The trip to the National Gallery was really informative and made me think about photography on a deeper level than I have before. This is the first time going to a museum to view pictures since taking this class, and I could tell how my knowledge, even though still limited, has helped me gain insight into the pictures I was seeing.

To begin, it was a very unique experience to go the exhibits with the people who put them together. The first tour I was on was the photbook one. Honestly, if it wasn't for the tourguide and my new interest in the layout of photos, I would have walked through this room ver yquickly, and wouldn't have gained much knowledge from it. The woman was very thourough though, and helped me think of the world that photography was taking place in. The way pictures are taken not only shows a way of life, but also gives an insight into cultural and social phenomena that were taking place at the time. The differences in angles and lighting were being experimented with, as well as taking pictures cross culturally and comparing them. The pictures that stuck out to me were the ones of children playing in the U.S. and Japan. This showed evidence ( of fact as in a picture... even though that statement can be debated) that all children, regardless of location, are children, and enjoy playing. I also enjoyed the U.S.A. book, which was a more modern looking layout for places to see across the United States. The last case stuck out to me for several reasons. First of all, the sunset strip idea was very simple yet unique because all the building on the strip were photographed, and then arranged as a strip. The negative and positive image of the woman also showed me how one photograph can be altered in many different ways. I couldn't help but think how I could develope one of my own photos like that.

As we moved on, and went into the main exhibit, I enjoyed listening to the stories and reasonings and meanings behind each of Robert Frank's pictures. I especially liked the contact sheets and work prints. I would not have known what these were before, and it was intriguing to look at the actual pieces of paper and the steps that Frank went through to develope each picture. Like me, and all of us in this class, he went through the same "old fashioned" steps. I liked seeing this in a museum setting, as we usually only see the finished product. I also thought a lot about what people thought of this influential book, and it made me realize how important art is in society. The differnet layouts of the ooks across the years definitely had an impact in the message of the books, and little changes can do that. The last picture of the car stands out to me, as he spent most of his life on the road, and with his family. This seemed to show his love for both, but also his separation from his family because of his work ( since he was not in the car with them.) This picture seemed to indicate that this journey would continue.

As I left the museum and walked around D.C. I was inspired to not only take pictures of the monuments, but also people. There were many peopel to photograph as it was crowded, and I seemed to walk past a lot of photo opportunities, but I felt uncomfortable getting up in people's space. It made me think about what Frank must have gone through to capture these people. I realized that these pictures are special not because of what is depicted, and the "realness" in which it is depicted, but I realize how difficult it is to aquire most of these pictures. If it were me, all my pictures would end up like Frank's favorite ... of the man glaring at him!