EN/ Review: Carol Hudson and her Photographic Work, “From Him, To Him” from The Power of Possessions
My former tutor Carol Hudson’s works on the project “The Power of Possessions” which is formed by a variety of still life photography sets divided in clothing, personal objects and between others, a set of two prints of two pile of letters, which is the main work I will analyse here.
The photographer started the project after her late husband’s death, as a way to get over the period of mourning; she concentrated on “the leftovers scraps of ordinary life” as she describes her husband’s belongings.
The first impression this piece of work attracts is the fact that the photographs are displayed in pair, combining two piles of papers creating an impact in relation to the quantity, which immediately makes me think it has been accumulated and stored. The use of contrasty black and white film reinforces their tones and texture against a black background, attracting attention to the fact that they are opened, causing the viewer curiosity about their content. The division into two different piles displayed together arises the mysterious mood these photographs create in relation to its context.
Looking at the artist’s statement, part of the mystery is solved; these two stacks of letters were found in the attic. One stack comprises letters ‘to him’, the other stack letters ‘from him’. The photographer wrote: “The dates relate to a period of time when a relationship was irrevocably breaking down, a time before I knew my husband. I was torn between a compulsion to read the letters and the fear of what I might discover. In photographing them, I sought hints of the silent, tactile pleasures and heartaches of letter writing and receiving. I didn’t need to read them. I captured the possibility and my choice.”
I find this piece of work intriguing mostly because the artist herself is not aware of the letter’s content, just like the viewers, as well as I can see her conflict in relation to these letters and object that are under her possession, but are not her own. The photographer overcomes a difficult period in her life and makes the hard decision to get rid of some objects and at the same time respect her late husband’s privacy in relation to the letters.
PT/ Análise: Carol Hudson e seu trabalho fotográfico, “Dele, Para Ele” de O Poder das Possessões
O trabalho da minha antiga professora da faculdade Carol Hudson no projeto “O Poder das Possessões “, que é formado por uma variedade de fotos de objetos, divididos em roupas, objetos pessoais e entre eles, um conjunto de duas pilhas de cartas, que é o principal trabalho vou analisar aqui. Continue reading →
I recently signed up for Cat in a Flat Website and had my first clients.
Here I will explain how it works to be a cat sitter.
What is it?
A website for searching cat sitters.
How is it?
The pet owner searches according to location (neighbourhood), using distance to filter where the sitter intends to travel to, value and experience. Shows the sitters’ profiles with description and information.
Everyone can register?
Yes, but it is preferable to have experience with cats. In your profile you can put how many years of experience you have, if you can handle medication, if you have or had cats. It is also possible to maintain a “customer” gallery with pictures of cats that you sitted. It is important to ask for references pros cat owners after each service, this reference will be made public on your profile, which will help to get more customers.
How it works?
1- After the search, the pet owner gets in touch with you to make sure you’re available dates he needs the service. They can hire and pay for one visit per day, or 2 visits a day with value stipulated by the sitter. I have stipulated a value that covers 2 bus tickets, although only work in the neighbourhood, sometimes it is necessary.
2. A meeting is scheduled to discuss other details and know the cat. At this meeting I already show the owner the contract sheet as well as other documents: information form on nutrition and cat schedules, emergency contact etc; vet form if you need to, and permission to get the key. In this first meeting is now only to review and explain it all, a meeting before the service (usually a pet owner’s trip) is that everything is written down and signed, as well as the delivery of the key is made.
3- At the second meeting you see where is the food, the quantity and frequency of feeding. Also gets to see where is the litter box, bags, and will need to replace the sand and when. We agreed about giving snacks, going out or not and sending pictures.
As it is with the cat?
Each is different but the first day I just take the food, clean pots and clean the litter box, try not to pet them and just let they smell me if they want. That’s because the cat saw me no more than 2 times, it doesn’t trusts me yet and if I anticipate myself they may not like to approach. I took care of 3, and only one of them up to now did show much affection, these other two were affectionate, I ended up staying longer there as they sat on my lap for about 10 minutes. Kira cat only drinks running water from the tap, then as soon as I arrived and before I left I would open the tap to let her drink it, despite always leaving an clean little pot with water. From the 3, Smokey was more difficult to feed, I would fill the pot for him when I would arrive and he would eat it all in minutes, what made me put food again before leaving and was often the time for me to get my stuff and he would have eaten all over again.
At the end…
At the end is a matter of returning the key as agreed (in person or by putting in the mail box inside the house) and asking for references to your profile on the site. It is always good to add that cat in your gallery as well.
Eu recentemente me inscrevi em um site de buscas de pet sitter/cuidadora/babá e tive as minhas primeiras clientes. Aqui vou explicar como ele funciona para ser uma babá de gatos.
O que é? Um site de busca de cuidadores de gatos. Como é? O dono do pet busca de acordo com a localidade (bairro), usando filtro de distância que a babá está e pretende percorrer, valor e experiência. Aparecem perfis das babás com descrição e suas informações. Todos podem se registrar? Sim, mas é preferível ter experiência com gatos. No seu perfil você pode colocar quantos anos de experiencia você tem, se você sabe dar remédio, se tem ou teve gatos. Também é possivel manter uma galeria de “clientes” com fotos dos gatos que você cuidou. É importante pedir referencias pros donos dos gatos após cada serviço, essa referencia ficará pública no seu perfil, o que ajudará a conseguir mais clientes.
Como funciona?
1- Após a pesquisa, o dono do pet entra em contato com você pra verificar se você está disponivel as datas que ele precisa do seviço. Eles podem contratar e pagar por 1 visita por dia, ou 2 visitas ao dia com valor estipulado pelo cuidador. Eu estipulei um valor que cubra 2 passagens de ônibus, apesar de só trabalhar no bairro, as vezes é necessario. 2- Um encontro é marcado pra discutir outros detalhes e conhecer o gato. Nesse encontro eu levo já o contrato pro dono ler assim como outros documentos: formulário de informação sobre a alimentação e horários do gato, contato de emergencia etc; formulário do veterinário para caso precise, e autorização para pegar a chave. Nesse primeiro encontro é momento só de revisar e explicar isso tudo, um encontro antes do serviço (geralmente uma viagem do dono do pet), é que tudo é anotado e assinado, assim como a entrega da chave é feita. 3- No segundo encontro você vê onde fica a comida, as quantidades e frequencia da alimentação. Também tem que ver onde fica a caixa de areia, saquinhos, e se vai precisar trocar a areia e quando. Combinamos sobre dar petiscos, sair ou não e o envio de fotos. Como é com o gato? Cada um é de um jeito, no primeiro dia eu só dou a comida, limpos potinhos e limpo a caixa de areia, não tento fazer carinho e só deixo ele me cheirar se ele quiser. Isso porque o gato me viu no máximo 2 vezes, ainda não me conhece de verdade e se eu me adiantar ele pode não gostar de aproximação. Cuidei de 3, e só 1 deles até agora não quis carinho nenhum, esses outros dois por serem carinhosos, eu acabava ficando mais tempo na visita já que eles sentavam no meu colo por uns 10min. A gata Kira só bebe água corrente da torneira, então assim que eu chegava e antes de ir embora eu abria a torneira pra ela beber, apesar de deixar um potinho sempre limpo com água. Dos 3 o Smokey era mais difícil pra alimentar, eu enchia o pote dele quando chegava e ele comia tudo direto, o que fazia eu ter que dar comida de novo antes de sair e muitas vezes era o tempo de eu pegar minhas coisas e ele já havia comido tudo de novo. Já a Kira e a Zooey, eu dava ração e no outro dia ainda tinha ração no pote.
E por fim… No final é questão de devolver a chave conforme foi combinado, (pessoalmente ou pondo na caixinha de correio pra dentro da casa) e pedir a sua referencia pra o seu perfil no site. É sempre bom adicionar aquele gato na sua galeria também.
With time and the number of flights that I took on trips , I matured a thought. I took off in a variety of weather conditions, but always in times of rain and wind is when I think about the most.
Can be day or night, here on the surface of the Earth we suffer the climate variations, which sometimes disrupt our routine and others affect our emotional. The rain gives boredom, cold sadness, when it is cloudy gives discouragement and heat, laziness.
Sometimes this causes real obstacles to complete our commitments, discouraging us . The same happens when we have real problems, contretemps that prevent us from continuing a project, organising a trip, to exercise or study .
But watching the plane taking altitude on rainy and cloudy days, I noticed that there is a cloud layer in this part of the atmosphere , which in the first 20 minutes of flight you have to throughout. That’s after the crossing that the plane gets stability, by starting tilted up, and then straightening up. Going through this layer means feeling some more swings and sometimes turbulence.
It’s amazing to see that we go through clouds, rain and wind and to gain stability and altitude, to get the view of the carpet of clouds below. That’s when I feel really calm and a relief at this point when I can see that it’s sunny and the sky is clear.
With the frequency of flights, every time I have this experience and with it came this metaphor for life. We all go through a layer of clouds, a probationary period and setbacks that teach us and lead us to our goals eventually.
The Sun, (or the Moon ) , have always been there , illuminating and making their role in the universe. It has always been there , and would again be seen as soon as the clouds passed and we were ready to enjoy them, when the setbacks are overcome.
PT/ À cima das nuvens
Com o tempo e o número de vôos que peguei em viagens, vim amadurecendo um pensamento. Já decolei em variadas condições meteorologicas, mas sempre em tempo de chuva e vento é quando mais penso nisso. Continue reading →
It is p e c u l i a r 