Portrait Project

Diptych images




final images









Artist Statement
My concept was about how people will hide themselves through a "mask" to better thier acceptance in society. My concept idea was inspired by the poem " We Wear the Mask" by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. I chose to put masks on my models and have them pose either with the mask on or going to put the mask on. I played around with the way the mask framed the model's eyes. I even had the mask placed in a way that was to only show part of the person at an angle that most don't look at. For my final diptych, I had the way a mask usually hides a person, but then how a person can hide behind one in a way you don't think. The second part of the diptych is the model holding the mask diagonally across the face. This is an odd way to place a mask across a face, but it hides them just the same. It also framed one eye and hid the other showing the way that some only see through the mask at times, or how a viewer might only see a person half way. The eyes are the mirrors to a person's soul but when someone wears a mask they can be hiding the pathway to seeing this soul.

Blog Entry #5

My top five books from the blurb bookstore are:
1.Waiting for the Light by Michael Fuller
2.Blue Light by Linde Waidhofer
3.Visual Dialogue III: Dark by James Gerht
4.Photography by Neringa Normantaite
5.Terra Emota by Chip Forelli

1.The design was simplistic which made me look at the images more than anything.I enjoyed the variety of images. Most were landscapes but he also included still life. I liked that the back cover was only one single centered image without text.
2. The black frame around the blue image really works on the cover. This cover really caught my eye, and its my favorite cover of all the books. The back cover is also my favorite, it made me feel like I was coming out of the cavern.I think its vertical shots were the best placed in the book. Also, the pages that were next to each other were well linked together.
3. I liked that he had an artist statement at the beginning, but then avoided using text in the rest of the book. I like that though the images are not close in subject matter they are close in theme, since these are images that represent darkness. He played around with different sizes to the photographs. I however didn't like the back cover the two images were not arranges well in the space.
4. The cover was the most striking of this book. The image was very strong, and she had the negative space serve as a spot for the title. The title went up vertically which, I found to be an interesting new twist.I enjoyed the white border around the pictures and the black pages. There also were many pages that held more than one images but they images went well together. I liked that she split it into categories, nature and people.
5.I liked the Terra Emota book because all its images were well related to one another. The theme was nature and the beauty of it. I like that he kept text minimal and small under the photographs. He didn't play around with different placings of his pictures but I think this worked well for him. I also liked that the cover and title page in the book were infused with a picture.

My book proposal

For my book I want to take night shots. I want to capture places that people usually frequent during the day but not at night. I want to show what happens when people are not around and what they could be missing out on.I'm going to shot in black and white and in color, then after the first shoot decide which is stronger. Access to the places should not be too hard since they will be public places like a park or something like that. My times would be the only thing restricted. All the shots would be of course shot after sunset and before midnight most likely.I think my sequencing would be by time have the fist photos in the book be early night and the end of the book be late night. I believe the only text I will be using will be on the front cover, I don't want to title my work. I believe I would have about 30 pages because I might play around with having multiple images on one page. For example have the large view of a subject at night then the next page have four shots of close-ups on that subject. My audience would be anyone really interested in seeing things that happen at night. I think there is a curiosity about what happens when people are at home or in bed, and can not see whats going outside.

Blog Entry #4

Phyllis Galembo


Snow white, 1950's

phyllis galembo

primary subject matter: A women dressed in a 1950's Halloween costume of Snow White standing in front of a tree and blue backdrop.

form:
1.color
2.light and value
3.positive/negative space
4.contrast
5.directional forces

Interpretation:
Galembo is trying to convey with this photograph the ways that people hide themselves, to get along in society. The costume of Snow White is from the 1950's when there were many race issues and I believe that by having a model of color wearing this Snow White mask parallels to this time period. The color in the photograph plays an important part in bringing emotion to the picture. The background is very dark and blue. This gives a more depressing and dark feeling to the photograph. It gives the feeling that she's lost in the woods like the character Snow White. This mood correlates to how many African Americans felt during the 50's as the were pushed to act in a way whites would accept. Light and value also contributes to the mood of the photograph. The background is in very dark tones, where as the model is all lit up as if she is caught in a spot light. It's as if to show that she's caught in the middle of this societal conflict. The negative space and the positive space both play a part in the photograph. The negative space shows the mood/atmosphere of the 1950's where as the positive space represents the people in the that time period. Contrast is important in two places. First the difference between the background and the women. Then the contrast between the mask and the model's skin. For the background, it is trying to keep a focus on the model but also set the mood. The mask is a very fair shade of skin while the models has a darker more medium tone of skin. This brings the mask and model to attention. It seems like it refers to the 1950's, when whites wanted other races to be separate and would usually only accept minorities if the acted "white". The tree uses directional force to bring you from the corner of the frame to the women and then to the other side of the frame where the tree's shadow fall. This helps tie in all the elements to show that people will sometimes hid themselves through some kind of "costume" to get along in times of conflict or unrest.

Blog Entry #3

Cole Thompson




Auschwitz 13, Poland, 2008
cole Thompson

primary subject matter: a ghost coming out of one of Auschwitz's gas chamber's door.

form:
1.Color- black and white
2.Motion
3.Contrast
4.focus
5.directional forces

Interpretation
This image is a reminder of the lives that still linger in the death camps and the events they had to face.Thompson put ghost like figures to give life back into the now quiet Auschwitz.

Thompson choice to shoot the photograph in black and white to help set the mood. It gives it more of a eerie feel and brings you back to the 1940's.I think color would have made the ghost figures less effective and color would have been distracting.The motion is very important because it creates the ghost figures. Thompson captures the ghost walking into the door. It gives you the feeling that you are going with this soul back into the gas chamber. The contrast is very powerful by having everything in light or middle grays, except the door opening. It expresses the darkness that once happened in that room. It also helps make the ghost pop out more. It makes the life seems innocent and you feel piety for this life that is about to befall a very dark event. The heaviest part of the ghost is in the middle of the doorway, which brings more focus onto the life and what it is about to walk into. This focus does not want the viewer to forget the horrible things that happened in the gas chambers. The smokiness of the ghost figure moves from the edge of the right side and moves the eye into the doorway. The ghost is walking the viewer into the chamber with them. The ghost is trying to remind the viewer of what went on inside and what tragedy it had endured during the holocaust.

Blog Entry #2

Julee Holcombe

Self as Narcissus
2005, c-print
http://www.connercontemporary.com/artists/julee-holcombe/?view=images

Subject Matter: Photographer looking at reflection while holding a computer mouse, as replicating the scene from the painting Narcissus by Caravaggio.

Form:
1.Sharpness
2.relation of elements within the frame
3.balance
4.positive/negative space
5.focus

Interpretation

Self as Narcissus' meaning has to do with the digital age's obsession with the perfection of the female body through editing. In the photograph, Julee is editing her own body with a mouse. Narcissus is when one is solely focused on ones own looks.
A key importance is the role of the pixelated refection of Julee. She didn't keep herself sharp to show the that a photoshopped female body is not the true reflection of a model. The relation of the elements in the frame, goes nicely together. They take up a majority of the frame and cut the frame into two equal halves of different worlds. The top half is more of a realistic portrayal of a female,whereas the bottom half is the unrealistic portrayal of females in the digital world. This goes along with the balance in the image. She aligns herself up perfectly with the pixelated self. Is creates a proper reflection and balance to the separate worlds that are within this one image. The negative space around the artist is pitch black which goes along with the original paining but also the darkness helps draws you to the positive space which is the main focus. With her reflection being altered, it gives more focus onto the true her. This is to make people see that they should be more focused on their true self then on how they can alter themselves or look like altered women they see in magazines or on the internet. There is obsession with altering images now a days but I think Julee would have people looking at themselves then altered reflections.

Blog Entry #1

Francesc Torres

Dark is the room where we sleep, 2007

http://www.icp.org/atf/cf/%7BA0B4EE7B-5A90-46AB-AF37-7115A2D48F94%7D/torres_popup4.jpg

Primary subject matter- A line of skeletons from a mass grave in Villamayor de los Montes. The grave was from 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. Pictured are forensic anthropologists uncovering the graves in the year 2004.

Form:
1.directional forces
2.emphasis
3.frame and edge
4.depth of field
5.repetition

Interpretation
This photograph is a grave remainder of the consequences of social and political conflict. The photograph captured the image in a way that the row of skeletons seems infinite and unforgotten. The skeletons are arranged in what was once a long straight ditch. Each skeleton is arranged differently as they were just thrown into the grave without care. Torres shot the grave in a diagonal shot with deep depth of field. He also chose to have the Anthropologists in the back as they uncover more bodies to the grave. The bodies were supporters of Spain's Republican government.

Torres was not only literally documenting the finding of the archeological site but to document how consequences of a conflict can not be hidden. The strong directional force of the diagonal grave that bisects the image, gives the illusion that the grave is on-going. Adding to the continuity is the placement of the archeologists; by choosing to shoot them in the back it shows that they are still working more to find skeletons. Finding of conflict are always being constantly unveiled as is the rest of the skeletons in this image. The emphasis of the image is the victims more than their discovers. Torres wanted you to focus on the skeletons to realize the price of conflicting politics on a larger scale. For the depth of field he kept everything in focus, because he wanted the viewer to focus on all the details of the conflict: losing side, victims, and the future. The future being the archeologist uncovering the bodies and interpreting what happened to them during the conflict.The bottom left cut off the remaining skeletons of the grave, as if to show that the past conflicts still remain and need to be resolved. The repetitive row of arranged bodies also enforces the repetitive occurrence of fatal consequence of social and political conflicts.