Dick Blau's photography work in Polka! Happiness captured a lot of raw first moments. I felt that since it was his first time experiencing this, we were able to experience it secondhandly through his eyes. These pictures also broke my own stereotypical thoughts on Polka music and the atmosphere surrounding it.
With his first film, his experimenting and educating himself, gave a different kind of element. Blau was used to photography in which the end result was just one moment. This mindset helped to capture the emotional expressions from the church gatherers; in moments such as them praying with their hands held up high or hold their books so closely to their bodies. He was able to diversify the viewers from a larger to small picture and back and forth throughout. He would focus on the people within the church and then pair these images with scenes outside such as the parade down the street or the woman preaching by herself outside. This piece overall was strong not just in the obvious religious ways but also in the social aspect as to how this group interacted the world outside of their church.
With his first film, his experimenting and educating himself, gave a different kind of element. Blau was used to photography in which the end result was just one moment. This mindset helped to capture the emotional expressions from the church gatherers; in moments such as them praying with their hands held up high or hold their books so closely to their bodies. He was able to diversify the viewers from a larger to small picture and back and forth throughout. He would focus on the people within the church and then pair these images with scenes outside such as the parade down the street or the woman preaching by herself outside. This piece overall was strong not just in the obvious religious ways but also in the social aspect as to how this group interacted the world outside of their church.
The fairy tale video was my favorite piece of his.The conceptual idea of this video added to the essence of it since kids pretending gets jumbled up by "new intruders" and "obstacles" causing the story to constantly change. I really felt as though this piece could have been categorized as creepy or horror by the way the video would repeat areas or reverse the order of another area within the "plot line." I also loved that although Blau staged some narratives, he had to work with what he was given by the kids costumes.
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