photographic art

"A knowledge of photography is just as

important as that of the alphabet.

The illiterate of the future will be ignorant

of the use of the camera and pen alike." ~Laslo Moholy-Nagy, 1923

So reads one of the walls at the MOPA
which I photographed after asking for permission from one of the curators.

Last weekend I was treated, by my dear husband, to a rare trip to the "museums" in San Diego's Balboa Park. Now, if you know my husband at all, you can appreciate what a sacrifice and act of true love for me that it took for him to haul me, along with our 4 kids on an 87 mile trip (one way) to do something that seems more like a day for mom, but that really does benefit the whole family much more than a day at the dunes riding motorcycles does (which I decided against after I was told I could actually "choose" what I wanted to do). I know I probably used I too many times!

This trip actually left us a bit more cultured, informed, entertained and refreshed, whereas the alternative would have left us dirty, tired and possibly missing a limb or with a few broken ribs....you know how dangerous those motorcycles can be!

So after patiently perusing the Air and Space Museum

AND the Automotive Museum, where I was asked to take picture upon picture of cars, motorcycles and airplanes

AND after various rides on the little train
AND the carosel

I finally made it to the Museum of Photographic Arts .

If you live in the area you can visit their website for a list of current exhibitions.

My daughter and I were mesmerized by the Nancy Newhall exhibit. Nancy's husband, Beaumont Newhall, was the curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and she substituted this role for him while he served in the military during World War II.

I thought it was so beautiful that he gave her a camera as a wedding gift, encouraging her to become the great photographer that she was meant to be. All of her photos were black and white, which personally, I love.

There was also a youth exhibition, called Writing With Light where students, through their own photos, interpreted literary works, both fiction and non-fiction as their means of expression. The result was "an exploration of the many connections between photography and literacy, and an understanding of the significance of viewing photography through writing."

I am really looking forward to using some of these ideas in a photography unit and letting my own kids work on their picture taking skills. I know that everyone has different opinions with regards to letting kids use the camera, personally, I don't usually let the littler ones use my camera too much. Although it is disappointing for them when the cameras that they have don't take pictures quite like "mom's camera", so we'll probably have to do a little investing on a better digital camera for them, but for now at least their interest is piqued as is mine!

Every one of those images I saw that day stirred something inside of me and I am so excited to capture as many of my very own "moments" as I possibly can.

I have joined a still group at flickr and so can you!

For now, here are a few of my own ideas of still........