Whenever I’m visiting the Mackey farm, especially with my camera, I seem to discover more things about it and thus begin taking photos.  I’d like to think it’s a less obsessive documentation of the farm, while it still exists…I find something interesting, and sort of do a photo series on it (like above and below).

However, I think there’s something working at the back of my mind that reminds me subtly that the farm will cease to exist at some point in the near future, and the time is now to start documenting it.  The archive is something of great discussion in terms of my thesis project.  The film I’m making, the photographs of the farm I’m taking, all will become an archive of this physical structure and the space around it.

It seems strange now to think that the space where these tires sit will soon be gone.  I can’t help but think how the value of the photograph of it will rise, for me personally, once the physical thing is gone.  I suppose I can’t miss it until it is gone, although I feel like I’m already in a phase of mourning.  No, not for the tires.  Just the farm.

The Mackey Farm house, October 2009

The Mackey Farm's barn and silo, October 2009

Farm and subdivision, Whitby, October 2009

Grandpa, at the farm, October 2009

A leaf about to fall, October 2009

It’s strange to think that I can say with certainty, this is one of the last Falls for the Mackey Farm in Whitby.  Better document it while I can.

A very interesting blog post from thestar.com photographer Richard Lautens entitled “Ethics, Computers and Photojournalism”.

The blog itself, Toronto Star Photo Blog, seems simple enough.  While it features staff photographers’ work, that work is also accompanied by a written blog entry.  We are allowed a glimpse into the photographer’s world, an area unfamiliar perhaps when all we get sometimes is a caption.  While their work can be found throughout thestar.com, we don’t find out very much about the people who took those photographs or about their experiences capturing those moments, aside from a credit line or maybe a bio.

“We take a lot of pride in our work and spend many hours of learning new technique, working on stories and frankly just plain waiting for the right moment.” – Lautens

This is why I’m enjoying the Toronto Star Photo Blog, especially Lautens’ post on photojournalism and photo manipulation controversy.  He defends normal darkroom practice for improving the image quality of photographs, even when, of course, that translates to using digital methods today, like Photoshop.  While Photoshop lets you do some crazy things to photographs, many of the basic image manipulation features in the program are just translated from the dark room.  Just because it’s analog doesn’t exempt it from the same manipulation ethics, right?

Lautens’ post is a nice reminder that there are people behind those photographs, that care about the content they are producing.  I’ll think of this the next time I see a photo, especially one from him.

The last three weeks have been, well, a whirlwind of activity!   Things haven’t stopped, and although I’ve been filming and doing all kinds of work, one thing I haven’t kept up on is this blog.  I wanted to post some video and photos of my recent shoots, filming my dad combining and talking about the farm, but that will have to wait for later in this week.

In the meantime, I’m editing a different project currently and preparing for The Documentary Show!

The Documentary Show, airing Tuesdays at 10am on SpiritLIVE, has been loads of fun so far although the beginning has been mostly me testing my technical skills.  So far so good!  I’ve also begun to reflect on the radio show (a.k.a –  a live online show that becomes archived and turned into podcast) as it relates to the archive.

I’ve used the show as a platform for my musings on the documentation of my family for my thesis project.  The weekly shows, which get archived, become a journal for me to view later.  But these journals are different.  While the topics are decided beforehand, I allow myself to talk freely about my project while on the air, and it’s as if I’m talking to someone rather than merely filling up the empty studio up sound waves.  This journal instantly becomes a public one, easily accessible by me or anyone else.

While I talk honestly about some of the issues that plague the making of my documentary thesis, I probably automatically omit personal details for the sake of the viewers.  :D  Although those personal details might be interesting in themselves.  Isn’t that what we love about documentary?  When people reveal things about themselves, or allow us access to the most intimate details of their lives?

So then the show becomes a retrievable archive of my thesis reflections, of the other going-ons that were new and current as I went to air, which I will still find funny and interesting even if I retrieve them several years down the road.  How will the meaning of this archive change as the years pass?  What will it become, if not, simply, a time capsule of my 2009 self.  Will it become something more, and if so, what?  More research and thinking is to be done!

I just read a great review of Where the Wild Things Are, and although I originally had no great desire to see this film (gasp!  I know…I’ve never read the book as a child…but I still love the illustrations), now I’m more curious than ever.

Before I debate whether or not I should run to the book store to get myself a copy, which have probably been overpriced and heavily marketed of course, in time for the film to come out, I would like to applaud the filmmakers for going back to a, as critic Peter Howell calls it, a “primitive” style.

“This movie makes a virtue out of minimalism, and of intention rather than action, and as a result it may appeal more to nostalgic parents than to their restless offspring.”

I know that I’ll probably love the film for this, since there is something to be said when filmmakers shift countless hours from CGI rendering back to the art department crew to create the film’s look and enhance the characters.  These are the kinds of things I remember from films when I was a kid.  Not that CGI hasn’t done amazing things for the film industry…but when I see Star Wars IV and the surface of the death star, I KNOW that it’s not a CGI creation but a ping pong table with painted models on it.  It adds a unique and realistic (because it is made out of a real object) textural element of the death star, but judging from the new trailers for Toy Story 3, I think CGI is getting closer to replicating objects and spaces as we see it.  I remember watching the Finding Nemo DVD and how they created the animation for it while a crew member remarking on how close they were on replicating actual video of oceans and underwater reefs and fish, but the filmmakers were concerned it looked too “real” for the time and went in a different direction.

It will be interesting to see how Where the Wild Things Are is received by kids, and whether or not they will reject the film based on the lack of animation effects.  Peter Howell puts it well when he says that, “It’s the antithesis of modern kidpix, which seem to require all manner of digital hokum and gee-willikers 3-D eyestrain to be fully worthy of infantile attention.”

Maybe I’ll find out tonight! — the film opens October 16, 2009.

The first three episodes of The Documentary Show are online for your listening pleasure.

Kathleen is talkin’ about all things copyright, licensing, and sharing media–and barely skimming the surface!

Tweet it up!  Or Email your comments on any show, or criticisms, suggestions… thedocumentaryshow@gmail.com

^— PicApp photo.  Searched Toronto (creative photos).  Pretty nifty!

WordPress has announced that they’ve enabled access for WordPress bloggers to the service PicApp.  Basically, it allows one access to “millions of available premium images to the mix, all for free, and the service offers up to the minute sports, news, and celebrity images from some of the top photographers and agencies throughout the world.”

Seems pretty cool!  Especially since I don’t have to worry about forgetting to add a photo credit, if I might get a “cease and desist” letter from a photographer, or if I’m trampling on copyright laws, etc.  I just embedd, and forget about it.

Seems like a good way for photographer to get credit while allowing bloggers to use their images, kinda like Flickr’s Creative Commons database.

This reminds me of a discussion in class last week, after listening to the CBC’s “Who Owns Ideas?” podcast on the Ideas radio show.  It went over some of the key issues regarding copyright laws and downloading content, especially today.

PicApp seems like one of the many new web services that enables the free sharing of “ideas, culture, and creativity” (music, photos, video), while also crediting the photographer.   Curious to see what other interesting developments might occur, especially in regards to music.

***Update:
Check out the terms and conditions…I haven’t gone through them all, but they’re pretty interesting.  Of course, once you use images from PicApp you end up entering into a contract with them, like almost any web service, such as twitter or wordpress.  They are very explicit of what you can DO and NOT DO with the visual content you obtain from PicApp, as expected.

I wondered what the deal was.  How does PicApp make money from offering photos?  Advertising is a big part of this of course, and is mentioned I believe in the terms.  PicApp “facilitates the flow of royalties through the incorporation of advertising in visual content for online use.”  Kinda like Hotmail–every email you send, at the bottom is some kind of advertisement.

What I find very interesting, if you make your way through the part about ads in the terms, is that it seems like the goal of website advertisements is to never make it obvious that something is an ad.  And so, for example, I can’t tell someone to click on a Google AdSense ad to generate more monies for me.  That goes against the terms and conditions of me allowing my blog to have such a feature.  Oh, and I can’t create a web page that “thank you”s for clicking on an ad.

Oh internets.  You are teh funnies.

Sam the Record Man - Nuit Blanche, 2008

Gearing myself up for Nuit Blanche!  Still haven’t looked at any of the exhibition listings.  Still haven’t decided if I’ll go out at 8pm and retire early, or sleep and go out at 12am instead.  I think this year will be played by ear.  Also, should I ever bother bringing my camera around?  If I didn’t last year, I wouldn’t have captured the Sam the Record man lights (above).  If I don’t, I could regret it.

Also, thunderstorm???  Better prepare myself for a downpour.  Boo!

Here’s to an interesting night!

Nuit Blanche 2008

The Documentary Show

The archived show for The Documentary Show’s first online broadcast is online!

Check the show’s homepage on Spiritlive every Tuesday after the show airs for a new upload, or tune in at 10am on Tuesdays to listen live on the Spiritlive website!

We’re talkin’ about all things documentary!

Tuesdays, at 10am.  Tune in at spiritlive.net Email me!  thedocumentaryshow@gmail.com
Twitter me!   Each show is archived, and you can subscribe to the podcast/RSS feed!