80 hours ddaaiillyyiioowwaann..ccoomm for more arts and culture

6C - The Daily Iowan - Iowa City, Iowa - Thursday, October 16, 2008

By ELIZABETH TIMMINS elizabeth-timmins@uiowa.edu

Margaret Stratton walksthrough bustling streets car-rying large, heavy equipmentas she heads toward herapartment. The sun goesdown. Wheels rumble as a sub-way roars by underneath thesidewalk. Taxicabs honk,struggling to change lanes inthe stuffy traffic. Digitaladvertisements light up thenight sky as Stratton entersher apartment. It is 1997, andin the city that proverbiallynever sleeps, Stratton waits inher bathroom as chemicalsuncover her day’s work.

During the two years thatthe UI professor of photogra-phy lived in New York City ona UI Faculty Scholar Award,Stratton captured composi-tions with her 4-by-5 cameraduring the day and developedthe images at night.

On Saturday at 10 a.m. in40 Schaeffer Hall, Strattonwill discuss this photographyin a lecture titled “Photogra-phy and Place: New York Nar-ratives.” Her black-and-whitephotographs explore the shift-ing image of the Big Apple. Inaddition to her own photogra-phy, she will provide examplesof others’ photography as acontext of how the city haschanged over time.

“I’m going to talk about NewYork as an important placethat has reflected the historyof the United States as it hasgone through various points inhistory, in terms of renais-sance of architecture and itschanging demographic of peo-ple,” she said.

Most of the photographsStratton took during her NewYork experience are outdoorcompositions, but a few photo-graphs show building interi-ors. Her images not only pro-vide a snapshot of the timeperiod but also reinforce themagnitude and motion of thecity.

“I think [the photographs]are very majestic because ofthe environment that they aretaken in,” Stratton said. “Myimages are little stories inthemselves, and they usuallyinclude a piece of the cityscapeand figures, small figures thatlook diminutive in relation tothe buildings. They are thepeople who are going aboutcreating the history of NewYork as they inhabit theimage.”

The capturing of thesemajestic images requiredpreparation. Unlike a touristwandering vast streets, Strat-ton’s Linhof Technikardancamera can’t be drapedaround her neck or tucked in apurse when it starts to rain.

“The equipment that’srequired for that kind ofendeavor is quite heavy andcomplicated,” Stratton said.“So if I decide to go make pic-tures, it would be a specificday that I would say, ‘TodayI’m going to go take pictures,’because I have to load thefilm, and get the camera, andit’s quite a lot of work.”

However the initial prepara-tion for a photo shoot may notalways be the most work inthe entire process of creating aphotograph. Finding the rightcomposition and successfullycreating a photograph can bedifficult, she said, but once itfully develops she finds it veryrewarding.

With five boroughs, theworld’s tallest buildings, andan extensive history, New Yorkprovides an nearly infinitenumber of spaces for any pho-tographer to create a composi-tionally pleasing photograph.

“I think that it’s very impor-tant that we talk about a placelike New York; it keeps chang-ing but always remains a trulyAmerican place,” Strattonsaid.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOMargaret Stratton’s Joe’s Pizza, W Village (1997) captures the essence of her photographic work completed in New YorkCity while there on a UI Faculty Scholar Award. Margaret Stratton’s work demonstrates the shifting image of the Big Appleand its timeless presence on the American landscape.

By JENNIFER QUINNAssociated Press

LONDON — After countlessdenials of domestic trouble,Madonna and Guy Ritchieannounced Wednesday they aredivorcing after nearly eightyears of marriage.

The couple’s announcementbrings to an end a showbizunion that spanned theAtlantic and dominated thegossip columns.

Madonna — “Madge” to theBritish press — and her filmmak-er husband were always greatertabloid fodder in England, wherethey lived.The pop star seemed totake to English life, spendingmuch of her time at the couple’s1,200-acre country estate in Wilt-shire, and to some ears, adoptinga slight British accent.

But in recent years, reportsbegan to accumulate that theywere on the rocks. Over thesummer, Madonna was linked— unfairly, she said — to thebreakup of New York YankeeAlex Rodriguez and his now ex-wife, Cynthia.

The couple issued a briefstatement by their representa-tives Wednesday, asking forrespect from the press for theirfamily’s sake.

A financial settlement hasnot been agreed by the wealthycouple, who also must decidechild-custody issues.

Madonna and Ritchie, direc-tor of Snatch and Lock, Stock,and Two Smoking Barrels, mar-ried in December 2000 at SkiboCastle, in the Scottish High-lands. The couple have two chil-dren: Rocco, 8, and DavidBanda, 3, who was adoptedfrom Malawi in 2006. Madonnaalso has a 12-year-old daughter,Lourdes, from her relationshipwith personal trainer CarlosLeon.

The couple are reportedlyworth some $525 million, thebulk of that belonging toMadonna. Ritchie has an esti-mated $35 million fortune.They own homes in London,Los Angeles, and New York, andthe retreat in Wiltshire.

LECTURE“Photography and Place: New

York Narratives”When: 10 a.m. Saturday

Where: 40 Schaeffer HallAdmission: Free

Appled-up images from a UI professorUI Professor Margaret Stratton exploresthe history of New York through a seriesof photographs. She will lecture Saturdayat 10 a.m.

‘I think [the photographs]are very majestic becauseof the environment that

they are taken in. Myimages are little stories in

themselves, and they usually include a piece ofthe cityscape and figures,

small figures that lookdiminutive in relation tothe buildings. They are

the people who are goingabout creating the history

of New York as theyinhabit the image.’— Margaret Stratton,

photographer

Madonnato getdivorced