Then & Now

Then- 

Now- 

My parents raised me to fit the Portland stereotype; love nature and be courteous. I like to think the person I was in the older photo already learned these lessons, but in reality, I doubt my thoughts were quite so developed. However, I'm sure I loved playing in the leaves and going to the pumpkin patch, just being outside after the summer heat and before the winter rains. I'm a bit more capable now, and my love for the outdoors can take me a little farther than Sauvie's Island, but it all started with the short trips I took as a kid. As for my parents' second life lesson, I'm sure I struggled to share toys and attention when I was younger. Now, I try to be inclusive and friendly and open to others, though there's no denying my childish,selfish tendencies are exposed every once and awhile. Getting older doesn't seem to rigidly mean becoming better. Some days I'm an oblivious child, who only wants to crunch dead leaves beneath her feet. Others, my attitude fits my age, as I backpack through mountain ranges and make friends with strangers. Either way, I always try to remember: love nature and be courteous. 

Gallery Visit

During the Blue Sky Gallery visit, I was particularly drawn to Maria José D'Amico's exhibit, Bien de Familia. My favorite image was #12, depicting an empty room with glass doors and a stone fireplace. The lighting through the doors is particularly striking, as it is the central focus of the photo and is framed by the doorway. Di'Amico's artist statement claims her exhibit "is a haunting and bittersweet tribute to the people who once inhabited the various spaces." This is evident through her use of lighting, emphasizing the emptiness of the space through the reflection on the bare floor. The darkened walls give the image a spooky feel, leading the viewer to question what used to occupy that space. I connected with this photo the most because it looks most like the kind of place I would live, rather than some of the older, lavish rooms shown in her other images. I'm inspired by the simplicity of D'Amico's photograph, which is very different from my style. I love her use of lighting, which adds a lot of drama to her digital photos and makes them more dynamic. This is something I struggle with when working digitally, so I now know to focus on lighting to add interest to my photos. 

Conceptual Self-Portrait

Soooo I've now changed my mind about my conceptual self-portrait. I'm planning on making a collage with photos of different aspects of my bed room, with a photo of myself in the center. Here are a few of the (unedited) photos I plan of putting in the collage. 

Independent Project Progress

I've shot the backgrounds I want to use to project onto people to shoot portraits, and will hopefully shoot the portraits sometime this week. Here are a few of my favorite shots: 

Though I was originally planning on emulating Carl Warner's bodyscapes, these photos are much more similar to Edward Weston's nudes.