We started off the week with an interesting documentary about the work of Vivian Maier.

Maier’s life and her undocumented success is intriguing and confusing. Through out the documentary, the enigmatic life of Maier is shed light to. We discover her day job as a nanny and try to understand the reason why she never published her work or became famous.

I hold the belief that at times, most times, separating the art from the artist helps me enjoy their work more. In the case of Maier, not knowing much about her life, helped me appreciate her life and i did not enjoy the rest of the documentary, as they uncovered more about her psyche. Looking at someones work, I like to have my own image of the artist. Seeing art for what it is to myself is more important than my opinion being swayed by the artists experiences. I like to experience art for myself.

Some of my favourite photographs below

Fridays studio started off with a debate.

We discussed the ethics of street photography and concluded that the intention of the photographer mattered most. We also differentiated the art form from news and discussed the fine line between being intrusive and respecting a persons space with in the public sphere. This debate was a warm up for the upcoming exercise that I was dreading. We were grouped and told to wander the city asking strangers for portraits and we would have to individually have sixteen portraits. I was in the rush of finishing the task, that I did not care for the aesthetics of the photos. I was rejected many, many times which I actually found to be fun. It was a fun exercise but I did notice that to be an ethical street photographer is almost impossible. People change when you ask to take their photos and in quiet and reserved Melbourne people are not that eager to be the centre of attention. Culturally we are very much polite and enjoy our privacy with in the public sphere. I can not upload any of the photos, as I told my subjects that these photos will not be published on a public platform.