Due to working as a stagehand and set builder on the CalState San Marcos production of Seussical the Musical, I did not have a free weekend to go to Balboa Park until very recently. Because of this I found myself going on a very busy weekend with several bands playing and some sort of festival going on. Having said that, both MOPA and the San Diego Natural History Museum were relatively empty since most of the festivities were taking place outdoors. Of the two museums, I found MOPA far more interesting (not including the other exhibits at theNAT). MOPA had more variation in its photos in my opinion, where as the “Ecosystems of San Diego” exhibit limited itself by forcing all the photos to be taken within a relatively small area compared to the worldwide focus of MOPA’s “Power” exhibit. Having said all that, there was at least one photographer that caught my interest at each exhibit.

 

At MOPA, the artist that caught my eye most was Jacqueline Hassink, though not for predictable reasons. I looked at her photos that were basically just living rooms and other rooms in houses and though that they did not belong with all the other photographers’ work. The pictures of world events, leaders, etc, all seemed like better representations of the idea of “Power” than Hassink’s images. Then I started thinking about the power people feel within their own homes, we feel safer at home than we do in buildings that are just as safe. I still don’t think that I received Hassink’s intended message, but I found a meaning for myself. I tried to emulate her images using the house I grew up in, were I feel safest. I also welcomed the chance to take wide/further away images, since I have mostly focues on close-up photography this semester. I think that these images could have turned out better, as they aren’t really that interesting. However, I do think that I properly replicated Hassink as closely as possible.

 

At the San Diego Natural History Museum, I went to the top floor to see all the “Ecosystems of San Diego” photos displayed around walls. I was slightly disappointed with how small all of the pictures at theNAT were. Most seemed no bigger than a standard binder even when including the picture frame. The artist I was most inspired by was Will Gibson and his close-up photography of flowers and other plants. Although not groundbreaking (everybody has seen images like his), I enjoyed them and assumed that they would be the best/most natural for me to emulate.