasure. Mary Ellen Bartley, in her artist statement, explains, “"This is my fourth series of photographs looking at books. While shooting my stacks and rows of tightly closed paperback books I began seeing some of the standing books loosen up, allowing a view of the space between their pages. I was drawn into the unique interior space of the books. I began opening all kinds of books and placing them standing open around my space where sunlight might fall on them. Using the chance settling of the pages and a close up view, this quickly became a project of looking into my photography books in a new way, with my gaze falling into and out of the books and into and out of abstraction. This work interests me on many levels. First is the sheer beauty of the physical books and the unique formal discoveries of looking at them close up. Among the repeating formal motifs I’ve found are the stripes the pages create, the shadowy voids between pages that read like burns or stains, and the reflections the photos can make on the pages facing them. On another level I’m fascinated by conceptual ideas concerning appropriation and reproduction in a mechanical versus digital age that the work can’t help but throw into question. What is the unique aura or presence of a book? Finally what drives the work for me is the emotional connection I have to the books. I’m trying to evoke the sensuality and intimacy of reading and looking through books as well as the fleeting inspiration, little jolts of connection, found for readers in books they love." I think that I interpreted most of what she felt when she was creating these pieces, however, I did not totally believe that she had an intense relationship or “emotional connection” to the books. Overall, I think this series is meaningful and helps us examine other art and our lives. It is well done and is a successful body of work, because it brings up questions about how we view art and what is conceived as meaningless objects.

                                               Works Cited

Cotter, Christina. "Art in Atlanta." ArtsATL Review Photographers Explore Many Facets of Lust at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery Comments. N.p., 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

"Jane Fulton Alt: On Books, Ragdale and Mary Ellen Bartley." Jane Fulton Alt: On Books, Ragdale and Mary Ellen Bartley. N.p., 8 May 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Smith, Roberta. "ART IN REVIEW; 'Reader's Delight'" The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 July 2010. Web. 07 Dec. 2012.

Final Project

"If I looked up_____ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of you next to it."

 

 

When I first got started planning this project, I knew that I wanted to look at what defines us. What better place to find what defines us than in the dictionary? The dictionary is thought of as a golden truth that grants us infinite knowledge about the words in the English language. Looking up something in the dictionary always leads to the correct answer, so I wanted to take something less stable and less clear to compare to the words in the dictionary. I chose humans. I really wanted to explore the idea that a person’s personality can be described in a few “concrete” words.  I wanted to reflect on a few questions like:  can one word describe a person’s entire personality, with so many words in the dictionary why do we pick certain words,and can a person embody an entire word just from their looks?

Everyone has heard the phrase, “If I looked up ___ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of you next to it.” This is a very strong idea, because the picture of the person literally helps describe the word and vice versa.  Through this project, I asked my subjects to pick two words, one negative and one positive, about themselves. After printing on the page, I found myself thinking of the person differently. I felt like I had insight into their personality by seeing their picture next to the page. Most of the people I photographed I knew previously, but I still felt like I was exploring their personal perfection and flaws. I saw the people transform into definitions before my very eyes. I smiled when I saw their positive words and I was enveloped by sadness when I saw their negative words. I saw these words contradict, and their bodies getting blacked out and put next to their mistakes.

It is almost like a mug shot, because the subject has picked their own life sentence to an adjective in the pages. Although most people can evolve and change in their lifespan, the pictures in the pages are permanent. I made the prints with only one dictionary. There were no start overs or tweaks. I feel like this resembles the idea of how hard it is to change one’s personality and how hard it is to shake off a negative word about you once it had been said. I believe that if I gave these pictures to a stranger, they would like think that they knew more about the person even if they never met the in their live. To see the picture is one thing, to actually see a face is another.  Anyone who sees this project, can judge the person on the dictionary page freely by their picture and their word. It is almost an intimate idea, my subjects have let themselves be judged, but at the same time they have forced to reflect and judge themselves.