Class Projects

Guest Lecture - Miguel Gandert

Davynne Tealesa Atanasoff

Miguel Gandert is a very talented photographer and his work really taught me a lot. He sees the world in a completely different light than I do. I am usually so busy that I don't have time to stop and look at the beauty all around me. The photo that especially got to me was the one of three Hispanic girls dancing. Their dresses were spinning around them and all the girls looked so happy and free. I be a liar if I said I wasn't jealous of that feeling. Although I consider myself a happy person, I feel like I am constantly worried about getting assignments turned in or preparing for that upcoming test. I don't feel like I ever really get to relax and just have fun. What Miguel really taught me is that I need to slow down and enjoy the world around me.

There were a couple of quotes that Miguel said I really identified with. "Poverty in an age of affluence is being unable to write and having others write about you," is one particular quote that I really related to. To me, my age is very wealthy in intelligent and empowering people, and I am not a very strong writer at all. Having someone else write about your ideas and accomplishments when you can't write about them yourself would symbolize true greatness for me. Another quote that I really liked was when Miguel said, "Sometimes you're just not ready to see it so don't throw it away." This reminded me about how Einstein was racing against a well-known mathematician to find the equation for relativity, and eventually he went back to an equation he made years before and discarded and found that it was actually right! It just shows everything has its worth, even if we don't realize it at the time. All in all Miguel's work was very eye opening to the values and characteristics I want to have.

Three questions I didn't ask

Would having your photos in a photo book help preserve the photos if you move to a very humid environment?
Do they have to have proof that the relative in the photo is really their relative if they want a copy made of one of your prints?
Has it become easier to get grants now that your name is better known?

Three future directions I would take this:

Miguel talked about different cultures intermixing. I think it would be really cool to have a whole photo show on cultures interacting.
I think that it would be very beneficial for elementary, middle school, high school students in New Mexico to have this presentation and be shown these photos. All I usually hear in these schools is negatives about the state, and I think it would really help show them all the beauty that is in New Mexico.
There is a ton of different ways people hold markers and pencils. I think you could take pictures of all these types and turn it into a great and unique art show, and they would be great to use when I am advertising my markers.