PR/Press Project

The two Victoria's Secret mannequin photos I took for the document project ended up being published to NowPublic, an online news sharing community. I was actually contacted by a contributor to NowPublic.com via my Flickr account who asked my permission to use the photos. View the story at NowPublic.com

The Photo Essay

For the photo essay project, I photographed the Alterra at the Lake coffee shop, located on Lincoln Memorial Drive across from the marina. In my proposal, I planned to visit numerous coffee shops, but I decided Alterra had a lot more action so I took pictures on a few different occasions there. Unlike I expected, there was little calmness and relaxing to be captured in the photographs, but rather chaos and activity. It was actually hard at some points to get a shot that didn’t have someone’s arm or body blurred because people were constantly in motion. In nearly all of these photographs, someone is always doing something. I think the coffee shop has become more of a gathering place for many, as my photographs prove, while I was thinking of it more as a rejuvenation place. I was motivated to use Alterra as the subject of my photo essay because I often go to coffee shops, Alterra most often, but never really sit and observe and enjoy myself. I believe I captured the patrons of the coffee shop within the process of entering, waiting in line, ordering, waiting for coffee, finding a place to sit, and observing the surroundings. In doing that, I kept in mind what was going on while I was taking my photographs so I would have interesting information to use as captions.

Photo Essay Proposal

For the photo essay project, I plan to photograph the popular coffee shop. Although I am unsure whether I will photograph the many aspects of one shop or the many different coffee shops around, my photographs will show the calmness and relaxation that usually surrounds the atmosphere. Coffee has become similar to a drug in society, as people feel they need it to start their day, to keep up with mid-afternoon duties, and to live their life. As coffee is important to many, it is interesting that people may commute ten minutes to a coffee shop even if they have a different one just next door.
In the photo essay, I plan to capture the process, the patrons, and coffee itself. I’ll definitely visit numerous locations, but if a single shop strikes me as perfect for achieving the photographic elements I wish to use, I’ll let that act as a main solution to the project. I am interested in weighing the differences and similarities between the atmospheres and people in different locations, but wish to focus more on getting deep pictures that will allow me to explain the surroundings and attitudes in captions because they cannot be caught in a visual image.

Portrait Project

I liked interacting with people for the portrait project because I really felt like my subjects' personalities were captured in the photographs. Since the project consisted of taking pictures of both people you know and people you do not, it was interesting to get to know the discomfort you could cause both types of people. In other portraits, people seemed more outgoing, and the control of the photographer was given more to the subject. I also experimented with the color vs. black and white photographs and came to the conclusion that the black and white photographs let viewers focus more on the expressions and emotion depicted in faces. I tried to create a suitable frame for each photograph to compliment the view of the subject. In all, the portrait project was interesting in that it allowed for creativity and differences in both known and unknown people.

Photomosaic

Photojournalism 232, Fall 2007, Photomosaic Project: As a class, we've decided to use Stephen Colbert as the subject of our photomosaic project for the semester. I've found many interesting photographs of the man while browsing for images to place in our photomosaic, but this has to be my favorite!

Moral Obligations of Photographers

Paul Martin Lester’s chapter on Rights to Privacy tried to be clear on what is acceptable and unacceptable to photograph, but it seems that many cases are solved depending on the circumstances. For instance, police permission is acceptable in the case of a Florida fire, but did not relieve the photographer of guilt with the same court in a Florida drug raid case.
My ethical decisions as a photographer will most likely be different from those of others. At this point in time (and without a salary held above my head), I think I would feel invasive to photograph someone inside their home without their knowledge of my presence. A home is a private area and although I may be on public property, I am aiming my camera into an area of personal space. If those people were outside of their home and were aware that they could be seen by passerby, it would be ok to photograph them.
As for the harassment of Jackie Onassis, I am calling it just that because the photographer had no consideration for others as he proceeded to offend the woman and her children. Paparazzi have many of the same attributes, as they continuously snap pictures of celebrities doing normal things to remind the public that they are human, but do we need to be reminded of that? The paparazzi always get a reaction from the celebrities because they will not leave without one. Photographers not only have to follow the rules of the law, but also consider the emotional effect the photographs may have on others.

Szarkowski: Intro to the Photographer's Eye

John Szarkowski identifies five essential elements of photography:
(1) The Thing Itself: The photographer must realize the difference between the reality and the camera's subject. The photographer must see the still photograph in terms of the surrounding world and make it permanent.
(2) The Detail: Photographs have a better chance at depicting truth if people can read the detailed symbols of the image. One slice of the narrative must be able to explain it's significance.
(3) The Frame: Photograph borders do more than isolate the image from the reality. They indicate that a decision was made to include or eliminate some aspect of the surroundings. The camera is cropping the reality.
(4) Time: Each photograph shows a moment in time in which the duration is controlled by the exposure. The "decisive moment" is the beauty of the fragment of time that a visual climax of the photograph emerges from.
(5) Vantage Point: The view portrayed to viewers can be altered and unusual. Bird's eye view, worm's eye view, light patterns, and subject position can dramatically alter the perspective of the photograph.In my opinion, the frame is an important part of my photographs. It holds the important information in a position that can enhance it's drama or emotion or feeling. Detail is the next important because it makes the reality pop out to viewers. All parts of Szarkowski's elements are important in determining how to set up the photograph and present it.

In Plato's Cave, Susan Sontag

After reading In Plato's Cave by Susan Sontag, I felt that she made the camera out to be something of a dishonest sort, as she calls it "naughty." Sontag mentioned the camera's resemblance to a gun, in that you must aim and shoot at your subject. She also mentions how people see the camera as an imposition to their daily life. It makes them fearful that the photographer has proof of their existence at that very slice of time. This goes along with Susan claiming the camera can be incriminating in that it records an event, but only at the right place and time.
To this day, industrialization and technology have made it possible for human brains to be bombarded with photographs on a daily basis; we are becoming "image-junkies." Between television, the internet, road-side advertisements, magazine and newspaper advertisements, product wrapping, etc., where can we go without seeing an image? What really made me think was when Sontag brought up the fact that a photographer cannot be one who intervenes. In a situation where a photographer must choose between getting the perfect shot to publish in tomorrow's newspaper and saving a man's life, he has already decided to take the picture because that is what goes along with being a photographer. It would be painstaking to capture the malnourished bodies of the starving without being able to bring them a better life.
Sontag brought up some points that made me think of the camera as a negative thing, while it has done many good things for society, too. It has brought us closer to other nations through pictures, it has allowed working-class people to capture candid moments, and it has portrayed truths to humans that have potential to change one's perspective.

My Camera

The camera I've been using this semester is a Kodak EasyShare C533. Although I wish I had a better camera, this one works fine and makes it very easy to transfer photos from the camera to the computer. I purchased it about three years ago and technology has rapidly advanced since then, making the C533 on the low-end of the compact camera scale. I like the ease of transferring pictures, the different settings available regarding the style of picture (ie. portrait, landscape, close-up), and the decent video mode. Some pictures have a potential to turn out grainy due to only 5.o mega pixels. I wouldn't recommend this camera for serious photographers because there are much higher quality cameras out there. As for future purchases, the Casio Exilim is appealing to my tastes as an ultra-compact, high-quality camera.

Documenting the Mannequin World

After photographing mannequins at various stores, I was surprised to find such variation in the style of them. It is something rarely noticed as shoppers bustle from store to store looking for the perfect outfit or pair of shoes. This photograph can easily be associated with a specific store; however, many of the photographs in my document set are indistinguishable from the stores they inhabit. There are many differentiations in lighting and positioning of the mannequins from store to store, as well.

Document Proposal

I've decided to use the concept of fashion for my document project. I am going to visit various stores and photograph mannequins. I will most likely look for mannequins that are dressed or positioned in a more abstract way to represent the way fashion is portrayed in many magazine advertisements and on runways.

I want to capture different lighting and backgrounds which is why I will be taking photographs at different stores. This will create variation with in my document project and will also give each subject a personality to accompany the image. I can create a photograph out of the moods that are reflected in each of the stores.

My motivation stems from the fact that I find beauty in many fashion advertisements. I will tear them out of the magazine and frame them if they fit my tastes. I think I'll find it interesting to put on a mock photo-shoot with plastic subjects.

Light...

While I was "searching" for light, I came across this reflection and thought it looked interesting. After all the years of living with this piano, I never once noticed it's potential to create an interesting photograph. Although I tend to appreciate light most at dusk, this afternoon shot turned out well. It looks as if the light from the outdoors and the windows continue through the top of the piano. Typically when I think of a reflection, my mind immediately brings water into the situation. For this, I choose to use a gray scale scheme and enhanced contrasts and highlights within the photograph. I like how the reflection seems more like an interrupted continuation of windows than it does a reflection. This was one of my most interesting photographs taken for the light assignment.