Final Count Down

So I know i haven't been posting on Sunday's the past few weeks.  I seem to either post on Monday's or Tuesday's.  Anyways I have completed my princess series and shot my final princess over the weekend.  This upcoming week I am framing my work.  I look forward to seeing everyones work on this upcoming Monday.

Hans-Peter Feldmann

As I was browsing the many artists on the ASX website, I happened upon Feldmann's work. The first two images really captured my attention since these two pieces are incredibly pertinent to my current body of work. The way he tackled the same topic I am pursuing is simple but beautiful. The snapshot-like documentary captures the subject with so many dimensions in yet the same form. I am enamored by the way he portrays women and their lifestyle, their bodies and any aspect about them.

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2012/11/hans-peter-feldmann-hans-peter-feldmann-2006.html

Abelardo Morell || Update

Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1962. The images below are from the series titled Childhood and are all in black and white. I find these images to be compelling because the absence of color causes us to use our imagination to fill in the spaces. I especially like the image of the house drawn into the dirt and the children within. It inspires me to 'create' spaces, maybe even put myself in them.  Over the weekend I went on two separate shooting excursions and began to focus on more detailed shots to add to my book. I've gone back to abandoned places and I'm liking what I'm getting. More adventures taking place this week weeeee!

http://www.abelardomorell.net/posts/childhood/

Progress

I reshot Belle this past weekend.  I have managed to edit all of the princess before Belle.  This week I am shooting Elsa and will have her image done by the end of this week.  I can't believe only a few weeks remain and am looking forward to seeing everyones final product.

First week of November

I have done more exploitative studio work, so now I want to bring my camera outside with me. I have a wide range of identities being expressed in my images, along with some photos that express the absence of identity. I am narrowing down my ideas for the construction of my book and narrowing down my images to a cohesive series to print and also for the book. I want my book to have a timeless mood to it, so I am considering staining my paper with coffee. I have been seeing the photographer Bettina Rheims a lot recently. Her series titled "Gender Studies" is inspiring. Although she uses different models, while I use only myself as my subject, I get ideas about the various identities I can take on and express through my photographs.
http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/2003/06/bettina_rheims/

This past week

I photographed Rapunzel and am working on my book.  My frames came in the mail.  The next step is to edit all of my images and to photograph Elsa next.  Really close to wrapping things up.

Brian Ulrich || Update

This past week I eft class early and went shooting in the rain along with thrifting. I went through Colonial Place, Park Place, and West Ghent. WG didn't have anything to offer and seeing as the neighborhood is more historical I doubt there to be items out unless it's on trash day (which is tomorrow for them). Park Place was good to me and I plan to go back Thursday for their trash day. I also called the city and found out the various trash days for surrounding neighborhoods. In addition to shooting neighborhoods I went thrifting. Greta didn't think that would tie into my series but I liked the little bit i found so far. I plan to go to the thrift stores on Little Creek this week. My inspiration this week comes from Brian Ulrich who actually did a series titled Thrift. I can see my series beginning to shift from home to something else, I just can't express in words what I think it is yet.

http://notifbutwhen.com/

Inspiration from W&M

**DISCLAIMER** this was supposed to be posted last week but for some reason it ended up on the Photo III blog from last semester. Awkward.


After visiting Andrew's Hall at The College of William and Mary (despite feeling ill), I was influenced by a number of  photographers on display. Due to the inclement weather this weekend my newly inspired shooting time was limited, but I was able to shoot for a few clear hours and came up with some really cool stuff. I really enjoy the scavenger hunt motif that is taking place through the development of my series. I feel as if I am experiencing a 180 from last semester where my images seemed to just come together. However, the tables seem to have turned on me this semester and *so far* I am enjoying the hunt.

Acacia Johnson Home or Something Like It 

http://acaciajohnson.com/

Lori Nix Laundromat

http://www.lorinix.net/

John Horvath Untitled from the series The City

http://www.jonhorvath.net/

Arnaud Teicher Creole House #1 *not currently on website

http://www.arnaudteicher.com/

progress

after going through many changes i truly believe i have found my stride.  I'm working on two series of photographs and they are the seeking light photos and then a new set where i show the male and female and male form as blips of paint that appear abstract on a black background. as for the book thats still a strong option, but opportunity has presented itself to do a timelapse video. stay tuned.

joel peter witkin

i came across Joel peter witkin in a couple years ago.  oddly enough his freakshow style of photography is not only creepy but intriguing at the same time.  before being exposed to this type of media i would have not gave it the time of the day.  being a art history minor allowed me to switch gears and appreciate all different types of work for content whither it be weird or not. his disturbing photos are things of beauty, horror, taboo, and many more.

Dash Snow

I was drawn to the Nan Goldin-like style of photography and when I began reading the history of Dashille "Dash" Snow, my interest in his work climbed. Although he comes from a long line of historically significant figures, Snow himself was rebellious and his actions and behaviors were mirrored in his work. His Polaroid style of photography is one that I have always wanted to dabble in and Snow makes it work in his body of works. His work reminds me of the "Tulsa" exhibit by Larry Clark that we saw at the Chrysler weeks ago.

http://www.americansuburbx.com/channels/d/dash-snow

Bernd and Hilla Becher

German photographing pair Bernd and Hilla Becher took photos of one thing while admiring the slight differences between them. Their subject of choice is water towers. They photographed the sides of various water towers all from the same approach. The camera is pointed at the water towers the same way in every photo. Just like my tripod set up, it leaves about the same amount of space at the top and bottom of every photo. This space frames the water tower in the center to focus on all the details in the metal working. The photos are arranged in a grid pattern. This arrangement lets your eye move back and forth between the pictures allowing them to be compared quickly instead of walking around an entire gallery of boring individual tower portraits.

November Progress

I order my frames this past week and have determined which princesses are going into the series.  Also I have photographed Belle this past Friday.  This upcoming week I will be doing Rapunzel.  I am continuing to do edits on my images.

Influence from Everywhere!

After visiting Andrew's Hall at The College of William and Mary (despite feeling ill), I was influenced by a number of  photographers on display. Due to the inclement weather this weekend my newly inspired shooting time was limited, but I was able to shoot for a few clear hours and came up with some really cool stuff. I really enjoy the scavenger hunt motif that is taking place through the development of my series. I feel as if I am experiencing a 180 from last semester where my images seemed to just come together. However, the tables seem to have turned on me this semester and *so far* I am enjoying the hunt.

Acacia Johnson Home or Something Like It 

http://acaciajohnson.com/

Lori Nix Laundromat from the series The City

http://www.lorinix.net/

John Horvath Untitled from the series The City

http://www.jonhorvath.net/

Justin Kimball Ocean House Road

http://www.justinkimballphotography.com/

Update

With having everything set for senior show right now and a little weight being lifted, I can now focus on putting my book together and having it sent out for printing. I am going to do my book with Blurb. I've started collecting quotes from some of the subjects that I've photographed. I'm also thinking to gather quotes from african american women in general and putting in the book as rest places. I think collecting quotes from women other than my subjects will help show that we go further than just the 10 people in the book.

Ashley's Update

This past week I really worked on getting my artist statement down for the class. I was also busy ordering frames for senior show!!! So exciting!!! My main focus now Is on the book. I am photographing small things that I i have had for years. They each have a memory attach to them and have some importance to me and who I am. I have also been thinking my about the layout of the book and how it will work with my series. My final goal for this week is to start printing the large photos for my show!!!

Update again!

After the print critique on Thursday I know I need to work on my color settings when printing. Magenta needed to be added to my photos because they were printing with a green tint. The others were over saturated a bit. The natural hair photo sparked lots of discussion I plan to remake this photo with something that is not a recognizable modern piece of clothing that can be found at a  mall because that it far from what I wanted to be said. I was thinking of going with something more natural like what was suggested tan underwear I'm not sure if I am ready to be all the way nude in my own art. I can also pick my head up and move my hair around freezing it in a more glorified way. When I see the way I'm standing in the picture now is taken over or defeated when I have more embraced my hair rather than just surrendering to it. To make 5 other interests I can separate ODU Student and Photographer. I can add Yogi, Cat Lover, and Beach Bum. Costumes would be too complicated and expensive to properly represent even the countries I have lived in individually. I am still thinking of more I am open to suggestions and I think the more photos I have the stronger my book and series will be.  

Update

As you all have now seen I finally took the time and materials up to the studio locked myself in and got work done. I asked Gretta for help because I was having a horrible time with the clarity of my photos. For some reason not enough light was getting in with just the soft box lights so we set up strobes. the strobe lights have umbrellas on the ends and only flash when the photo is being taken. There are walky-talky like antennas that connect the strobes to the hot shoe of the camera. These lights put out a bright light just when you need it. I tried to focus on myself by myself and that was not working. Every photo I took was blurry. Photographers benefit tremendously from assistance. By having another person to stand in I could set the focus and camera settings without having to be in front and behind the camera at the same time. I haven't worked with self portraiture before and I am really glad I did. It was much more difficult that I expected. I used to take hundreds of pictures of myself and I was having a tough time coming up with the right facial expression or body language for just one photo I was even remaking. I have 5 interests shown so far.  

Update

Because of a minor setback (injury), I couldn't do as much as planned as far as photographing. Even with the little I could do, I attempted to get some done but I know they aren't my best. I have also been re-editing some images to reprint because some of them came out a little funky. The critique from J.J.R on Friday was very insightful and gave me some things to think about when capturing my images. It is interesting to hear multiple views on your work. Moving forward, hopefully I'll be back in action in a couple days. I have a couple people I'm meeting up with. Just going to keep shooting.

I have been thinking about what I want my book to look like or consist of. I have always liked the idea of having some type of quote from the subject of the photograph. I know I won't have quotes for the series when showing in my senior show, but I definitely want them for my book. Now, I probably wouldn't have quotes for each photograph, but just a few to make "breaks" for the viewers.

This weeks progress

This past week I edited Belle image, but need to make more adjustments.  As for over the weekend I was able to photograph both Snow White as well as Cinderella.  I just got my Elsa outfit in the mail, but need to make minor adjustments to it before shooting and also need to figure out what scene/story should be for her's.

update

Hi everyone,

For now I have put my camera down, and I have begun researching anything and everything I can on the history of twins. I am going to try to take a deeper look at the twin side to this project and see what comes from it..thanks to Justin's critique on Friday. I'm still unsure what I am looking for, but I am going to open myself to any inspirations I may get from my research. I am excited for a new turn in this project.

Ive been looking at landscapes recently. I came across Sean Steward's Rivertown online. I really like his style, because of his ability to capture the voice of character in this town.
http://www.thegreatleapsideways.com/?ha_exhibit=rivertown-a-conversation-with-sean-stewart

Week 9

This week has been a week of critique for me. I finally got into the studio and started making work prints. I had a group critique with my photo seminar class. We also had a visiting artist this past friday, Justin James Reed. He gave a presentation on his work (which was amazing!!!) as well as critiquing our classes photo series. It was nice getting feed back from him and seeing from a different point of view how my photos are perceived. This weekend I am hoping to go out once again and see what is out there for me to photograph. I have a little bit more direction in what I am doing now.

“I’m interested in the ambiguity of images. The way that all photographs have elements of fabrication and truth making.” — Graham Miller.

New Series in the Works *sigh of relief*

Alright, so out with the bodies and in with a new series. As much as I loved the images I was getting from my series on body parts I realized I was not okay with committing myself to a series that wasn't something I was interested in/ could do the way I wanted to. Over fall break I came across a couple of houses for sale that were abandoned and incredibly run down. I photographed them. I kept looking over the images and began thinking of the concept of home and what exactly it is that differentiates a house from a home whether it is because of occupancy or being filled with personal belongings. I'm just into my second year living on my own and creating a home of my own so these are things that are very relevant to me at this point in time. I've also come to understand my style as more documentary as of late, so shooting this will be something I will really enjoy. I haven't been looking at any photographer in particular, just images of various abandoned homes to get inspiration for framing and composition. I want to include both detailed shots and entire rooms. I am going to explore Suffolk on Friday and North Carolina Sunday. Anyone know of any other places I should wander?

The sections of a book are called signatures.

Ariel Shoot and Video

This past week I shot my Ariel shoot at fort story.  It was over all a success since it was literally the last warm before the cold front. Afterwards I edited my image and I believe it turned out great.  I also took video of Laura burning her chair for senior show.  This upcoming week I will be photographing Snow White and Rapunzel.

Week 8

This week I worked on photographing myeslf in different places and seeing if they had anything that is relatable to my current series. I am learning that if I go out and continuously take pictures, that I end up getting something that I am truly love. I also think that the concept is starting to come through in all my photos. They're is a since of wonder and being lost in them. It is making me look more into who I am as a person and where I am at right now emotionally. This series was originally suppose to be about how far I have come since my divorce but I think it has turned into more then just that. I feel like there is a lot of issues in me that I do not let other people see just because when I let my walls down the person ends up hurting me. So I have learned to keep them in now. In my photos I feel like these are moments when I am letting the viewer in to see me at my most venerable state. I am alone in my element and letting you the viewer in.
  As far as this week goes I am doing 5 work prints and I am continuing to take pictures. I also have some new photos below that I have been working on.

Update

After a recommendation of a photographer, I knew where I wanted to take my series and the view I wanted. I'm venturing into environmental portraiture. Environmental portraiture was the idea of what I wanted my series to be in the beginning but I was straying away from that. I had to take a step back and take a breather because I was beginning to overthink things, like if I wanted to still schedule shoots or just walk around and shoot. I'll be doing both.

The photographer that I'm posting this week is the recommendation I was given. His name is Paul D'Amato. My inspiration came from his Here Still Now series.. beautiful portraiture! Even his statement was inspirational.

This week

This week I chose ten of my images and edited them for printing. I have chosen my images based on how they communicate individually and as a series. Each one has a unique message, and has a whole they explore the expression of my gender and identity. They tell a story about who I am, or what I am, and how I communicate this to the world around me. There are some aspects of myself that cannot be seen because they are internal. In order to express the idea that I am more than what meets the eye, I made some images that strip me of identity with abstraction, blur, or the absence of traditionally masculine and feminine traits. I have been using the artist Claude Cahun as groundwork for my experimentation in the studio. I found a modern photographer working with expressions of identity and gender. Her name is Mylou Oord and she is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I found a video on ASX of her 2010 show in the Foam gallery. She photographed her friend, Anyouk Tan, in different environments doing various things. These unusual photographs of Anyouk Tan spark ideas about my own ways of making a statement about who I am.

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2010/10/asx-tv-mylou-oord-it-would-be-so-nice-2010.html

Last week

The last few weeks I have been doing a ton of research, trying to find a way to raise questions about the concept of gender. I have found that I am really able to push expectations when I bring the camera into the studio, because it eliminates distractions, and brings the focus to myself. I am also able to manipulate my appearance more with the use of make-up, wigs, clothing. I found a few artists on ASX blog that work in both photography and film. I have been using these artists to explore the potential I have of expressing my gender in front of the lens. Elisha Smith-Leverock made a short film about a woman who is a bodybuilder. The video shows a different, and in a sense taboo, expression of femininity. 

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2011/03/asx-tv-elisha-smith-leverock-i-want-muscle-2011.html

Steven Meisel is a fashion photographer, but the behind the scenes video of his Hotel Chelsea shoot has an air of androgyny. The male subjects wear clothes that are against the social norm, and the female model displays femininity that contrasts the model above. The males act quite feminine and the woman has a boyish figure. These motifs are influential because they can be uncomfortable for our society to view.

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2009/10/asx-tv-steven-meisel-italian-vogue-2011.html