Author: Christopher Pun

Although this journey comes to a close, the genesis of another follows

Of the two exhibitions that we went to, I personally enjoyed and felt drawn to the photography of Sebastião Salgado more than the art in Zero at the Guggenheim. The fact that the photographs themselves were portrayed in black and white made them even more compelling and interesting. Many of the photos made me want to take the extra time to stop and really observe everything that Salgado captured at that particular moment and try to understand why it felt so powerful.

Salgado beautifully captured nature, wildlife, and people throughout different parts of the world, at angles I never thought could be possible. I especially was drawn towards his photos of both nature and wildlife. I really like animals, and to be able to see such majestic photos of them in their natural environment at such close angles was pretty amazing. I also like to travel, and one of my dreams in the future is to have the opportunity to travel parts of the world and see and experience things I’ve never seen or experienced before, which is one of the reasons why I think I was so drawn to his photos.

This also brings into perspective how important his message behind his Genesis project is. Through these spectacular pictures, he is trying to make people more aware of environmental and climate issues around the world. If we don’t take care of the environment that we live in now, eventually we’ll lose the beauty that is right before our eyes, before we even get a chance to actually see and experience it. And I think that’s essentially what Salgado is trying to convey through his stunning photography. A quote that Salgado said about his project that really struck me was, “In GENESIS, my camera allowed nature to speak to me. And it was my privilege to listen.”

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I wish I could pursue a career in something I’m passionate about and make money at the same time. Maybe I should find what that is first… #DanielKelly #TaraSabharwal #art #awesomepeople

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The Result of an 8 Year Worldwide Expedition

“In GENESIS, my camera allowed nature to speak to me. And it was my privilege to listen.”
—Sebastião Salgado

The International Center of Photography is the first American venue to present Sebastião Salgado: Genesis, his third long-term series on global issues. Our group – Tony Chu, Pun, Elyssa Sur – had decided to switch to this particular exhibition from the Asia Society exhibition, and boy were we glad that we did. After a little bit of research into the exhibition, we found that even at first glance, his photographs online were compelling, so we thought it would definitely be worth it to see them in person and in a larger scale.

The message Salgado desires toexpress through his Genesis project is for those living in this world to preserve what exists. His photography has shown us an entirely new meaning to how powerful one photo, or in his case, over 200 photos can be. Through over 30 trips travelled by foot, light aircraft, seagoing vessels, canoes, and balloons, he beautifully captures a collection of images that shows us a perspective of nature, animals, and indigenous peoples that we would never have even dreamt of seeing with our own eyes or face to face,even though everything he has captured is present at this very moment. The compilation of his Genesis project took 8 years to capture and select the photos displayed at the ICP now, and so many of them are simply just breathtaking. Each of us found that there was something sort of enchanting about each of his photographs. Salgado was able to successfully draw us towards his pictures to examine every detail. We thought that his landscape photography was stunning and the way Salgado captured the pure natural beauty left in the world as well as in distant cultures, strikes a stark contrast to how much of modern society has become distanced fromnature. The collection is not only a reminder of the natural beauty from which the earth roots its origins, before humans transformed the planet, but it is also the possible beginning of a movement to preserve the planet and protect its beauty.

IMG_3758 sebastiao-salgado-genesis-indigenous

 

 

 

 

 

~Tony Chu, Pun, & Elyssa Sur

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Six Characters in Search of an Author

I think for me, attending this performance with the class was by far my favorite, not only because of how great the play and the production itself was, but also how in many ways I walked out of the BAM Harvey Theater COMPLETELY CONFUSED and with a new perspective on art. My eyes were opened and I thoroughly enjoyed the play, leading me to keep an open mind to everything and anything that was left to be experienced and discovered during this course. I think after this particular performance I was able to enjoy the other performances, the exhibitions, the poems, the class discussions etc, all the more and actually see the art and the value (personally) or lack thereof, in them all. It’s been quite a journey this semester through the art that NYC has to offer, and it was well worth it, not to mention how much is still out there, yet to be experienced by us.

Posted on by Christopher Pun