#23

1. In what ways do you “construct” your identity? In what ways do you “perform” in your daily life?
Ways in which I construct my identity are through involving myself in activities I love, such as art. My life revolves around these things, so having friends and family involved in them as well is part of my identity. Furthermore, surrounding myself with friends who have the same sense of humor and lifestyle as I do is part of my identity. One can tell who a person is by his or her friends, which is why it is important to create healthy relationships. Ways in which I perform my identity is by maintaining relationships and immersing myself in the art world. More importantly, I find it important to keep myself grounded and not let myself forget who I am and where I came from.

2. Describe some ways in which your personal culture and social environments are “constructed”.
A way I construct a social environment is through the friends I have made and who I chose to engage in activities with. I know what social situations I enjoy and what situations I stray away from. By choosing whom I hang out with and where we hang out, I can construct my social identity. As for personal culture, one creates this through which aspects of popular culture relate to them. For example, Facebook is a huge part of today’s society. Since I use Facebook, it is part of my personal culture.

3. Describe some ways in which your physical environment/space is “constructed”.
I construct my physical space by decorating in a way that pleases me. I like to cover my walls with pictures I have taken on trips or of loved ones. I like to have bright colors surrounding me and interesting things to look at.

4. In your daily life, what would you consider to be “real” and what would you consider to be “constructed/fabricated”?
In my daily life, I consider relationship and emotions to be “real.” It’s difficult to fake true emotion and it’s obvious when true relationships are tangible. In my daily life, my art is constructed. All art must be fabricated in some form. Since I am taking only studio art classes and create my own art every day, constructing new concepts and projects is my normality.

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).
I would create a narrative tableaux by recreating iconic photographs from history in modern life. I have already done this for a couple assignments (such as my recreation of Rosie the Riveter), but it would be interesting to expand this idea into a larger concept.

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).
After researching the artists I was assigned for this week, I was really interested in the way James Casebere created his own cities and photographs them. It would be interesting to create my “ideal” house and city on a small scale to photograph.

final images

In this image, I was responding to the “crime scene” prompt. I had my camera on a ten second shutter speed and had my model move positions half way through the exposure. I positioned her by the wall to make a one-point perspective. This photo can be interpreted in numerous ways. It looks as though there are two different people in the picture, when really it is the same model. Overall, the image is eerie, due to the lighting and the obvious fact that my model looks like a ghost. I used a very slow shutter speed to create this image, and had my model fall to the ground half way through the exposure. By doing this, two figures can be seen, but neither are fully in focus. My goal for this image was to have my model in two different positions in the same frame. It is hard to interpret this image correctly, but it could be a representation of one being outside herself or feeling defeated by oneself.

In this fashion photo, I posed my model in front of a dumpster to get a unique and interesting background. I wanted the emphasis to be on her clothes and style, so I captured her whole body in the frame. My model is known for her innovative fashion sense, so I told her to wear whatever she wanted and to put on anything and everything she wanted. I posed her in many different places, even Starbucks, and had her pose in her best “model” positions. I used natural light for this photo. My goal for the image was to emphasize my model’s clothes and personal style through photography. This photo shows that anyone can be fashionable and models don’t have to be alien-looking stick figures.

This image was a complete mishap; I was moving my camera and accidentally took a picture of my model showing off her necklace. Luckily, the picture turned out well and has a nice snapshot feel to it. My model’s expression matches her clothes in that they are both edgy and bold. Before I took this, I was taking pictures of my model on the sidewalk and wanted to depict her with “normal” looking people. I was simply trying to take my camera off of my tripod when I accidentally took this. I like the aesthetic of this image and how the composition isn’t perfect.

Here, I was mocking photo booths. Generally, photo booth pictures consist of crazy poses and faces. I put my models in matching clothes and had them wear masks to be very un-photo booth. I wanted to play around with our knowledge of a photo booth and what a photo strip would look like without crazy faces and smiles. I used one diffused light source to create this image and paired my models with a white wall. With this image, I wanted to break preconceived notions of a common aspect of photography we are all familiar with.

in progress

#22

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

A series of images should be related in some way and have a correlating theme throughout. This could be through a place, a subject, a specific lighting situation, etc. A series can also tell a narrative or capture the essence of an event.

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’m not set on an idea for my final project yet. I like the idea of expanding an earlier project, but I’m not sure which one. In order to accomplish this project, I’ll have to try numerous photo shoots to see which project I am able to expand the best.

in progress- assign. 4

crit response

Image 1
This was interpreted as a portrait of a horse. It was noted that the leading lines from the fence to the horses were a nice way for the eye to travel. The shadow from the horse in the front of the picture casts an interesting shadow, creating an intriguing element of the photo. The horse in the front might need a little dodging, just to amp up the contrast. From here, a jumping off point could be capture images of animals in contemporary society and how their lifestyle contrasts to the olden days.

Image 2
The message of this image was well received. The correlation between the couple and the carvings in the tree was obvious to my viewers. The concept behind this image is working well and makes the photo work. The tree needs some burning and dodging to make the carvings stand out. Also, the background could use some work since it is a little over exposed. From here, showing how humans change the environment without noticing could be a jumping off point.


Images 3&4
These images work well together. Since the branches cover the doors from opposite sides, it is interesting to put these images next to one another, connecting the branches. Both of the compositions are working well and are successful together or apart. It was said that these two images should be make into a diptych, rather than being displayed on their own. Furthermore, the composition in the bottom photo seems to be working better in that the viewpoint is more realistic and relatable. From here, it would be easy to do a series of doors and how they are covered or not covered by nature.

recreate #4

inspiration: lolcats.

recreation: realcats.

when did cats become illiterate?