Create Look Enjoy

Using New Media and Aerosol Cheese to Interest Youth in Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:35:00 +0000

How to use New Media to interest youth in poetry? Have them take pictures, create music and then make a video. I created this video for Jack Prelutsky's Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens using a point and shoot digital camera and iMovie, for my course on Language Arts and Literacy at the Middle Level. To accentuate the feel of the poem, I concentrated on image duration and the effect of the music.

Then next step was to write an original poem and then shoot video to accompany it. With apologies to Walt Whitman, here is Extra Cheesy.

Big thanks to Clifford and Sorrel at Upinngil Farm in Bernardston, Mass., where there is fun to had!

Small Town Occupiers - Fighting on the Homefront

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Wheelchair bound decorated Marine veteran Jack Kelley from Greenfield, Mass., fought in Vietnam. He is now fighting again for his country.

2nd Time I've Fought for this Country - I am the 99%

He says he is fighting for the soul of the middle class. He feels the middle class has been destroyed by rapacious banking practices and corporate money machinations. He is fighting to get money out of politics. "I am part of a grassroots movement that is actually doing something, that has changed the dialog from debt reduction to jobs. I am in no way a spokesman or a leader. I am a grunt."


Class Warfare? We Didn't Start It

He was joined by others demonstrating in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. I tried to capture the brick building former industrial feel of Greenfield, Mass. The protestors lined Main Street near the town green.

We Are 99% - Standing with Occupy Wall St.

In the center of the town green is a Civil War Memorial. At the top is an eagle, combating snakes in its nest.

Rationale for Celebrating Diversity Through the Arts

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:48:00 +0000

Below is the supporting statement that I wrote for my graduate class on Celebrating Diversity Through the Arts. My mother, a former library development officer, extols the virtue of looking for books in library stacks, as books adjacent to the one that you seek can prove to be gems. I found the concept of "species-centrism" using this method.

Hands On

Schools cut arts education to focus on standardized test prep. Critics claim that most teachers are unprepared for roles as multicultural educators since 90% of teachers are white and 36% of students are minorities (Parks, 2004). Furthermore, as student diversity increases, time restraints might necessitate ignoring certain groups, negating the goal of fully inclusive multiculturalism (Adejumo, 2002). Alternatively, a broad-brush approach to cultures can lead to superficial treatment.

I believe, however, that the arts are a wonderful way to celebrate diversity and to guide students towards visual and cultural literacy and academic thriving. Therefore, I will counter these criticisms.

Beyond Black and White (Venetian Blinds)

Sternberg (2010) listed qualities of creative thinking – create, design, invent, imagine, suppose – and gave examples of how these key artistic ideas relate to learning across the curriculum. For example, challenging students to “Invent a new means of transportation.” Likewise, Baker (2011) studied the effect of music and arts instruction on the state test performance of 8th graders in Louisiana and concluded that students excluded from arts instruction to focus on math and English did not increase their scores. However, scores for students that attended music class were significantly improved.

Art: The Heart of Education - Greenfield (MA) High School

The white teacher/minority student ratio will shift as minority populations continue to grow, but teachers learning about their students’ cultures is a key tenet of effective teaching: know thy students. Provided teachers work through their own biases and prejudices, Roland (2006) points out that: “The Web offers unprecedented access to the work of countless artists from historically underrepresented cultural and ethnic groups.” This easy access to material makes for easier inclusion of all cultures that are represented in a classroom.

In our class, James Rollins (whose article mentioned Music In Our Schools Month) reminded us that authentic multicultural education needs to be continuously woven into curriculums, rather than ghettoized into superficial theme months.

Intertwined Synapses (Rail Yard)

Andrea Swenson’s arts exemplar of her elementary students drawing portraits of each other demonstrated not only powerful artistic expression, but also pairing Limited English Proficiency students with native speakers in an engaging task allowed for socialization and English language development. Likewise, creating an art project relating to English Language Learners’ home cultures activates background knowledge and creates important connections to school learning. (Carrigo) Prior to his captivating participatory drumming arts exemplar, Shawn McGann noted the many ways music can reach Special Education learners, including building self-esteem and integrating development of cognitive, motor and emotional responses.

Many Kinds, All Corn

The possible downfall of multicultural arts education is the focus on how students are different and different from each other. These differences can be fodder for teasing or bullying. Therefore, it is vital that teachers incorporate “species-centrism” into their arts education. Species-centrism suggests that “we can appreciate that the arts are common to humans of all times and places (Dissanayake, 1992, p.15).” This central task of creating a unifying connection as “inhabitants of the Earth who also belong(s) to many social groups (Matonis, 2003, p.37)” is key to using the arts as a vehicle for global education and understanding.

From Mandarin to Sanskrit to Jeans

Artist, educator and photojournalist John Nordell is pursuing a Masters of Education in Arts Education at Fitchburg State University.

Adejumo, C. O. (2002). Considering Multicultural Education. Art Education, 33-39

Baker, R. r. (2011, May 1). The Relationship between Music and Visual Arts Formal Study and Academic Achievement on the Eighth-Grade Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) Test. Online Submission, Ph.D. Dissertation, Louisiana State University. 212 pp Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Carrigo, D. Strategies for working with English Language Learners. Center for Collaborative Education, 1-6

Dissanayake, E. (1992). “Species-centrism” and Cultural Diversity in the Arts. Seminar Proceedings: Discipline-based Art Education and Cultural Diversity, Santa Monica: The J. Paul Getty Trust

Matonis, M. (2003). Towards Multicultural Awareness: Problems and Perspectives. Dialog and Universalism, 1(2), 27-38

Parks, N. S. (2004). Bamboozled: A Visual Culture Text for Looking at Cultural Practices of Racism. Art Education, 14-18

Roland, C. (2006). Promoting Respect for Diversity. School Arts, 16

Sternberg, R. (2010). Creativity is a Choice, Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/UTDslides/sternberg-creativity-is-a-decision-3415440

Visual Thinking - Creative Comprehension

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:27:00 +0000

Street Art

I felt a thrilling chill as my psychology professor at Fitchburg State University explained that the ability to see from multiple perspectives is a key aspect of adolescent cognitive development. What does Tamika imagine that Judy is thinking about Jose?

Public Works

This idea deeply resonated with me as in my photography classes for aspiring professionals I returned again and again to the concept of photographing a single subject from multiple perspectives.

Guide Lines

I was so excited because now when I teach adolescents, I can use this photographic approach for the dual purpose of teaching how to see and how to think.

Prius and Possibility

So then, a few days later, I was reading a chapter on text factors for promoting comprehension in Gail Tompkins's Literacy for the Middle Grades. Discussing the importance of point of view, along with other story structure elements such as plot, setting, characters and theme, the author mentioned several stories told from the viewpoints of multiple characters. Bingo. Now I can add a reading component to this concept of learning to think and see from multiple perspectives.

Can't wait for my next class!

P.S. Enjoying conceptual artist Sol LeWitt's wall drawings fundamentally altered and enhanced the way I see and appreciate line - and life.

Organic Pam. Really?

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:02:00 +0000

I think the title says it all. Please see my previous post comparing organic versus sustainable. The post includes an image of petroleum intensive rows of plastic cups of fruit at a Whole Foods Market. Discussing the image with a friend, he commented: "They are destroying what they are creating."

Is the Propellant Organic?

Ingredients: Organic Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Grain Alcohol (Added for Clarity), Lecithin From Soybeans (Prevents Sticking), And Propellant.

Nature Nourishes Group Exhibition at ArtSpace Hartford: Images and Artist Statement

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:40:00 +0000

(Hope to see you at the opening reception: Friday Aug 19, 2011 6-10pm ArtSpace Hartford, 555 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT, 06105 If the parking lot behind the gallery building is full, across the street is parking at the train station.)

The tipping point for me: during the year end holidays I saw a man walking through a mall in Boston, lovingly cradling his iPad, looking at the screen with reverence and love, oblivious to reality taking place around him.

Inside Looking Through

I find this approach living troubling and distressing. It's akin to reality TV: sitting and watching other people live their lives rather than having a life yourself.

This iPodus Americanus sighting prompted a New Year’s Resolution: spend less time on the computer. I have written fewer blog posts and more postcards, spent fewer lunch breaks in front of a screen and taken more walks, and have embraced the here-and-now of physical reality rather than an untouchable cyber one. I’ve read novels, used dictionaries and phone books, and spent more time outside.

Like a Shell and Seeds on a Pod

I am not against everything digital. I am, however, talking about perspective.

Using a digital camera, for example, allows for freer experimentation, due to instant image feedback and zero costs for film and processing.

Earth, Water and Flora

This freedom spurred the creation of the images submitted to Nature Nourishes. Earth Water and Flora and Visible Photons - Do thoughts Have Mass? are in-camera multiple exposures.

Visible Photons - Do Thoughts Have Mass?

I used a slow (½ second) shutter speed and moved my camera during the exposure to create the impressionistic Like Butter.

Like Butter (Sunrise Over the Connecticut River)

Often in the morning, on my way to teach, I stop alongside the Connecticut River to meditate. Many times I pause my practice to grab a camera and shoot (see the double exposure - Cycles of Life). These in-the-moment experiences with nature feed me.

Cycles of Life

I recently photographed anti-nuclear activists holding a vigil in Brattleboro, VT on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Brattleboro is 6 miles from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Vermont Yankee's reactor is the same model as those at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

Nuclear fears began to grip me during my next morning meditation, as my riverside sacred space is about 17 miles downstream from Vermont Yankee. “Is the water radioactive?” I wondered.

However, as I sat in my car and focused on my breath, I felt that the flowing river connected me to all beings. “We are all vulnerable,” I thought.

Suddenly, a moist, warm, nourishing breeze blew in my car window and carried my fears out the other side.

The Sounds of a Quiet Ride in a Chevy Volt

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:03:00 +0000

It was so much fun to take a ride in a Chevy Volt with Watson Collins of Northeast Utilities.

Electric Motor Quiet, Gas Generator Not As

A Chevy Volt has a gas generator (left) that creates electricity to run the electric motor (right) when car's rechargeable battery is depleted.

Firing Up

Northeast Utilities - Western Massachusetts Electric Company has begun installing plug-in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in order to study how the recharging affects the company's distribution of electricity.

Traveler and Auto Can Recharge Overnight

Officials from the utility company had a Chevy Volt dual gas - electric car on hand to demonstrate how the charging system works at a charging station at the Courtyard Marriott in Hadley, Massachusetts. The hotel sees the charging station as a way of providing "cutting edge" services to its guests.

Universal

Inserting this plug into an Electric Vehicle connects the vehicle to a charging station.

Responding to the green marketing claims of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf manufacturers, a friend's elementary school daughter pointed out that generating the electricity to charge the vehicles still creates pollution. Her solution went something like this: Perhaps the old mills along rivers could generate electricity for the cars.

These still images and more are available for licensing at The Image Works.

Public Performances: Portrait Tales - The Art of Leaving, plus Nightwalkers

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Tue, 31 May 2011 17:02:00 +0000

I was so excited about the public art collaboration between Cynthia McLaughlin and Chattman Photography that I felt compelled to document it. Five images from Portrait Tales: The Art of Leaving are on display around Greenfield, Massachusetts. A full dance performance of The Art of Leaving, a modern adaption of Hansel and Gretel, will occur this fall.

Gretel

My car straddled the curb, facing the wrong direction, flashers flashing. I stood on the roof. Lack of human subjects led me to work with a thumbs-up self-portrait.

I prayed to the Photo Gods for human narrative to add life to the image.

Public Art

"Hey," I yelled from my perch as I saw a couple walking down the street, listening to music on a small portable player hanging from the woman's neck, "can I take your picture?"

"You can take our picture..." said Rick, "if you drive us to the medical center."

"Franklin Medical Center?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"This image is about the Art of Leaving," I explained. "I was hoping that you would pretend to hitchhike. Leaving, moving on, you know."

Trying to Leave

Cars kept turning off before passing by.

Waiting and Texting

We waited...

Playing Catch with a Pebble

...and waited, for a another car to pass. It was 6:30 in the morning.

Mission Accomplished

I am driving Rick and Katie towards their destination.

"So you were walking to Franklin Medical Center?"

"I live near the Medical Center," said Rick. "We are Nightwalkers. We walk at night and listen to music. We also walk in the morning."

"The music - is it hardcore?" I ask.

"Thrash and ska," replied Katie. "Upbeat."

"You walk at night. The music, does it bother...?"

"If you are close you hear it. We have not had any complaints," said Katie.

Rick and Katie

"Nightwalkers? Is that a term?"

"No," said Rick, "I just made it up."

"We're the ones who walk at night," he began singing in a rock and roll growl.

"Is that a song?"

"No, but it could be."

Make sure you take a look at the work. No bread crumbs needed to find your way. Here's the map.

I Spent the Day Photographing with Sam Abell, Jay Maisel and Hundreds of Hallmark Students

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:09:00 +0000

What a day! A dream photography workshop!

Sign of the Times

Now, well, er, um, I was not actually physically present with all these photographers, but their spirits were with me.

Harbor Wharf

Along with industry legend Jay Maisel, National Geographic photographer Sam Abell regularly speaks at Hallmark Institute of Photography, where I teach. During a recent talk Abell delighted in stories detailing his approach of first framing a scene, and then waiting patiently for wonderful events to unfold that add life, complexity and depth to the final image.

"Old Ironsides" Needs Additional Protection in the New World

I imagined Abell's soothing voice in my head, narrating with mounting interest the layers of meaning and metaphor that emerged as I worked towards this picture of the USS Constitution in Boston, Massachusetts. The vessel is nicknamed "Old Ironsides," as attacker's cannonballs used to bounce off the ship's wooden hull.

A fence mounted on the pontoons protects this oldest commissioned warship in the U.S. Navy from attacks by sea. I photographed workers posting signs on the fence: U.S. Navy Restricted Area - Use Of Force Authorized

Shadowy terrorists with plastic explosives replacing known foes with cannonballs makes for a world far different from George Washington's, who ordered the ship's construction.

Each morning at 8:00 a blank cannon round is fired, followed by raising Old Glory as The Star-Spangled Banner plays. This salute ritual commenced in 1798 and recently came under fire as nearby condo owners complained about the noise.

Rush Hour

Leaving the Navy Yard, on my way to the North End, Boston's Italian neighborhood, I stopped to photograph a contemporary ritual: morning bumper to bumper traffic flowing over the Zakim bridge into Boston. Like Harbor Wharf above, this is an in-camera multiple exposure.

Thinking like a photojournalist, I wanted to capture the diesel coating on this school bus. I followed it through the streets, jumping out of my car at stoplights to shoot.

Light, Color, Gesture

The situation evoked Jay Maisel speaking about seeing an ephemeral scene and the "terror" of trying to catch the light, subject matter and moment, before it melts away forever. My resulting image was more art than journalism. Maisel's recipe for creating a memorable photograph: Light, Color and Gesture. (Gesture does not have to be human. It can be a light that is on, for example.)

il Tricolore

The bus led me into the heart of the North End and a free parking space. Into my fifth year of teaching, I have graded hundreds of assignments and carried out numerous critiques. Teaching is a good method for improving your own photography.

This is why I say that my students accompanied me on this day of shooting, as echoes of my comments on their work swirled in my consciousness: fill the frame with storytelling details, avoid bright areas in the corners, be in charge of where you want your viewer's eye to go, learn the rules so you can consciously break them, work each subject thoroughly, get close...

With my students, I try to simultaneously nurture their raw creative fire while pointing them in a intentional, commercial direction.

Mangia - Mangia

My stock photography editor at Photolibrary, Phyllis Giarnese "joined" the crowd on today's photographic outing as well. Giarnese manages to simultaneously nurture my fine art eye while encouraging me to shoot in a more commercially viable manner. Add human narrative to your solitary visions.

I hope that she will be interested in marketing these three North End vignettes.

Behind the statue of Paul Revere, the North Church peeks out from the mist.

Tweet if by Land, and Facebook if by Sea

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

From Paul Revere's Ride

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Texting No. 2

I am fascinated and concerned by the ubiquity of hand-held mobile screens. Note the iPadus Americanus with Paul Revere and these Harvard University seniors waiting for a shuttle bus.

Inside Outside

My day ended with a superb ice cream cone from J.P. Licks: Coffee Oreo and Chocolate M&M.

And this post ends with a big thanks to Sam, Jay, Phyllis and all my students.

Brattleboro Vermont Anti Nuclear Vigil Held on the 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:39:00 +0000

Looking at this still image, can you almost hear the chanting?

Namu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo

Now, take a look/listen to/at this video.

Six miles from Brattleboro is the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Vermont Yankee's reactor is the same model as those at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

Thank You For Honking

The demonstrators also received an occasional middle finger, or a driver revving his truck and intentionally spewing exhaust.

Smart - Safe - Sanitary

I ducked into a restaurant to use the bathroom and the concept of using electricity to dispense a paper towel in this age of the BP oil spill and the Fukushima crisis seemed excessively wasteful and unnecessary.

Peace

There were representatives from: Citizens Awareness Network, New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Nuclear-Free Future and Taprock Center for Peace and Justice. Also in attendance was Yukio Iimura from Japan, who is in America for three months, walking, chanting and drumming for various causes.

Hand and Shell

The Jabiluka hand symbol represents Aboriginal opposition to uranium mining in Australia. The red and yellow background matched perfectly with the colors of a nearby Shell gas station sign. Using the image overlay function on my Nikon D200 digital camera, I combined two separate images to make this one.

The Weekend: Brought to you by Labor Unions | From Wisconsin to Bangladesh to Boston to Greenfield | Black & White 120 Film Shot with a Yashica Mat!

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:29:00 +0000

Have you ever felt guided? To a person? To a cause? To a place? To a theme?

In Boston over Spring Break, I noticed flyer taped to a lamp post for a rally in support of poorly paid tomato farmers organized by The Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Ever the photojournalist, I jotted down the organizer's website. I probably noticed the flyer since I was reading Kate Furnival's The Jewel of St Petersburg, a richly textured tale of class conflict and violence in revolutionary Russia.

Bye Bye Borders

A couple of days later, driving to meet a friend for lunch, I listened with increasing disbelief and mounting concern to a Democracy Now report tracing the parallels between the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, 100 years previously, where locked exit doors led to the death of young women workers, to a recent fire in a textile factory in Bangladesh, where again, locked exit doors fatally blocked routes to safety.

The Last Book Buyer?

After lunch, I headed to Newbury Street to photograph evidence of the bankrupt Borders bookstore chain.

Shoppers flocked to the nearby H&M store. So I went in myself, looked at the labels of the nearest sweaters and knew before I could read the words that the country of origin was Bangladesh. According to the Democracy Now report, young Bangladeshi women protesting for better working conditions are hosed with dye laden water to facilitate their arrests.

$9.95 - What is the True Cost?

"Where are all these groups of giddy young women coming from," I wondered. Spring break shopping, perhaps? Some items were two for one. Imagine drilling straight through the earth from Boston to Bangladesh to compare the lives of these young female shoppers with the young female sweatshop workers.

To find events to document, I signed up on the The Coalition for Immokolee Workers website for labor action alerts. A week later, even before I received an email about the action, I heard about a rally on a community radio station.


*Now Retired from Media, He Takes a Stand*

Retired broadcaster Ted O"Brien spoke to the crowd, mentioning historical labor protests, such as the 1912 Bread and Roses textile strike in Lawrence, MA, led by women.

Carpenters Local 108 (Springfield, MA)

In solidarity with the labor protests in Wisconsin, a coalition of labor unions and citizens groups, such as Jobs with Justice, rallied in Greenfield, MA in support of rights for union labor and public workers.

Coalition

The rally took place on April 4, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. At the time of his death, Dr. King was in Memphis to support the sanitation workers strike.

Spend some moments and contemplate these faces and messages:

Stop the War on the Working Class

A Tax on the Corporations - Not Attacks on Workers

Corporations are not People

Hard Hat Flag Stand

On the Importance of Touching Things: Unplugging from the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 02:12:00 +0000

I'm making good on my New Year's resolution to spend less time on the computer. I devoured Dan Brown's thriller The Lost Symbol. Then, while visiting family in Cambridge, Mass., I walked into independent Porter Square Books in search of my next read.

The Feel of a Book

Just seeing shelf after shelf of books artfully displayed made my heart sing. I asked one of the booksellers to recommend an intellectual thriller along the lines of The Lost Symbol. Minutes later I departed, eager to read Impact by Douglas Preston.

Turned Pages

Later that day I worked on sending cards announcing my inclusion (image below) in The Green Show at the Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tenn. Thinking of each recipient, whether gallery owner, friend, family member or colleague, I wrote: I am so excited. My first juried show! Although I essentially wrote the same message on each card, it felt sincere, compared with a Facebook or Twitter shotgun blast.

Farm Gears

I suddenly wondered if I was spelling "juried" correctly, so I consulted ~~spell check~~ a dictionary.

Tactilian Living

The next weekend I sat down and read for three plus hours straight and finished Impact, ripping through the pages, my heart thumping. The experience let me to make a Facebook query, "With a printed book, we call it a page-turner. What is the analogous term when reading an iPad or Kindle?" The replies: A finger burner. A pixel shifter. A good book. A finger glider. Do you have any suggestions? We are in the age of making up new terminology.

Connected by Color

It has been delightful to receive (appropriately green) congratulatory postcards from friends. I popped one such card in my camera bag along with a show announcement, thinking to photograph them, only to realize my current book, Clive Cussler's The Silent Sea, was yet another shade of green.

Up until this post, like many bloggers, I would link a book I mention to Amazon. If a reader bought, I would get a small percentage. Deciding to put my money where my mouth is, I have stopped this practice. Instead, I suggest you plug in your zip code at this site to find your nearest local bookstore: Indie Store Finder

For those who like reading on their iPads and shopping locally, take a look at this solution on Baristanet.com

Truth, Metaphor, Teaching | Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand | Film, Digital, Multimedia

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:49:00 +0000

He (Alfred Stieglitz) insisted photographs are not description but metaphor. "Photography is my passion," he said. "The search for Truth is my obsession."

Last week in photo history class I read these lines from Carol Strickland's engaging piece in the Christian Science Monitor on the Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

O'Keefe

I was once a Monitor staff photojournalist. At a writing seminar I attended, the presenter advocated dropping a series of metaphorical gold coins throughout your article, sparkling nuggets to maintain reader interest and anticipation.

Light Reading

Ms. Strickland's gold coins were a series of quotes relating to photography's hard won acceptance as an art form.

Searching for Subtlety

A couple of days after the photo history class, I drove to meet students in Northampton, Mass. for field trip. I kept thinking about Mr. Stieglitz's ideas: He insisted photographs are not description but metaphor. "Photography is my passion," he said. "The search for Truth is my obsession."

Shoot for the Stars

I felt compelled to take metaphor-laden photographs, mostly stereotypical. A boarded up mall with a cell phone tower in the background, for example.

I wound up at The Botanic Garden of Smith College, photographing plants in the Conservatory and my students working on their craft. Their respectful behavior and creative imagery made me proud.

Speaking of teaching, students and the history of photography, I just put together this video about Hallmark Institute of Photography, where I teach: Old School using New School Technology.

Question: When you create, what concepts propel you? Truth? Metaphor? Having fun? Or do you just do it?

Or?

Drop a comment!

New Year's Resolution: Spend Less Time on the Computer

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:42:00 +0000

If aliens landed on Earth they would assume that humans worship glowing screens.

Facebook as Religion

Over the holidays I saw a man walking through a mall in Boston, lovingly cradling his iPad, looking at the screen with reverence and love, oblivious to reality taking place around him.

I find this approach living troubling and distressing. It's akin to reality TV - sitting and watching other people live their lives rather than having a life yourself.

Immaculate Connection

I know it is ironic to announce this on the web, but I have decided to spend less time in cyberspace.

I am looking forward to writing fewer blog posts and more letters, spending fewer lunch breaks in front of a screen and more outside, and embracing the here and now of physical reality rather than an untouchable cyber one.

On the Road with a Polaroid - Shifting Horizons

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:00:00 +0000

From the Archive | Polaroid

Somewhere Between Palo Alto and Cambridge, Circa 1978

During my freshman year at Stanford University, I bought a Polaroid OneStep camera to document my life and travels.

There's Organic and then There's Sustainable - but is Sustainable Realizable?

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Create | Bring into Being

It ain't easy being green.

Refrigerator Without Doors

Whole Foods Market has delicious, often organic food - but at what cost of energy and petroleum?

Squash Curing

Eric and Anne Nordell (my brother and sister-in-law) are organic farmers who use horses to work their fields. They have developed a philosophy: Weed the Soil, Not the Crop.

Low Impact

Walking their land where our Thanksgiving squash grew was a spiritual experience.

Stacking Solar Panels

David Fisher, one of the organic farmers worldwide who base their farming practices on Weed the Soil, Not the Crop, grows the hay to feed his workhorses. That's sustainable. He refers to plants as solar energy collectors. He sells vegetables primarily to individuals that live within a few miles of his Conway, MA operation.

Contact

Both my brother and Mr. Fisher have told me about the satisfaction of working with a team of horses.

However, we would need millions more small farmers like these to really reach sustainability on a societal level.

Furthermore, another farmer I know grows both organic and conventional strawberries. The carbon footprint for the organic plants is much larger since he makes more rounds on his tractor to cultivate out weeds. With the non-organic plants, it just takes one dose of a chemical pre-emergent herbicide.

As I said, it ain't easy being green.

How about you? Do you buy organic? Local?

Tech Tips for the panoramic images: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Gold Max 800 Speed 24 Exposure 35mm Film (4 Pack), film processed and scanned at Walgreens. For Whole Foods and Fisher: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO 400. ©2010 John Nordell

Portraying Humans as Not Entirely Human, is a Human Concept

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:38:00 +0000

Enjoy | Delight in Life

Waiting and Watching

The blue of the Chase bank logo beckoned to me as I sat in a New York City cab at a red light.

Blank Canvas

I liked how the scene looked impressionistically out of focus.

Sketch

I shot a few frames with humans walking to add narrative.

In Step

Four teens walked into my frame and then suddenly, amazingly, one of the young men leaped exuberantly into the air, his coat's blue hue only a few degrees off from that of the Chase logo.

The next day at the Whitney Museum of American Art, after immersing myself in Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time, I read through the exhibition catalog. Along with other artists from Mr. Hopper's era, the catalog included a painting by one of my art heroes, Modernist painter Lyonel Feininger. The humans in his work were portrayed as "translucent triangles". According to Mr. Feininger:

I do not think that I will ever portray humans realistically, but this idea, in itself, is human.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO 400. ©2010 John Nordell

Back to the USSR

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:19:00 +0000

From the Archive | USSR

Lenin Presides over Red Square, 1988

I went to the Soviet Union in 1988 to cover the arts underground and emerging capitalism. My goal was to bring back a new view of the vast and complex society, different from the stereotypical fare of monuments and tanks. However, I did not pass on this classic scene. Shot on Fuijichrome with a Nikon FM2.

Holiday Boxed Prints are available. Special pricing: Five 8x10 prints from Create Look Enjoy for $97.00

From 1986 - 1992, JB Pictures secured assignments for me from magazines in the U.S. and abroad. I also produced photo stories on topics ranging from political and economic change in the South Korea to the arts underground and new capitalists in the USSR to pollution in the United States.

New York by Car - and Film

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:41:00 +0000

Create | Bring into Being

Monkey see. Monkey do.

Kind

The day after seeing Lee Friedlander: America by Car at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, I grabbed these shots leaving town.

Generous

"It's a generous medium, photography," says Mr. Friedlander. I was not looking through the viewfinder as I snapped this image, but looking at it now I see how the clouds echo the window's curve, how the blurred fence mimics the bridge tower and how the side mirror contains multiple Friedlander-esque reflections. A generous medium, indeed.

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Gold Max 800 Speed 24 Exposure 35mm Film (4 Pack), film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

I Am Thankful for Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Enjoy | Delight in Life

So you have six minutes before the pizza is ready for takeout.

5 Minutes Left

A camera in hand gives reason to explore town.

1 Minute Left

I shot these with one of my favorite cameras: a Nikon digital D700. Waiting in the wings are a 2 1/4 twin lens reflex Yashica-Mat 124g, loaded with expired transparency film, and a dusted off SX-70 Polaroid camera that I have not used since the 1980s, loaded with Impossible Project Polaroid type film. Jerry Berndt, one of my early mentors suggested I use a variety of camera types to avoid rutted ways of working and seeing, in order to keep my fingers and creativity nimble.

I am thankful, too, for readers of Create Look Enjoy.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO 200. ©2010 John Nordell

The Country Bumpkin in New York Mindset: On Cultivating Wide-Eyed Wonder

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 02:51:00 +0000

Coming soon: I will offer a limited number (20) of specially priced Holiday Boxed Print Sets. Each buyer can choose five images from this website and will then receive five 8 X 10 prints for $97. I will announce the sale first to Create Look Enjoy subscribers. If you have not yet subscribed, I invite you to do so now!

Enjoy | Delight in Life

I live in a Western Massachusetts former mill town nestled among farms along the Connecticut River. I enjoy watching the corn grow. So my annual trip with students to attend the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City presents a delightful contrast.

Crosstown Bus

Walking several blocks in New York I can see more people than I see in a day at home.


*Uptown Subway*

Bus and subway travel feel like carnival rides.

Nice Place to Visit

Wonder comes easy on visits like these. Cultivating such wide-eyed appreciation on a daily basis is my goal.

My teaching colleague, black and white landscape photographer Michael Zide, captures the wonders of nature. On behalf of Manfrotto, he spoke at PhotoPlus.

Personal Vision

Years ago, lost in the desert on a photographic expedition, the tracks left by Mr. Zides's huge Gitzo tripod led rescuers to him. Today, he uses this modern version.

Zide has a special print offering to benefit wildlife and habitat restoration in the oil spoiled Gulf of Mexico. Take a look.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO range 200 -2500. ©2010 John Nordell

30 Seconds with President Ronald Reagan

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:58:00 +0000

From the Archive | Politics

Washington, D.C. March 4, 1987. President Ronald Reagan had just addressed the nation regarding his administration's role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Three groups of roughly 15 photographers waited in the hallway outside the Oval Office.

Contact Sheet

My group's turn came. We piled into the room and fanned out around Mr. Reagan's desk. As he murmured something like, I'm sitting here pretending to read my speech so you can take a picture that looks like I am giving my speech, I shot a burst of 7 black and white frames (see above).

I then switched to my camera loaded with color film and photographed for the remainder of the 30 second photo opportunity.

Commander in Chief

During the actual speech, Reagan had apologized for misdeeds. "A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not."

From 1986 - 1992, JB Pictures secured assignments for me from magazines in the U.S. and abroad. I also produced photo stories on topics ranging from political and economic change in the South Korea to the arts underground and new capitalists in the USSR to pollution in the United States.

In the near future I will offer a limited number of specially priced Holiday Boxed Print Sets. Each buyer can choose five images from this website and will then receive five 8 X 10 prints for $97. I will announce the sale first to Create Look Enjoy subscribers. If you have not yet subscribed, I invite you to do so now!

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' - Progressive Abstraction

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Look | Sensory Inspiration

When photographic legend Jay Maisel speaks where I teach, he refers to the "terror" of seeing something wonderful, but missing the shot.

Centerline

When I drove over the ridge yesterday morning and saw this sky, my adrenaline began pumping as I raced through the town of Turners Falls to get to my "spot" along the Connecticut River. A cigarette-smoking, cell phone-yakking, crossing-the-street-without-looking teenager slowed my progress.


*Music For My Eyes*

Park. Open trunk. Retrieve camera. Check ISO. Check white balance. Assess exposure. Take a shot. Check histogram. Climb down riverbank to water's edge.

Like Butter

The files came out of my camera looking like this.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO 200. My shutter speeds progressively slowed, from 1/60 to 1/13 to 1/2, and with Music for My Eyes and Like Butter I moved my camera progressively faster during the exposures. ©2010 John Nordell

A Year Ago, After an Eight-Year Hiatus, I Started Shooting Film Again

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Create | Bring into Being

Inspired by students toting old Canons, last year I bought a plastic, no-settings, panoramic film camera at a thrift store.

The Band

I can slip the camera in my pocket. So, say, if I happen to be at the Harvard - Lehigh football game, I can pull it out, take a few snaps, put it away, and get back to being a civilian.

The Hot Dog

I have learned that Kodak Gold Max 800 film, with all its soulful grain, is the right film.

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Gold Max 800 Speed 24 Exposure 35mm Film (4 Pack), film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

"Light is metaphor. Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light.”

noreply@blogger.com (John Nordell) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:42:00 +0000

Enjoy | Delight in Life

“Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that’s been our unifying cry, 'More light.' Sunlight. Torchlight. Candlelight. Neon, incandescent lights that banish the darkness from our caves to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldier’s field. Little tiny flashlights for those books we read under the covers when we’re supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light.”

Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Television Screenwriters and Producers

Earth, Water and Flora

I was down by the Deerfield River in Shelburne Falls, Mass. The sun had yet to rise, so I experimented with technique to make the most of the flat light.

Dans le Style des Impressionnistes

Eventually golden sunlight struck a nearby ridgetop. I stood on a midriver rock to capture the moment when the glow crawled down to meet the water's edge.

Contact

Minutes later, I noticed my shadow on the next rock over. "Where is that light coming from," I wondered. "It is reflecting off something?" You know, the way sunlight can glint off a passing car and travel through a coffee shop's windows to briefly illuminate the darkened interior?

My Shadow

I turned around:

Primordial

The fresh Autumn air, the burble of the river, the warming sun, the vivid color: all brought me into an exhilarating moment.

Light is Life

The river and I emitted misty exhalations.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70 mm, ISO range 200-640. Earth, Water and Flora is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in filter for Photoshop CS5. ©2010 John Nordell