Event #2- Getty Center

For my second event, I decided to take a visit to the Getty Center that is located minutes from UCLA’s campus. I have visited the Getty Villa in Malibu a couple of times but this was my first time at the Getty Center and I am so glad that I was able to visit there. After taking the tram to the top of the hill, where the galleries are located I was already taken back by the amazing views over LA and the ocean. The exhibition that I saw was of Abelardo Morell’s photographs. As I walked around the room, one of his pieces of work that intrigued me was his photograph called, “Microcosmos”. I stood there for a couple of minutes before reading the information card on the side wall and tried to see for myself what exactly it was that Abelardo had photographed. At first glance the picture looked as if it were outer space. However, there was more to the picture than meets the eye. The photograph was in fact an image of water that was sprinkled on film. His vision and ability to capture such a unique moment of the water on the film was illustrated through this photograph. His close attention to detail was prominent in this photograph and it was remarkable that he was able to capture such a specific moment. I recall a little girl walking behind me as I was standing in front of the image and when she muttered to her mom, “Mom look that’s outer space!”, I couldn’t help but turn around and say that I thought it was too.

Image of Abelardo's work: "Microcosmos"

Another interesting aspect of Abelardos’ photographs is that he experiments with what is called camera obscura. There were four photographs that were lined up together along the same wall and each were titled by the particular season, “Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring”. Each photograph was taken at the same angle and of the same backdrop, however depending on the different season the backdrop appeared to be different. This helped illustrate the change of scenery and time period while at the same time showing that inside the room remained the same. The obscura in his photographs that he experimented with was very unique and helped to enhance the objects/places/things that he was capturing. In order to capture this "obscura", it was necessary for Abelardo to have the room in complete darkness. He used the window as a way to capture what was taking place outside and it appeared on the photograph upside down from the rest of the room. By capturing the outdoors and the seasons changing through the same window of space and taking the picture from the same angle, Abelardo was able to bring all four photographs together and show the connection between one another. Even though the seasons changed and were shown upside down in the background, the photographs forefront remained unchanged. 

I definitely learned a lot after observing Abelardo’s photographs. He showed through his work how even the most simple things, like water falling onto film can be captured and turned into a beautiful and appealing piece of art. I enjoyed this event and found it to be extremely entertaining. As I was leaving the room filled with Abelardo’s work, the last thing that I wrote down as I was taking notes was a quote that he said that really put everything that I had just observed into perspective. He said, “Photography is still raw and unexplored”. His pieces of work definitely demonstrated this attitude, as his photographs were his way of experimenting with photography. 

At the Getty Center :)

Sources: (No pictures were allowed at the gallery)

Image 1: Abelardo Morell. http://www.abelardomorell.net/posts/photograms/ 

Image 2: Abelardo Morell. http://www.abelardomorell.net/posts/camera-obscura/ 

Image 3: Abelardo Morell. http://www.abelardomorell.net/posts/camera-obscura/