Final project

Composition: When composing each photo, I always had the goal of framing the scene in a way that captures how the figure is interacting with the scene. In  order to set a tone and give an otherwise inanimate figure personality and life. This meant going down to the level of the figure(s), and seeing things from their point of view. I experimented with scale, lighting and depth of field to achieve the tone I wanted to set in each photo. I generally kept a rather small depth of field, and kept my backgrounds rather simple--sticking with mostly just one object that the figure is interacting with-- in order to keep the focus on the interaction playing out in front. I used lighting on the figures just like how one might for a real person, to draw attention to a face or create a certain shadow.

Concept/Motivations/Method: I loved Disney's Cinderella when I was little. Knowing this, one of my friends in high school gave me these figurines for my birthday, and they have remained desk ornaments ever since. I thought that it would be fun to create different environments for them, and imagine how they might react within that situation. For example, if Cinderella came across a shoe lying on the ground, would she feel compelled to try it on for size? Would seeing the clock strike midnight send a little shiver up her spine? Some of the scenes I created harken back to the Disney movie-- Gus and the beads (http://bit.ly/fMpqbo), the shoes, the carriage and and the clock striking midnight. However, I also created a few of my own, such as the spider plant and the figures trying on jewelry. I felt that while it was fun to recreate scenes from the movie, it was also interesting to create these new scenes that might provide more room for thought and interpretation. 

Context: When brainstorming for this project, I didn't have a particular artist in mind that has done this sort of work. As I think of it, I suppose I drew upon ideas like the Toy Story movies and what classmates have done with this kind of idea across the semester. Also, now that I think of it, the series "What Stormtroopers Do On Their Day Off" could be similar, though I think that there is much more humor involved than in my series.

Assignment 3 : Place

Place

 The places that I decided to photograph ended up relating to each other, although I didn't exactly intend them to. The three bottom photos were taken at home and have a sort of sentimental/ homey feel for me. They include my great grandmother's first piece of furniture (with another great grandmother's framed Bible verse in german), a wind chime hanging from a tree in the back yard, and one of my mom's bonsai trees on the deck. The first photo is taken of a building on campus, but something about it still feels like it belongs with the set. 

For the bonsai tree, I wanted to make the tree seem bigger than what it is--- like it creates a space, rather than being part of a space and that you could just go and sit underneath it. I really like how the lighting and texture turned out

The wind chime was to demonstrate a fast shutter speed. I had a lot of trouble with this photo though. I wanted to bring out the wind chime from the background, but when I increased the contrast, the light on the left side of the photo began to become very washed out.

I really enjoyed the texture that the cabinet had, and wanted to bring out as much of it as possible. This photo ended up having an antique feeling to it, which I think is pretty accurate. I chose this for the prompt that asked to create a narrative. Antiques have so many stories to tell, so this photo seemed like a natural choice.

The final image is looking in from the outside of the MSU Alumni Chapel. I really liked the contrast between the orderly vase of flowers and the wild ivy, as well as the reflection of the tree that is cast on the window. 

#25 : Motivations

Write a detailed description of your “motivations” for your final self-proposed project. Why are you interested in this subject? What do you want to convey? How do you want viewers to respond? Why are you inspired to make these images/this project? Do you want to evoke emotions in viewers? Shock viewers? Make them laugh? Make them think? Inform them? Reveal something about how you see the world? Reveal something about yourself, a person, a place, a feeling, a memory, a moment in time?


I'm interested in my Cinderella subject because I loved the movie and books so much as a small child. The "adventures" of Cinderella and the mouse are meant to be lighthearted and enjoyable --- reflective of my associations with these characters. Perhaps it will trigger a similar memory in viewers. 

Assignment 5 : Created Realities (continued)

Narrative


My goal in these photographs were to tell the story... of me reading a good story! I did my best to be very expressive in regard to my body language. Probably the hardest part about taking these photos was struggling with a self timer and having many failed attempts to properly frame and focus what I wanted in the photo. I wanted to only have myself and the book in the photo, with the book primarily in focus.

PART II


Overall, the group said that the series was very expressive-- that the outward appearance is very reflective of what I might be feeling inside while reading. They said that I could probably add more photos to this series, or create even more narratives of myself doing a variety of tasks.

Final Project: work in progress

Assignment 5 : Created Realities

Social/Cultural Statement : Balance

The concept for this photo is an attempt at visualizing the amount of tasks/people/problems/stuff we must all juggle on a daily basis.

To create this image, I simply took objects that I have around my room and piled them on my head in a haphazard manner. It  truly was a challenge to keep the objects balanced while reaching over to hit the shutter button to start the timer!

I had several versions of this photo to choose from, and I kept going back and forth between this one and one that was not blurred. Obviously, I chose the one with a slight blur. I felt that it added a sense of movement and discomfort for the viewer, and I though it related well to the idea that balancing all of the activities in one's life is not always easy or comfortable.




PART II


One interpretation from the critique was that "it looks like life is weighing you down." I could see that. They also liked the expression on my face and the blur/movement of the books. One jumping off point possibility was that I could try balancing different combinations of items on my head.
 

 

Collages/Installations to be photographed

For this photograph, I wanted to create a kind of sculpture out of everyday items I have sitting around my room. I did my best to use a variety of items that might not normally be found together all in one place. I tried capturing the "sculpture" from several angles to try to get the most interesting composition.

Something that I think I would like to have spent more time on is lighting. I think that the shapes within the sculpture would have done interesting things with the light

PART II

One person noticed that all of my final photos from this assignment involve books--- which I hadn't really noticed before. They especially drew a connection between the photo above and my sculpture photos. I hadn't noticed that!

Someone else suggested that I could continue creating sculptures to be photographed, and to have a certain type of shadow I might want to create in mind (echoing my thoughts on the lighting).

Constructed realities: Works in Progress

#23

1. In what ways do you “construct” your identity? In what ways do you “perform” in your daily life?

How you present yourself to the world-- be it visually or verbally. You construct and maintain your identity daily by how you dress and how you speak and respond in any given situation. It;s almost a kind of branding process. I think that social media provides a good summary of this branding information. For instance, on Facebook you can see what images a person wants to be represented through, what their interests are, how they spend their time and who they spend it with, what they think is funny and how they respond and communicate with other people.

2. Describe some ways in which your personal culture and social environments are “constructed”.


I suppose this connects with a lot of the ideas in the questions above, but there are many outside influences that help to construct how we want to present ourselves. The values we value, the environment we live/grew up in and the people and ideas that we admire are just a few contributing factors.

3. Describe some ways in which your physical environment/space is “constructed”.


A combination of controllable and uncontrollable factors. Personal preferences in decoration. The purpose a space needs to serve. 
Functionality.

4. In your daily life, what would you consider to be “real” and what would you consider to be “constructed/fabricated”?


I think the real aspects would be how everything actually is. As for constructed/fabricated, I think of all the times I might overanalyze or misinterpret a situation.

5. Describe a narrative tableaux that you might create to be captured by a photograph. A narrative tableaux can be defined as “Several human actors play out scenes from everyday life, history, myth or the fantasy of the direction artist” ( Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler , 34).

6. Describe an idea for a photograph that includes a miniature stage or still life. A description of such an image is “The tableaux reconstructs events as in the narrative tableaux, but in miniaturized format, using dolls and other toy objects” (Kohler, 34).


I think that it would be interesting to recreate a famous movie scene this way. You could do all sorts of scenes this way, depending on what materials you are using. I think it would work well as a series.

David Haxton

Haxton was born in 1943 and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He primarily works with raw materials, (mostly cut paper) to create a kind of sculpture. He then pays close attention to the backdrops and lighting. As he describes his process: 


“A large format camera is placed in a dark studio. Photographic backdrop paper is arranged and cut, lights are placed in the space and the film is exposed...The slashes and cuts in paper are a record of a performance for the camera.”


David Haxton currently resides in Winter Park, Florida where he works as a professor of photography at the University of Florida.


http://www.davidhaxton.com/

'The Morning After "He greatly daring dined"'

This photograph (taken in 1845) by Robert Adamson and david Octavius Hill laughs at Hill's experiences with hangovers, and serves as a general statement about excess alcohol consumption. Hill is seated at the left, and his hand is being held by surgeon and anatomist James Miller, all the while the Roman bust looks away in disgust.

It has apparently been documented that Hill definitely did enjoy his drinks.

#21

A. Series: Brainstorm various ways to make a “series” of photographic images.

Focusing on different aspects of one location

same subject, different locations

focusing on a single person or group of people and their environment

Coming up with different ways of portraying a single theme

B. Final Project: Your final project in this class will be designed by you. If you could tackle any photography project, what would it be? You could combine other media with photography (video, sculpture, drawing) or you could take one of your earlier assignments and expand it to create a larger project. If you are expanding an earlier project or creating an entirely new series of images, shoot for a series of at least 5 images. Describe an idea you have for your final project.

I like the idea of discovering and exploring a place. I think that what I am leaning toward doing. It would need to be someplace on or near campus, but I'm not sure if I want to document a favorite place I'm very familiar with or someplace brand new. 

Assignment 4(0) Recreate Popular Media

Tanning. People will go to many lengths to have that golden glow. It is one standard by which society and media gauge beauty and health.

I've never been a fan of this fad. Not only have I witnessed my grandpa have potentially cancerous sun spots burned off of the top of his head with liquid nitrogen, but frankly my skin has never been able to handle all that much sun exposure anyway. I'm not especially allergic or albino, but I've just got the skin that comes with naturally blonde-haired, blue-eyed persons. Therefore, you won't ever find me at the beach looking much like the woman shown in the ad above (for more than one reason). I generally look something like the photos below it, though I have slightly exaggerated my appearance. I take a lot of care to prevent sunburn, meaning hats, sunglasses and several applications of a relatively high SPF sunscreen. It sounds pretty lame, but I don't care. Hey, at one time it was cool to be pale.

#20

Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “news”-related photographs. 

People/place centered. The object of news photography is to tell a story, and give faces/images to a story so that readers can better relate and understand a situation. This means capturing what might be the essence/tone/emotion of a place. They are usually pretty direct. You don't want a reader to misinterpret an image-- the goal is to produce a powerful image that tells a story, and relates the tone of a situation as directly as possible, not leaving much room for misinterpretation. 

Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “snapshots”.

Candid. That's what comes to mind first. Unplanned, perhaps blurry, not always well framed or composed (though sometimes they come out better than expected) and most importantly, genuine. You can often capture the most natural moments and features of people when they don't know a photo is coming.

Describe some common aesthetic aspects of advertisement photographs. Fashion photography? Product photography?

I think that lighting is a big part of advertising, fashion or product photography (aren't these all selling a product?) I associate this type of photography with great (and unrealistic) lighting conditions to best display the product. I think that the word 'unrealistic' is a good way to describe advertising photography, both in the display and the people that are used to advertise the product.

Describe some common aesthetic aspects of film or movie stills.

I think that there is a definite mood that is set in film stills... whether it is bright and sunny, foggy, windy, rainy, cold... snowing... night or day. Obviously I think weather plays a large part in this! I think there is also a way the camera is set up to provide for movement across the frame.

Describe some common aesthetic aspects of yearbook photos and/or senior pictures.

I think that there is a certain cheesy and unrealistic feel to these photos. I remember guys who normally ran around looking rather unkempt would magically look suddenly very cleaned up for their senior pictures. You aren't usually dressed like you normally are, and you've got a smile plastered on your face. This sounds pretty negative -- there are very genuine, well done senior pictures that are done, but it just seems that these pictures are made to please a certain set of people... mom, dad, grandma... and don't always portray a person't real personality.

#19

1) should not be photographed? Why?
2) cannot be photographed? Why?
and
3) you do not want to photograph? Why?


1) I think that the answer to this question is dependent on the situation. In photojournalism, this is a continual discussion in ethics. Usually, death, young children, obscenity, and gore are all things that tend to be avoided. Editors have to decide whether a photo is being shown because it is sensational, or because it genuinely adds to the story being told. 


Sometimes photos are not supposed to be taken due to security. An organization might not want to disclose the location of a person or a utility station to help ensure the safety of that person or a group of people.


I think that most anything goes when someone categorizes something under the word 'art', even if it is something that will make most people uncomfortable.


2) Wow. I'm having a difficult time thinking of something that can't be photographed. I think that sound is the sense that is the most difficult to capture in a photograph. I can see a texture and easily imagine what it feels like... I can see a person's face or body language and feel an emotion... you can suggest movement in a photo.... you can communicate a message.... But for some reason, sound doesn't come as easily to me.


3) Ha. I suppose, going back to #1, anything that makes me uncomfortable. Definitely naked people. When I took drawing I, I was terrified that my professor would bring in nude models. Also, any person or animal that is in pain, whether physically or emotionally. I would feel like I was taking advantage of that person.

Place Photographer: Andrew L. Moore

"National Time" http://andrewlmoore.com/view_project.php

I have been fascinated with Andrew Moore's series on Detroit for quite some time now... in fact, I think many people have been intrigued by the recent photos and films of the dilapidated buildings of Detroit. Many people say that all of this attention is focusing on the negative... that if people would just look at the bigger picture, that perhaps right next to that crumbling piece of architecture there is an organic neighborhood farm growing in the lot next door, or a community art project is taking place. People say that in many ways, Detroit is becoming... or is still ... very much alive. This may be true, yet here these buildings sit, to be looted, photographed, razed or continue to decompose, since there is not money to have them demolished.

It was difficult to choose just one photo from the series. Each one has it's own attraction. I'm amazed at Moore's ability, whether by plan or chance... that he happened upon these places that very few people have discovered or paid any attention to. He said in an interview:

"Although one method is to work through diplomatic channels to gain entry to controlled places, my approach has always been to fly below the radar, so to speak. The first thing I try to do is find someone who has the contacts, charm, and curiosity necessary to get things done in a bureaucratic maze, as well as someone who understands what kinds of pictures I'm trying to make."  

Moore's images are sometimes painful to view. There is an overwhelming feeling of waste, lost history and potential... a complete and utter disregard for respect of these monuments of the past. 

I chose this photo because I feel that it does well in summing up the series as a whole. I think that It represents this transitional phase that Detroit is going through... It's difficult to tell where the city actually is as a whole, just as it would be difficult to tell time on this distorted clock. Detroit is caught between the old and the new, beginnings and endings. These buildings might represent the end of one time period, but offer themselves up for many new beginnings. New ways of thinking, new uses for spaces.

“I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody's face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.” Duane Michals

I think that this is the challenge with portrait photography. Like the quote states, anyone can take a picture of someone's face, but it takes someone special to capture not only a person's outside appearance, but a little bit of their character. It should make you stop and spend some time looking at the image. It should grab you, and create the feeling that in some way, you know a little something about that person--without reading a single word about them.

   

#17 “Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.” Arnold Newman

The photographer has control over a multitude of things when taking a photo. Both in the moments leading up to the push of the button, and afterwards, when they edit. They can choose what they want in the photo to begin with, the kind of lighting, what colors to bring out and what distractions to remove.

I think we also tend to photograph objects, people and places as we would like to remember them, whether it is truly an accurate depiction or not.

All of these things considered, that is how we create our own little illusion.

#16 “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer—and often the supreme disappointment.” ~Ansel Adams

Photographing nature always frustrates me. It always seems that no matter how I try, the photo never lives up to what I actually saw and experienced. Sunsets especially. They never seem as vivid in a photo as they did in real life.

I think that no how incredibly accurate cameras get, I have a feeling that nothing will be able to fully capture what we see through our own eyes. That being said, the challenge for the photographer is to get as close as they can.

Most of the time, I think that these frustrating moments are hints, telling me to put down the camera, be still, and just see.

Posts #11, 12, 13, 14, 15

#11 Memory of a Place: Try to imagine a place from your past. Do you have pictures of this place? Describe this place as you remember it. What might a photograph look like of this place if you were to go back and photograph it? What would it look like in the past? What would it look like to you today? Where are you standing in this place? What other items are in this place? What colors do you see? Are there other people or are you alone? Make a “written photograph” of this place using words/description.


My "place memory" is that of my old house. I don't have any photos with me on hand, but I did look up a Google street view: http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=107+south+howell,+hillsdale,+michigan&oe=UTF8&um=1&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=107+S+Howell+St,+Hillsdale,+MI+49242&gl=us&ei=OOy5TP_oMMannAfsi7nqDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA but I lived there from when I was born at the hospital down the road until I was 10. I think I have a rather idealized memory of my old house. It's an old house--over a century-- and is located on one of the main streets of Hillsdale, Michigan. From the photos I have seen, it was quite a mess when my parents bought it in the mid-80s.  On the inside, we had a large kitchen with a hardwood floor, plenty of large windows with lacy curtains, an unfinished basement that had a very distictive smell, a stairway that led to the second floor, where my brother and I had our bedrooms. Our house didn't have air conditioning, so summer nights were awfully warm up there! What I like the most about my old house was the outside. Since my dad is a landscape architect and my mom is a horticulturist, our yard was gorgeous, and I had a back yard with a playset and a sandbox made from a large tractor tire. I can see myself in all these spaces. I see myself alone, but with everything just the way I remember, with signs that the rest of my family lives there too. My favorite part was the wrap-around porch. Our house looks pretty much the same on the outside, from the times I've driven past. The new owners have built a small shed in the back yard, and have added a lot of "fluffy" decorations to the outside--something my parents would never have! The landscaping is not what it used to be, though I imagine it would be hard to keep up if you didn't know what you were doing. I don't want to see what it looks like on the inside. I think that no matter what, I would be very disappointed. I wouldn't want anything to tarnish what I remember.


#12 Memory of a Photograph: Which photograph from your past do you remember most? Describe this photograph. Describe how it makes you feel when you remember/think about this photograph. How have you changed? How has the place in this photograph changed? What would a reenactment of this photograph look like? Would you act or look differently if you reenacted this scene today?

 

This is a picture of me when I was maybe 7 or so, with our cocker spaniel in the grass next to me. I played outside a lot as a child, so this is reminicent of that. It also makes me miss my dog Ellie (though we called her Puppy). She passed away when I was 13, and we got her when I was born. A reinactment of this photo would include an older me, with perhaps our current dog, which looks nothing like Puppy! I would look older, obviously, though similar to my younger self, and the dog would be a terrier mix mutt, instead of a purebred cocker spaniel! 

#13 Human-Made Space: In the past, photographers who were interested in how humans impacted the natural landscape grouped together to form the New Topographics. “New Topographics" signaled the emergence of a new photographic approach to landscape: romanticization gave way to cooler appraisal, focused on the everyday built environment and more attuned to conceptual concerns of the broader art field.” http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibTopo.aspx In addition, at the same time in history artists created (and still do create) “land art” in which they use materials found in the landscape to make sculptures that remain in the landscape. Many of these works now only exist as video recordings and photographic documents.

Pay attention to the number of ways in which you encounter humans’ interaction with nature and the physical land. Write these down. Using these as inspiration, describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might create that would be documented by a photograph. Describe an idea for a piece of “land art” that you might make in a man-made landscape that would be documented by a photograph.


Footpaths on campus. Despite sidewalks and signs kindly requesting all to "keep off", those roaming the campus do it anyway, living by the rule that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.


Carving on trees. While not admirable, still interesting. This would be a fun idea for a photo series.


Stone piles. I'm not sure what the exact term for these are, but you see them used as trail markers or just for fun. It's amazing how they can get the stones to stay balanced for the next traveler to admire.


As far as land art in a man-made landscape, graffiti is always interesting, but since I'm not much of a deviant type, sidewalk chalk art is cool too. Or, it would be interesting to use the same object across a series of photos in different man-made environments.


#14 Unknown vs. Familiar Space: When photography was invented, it became a way to document and reveal the specific aspects of both familiar and faraway places. Imagine a familiar place. Imagine a faraway place. How would you use photographs to convey the difference? Can you imagine any places that have been “touched” very little by humans? How might you photograph them?


I think what makes a place familiar is the inclusion of items that you can relate to, based on your own experiences. Similar experiences can often be regional. To make a photo unfamiliar, you can remove all of these things, and replace them with people and places and ways of living that are completely different from what your audience knows.


Places that have been left nearly untouched by humans: Very cold places -- the arctic, the deepest parts of the ocean. Places lacking water -- large deserts (I picture the wind blowing across the sand, removing any evidence that someone was standing in a place moments ago). And outer space. Now that's a place that people have only scratched the surface of. When photographing these places, I would think that I would want to focus on the wild, untamed nature of the place, since that is what makes it special -- the lack of control humans have on the place. 


#15 In-Camera Collage: Collage brings together two or more items that were previously separate. The resulting piece usually visually references the fact that they were once separate entities. Imagine an important place in your past. Imagine an important place in your present. Imagine who you were in both of these past and present places. Describe how you might use a slow shutter speed and/or double exposure to capture two moments in one image that tell a new narrative about these important places and how they relate to who you are and were.


My whole life (that I can remember) has largely revolved around school. I think I would like to combine my memory of my classroom in elementary school (lots of colors and decorations, circle tables, crayons and snacks) and my current educational environment, which includes small, individual desks, plain white walls, definitely no snacks, and a lot of big books and staring at a computer screen. I think that I would create a double exposure of a young child sitting at a table in a typical elementary school classroom, and then have another image of a college classroom focusing on an older student, but from the same angle as the first image. I would want to include background elements from both photos (decorations, other students). The challenge would be in blending the pictures so that you could see individual elements from  each photo, but creating a balance so that it wasn't too busy.

Assignment 3(0)

I'm not sure I really followed the rules for this assignment, but my image is more about the concept of the passage of time, and how quickly or how slowly it seems to move. It seems like the older I get, the faster time goes. One minute, I'll be complaining about the start of another week or about a class that seems like it's going on forever, and before I know it, the week...the month... the semester is over.

As I approach graduation in May, I am still struggling to grasp how I arrived at this point so quickly. As hard as I might try to slow things down, to enjoy the time I have left, it seems it is to no avail. I'm halfway through the Fall semester already. Should I be looking for jobs now? Is it too late? Too early? I feel caught between wanting to take the time to reminisce about the past and enjoy my present, but I'm constantly feeling the pressure to look ahead to the future.

When I reflect on how fast my last four years seem to have gone, it is interesting to look back on my memories over this period of time. High school seems so long ago, yet it seems like just yesterday I was wandering around the MSU campus for the first time, map and class schedule clutched firmly in hand. Some things I remember clearly, while some memories, though from the same time, are rather hazy.

This was completely unintentional... I just realized that the calendar is from the Alzheimer's Association. My parents got it in the mail for free... probably for donating, though we haven't had too much of a connection to Alzheimer's in our family. I took it to college because I wanted a calendar. 

Now that I think about it, bringing Alzheimer's into the picture adds and interesting spin to the passage of time, doesn't it?

Assignment II: Portrait | Final Images

 

Assignment II: Portrait

With this series, I tried to capture both the person and the environment in which he exists and how it reflects who he is. My boyfriend does very well in school, and I feel that these photographs reflect his dedication to his schoolwork. It was also helpful that he is a math/physics major, so there were plenty of huge textbooks and notebooks lying around. Some of my favorite photos from this set were the ones in which the room was completely dark except for the desk lamp. It almost seemed to add a daunting/dungeon-esque setting. I tried to capture his desk area from a variety of angles and points of view. Since the setting was a dorm room, this sometimes proved to be a challenge with very little room to move around the room.

PART II

My group interpreted ta lot of stress from the photos--that there is a lot of intimidation in the stacks of books in the scene. They also were very interested in the items on his desk--the blood pressure monitor (thus the blood pressure medication) and the fact that he is on Facebook, which is something I hadn't noticed before. They interpreted that this type of procrastination leads to his stress. It was interesting that they created a whole story about the person in the photo, based upon the items on his desk. The REAL story is that after awhile, my picture-taking was getting on his nerves and he couldn't focus on doing any real homework while I was still there taking pictures.

They also mentioned that the lighting could be something that I could work on. The photos printed slightly darker than they appeared on screen, and some detail was lost. They also thought that they would like to see more detail on his face in the first and 4th photos posted here.

As far as a jumping off point, they said that this group already was working as a series, but that I could do something similar with other people, and have their surroundings speak to who they are.