After a full day of shouting “Watch your eyes!” as the strobes went off, we found the results well worth our efforts. The shoot took place on a Monday in the IMA’s new Design Center (store) for easy access to product. Our challenge was to include items from the Museum Store, Design Center, Greenhouse Shop and the newly opened Nourish Café. Keeping a consistent look and feel between these entities took some extensive product planning, and having holiday products in early September also posed some limits. Luckily, we had Tascha as our pro photo editor, Matt the daring designer, and Tad and Mike, two amazing photographers on the team.

A little humor you won’t spot in the published pages of the magazine — We included a pair of cat salt and pepper shakers in the shoot full of bird decorative items. A porcelain origami crane ornament took the hungry kitties’ place in the final shot. We also all fell in love with the Charles and Ray Eames House Bird available in the Design Center for $210. You might call that funny too…

Look for the “Shop & Celebrate” photo spread in the new issue of the magazine this October, and have your holiday shopping list handy.

image from Flickr user * f l o r

With the help of Urban Outfitters and The Impossible Project,  Polaroid film will be back in production in 2010. When Polaroid stopped manufacturing instant film in 2008, The Impossible Project bought all the equipment and machinery. This year, Urban Outfitters will release 700 limited edition sets of Polaroid cameras and one pack of Polaroid film. Eventually, they’ll  sell film packs too.

Something interesting I noticed on the Impossible Project’s site was their mission statement:

The Impossible mission is NOT to re-build Polaroid Integral film but (with the help of strategic partners) to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films.

If you simply can’t wait until 2010 (like me), Gallery Space at Space 15 Twenty in Los Angeles is hosting a month-long group show of Polaroid photography, in conjunction with the production of the film. Or you can always check out the slew of ‘fake’ polaroid apps like this and this.  Now get to shakin’ it!

Given that I don’t consider myself much of a writer, it seems practical that the rest of my blog contain photos, as this is a little more up my alley. Photography is a great passion of mine, and I’m sure as time goes on, I will share many more pictures on this blog.

photo by Rumi Sakuraeda

During my time at NUVO I had a few opportunities to take photos of some familiar faces here at the museum. I also took some time to get some snapshots of our little neck of the woods, quaintly nestled behind the library.

What geek habitat is complete with out a Rubik’s Cube?

Seriously…You can’t have just one

Most comfortable chair ever

This is the center portion of our office and the general gathering area for MIS meetings

And here are a few that I took while working for NUVO:

Max Anderson, Click here to view the original NUVO article

R Craig Miller, Click here to view the original NUVO article

And of course the beautiful fountain in HDR (High Dynamic Range)

View the IMA on NUVO's site

I use a great tool called AutoStitch to create these panoramas from individual photos. You just have to manually adjust your focus and exposure and then rotate in place while shooting away. As long as there’s some overlap between shots and the lighting is consistent, it does a pretty good job of merging photos automatically. For this scene, I had to stitch a few groups independently and then stitch those mini-panos into the full panorama. You can see above that the lighting had changed due to shifting clouds and the complexity of the bushes even thwarted my own pattern matching capability. The photos that I took a few weeks ago stitched a little more easily and capture a more cheerful vista.

That’s not the end of my tale, however. I continued walking around the lake, expecting that I would be able to make a full revolution because the weather had been pleasant for quite a while and I had been watching our stream gauge reading drop daily in anticipation of a nice stroll. Unfortunately, when I got to the inlet that connects the river with the lake, I found that I wouldn’t be able to ford it while keeping myself dry below the knees. Not unless I had an olympic-class long jump.

You can now learn some basic geology about the White River and 100 Acres on the IMA website, thanks to our collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey. There’s still more information to come about floods and we’re also looking into adding some guidelines that will help IMA staff and visitors determine when the park is flooded.

From what I’ve learned, the inlet is more complicated – the water level there depends on the amount of water flowing in the river, the amount of water that has entered (from both the river and precipitation) and exited the lake, and the rate of evaporation. If we can solve that puzzle we’ll be able to determine when it’s possible to hike all the way around the lake. For now, just keep in mind that even after a few days of fair weather the inlet may be too wide to cross without getting wet.

"Installation Nation" at College Avenue and Michigan Street vacant lot

The local photo blog The Heidelberger Papers presents a regular visual exploration of Indianapolis through photographs and captions. The upcoming IMA exhibition Judith G. Levy: Memory Cloud will employ plastic photo viewers containing 35 mm slides to conjure memories, many of which visitors will have the chance to peer through, others of which will be out of reach. These two items prompted me to post my snapshots from the past weeks. Do we have some shared experiences?

Metal shipping container lit up at "Installation Nation"

Watching a vacant lot transform into a small village of warmly lit installations and speckled crowds, all from my living room window, was a delight. But it was the people, not the art that charmed me. “Installation Nation” was presented by the Indianapolis-based arts nonprofit Primary Colours.

Street view of downtown by The Maxwell condos

The Maxwell is one of several new condo buildings downtown. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether this one will fill up.

Italian Street Festival

The 26th annual Italian Street Festival near Fountain Square was packed with people eager to taste some real Italian heritage. I got my hands on homemade spaghetti, fettuccine and a chocolate cake dessert and was literally encircled by welcoming families.

Some dogs can't hold their pasta.

Let’s just say the trip home from Italian Fest involved some heavy lifting.

Summer Nights June 12th film "Roman Holiday"

Highly recommended by my mom, “Roman Holiday”, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of this year’s Summer Nights films. It sold out within an hour at the IMA so I’m happy I watched it from the comfort of my couch thanks to Apple TV.

"European Design" billboard on Delaware and 15th Streets

One of my favorite billboards from the “European Design Since 1985″ advertising campaign, the location of this message staring you head on while driving up Delaware is ideal. The Whippet Bench, even cooler. (The exhibition closes at the IMA June 21 — take your dad! Tickets are 2 for $10.)

Independent Music + Art Festival

The Independent Music + Art Festival presented by the Harrison Center for the Arts hosts countless talented bands and artist. Why did I choose to highlight one? Not only is his work fun to photograph, but I was entertained by Michael Altman’s paintings on cardboard last year. Altman creates his robots, dogs and other funky characters on found cardboard for two purposes. 1) To create an entry point for young collectors. Cardboard is cheap and so is the art. 2) To be green. Painting on cardboard gives each work character and also prevents it from going in the trash.

Work by artist Michael Altman at IMAF

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/06/17/snapshots/feed/ 1 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/02/05/wikipedia-loves-art/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/02/05/wikipedia-loves-art/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:02:58 +0000 Daniel Incandela http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=3062 The IMA loves art. And now comes Wikipedia Loves Art, a month long contest, scavenger hunt, photo-marathon focused on art. Like most of the good online museum ideas, its being driven by the Brooklyn Museum and features (15) museums in total. It puts the Indianapolis Museum of Art in the company of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts , to name a few.

Wikipedia Loves Art

So here’s the scoop, directly from Wikipedia’s page: “Wikipedia Loves Art, the name being a play off Valentine’s Day, is a scavenger hunt and free content photography contest among museums and cultural institutions worldwide, and aimed at illustrating Wikipedia articles. The event is planned to run for the whole month of February 2009. Although there are planned events at each location, you can go on your own at any time during the month.”

Straight from the horses mouth. All you need is -

• A good understanding of the official rules and listing of themes we/Wikipedia needs documented. You can find that list HERE.
• You’ll also need to sign-up, but that part is easy. It’s your chance to contribute something worthwile, show your photographic eye and experience our art galleries = warm and free.
• Transportation to the IMA, a digital camera, pencil/notepad and a Flickr account.

It’s also Indiana’s opportunity to help out Wikipedia with better art content, go head-to-head against some of the leading museums throughout the world and, perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, your opportunity to win an iPod touch, blog t-shirt and more.

Questions?  Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at newmedia@imamuseum.org.  Let’s do this thing!

My first idea was to do simply what I described above. I searched around a bit for a Flickr app, but I haven’t found one written by the Flickr team and I don’t really want to give my information to yet another third party. It seems, however, that Flickr has a really nice mobile web interface. Paired with the ability to email photos to Flickr from the phone, I think I have all I need to take that route. However, in the meantime I found that uploading photos with the Facebook app is really easy. This, along with the fact that the iPhone camera can’t compete for image quality with my digital camera, has led me to decide that the iPhone will fit the bill for the sort of in-group photojournalism that my close friends would appreciate, as I capture photos of my pets (and theirs) and other humorous things while I’m out and about. Some might argue that this is a waste of digital resources, but hey… what’s life without a little whimsy?

My discovery of the Google Earth app’s integration with Wikipedia and Panoramio, however, rekindled my interest in contributing high quality geotagged content. Contributing content to these resources is something that could have been done before, but the iPhone (and other devices that utilize both GPS and wireless networks) provides a new level of exposure. Rather than needing to research a travel destination beforehand, it is now possible to whip out a device like this and find interesting features nearby, or learn more about your current surroundings.

I decided that it would be quickest to try out Panoramio. After signing up for an account, I uploaded a couple of my photographs (one of them taken here at the 100 Acres) and found the process to be very easy. I could really see myself getting addicted to uploading new images and waiting in great anticipation to see if they are deemed Google Earth worthy, at which point they should show up on my phone. There are also thematic contests that are very easy to enter, so I couldn’t resist adding my photos to those as well. We’ll see if people think they’re any good.

I might also try out Wikipedia. After signing up and reading the newbie documentation, I’m a little concerned about finding what they would call “notable” subjects (among other qualifications, things of more than just local interest). According to the guidelines, I can’t write about the IMA, so I’ll have to find other local gems… seems like a good challenge.

I believe that these new devices could open up an era of increased engagement with our surroundings. It will be interesting to see how these tools handle the increasing amount of geotagged information as more people contribute content. Hopefully the result will be high quality resources that educate and inspire the people who use them.

Some have their names on a gallery, time to give or money to gift. Others use their knowledge of a subject, unique skill set or need for a place to belong. They all have a passion for the IMA.

As editor of Previews, the best part of publishing a membership magazine is interviewing, meeting and photographing our members. As we celebrate the IMA’s 125th anniversary this week, it is fitting to highlight the people who give of themselves to the IMA.

Members selected to be featured in Previews are chosen to fit the overall theme of that particular issue and on their history of devotion to the IMA. For example, in this year’s fall issue, Roger and Francine Hurwitz were interviewed about their contributions to the Museum’s Chinese and Japanese collection since the featured exhibition was Power & Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty. I usually get a brief rundown of the member I am profiling before writing interview questions, but it never prepares me for the true devotion and stories these individuals hold.

I was moved by the volunteer who regained her sight and found hope after listening to her friends describe works of art for her. By painting the pictures for her through words, she found joy in life again and saw in art the possibility to inspire. When she moved to Indianapolis, she sought out the IMA to volunteer her time.

I was tickled when interviewing a donor couple deeply in love. Their journeys to collect art and relationships with IMA curators are so much a part of their life and family. They were so eager to share their love of the Museum with me that they talked over each other and finished one anothers’ sentences. (Talk about a journalist’s headache!)

If I interview the member over the phone, I’m always delighted to meet them in person when they come in to be photographed for the magazine. This is truly my favorite day of the publishing process. Our photographer, Tad Fruits, and I search for the right spot to capture their personality and interest. We joke and laugh as he captures a moment in time that represents so much more than standing in a gallery next to a work of art.

I hope you too find inspiration in the many diverse individuals who come together with the common interest of supporting the IMA. Become a fan on Facebook and keep an eye out for (new) upcoming opportunities for members to have 15 minutes of fame!

Interview with artist Dawoud Bey
As published in the fall issue of the IMA’s Previews membership magazine

Q. Can you tell us when you became interested in portraiture?
As I began to figure out what I wanted to do as an artist, I was spending a lot of time going to museums and galleries looking at work by other photographers. The pictures that resonated for me most strongly were those that were of human subjects. There seemed to me something quite powerful about a person confronting the camera, returning the attention of the photographer. Early on I was most struck by the photographs by Mike Disfarmer that I saw at the Museum of Modern Art in the mid-70s. I also was struck by Richard Avedon’s show of portraits at Marlboro Gallery around that same time. James Van Der Zee’s photographs had impressed me in the Harlem On My Mind exhibition. I wanted to make photographs that resonated for me the way those photographs had.

Q. How did you begin to focus on photographing teenage students?
Young people became the primary subject of my work in 1992, when I was invited to do a residency at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Andover. During the eight weeks I was there, I photographed both students at Phillips and students from Lawrence High School, a town a few minutes away. I also worked with the teachers to extend the idea of the portrait into the classroom in other forms, including writings produced by the students. I began to realize how much young people were excluded from the fabric of “the art world” as I knew it and how much their images had been stereotyped in the larger culture over the years. I decided then that I wanted to construct a more complex representation of these young people while also engaging in my own ideas about the photographic object.

Q. Can you talk about how you develop your relationship with the students you work with?
My relationship with the students actually begins while photographing them. I make photographs as a way to find out something about someone. I don’t attempt to develop a relationship and then translate that relationship into a picture; I do my finding out through the camera. All of the pictures in Class Pictures were made by spending two or three weeks in each school. Usually I have only 45 minutes in which to take a student’s photograph, since the student has been released from class in order for me to photograph them. Before making the photograph I ask the student to sit quietly for a few minutes and write something about themselves. Once they are done I make the pictures without reading what they have written. I think if a portrait is well done the viewer is left with a feeling that they have connected to the life of another human being, even though they may be a stranger. The photographs are posed and highly staged, but with an eye towards creating an appearance of informality.

Q. What advice would you give to a young Indianapolis student looking to discover his or her own voice through art?
I would say look at as much art as you can, and make as much art as you can. Never stop looking, and never stop learning. The whole history of art is available to you; it is up to you to know that history and to figure out what you want to contribute to it. Then seek out the training and education that will allow you to accomplish that. And have fun too!

Class Picture Day on Flickr!
In celebration of Bey’s exhibition, we’re inviting you to share your own high school pictures. Artist Dawoud Bey displays statements written by the students alongside the portraits he captures. Be sure to include your own caption.

Submit your class photos, past or present, and we’ll post our favorites here on the IMA Blog!

The IMA is no different. The museum’s “gallery rules” are rules for proper behavior around the artwork so that the collection is maintained in the best possible condition for generations to come. Most of the rules are common sense, if you stop and think about it. I mean, if Mom won’t let anyone eat pizza on her new sofa, do you think we want anyone near the Monet with a Double Decaf and a sticky bun? Think again, buck-o.

No touching is the Numero Uno rule we have. We humans are such tactile animals that we want to touch everything, from the shiny surface of Donald Judd’s Untitled, 1967 to the rough surface of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture.

I understand, I have those urges too. Nonetheless, we must keep our grubby mitts off the artwork. I may have just swabbed down head to toe with anti-bacterial scrubs before attempting to fondle Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Diana, but if I can touch it, eventually we’ll have Little Johnny come along with his chubby Reese’s-caked fingers who’ll do a chocolate smear job on the piece. Over time, we’ll have a bazillion people leaving all manner of crap and corruption on our artwork.

No touching includes touching with other items, like pointy writing utensils or umbrellas and canes. Pencils are allowed in the galleries for convenience, but pens should stay in the pocket because ink is more difficult to remove than graphite. Plus, these items can scratch, chip, and rip the art.

There’s a common phrase about a “bull in a china shop” which is a scenario we try to avoid by restricting large bags and backpacks in the galleries, though we accommodate visitors with special needs. I’m telling you, some folks look like they’re ready to tackle a two-day assault on El Cap with the huge packs they carry in. Some folks think we’re worried about theft, which we are, sort of, but mostly we worry about stuff getting knocked over or banged up. Try our FREE coat check and meet officer Pearl Foster.

Photo flash is prohibited for general visitors, though we do allow limited use by the media, with close scrutiny from our Conservation staff. Think back to Mom’s new sofa. If it sat by a sunny window for a few years it would look faded and drab, just like our art would if we allowed flash photography.

Speaking of photography … we only allow photos of our permanent collection, so no pics in the special exhibits or in the third floor Contemporary galleries, and no tripods, bipods, or monopods, thank you. Why, you might ask? Hell, I don’t know. I’d have better luck explaining the Golden Ratio than I would Copyright Law and our Rights & Reproduction guidelines. Suffice it to say that we don’t want photos of our collection showing up in places not of our choosing.

So let’s recap: no food or drink in the galleries, no touching, no large bags or backpacks, no flash photography, and no photos in the special exhibits or Contemporary galleries. There are a few other rules that I’ve skipped, mainly because they don’t come in to play very often, but I’ve hit the big ones. We want everyone to come to our house and check out all the great things we have to offer, we only hope you understand when we ask you to follow our rules.

And that brings me to the topic of blog rules. Despi was kind enough to re-introduce me to them on my last post so this cartoon is dedicated to her benevolent dictatorship. From blogs to blackjack, the house always gets its cut.