Narrative Project in Progress

For my narrative project I am planning on making a couple of collages that all relate to the same topic/theme, which is my personal struggle to leave my childhood behind and become an adult.

Creating Shadows in Photoshop

"The Kids Are All Right" Response

1. The two photographers that were given to me to compare and contrast were Ryan Mcginley and Julie Mack. The style of these two photographers were very different in my mind. Julie Mack's photographs appeared to be more staged and planned out to me. Every subject in the scene seemed to be placed in a very specific spot within the frame, which created a feeling of structure and conformity. In Ryan Mcginley's photographs, the subjects didn't seem to be positioned at all. They appeared more natural looking and less staged or planned. They both however, showed two different types of family. Mack showed her real, biological family in there every day environment, while Mcginley showed his group of friends, who felt like family to him, in a new and constantly changing environment. Mcginley's photographs also appeared to be naturally lit, while Mack's photographs were artificially lit.

Julie Mack

Ryan Mcginley

2. There were two photographs, taken by Rona Yefman, that I really connected with the most out of the entire exhibit. The two photographs that were on display were from a series of photographs called "My Brother and I." The photograph titled "Owls" caught my attention at first from across the room and I just had to go stare at it immediately. It was something in there stare that really pulled me into this photograph. I really liked how their bodies were both the same shape because of the way they were wearing the sweaters over their legs, and how it really challenged the viewer to question both of their genders. The more I read about these photographs, the more I understood why I was so drawn to them. Since her brother was going through a sex changed at the time, it was hard to tell if he was actually female or male in some of the photographs, which really made the viewer think about the issues of gender and sexual identity in todays society. 

Another group of photos that really spoke to me were by the photographer Angela Strassheim and were close to Rona Yefman's photographs on the wall. Strassheim' photographs showed a typical father and son relationship in a way that really exposed this expectation of masculinity that is put upon young boys by there fathers.

Rona Yefman "Owls"

Angela Strassheim

3. The piece that I did not really like at all were the photographs taken by Betsy Schneider. She photographed her daughter from when she was a baby, to her early teenage years. I wasn't drawn to these photographs at all because I found them just so boring to look at. They weren't very visually interesting and there were just too many photographs too look at. She had a one large photograph of her daughter from every year, and then many little photographs next to each large photograph, of her daughter in that same year. It was just too much information and way to busy looking for me to actually examine one photograph at a time. It also looked like she had a editing problem, where she just couldn't decided which photograph to print, so she just printing them all really small and included them all in the show. 

and these aren't even all the photos....

4. Today, my mom seems to be the one that takes pictures of my family. Since my brother and I are getting older and getting ready to move out of the house, she has found the urge to photograph us a lot. Before when I was younger, my father would photograph us. I have recently been going through a lot of my childhood photographs and reminiscing over that lost time in my life. I have so many favorite family photographs that I wouldn't know which one to choose, but there is one particular photograph of myself as a child that pops into my head a lot these days. There is just some sense of innocence in my face, that I feel like I have lost.

5. I really like how this exhibit questions the meaning of family. All these photographs make the viewer think about their own family and what family means to them. Every person that walks into this exhibit can see their own family in at lease one of these photographs. This exhibit also raises a lot of questions about the stereotypical family and how there is a certain picture in everyones head of what a true family should look like. 

6. Honestly not really. It has shown me new ways on expressing narrative in photography, but I wouldn't really say that it has changed the way I think about making photographs. Some of the photographs were actually very similar to the way I make photographs.

7. Pigment Print: print that is created by ink is printed onto fabric and held there by resins or binders.

Cibachrome Print: very glossy prints that are sensitive to make.

Chromogenic Print: print made by colored ink is put onto the paper in layers and is sensitized to different waves of light

Giclee/Iris print: high quality digital inkjet prints 

Lightjet Print: digitally made chromogenic print

Inkjet Print: computer made print where ink is placed onto paper

Scouting Locations

Some of these photos are blurry but I just had to post them because I like them.....

Artist Lecture: Henrieke Strecker

 This lecture was probably one of the most interesting lectures that I have been too so far at UNH. I really loved listening to her talk about her work and tell the stories about each photo, while we were looking at them on the screen. I also thought the way she talked about her experiences with photography was very interesting to listen too and articulated in such a beautiful way. I really liked the way she talked about how she likes to shoot without a viewfinder. She stated that she likes to let time flow through the camera as it flowers through her and that she wants to record what she has experienced in that moment through these photographs. The way that she presented her images to us, by reading about that moment in time that she took the photo, made me really look at the photograph in a new way. It made me really feel that moment she was in, and I felt an emotional connection to each photograph. My favorite part of the lecture was listening to her talk about her “war” photograph and explaining how it was made. Listening to her say the word “war” over and over again made me really start to hear it as just a sound rather than a word with a meaning. Towards the end of the lecture she stated that pin hole photography helps us learn what life is in that time of the exposure. I felt like I really understood what she was talking about when she said this because I have experienced the same thing when I took pin hole self portraits of myself. In that time of the exposure, you really analyze what is going on around you and start to think about so many different things. It’s really a powerful moment that I have experienced, but have been unable to really explain, and I thought that she explained it so perfectly. Down below are some of my favorite photographs of her's from the lecture.

Persona Project: Reshoot

I felt very unsatisfied with the photos I showed in critique on Tuesday and I just had to reshoot as soon as possible. The projector has been working again so I was finally able to reshoot this weekend. Here is what I got...

Persona Project Silent Critique

I found that the silent critique was very helpful. A lot of the comments and suggestions I got were similar to those given to me by my teachers who have looked at the photos before. It was interesting to see how everyone thought the same thing after looking at the photos. Some of these comments included making the photographs black and white, making the polaroid boarder less bright and less distracting, trying different locations in my house, and experimenting with different body positions. I am definitely going to try all the suggestions I got, just to see what happens.

Environmental Portraiture: In Class Assignment

......and last but not least 

Preview to Persona Project

I have had this idea for a while now and have just been itching to actually do it, but haven't found the time to make it home to photograph. I have been exploring my identity a lot in my BFA work, which has lead me to think about my past and my childhood. These photographs and memories from my childhood really are a part of who I am and are somewhat imprinted in me forever.

In Class Portrait Assignment

Butterfly Lighting.... 

The Set Up

Three Point Lighting 

The Set Up

Loop Lighting

The Set Up

.............and just for funzies!