Sunday, September 11, 2016

Jennifer Livingston – Artist Post 2

John Divola 


1) These three pictures are part of a series called “Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert”. Each of the photos, taken in black and white, was taken in a similar manner. Divola would take pictures with one hand on the wheel, and the other holding the camera. He worked on this series between 1995 and 1998. Divola would bring a 35mm camera with him on his drives through the desert. It was equipped with a motor drive and black and white grainy film. 

2) In the first image, the black dog against a nearly white background is chasing the car. The vastness of the desert in the background shows that there isn’t much out there except for the desert. Barely visible in the back right are silhouettes of some mountains. For the second image, the dog is running parallel to the car. This image provides more detail to the previous one. And lastly, the dog with white fur patch on its chest looks alertly into the distance. It seems to be guarding the houses behind it. There is what appears to be a small garden in front of the houses, and views of the mountains in the back. Divola’s main idea behind this series is that neither the dog nor the camera is truly in charge of the situation. 

3) The first image of the black dog running was one that I almost overlooked. At first I thought it was just another dog running. Then, after looking at it again I realized there was more to the picture than that. Shortly afterwards, I found that it was part of a series of photos taken by Divola in the desert.  Both the dog and the driver believe that they were in charge of the situation. As did the other dogs in the following images.




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