Contemporary artist

   http://kelliconnell.com/this-morning/
     The artist I chose that interested me the most was Kelli Connell. Her

works that she did of herself in two different perspectives in one photo. The

 first time I saw her work, I was intrigued by the many different messages

that I got from just one photo. Once I listened to her own words about her

 work, it confirmed some of the things that I thought about, as well as gave

 me another view on the works. She described her works as expressing the

relationships that we have with ourselves. This series of photos were not all

taken in one situation, or one mood. They varied is so many different styles

 and colors. There were some that were lighter and happier, there were some

 that were dark and gloomier, there were sad ones, and well as romantic

ones. I really don't think there was any other artist that did the work that she

 did. I've seen things that were similar, but none have had more meaning

 than Kelli Connell's.

     When I first looked at her work, I thought deep into the photos. I thought

 about what they were, I thought about what they meant, I thought about

 what could have inspired this work. When I realized that both of the people

 in the photo were the same person, it confused me at first. I knew the

 purpose was to get you to look at yourself, or think about something that

every person goes through but never thinks really deep into or it is

something that it a private matter and is not shown to the public. After

hearing Connell speak about her work, I had a complete understanding.

After I thought about it for a while, I started to be able to relate with the

work more. It made me think about those different relationships that I went

through in my life, or what I've seen others go through in theirs. It was

interesting to see those relationships expressed in photos.

     I think this series of photos were made to respond to those people who

are not quite sure about themselves and the way they feel about themselves.

I don't think this work leaves anyone out. I feel like anyone can relate to

this work if they think hard enough. It may seem weird to people at first

but if they would actually think about the different feelings that people have

about themselves throughout their lives, it would all make sense.

     I believe this work was very successful because it was a very good

representation of the relationships that people have with themselves. I

believe that the goals that she set for her work was very visible, although

I don't think it will be that obvious to everyone at first glance. I definitely

believe that the fact that she took different series of the relationships in

different years, it expressed those relationships that much more. The

transition from teenage years into adulthood showed how much more

intimate relationships with ourselves get as we mature. I think this work

is amazing, and very intriguing. I love it!!

Made by a Man

     The exhibition "Made By a Man" was shown by the artist J. Casey Doyle. The show consisted of about 6-8 different pieces of his work. All of his works were hung up on the wall. They were interestingly made by ribbon that you would put on gifts. He created his works by knitting or knotting the ribbon together. All off the pieces were very bright and colorful and had a slightly rough texture. They were all very aesthetically pleasing to pretty much anyone, especially when people realize that they are not real blankets. All of the works were enormous, they looked like real blankets or curtains.
     I honestly had a hard time interpreting Mr. Doyle's work. I don't feel like he was trying to prove a point, but I think he was a more modern artist that felt like the subject of the work was the artist himself. I feel like his pieces drew people closer to see so they could think about how the piece was made and how long it took. I do think he challenged the stereotype of people who knit or make blankets. Most people would only think of a woman making something like that. I think he sort of emphasized that thought by naming his group of works "Made By a Man".
     Mr. Doyle's works were definitely pleasing and absolutely amazing to think about. I couldn't even imagine sitting down and taking the time to make something so massive. I couldn't guess how long it took him to actually create just one of the pieces.

Final Project!

            In this series of photos I wanted to the theme of relationships. I wanted to capture many different types of relationships such as husband/wife, brother/sister, boyfriend/girlfriend, coworkers, parent/child and cousins. I wanted to show how relationships are something that can easily be captured in any setting. I also wanted to show the ‘bad’ in relationships instead of just the good. I tried capturing photos of many different people who were not just looking at the camera with their arms around each other smiling. I wanted to capture the mean looks and funny faces that people make when communicating with someone they have some sort of relationship with. Another big thing I wanted to capture is the difference in men and women when around people they have some type of relationship with. I captured how a group of men place themselves when communicating with other men, how women place themselves when speaking to other women, and how men and women place themselves when interacting with each other.

            I went about this project in a rather simple way. I did not want any of these photos to be stages or photoshopped. I wanted to capture the purity of relationships and how they show in our everyday lives without us even realizing it. I wanted to focus on the idea of relationships because most people only think of relationships as something that you have with a close friend or a boy/girlfriend. People forget about the relationships they have with their coworkers or their boss even though they don’t think of it as a relationship. Relationships are all around us, whether good or bad.

            My goal was to make a series of photos that were aesthetically pleasing. I wanted to capture photos that brought a reaction out of the viewers, whether it is laughter, or a simple ‘awww’. I wanted to capture things that will make people think more into the idea of relationships with the different people around them, and not just the close friends and family. A lot of people think that relationships with family is all in one category, but if you think about it, the relationship between a child and a grandparent is a lot different than the relationship between a child and a sibling or cousin. There are differences always many differences that people never think about. 

Work in Progress

     The goal in this work is to show the good and the bad times in relationships. I want to have a combination of stereotypical photos of siblings hugging as well as photos of siblings fighting. I want to show how no relationship is perfect. I plan on showing all types of relationships, siblings, couples, spouses, cousins and friends. I plan on putting a lot of images into a album. I plan to do this because albums usually contain all the photos of people looking at the camera and smiling and all nice, but my album will contain photos of of the traditional photos, as well as the ones that no one usually sees. I expect people to get laughter as a reaction to my photos. I also expect to get an "awww" every now and  again. I hope it works!!

Final project!!

     For my final project I am going to explore the concept and importance of relationships. This subject is interesting to me because everyone has relationships. Whether it is relationships with your family, friends, co-workers, and classmates. No matter who you are, you have relationships with everyone that you encounter, whether on a daily basis, or a weekly basis. Relationships are important to everyone. They are extremely to me because I like to build relationships with anyone that I know I will spend time with, even if its just 15 weeks in a class. Everyone's relationship with a different group of people change that person and the way they act. When people are at work, they usually don't show any negative attitudes. My goal for this project is to show the good, the bad, and the ugly in all types of relationships. I want to capture different faces, different actions and different expressions that people have with people that they have any type of relationship with. I think it will be very interesting.

Assignment 5

   The purpose of my photos for this project was to create somewhat of a game. I wanted to people to see the photo and do a double take at what it really is in the picture. I don't want it to be blatantly obvious of what the photo is. I wanted to have different people have different views on what is really going on in front of my camera. It was kind of difficult at first to think of a good idea since I'm not a very creative person.
    I thought of so many different angles to take with this project, and with limited time, I had to come up with something fast. Everyone plays games right? People always like to have a little fun! I tried to make it entertaining and kind of veer away from the traditional "see the picture of ____". I like challenging the viewer, make the viewer try to figure out what is the photo of? How was it done? What is going on?
     I wish I would have had more time to think into this project, and I have to admit, I am not very satisfied with it. This project did make me pull out a creativity I didn't know I had. I loved the challenge. Hopefully I can come up with something a little more interesting for the views next time! Enjoy!!

Sontag reaction

   Sontag says that photography is "A way of certifying experience......also a way of refusing it." I understood this statement. She used the example of a tourists photographing themselves by something that they've seen, but just because they have seen it, does not mean that they have experienced. To any one that looks at a photo of a person by some beautiful monument, he or she would believe that this person experienced this place inside and out. A person would think that the person in the photo could any questions about the building and know more. I feel like Sontag was trying to show how photos can be deceiving to a person who looks at a photo. I agree with Sontag, I believe that photos can be deceiving to the person viewing it. They only tell a part of the story, they don't tell the entire story. It is definitely a difference between someone just snapping a photo in front of a beautiful building than someone going inside the building and learning about the construction and when and how it was built. It's easy to snap a picture and move on to the next place.
  Sontag also said that photography is "momento mori". I believe that she said this to tell about how photos can capture a person at that moment but as time passes they can look back and see how they change. If nyou take a picture of someone at a young age, and then they take a picture after they begin to get older, it reminds that person that you will not live forever. I believe she is trying to say that people can become more aware of life when they see old pictures that they could have remembered like it was yesterday. Time can go fast to a person but nobody really thinks about it until they see an old photo. I agree with this statement because I've seen photos that I remember exactly what I was doing that day and I realize how much time has really passed. I know that it is the same way for people who are in their 40s and look back at a photo of them in their 20s and think about how things have changed. Sometimes its a sad thing for people to do.

     This is my 8 year old niece Ayana. She is the youngest of five and she is the only the only girl. Even though she is the smallest person in the house, she is, by far, the most dominant. She gets what she wants from any and everyone in the house. She definitely knows how to get her way. I chose her as my subject because everyone outside of the home thinks of her as an angel. She is an honor roll student and has been all through school, but at home, it's an entirely different story. Her brothers know better than that angel that everyone else sees.
     I went to the house to watch my niece in action. I attempted to catch her in all of her dominant actions. In all of the photos, she showed some sort of dominance over everyone in the house, even the dogs! It's just so funny that she is actually small for her age but she has the power that she has. Although I spend around a lot of time with my niece and nephews, I never realized how much she shows her dominance over everyone. I've watched her grow and watched her slowly take advantage of her brothers in the slickest ways.
     It was interesting that it only took me a couple of hours to catch fifty plus pictures of her is her moments of dominance. I didn't think it would be that easy. I guess she is a dominant person all day, she is not afraid to show it. She is a smart and fiesty all at the same time. She does show her dominance in school because it is hard for anyone to tell her no. It would be hard to deny a person that does any and everything and even more than what she is asked, it is just considered a reward to the teachers.

      I did my series of photos at my house. I decided to do my home because it has such a major impact on what I do in my everyday life. My goal was to show how things are in my home. I could use so many different words to describe it, but the two word that best describes it is BIG and ACTIVE! All of my photos show a sense of business in my house, even the more calming photos seem busy in some way or another. Some people see my home as chaotic, but to us, its just busy. There are only two people that actually live in the house, but with my family constantly running in and out, there seems like many more than that. A minor theme I wanted to capture was how close of a family we are. We spend a lot of time together even though there are many age differences, we are extremely close. Even though it is extremely busy, it is the true definition of a 'home'.
      The photos I captured were random things around my house, They captured not just me but the lives of my family. Once I actually started capturing photos, it made me look differently at my house as a whole. I had never before thought of it being 'busy', I thought of it as a place of relaxation. I guess to a person on the outside, they would feel like relaxation doesn't exist or is in a way transparent in my home, literally!  I definitely didn't think the items in my home are as active and busy as everyone that is there. The photos capture that contradiction in how I see my home and how it really is. I hadn't noticed the connection between our lives and the environment and how strong and accurate it really is. There also many photos that symbolize how my family can be close and calm even though there are so many of us.
     The main thing that this helped me to do is see my house like outsiders see it. It helped me to understand what it is that they see and how they come to the conclusions they come to after being to my home. Everyone that ever comes over always leave feeling comfortable and relaxed. They never feel like they are left out or the odd balls in the house. One thing for sure, if you come to my house, you have to do something, there is no sitting still!

Assignment 3

     One photo that stood out to me from Mr. Sprang's gallery was a photo taken of the people that were protesting at the inauguration of President Nixon. All of the photos were amazing but the one that stood out the most to me was a photo of a group of people, some of them had their hands on another's shoulder, some just standing around. This photo stood out to me because I felt like it had a lot of meaning to it. I loved the how the people showed the unity by standing together.
     This photo stood out to me because there seemed like there was so many different emotions in the photo. There were people with looks of disgust, there were looks of worry, there were intense looks. I could tell that there was so many different emotions and it was intruiging. The photo spoke so loudly when I saw it. I could only imagine how serious and intense this atmosphere could have been at this time. That is just one of those times where you have to be there to have experienced the feeling.
    I would love to know how the atmosphere was at this time. I would like to know how serious the people were there and how long they were out there? I wonder what the people were like while they stood out there? I absolutely LOVE this photo!

Depth of field f22

The thing itself

I chose this picture because it is a part of our reality everyday. Everyone wears shoes, but people don't ever look at shoes from this point of view. We know it is a part of our reality but it is not something that we see or pay attention to. Things that we don't 'see' are not considered reality to us.

Slow shutter speed

Flash

Depth of field f3.5

I don't think these show depth of field very well!

Vantage

Fast shutter speed

Detail

Night photography w/tripod

Hand held night phototgraphy

Frame

The Photographers eye

     I was so happy to read this article. It's funny because I used to ask the question that this article answered. I always wondered how the drawing or painting artists felt about photography and if they really thought of it as art. I used to try to come up with answers to the question myself but never really got a clear answer. I figured that the painters and drawers did not like the idea of creating something from scratch. I can understand why they would feel that way. I can definitely understand their point of view.
     One thing the article did make me think about was photography in depth. The way that it was explained in the article was a new perspective for me. It did make me think a little more about photography and how it truly is an art. I like the idea of being able to capture something in real time and it be looked at as art. I do respect the painters because it is a true talent to be able to draw and paint some of the pieces I've seen. Photographers just have a different way of seeing things. It's intriguing that they can take a photo that, to the naked eye means nothing, but to an artist, it can tell an entire story.
     I would have to say that I truly believe photography is an art. For a while I thought it was just a skill, but you have to have a certain type of eye to be able to see the beauty in the things photographers see.

Assignment 1 photo

This photo was taken during a basketball tournament on Labor day weekend. Talk about flying!!

MATERIALIZING NEW SPACE

        The lecture by Kelly Urquhart and Jaime Kennedy was very interesting. It is always cool to meet artist and figure out there reasons for doing the artwork that they do and what it really means to them. It was amazing to see their individual work as well as their collaboration work. I think it was amazing how they combined their different types of art into one and it turn out to be so amazing.
         Kelly's style of art was intriguing because at first sight, I didn't understand. It was an interesting painting as far as the color schemes and the shapes in the painting. It spoke chaos to me. Once she started explaining exactly what her thoughts were about the painting, it wasn't exactly what I got out of it at first but she talked about the chaos of the world. I'd have to say, her explainations took some time to register in my head because it was way more than I got out of it and it didn't all make sense to me, but I guess it isn't for me to understand completely. I loved her drawings, they were amazing!
        Jaime's art made a little more sense to me. When I saw his art, my first thought had to do with the advancement of technology and how it is such a big part of our life and how it puts some 'ahead' of others. When he started to explain what his thoughts were, it made a lot of sense to me.
        Their collaborative work was interesting. I loved the series about the birds and the construction of the upgraded wing system. The drawings were amazing. The nests were interesting. I loved the construction and the thought of having a modernized nest. The creativity of those pieces were amazing! The thought of putting digital art and actual drawings and making it look the way that their work did. Overall, it was a nice experience, it definitely made me look at art a little bit differently.