Interactice New Media

Senior Project

noreply@blogger.com (S.A.Matsumoto) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:36:00 +0000

I am not one to keep a physical diary or journal. I am much more likely to keep a sketchbook if anything at all. I find the blogging format supportive of my need for organization since one has the ability to sort entries chronologically or by category through its tags. So, I made a blog to track my senior project that is investigating the exchange value of photographs. It can be found here. If you are interested in participating in my project please let me know! I am eager to exchange.

Website

noreply@blogger.com (S.A.Matsumoto) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:25:00 +0000

"History", C-Print, 2008 Sam Matsumoto

"Extension", C-Print 2008 Sam Matsumoto

"Encompass", C-Print, 2008 Sam Matsumoto

Here are a few pieces from my most recent completed portfolio.

Artist's Statement:

The process of growing up involves learning how to negotiate expectations of self, whether those come from internal or external sources. For me, this process has largely been dominated by the desire to understand how I operate as a Japanese American. Within this cultural context, fear of not meeting the perceived expectations of family often causes extreme feelings of guilt. I am seeking a balance between the protection rooted in the familiar, the familial, and protection from the anxiety brought about from breaking tradition. These photographs serve to negotiate, understand, and convey this delicate and continuously shifting balance.

I am in the process of digitizing my work to update my website. It is a constant challenge to not only make work but to stay on top of the process of sharing one's work with others. For my website I use livebooks. They have a really accessible software that is designed for photography portfolios and it is relatively inexpensive, especially the student version.

Alec Soth/Magnum

noreply@blogger.com (S.A.Matsumoto) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:52:00 +0000

There are a lot of great photographers giving lectures in Boston this fall (a more comprehensive list will be posted in the near future). One such photographer is Magnum member, Alec Soth. Soth, who is going to be at Massachusetts College of Art & Design on October 26th. This lecture is in conjunction with the exhibition of photographs from Soth's most recent book, "Dog Days Bogota". See more information on the event here.

The photography agency Magnum has a comprehensive website with sample images from each of their member photographers. It is a very prestigious agency whose membership is by invitation only. The work that produced by Magnum photographers (and many other documentary photographers) is not photojournalism. Soth's images in particular have a very strong narrative quality and, depending on the "otherness" of the subject may seem to the viewer to be fiction.It makes no attempt to objectively tell the story. That is an impossibility. The images challenge those who still believe that photography and art are distinctly separate by blurring the metaphorical line between the two.

Blank Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (S.A.Matsumoto) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:27:00 +0000

"Expectations", 2008 Sam Matsumoto

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. It is a bit daunting, since there are endless possibilities for how this blog will be shaped. Although I am the administrator of the blog, I am hoping that it will not be a one way communication tool but that it will serve as a space for multi-directional communication (one of the primary features of Web 2.0).

It has potential not only to facilitate the flow of information from blogger to reader and vice versa but also the flow of information from other sources mentioned within the blog. These sources could be found on the internet such as podcasts, artists' websites, software, and videos, to name just a few. Additionally, these sources could be of the more traditional physically tangible variety such as books or exhibitions.

As I said, there are endless possibilities. How exciting!