Portraiture Artist Statement

For my “Portraiture” project, I referenced the photographer Stephanie De Rouge. I looked to her project “In Your Room” for inspiration because I liked her idea. I liked her photographs that captured the person and who they were by showing their room. I liked that she had a contrast between wealthier rooms and less well off people. I also like that the rooms do not seem to be set up. The room seems to be the natural space that the individual normally occupies.

In my photographs, I wanted to express the person’s individuality. I wanted to express who the person was by what taking a full length body to show their clothing. In addition, I took the pictures from a a far enough angle that the viewer can see the person’s room. The room is an insight to the person’s life.

The technique I used for my photographs is taking a front view picture. I also took the picture at eye level so that the person could be comfortable by being photographed. I used force flash in order to add light to dark rooms and occasionally turned flash off if it was too bright.

My photographs work together as a series because they all have similar traits. They are all at the same distance away from the camera to show the room and the person. They are around the same coloring because they were in the same setting.

Portraiture Brainstorm

For my portraiture project, I want to take picture of people in Beloit College. I want to take picture of students in their room in order to show them in their natural environment. I will take full body length picture of people without telling them what to do. By letting them decide whether or not they will hold something, they will reveal something about themselves. In addition, having them in their room will also reveal something about them. The views will be able to notice a lot about a person based on their room and what they have around.

I will take vertical pictures in order to show full length. I will take the pictures in eye level with a higher light. Since the picture will be taken indoors and most buildings do not have very good lighting, I might add flash in order to get a more clear image.

Portraiture Examples

©Alejandro Cesarco

Alejandro Cesarco inspired my photography because he took pictures of people inside. The people are in the center while showing some of the background that will reveal something about them.

©David Hilliard

David Hilliard inspired my photography because of the portraits with people in a room. I like the photograph above because it shows them in their nature environment. The photo above shows a man holding an item that can be significant to them. Also, the room he is in is messy and might not be staged. I want my photographs to be of people in their natural state while their room reveals something about them.

© Tod Hido

Tod Hido inspird some of my photography because I like that he has the women looking directly at the camera. I was considering whether or not my pictures should be in black and white or in color.

© August Sander

August Sander inspired my photography because he has a full length picture of people. He has them right in the center with some background still showing. I also like that the people’s position revealed something about them by whether or not they choose to smile, stand, or hold.

Street Photography Brainstorm

For the project I want to focus on groups of people. I want my subject to be people in large groups in public places. I do not want to focus on any specific type of group but on a variety of people. The lighting that I will use is natural lighting in auto because it will be a casual and unposed. However, I might chose to take a couple of pictures in black and white in order to see how professional street photographers take.

My desired outcome is to have some pictures that have people making eye contact and some who do not notice. I will not focus on any specific technique because street photography happens in the moment. I do not want to miss a good shot because of trying to focus on a specific technique. I will just use auto light and focus to hope a quick photo will come out clear. In order to avoid having a blurry picture, I will also take continuous pictures in order to have a good variety of options to chose from.

Emotive Color Examples

A photographer that inspires me for my “lonely” project is photographer Boogie. This photographer takes images in a kind of dark setting that depicts objects in a darker light. For my project, I want to be able to depict objects in the same dark light that still shows details in the desired object.

http://artcoup.com/

Eileen Cowin is another photographer that inspires has inspired my work. Cowin has inspired my work because – pictures have a dark background. Although his/her photographs are not too dark, they only have light in a certain part of the picture. For example, the picture below has all the light focused on the women in center. However, everything around her is in complete darkness, giving off the feeling of loneliness.

http://www.eileencowin.com/1980s.html

Another photographer that has inspired me is Bill O’ Donnell. The work that has inspired me is his project Human Remains. I think that this project is interesting because he shows normal objects in a different form. Although the objects are not actual human remains, the objects give off a unsure feeling. I want my photographs to be able to make a person feel as strongly as I felt towards Donnell’s photographs. The picture below is “Blinds” and I chose this picture because it is a simple yet feeling provoking photograph. It is a single hand behind blinds but gives of a scary feeling to the viewer.

http://www.billodonnellphotography.com/Portfolios/Pages/Human_Remains_1998-1999.html#16

Brian Ulrich is another photographer that has inspired my project. I like his project “Dark Stores” because they show very open spaces with a dark lighting. For my project, I want to take images of open space and a single person to show just how lonely the person seems. The picture I choose is “-” because I like that it is a huge open mall and only one man sitting on the bench.

http://notifbutwhen.com/projects/copia/dark-stores/#i30

Emotive Color Brainstorm

For the our project, Emotive Color we have to use color to depict an emotion. For my project, I have to depict the feeling lonely. In the beginning, I wanted my subject matter to be a single red rose and a single pink rose. However, while shooting the pictures, I realized that those pictures were getting to be too simple and boring. I was running out of locations and angles to move my camera. Therefore, I have know decided to change my subject matter into outside scenes and some images of people.

During my new shooting, I will shooting outside at night time. Since I will be shooting at night time, I will be using “night scene.” Night scene will shoot my images in a more clear mode even though it will be dark. Through the mode night scene, I want the viewers to see my images and have a gloomy feeling. I want people to be able to see my images and feel as if they are alone too.

The Cutting Edge Critique

During the presentation of my photographs, I was given several helpful critiques. One comment given to me was the appeal to the frog with the chocolate on top of its head. Through forced perspective, it appeared that there was a crown on top of the frog’s head. Another critique given was of the size distortion of the softball and the orange vs. the chocolate and the cup. If I were to redo the project, I would follow the advice of putting similar object next to each other. Instead of focusing on placing a bigger object behind a smaller object, I would focus on finding a bigger object that has a similar shape as the object on in the front. The critique helped me realize that I should keep shape of objects in mind because they can affect the way people view them.

Inspired by Eggleston

The photo above is similar to the photography of William Eggleston’s style of photography. The first reason is because the main focus is on the center of the picture. The center of attention is the black camera, which in turn points to Jordyn. This leads to the second reason this photograph relates to Eggleston’s photography. Several of Eggleston’s photograph have lines that direct the viewer’s attention in a certain direction. In the photograph above, the camera points at Jordyn (the girl sitting on the starts) who is then pointing at an object outside of the frame. Lastly, the reason why the photograph looks like Eggleston’s style is because all the objects are not shown completely. In several of Eggleston’s photographs, he chooses what objects will appear and what objects should be left out. In my photograph, I chose to leave out the object the two girls were observing.

The Cutting Edge

For my project, The Cutting Edge, I chose to focus on project on candy. I chose to depict candy on both the positive aspects (delicious) and the negative (unhealthy). While focusing on the different focus, I chose to focus use abstraction and the unseen. However, I focused a lot on scale shifts because I was intrigued by the idea of playing with the perception of an objects size.

The picture above is an example of ‘the unseen’ because although it a familiar object, it is not very identifiable from this angle.

“Giant Ferrero Rocher” is an example of scale shift because the chocolate appears to be the same size as the cup.

This picture is also an example of scale shift because the orange bar seems to be bigger than the softball when in reality, the orange is very small.

The picture above is an example of scale shift because the frog appears to be bigger than its real size. Moreover, the chocolate in the background contributes to the photo because the viewer might perceive it to be on top of the frog’s head.

Examples of “The Cutting Edge”

© Mitch Epstein

http://www.mitchepstein.net/work/index.html

Gavin Coal Power Plant, Cheshire, Ohio 2003 is an example of “the Unseen” because it is a close up to the smoke. When I first saw it, I thought it was an image of a storm, however, once I paid closer attention I realized it was smoke. I chose this picture because I thought it was an interesting take on pollution from factories.

© Cynthia Greig

http://www.cynthiagreig.com/art/lifesize/lifesize1.htm

Deck of Cards is an example of “Shifts and Scale” because it shifts the perspective of the scale of the cards. I chose this picture because this picture emphasizes on the detail of the human fingers.

© Sylvia Plachy

http://www.sylviaplachy.com/

This untitled images is an example of “the unseen” because it shows close up on a boy but emphasize on the gum. I chose this picture because I liked the detail on the popped gum yet calmness of the boy.

© Wolfgang Tillmans

http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/tillmans_ham.html

Freischwimmer is an example of “Abstraction” because it is an object that cannot be identified. This photo has shadows and shapes that do not give a clear image of the entire object. I chose this picture because I felt peaceful from looking at the color and shape.