Evaluative Blog Post

Overall, I would say that my thesis turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. The only thing I would really say now is that my project is far from finished and that I can only move forward and continue photographing my father.

I felt that my critique with Justine Reyes went well. While she related to my project and life with my father, she was definitely a tough critic. However, she brought up some very good points. She talked about how technically I should be more wary of my lighting and the amount of details, such as in my highlights when I am shooting and editing. She also recommended that I used film to compete with the loss of details that occurs when shooting digitally. I suppose that is something I would change about my project. I would have liked to use film for my project, but I didn't really have the time for it. Digital made the most sense for time because I

could see what I was shooting and whether I needed to reshoot immediately, as opposed to waiting to develop my film, then having to go back and reshoot. She said that my project was a good starting point because I am by no means finished and because after school I'll have more time to refine my work. Personally, I thought my technical details were good, but I understand what she is saying. As much as this is my project and my ideas, it has been ruled by deadlines and crowded with other projects for other classes. This is my jump off point, my outline for later.

When talking about the book, I realized that there is some editing that still needs to be done. I would probably remove some pictures, when I think about it now, or include re-edits. Justine mentioned that my text could be more personal, but I felt that it was just enough--I didn't want to reveal too much (overly emotional), but I also didn't want it to not be enough--I suppose it's a matter of opinion. She said there was no reason not to be more emotional about it because it is a difficult situation to deal with. However, she mentioned that my images were strong in comparison to the text because the book wasn't really about the text, I meant for it to establish a sort of timeline, or narrative.

Basically, I realized that I need to learn to take my time. To work for images; focus on lighting, on color balance, etc., while I shoot. After school, I will have no deadlines, I will be working for myself and really fine tune my project. In general, I am happy with things. I have a lot to look forward to. I need to be more honest. While I have opened up, I am still a bit closed. It's time to hone in and push the envelope. To refine my work and technique.

Better Late than Never

In Decemeber 2008 to January 2009, I took a trip to the Philippines with my parents... I eventually started scanning film, but due extended abscenses from the country and laziness, it is only now that I'm getting around to finishing scanning, as well as editing some of the film.

I will say, it is nice to have a fresh look at things.

Playing with HDR

Industrial Landscapes

As a contintuation of my exploration of space, I decided to try something a little more industrial. This building was formerly an indoor recreation center called Rex Plex in Elizabeth, NJ. They have an overall blue tone to them because silly me forgot to set my white balance and I haven't yet edited them. However, I quite like the cold feel it lends to them.

During critique a funny thing was brought to my attention. Almost all of my pictures share the same horizon line and almost line up perfectly when put next to each other. I always noticed that I have a certain style of framing things, but I never realized how geometric it was. My teacher referred to it as my way of looking at the world and my compositions are completely subconscious. From that we got into discussing composing my own landscapes due to how easily I could stitch these photographs together to create a world out of my vision. It could be very interesting.

Thesis is Coming

Critique Comments

Nina Kania: In critique I really liked the idea of describing her pictures as the "domestic landscape." Since the last critique we had, she really narrowed down her focus on what textures she wanted to use, which has helped to strengthen her idea. I love the close cropping and beautiful lighting and I feel she captures quite nicely, those moments in the morning lying in bed, thinking about your day, which I feel everyone can relate to.

Kristin Furbeck: I really like that Kristin decided to shoot medium format for her project because the intense detail you can achieve is very beneficial to that way that she depicts the body. During her critique we discussed the idea of prints versus using a slideshow in which Megan brought up the idea of how a good print can speak for itself. It seems that we can get so caught up in making things bigger and flashier that we forget about the basics. It will be interesting to see what she decides, but I feel that the prints will be effective paired with the audio of people describing what exactly it is about the body. I feel that it does not matter whether it corresponds to each picture perfectly because as you listen it can help to almost narrate where you are looking at the wall--I like the idea of the viewer having to look for the photograph that they are hearing about.

Memories

“Most of the time, people want to believe they remain the same, but sometimes they also want to believe they have changed, and they shuffle and edit the facts in their memory to fit whichever belief is more relevant.”

Baumesiter and Bushman

These are photographs tied to my memories. In the prints, the squares are physically cut out and are meant to be aesthetically displeasing, or even awkward. My intention was to obstruct your view and ruin the cohesiveness of the photograph. I took out what I felt were essential details forcing the viewer to see what they want to see by either filling in the blanks, or projecting their own memories into the images.