Hello!

It's been forever since I've posted anything on this blog. So I thought I might take this opportunity to post pictures from my latest adventures. This past weekend I went to mount jeez near Malabar, and of course I brought my rats with me since it was such a nice day. I left my camera at home, but I snapped a few pictures with my phone and I just have to share them. I hope they bring you a bit of happiness :)

Final Project.

For the final project I tried to find a similar characteristic between all of the past photographs I had taken for each of the projects.  And it seems that all of them have a touch of mystery, and darkness. But I'm not sure how to make a project out of mystery and darkness that is still cohesive and that makes sense to me. I've been thinking about setting up different scenes to tell a story, but that's not really something that appeals to me. I like finding pure moments in nature that I can capture with my camera. So I've decided that I want to make my final project about light, and our relationship as humans to light and how light can invoke different emotions. Also, the relationship between natural sunlight, and man-made light sources. 

I've also been trying to come up with how I'll display these images. I want them to be large. Because most of them will be "landscape" portraits. But I was thinking of using the transparency paper, and printing all of the images on one giant sheet.  From there I want to construct some sort of make-shift lamp. Either by using an existing lamp and fastening the sheet of pictures onto it almost like a lamp shade. I'm not sure how this will all work as of yet, I'm working on the lamp structure now, and trying to figure out the best way to display the pictures. 

I'm not sure if any of this even makes sense yet, but I'm hoping once I finish taking all the pictures that everything will sort itself out. 

Assignment FIVE

With this project I wanted to try to be a little more comical instead of dark and mysterious. So I decided to do fake mugshots. I searched through hundreds of mugshots on google, trying to figure out what to do. I found that in most mugshots the people aren't usually holding the number identification card, but I chose to have the people in my photographs hold it because then it became more of a tool of expression.

I tried replicating the horrible lighting most mugshots I saw online had, I used the flash on my camera and arranged a few lights around the subject so I could eliminate shadows, and create a dull, flat, image using my flash. In Photoshop I deleted the original background because I was using the wall in my living room which was a weird off-white color and had a odd texture. I chose a grey background because it's not distracting and it forces you to really focus on the subject. I also added bruising and blood to all of my subject's faces, and after doing that I realized that when viewed together these pictures could almost tell a story.

After looking at the final project all together, I like it a lot more than when I first started. I like the mystery behind mugshots, and I wanted each person to tell a different story only using their appearance. The way they stand, the facial expression, even the way they hold the I.D. card can all come together to form an idea about what happened to them.

Assignment FOUR!

 

When I think of portraits I usually am reminded of straight forward, posed pictures of people. So with this assignment I wanted to go in the opposite direction. The portraits I took are very up close, in your face, detailed pictures. They're not taken in a studio, or posed in any sort of way. You can see the imperfections in each person skin. But I think being photographed in this way speaks more about your personality and who you are then if you were to get studio pictures taken.

Most people don't pay attention to the little details of others or of themselves. My whole objective was to amplify the small "imperfections" we see in ourselves, and others, because those imperfections are what makes us who we are. I also tried to stay away from photographing eyes straight on, because I wanted to leave a little mystery in the pictures. You can't see the whole person's face and that really makes you wonder what they look like.

I used the biggest aperture I could because I wanted the viewer to really just look at the person's face, or one small detail about them, I didn't choose to do black & white because I love all the different skin tones, and you can see how imperfectly perfect some really is.

Tim Flach Photography.

A few weeks ago I came across this AMAZING animal photographer, Tim Flach. All of his work revolves around animals, and animal portraits. It's almost strange seeing animals being posed and having their pictures taken like they were human, and I really love that. I love comparing animals to humans because you find that we really aren't that different from each other. Some people think animals are insignificant and dumb, but they're so intelligent it's mind blowing. I mean, I have 2 pet rats and when I have them out and I'm playing with them, I'll put them on the other side of the couch, call their name and they'll come. Most people think rats are gross and not intelligent, I obviously know otherwise. I think Tim Flach really represents animals in a positive light, and the range of animals he photographs is amazing. From dogs to bats to jellyfish, he's got it covered.

http://www.timflach.com/

Even if you're not into animal photography, his site is definitely worth checking out.

Assignment 3

For this assignment I chose to document my house. But, you're probably thinking otherwise. I chose to document my house, but I wanted to do it in a very unconventional way. So, I incorporated my dogs into it.The reason I wanted to do this was because I feel like most people take their pets for granted. As humans we have the power to travel and go to far away places and see so many amazing things, but after all of that we come to our pets. Our pets who stay in the same house for their entire lives, eat the same food, and their only job is to love their owner. You could leave for weeks, and your pet would still be happy to see you when you came home. They forgive easily, and love unconditionally.

My family has had a lot of pets in the past, and they've all fit perfectly with our personality as a family; except for these dogs. Now, don't get me wrong I love these dogs with all my heart. They're the sweetest dogs on the planet. But, they are pure bred bird dogs. So they're very energetic and full of energy whereas my family is very laid back and relaxed. We like to hang around the house, and our dogs like chasing chipmunks. So I wanted to explore that relationship as well. None of these pictures have my family in them so I wanted to create a feeling of isolation.

As you can tell, all of these pictures were taken at my house, but from my dogs' perspectives. The kitchen, the dining room, living room and patio are all displayed here how my dogs see them and what they do everyday in these places. I chose to present these pictures in black and white because I didn't want any distractions from the different colors, I just wanted you to focus on the dogs, and how they're seeing/reacting to each environment. Plus I wanted to kinda give off a 'film' feel, instead of them looking like they were taken with a digital camera.

Old News.

Walking into the gallery I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The photos Jeff Sprang has taken throughout these years were for a news journal, and not really for an art gallery. But in my opinion they were all view able in an artistic way. Each photo had it's own story, and they were all unique, ranging from a portrait of a blacksmith to an arm wrestling contest. They were so interesting I couldn't help but try to place myself in that moment in time and try to wonder what brought Mr. Sprang to this specific place at this time.

"Telephone Lineman School" was the photo that really caught my eye. At first I wasn't sure what was going on. The description reads "These men, training as telephone linemen, are passing a basketball from one to another. The purpose of the drill is to teach them to trust their safety equipment." The picture is taken looking up at the men while they're in mid-toss. The poles are arranged in a circle, and probably quite high up. The men are only attached to the poles by some sort of leather-looking, thick strap with foot holds. They all have on helmets, gloves, work boots, everything they would need if it were a real life situation. It's in black and white, which I think is perfect for this picture because the white sky makes the men on the poles really stand out.

When I look at this photo, I get a sense of anxiety. I can just imagine being up on that pole, who knows how far from the ground, and having to trust a single strap to hold me up. I'd be terrified. But looking at most of the men, it almost seems like they're enjoying themselves. They look relaxed like they really do trust their equipment, I guess they have no other choice. It's also interesting to see the comparison between something terrifying like being strapped to a pole some unknown number of feet from the ground, and tossing a basketball between friends. It's like comparing a poisonous spider to a tray of warm cookies. It doesn't fit. But the way this picture makes me feel is why I love it so much. It makes me feel like I'm right up there with those men, tossing a basketball around. It's scary and enjoyable at the same time.