By Chance, Fall, 2017
“When it’s time for souls to meet, there’s nothing on earth that can prevent them from meeting, no matter where they may be located, ” ~ Kushandwizdom.
For my art project, I set-up and composed a series of photographs that tell a story of two people experiencing frustration, anger, sadness, happiness, and love. These emotions appear multiple times throughout my story when two strangers are bound to meet. I experimented with perspectives, point of view, and lighting to create drama and anticipation in my photo story. I want my viewers to search for visual clues and notes to understand who the characters are and what is bringing them together. You might experience comfort when looking at my photos, knowing that you might also find a soul mate or friend.
I constructed my series of photographs to be obscure and unpredictable, so you, the viewer, can read and comprehend the story.
For this project, I was inspired by the beautifully detailed drawings in my favorite book, Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick. This is a book I have been reading since I was a little girl. My story kindles hope just as Wonderstruck kindled a desire for the two characters to meet. Not only that, I want my photographs to provoke the same amount of emotions as I experienced when reading Wonderstruck, but with a twist of my own imagination. And to further exaggerate the romantic feel of the story, I used digital manipulation to give it a whimsical, soft, and vignette-like effect. My goal was to create an equally beautiful and complex story as the book, Wonderstruck.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
By Chance, 2017, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, Winter, 2018
Absence can take over a body, making one drown in thoughts and emotions. It creates an environment of despair or immense happiness, remembering your past memories, joyous or not. Not being present can change one’s perspective on the world. It can seem as if they’re a ghost or losing themselves and their loved ones. Time has a huge impact on one’s presence and can submerge them in their past memories or it can help them become a part of the present.
I created a series of photos that all have one thing in common, absence. Most of my photos are taken in the dark and have a figure that is in motion or is given a ghostly effect by using a slow shutter speed. The photos that contain ghosts are portrayed as, for example, what a grieving person would invision and what they would see if they were so upset they began to hallucinate. I allowed the photos that are more lively than others to display many colors to give it an overwhelming feeling. The more eerie photos have a low saturation and are rather dark. None of my photos contain visible human faces and the main point of focus is someone’s stature or the amount of things that are happening simultaneously.
Absence can help someone become more or less aware of their surroundings, by either dramatizing that specific moment or helping someone dig deeper into their thoughts, one by one.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Absence, 2018, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Trust, Fall, 2019
Trust is one of the main foundations of life. To be able to trust someone shows vulnerability, which is hard to do for many people. However, once this trust is attained then friendships and relationships with others can easily grow. In my photos, you can see a variety of people who have some sort of special connection with one another, which therefore allows them to trust each other. On the other hand, in some of my photos there is a lack of trust, showing distance and coldness. I worked with lighting in most of my photos to create a dramatic effect within the image. I then decided to print all my photos black and white in order to add even more emotion to the photo. Without trust, there is no importance to any type of relationship one has with another. I wanted to show trust in non-literal ways, which was definitely a challenge for me. I was able to overcome my obstacles because I wanted others to see how much I value trust, since I believe that in all relationships, friendships, and in life, you must have trust, it is essential.
Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
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Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
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Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
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Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
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Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
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Trust, 2019, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, Winter, 2020
Haunting beauty. Have you ever seen something so alluring it gives you shivers? When creating art, I always try to portray this type of dramatic emotion through photos, and specifically for this project, I chose fear. I utilized different techniques, like deadpanning, which I showed through multiple diptych images. I initially created numerous lists to help me brainstorm ideas about fear, however, finding a location to take these photos was a challenge. Luckily, my friend, Charlotte Ketterson, let me shoot in an abandoned house she knew of. The photos I took all connect by me progressively getting closer to the camera. As I get closer, the feeling of fear increases, connecting back to my main theme, haunting beauty.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Haunted, 2020, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021
When creating art, I portray dramatic emotion through photos. In order to achieve this, I focus on lighting, point of view, and contrast. Chronologically, the different themes I have photographed have been chance, absence, trust, fear, and longing.
The trust and fear projects were my two proudest examples of work. I chose trust as one of my themes because trust is one of the main foundations of my life. My project introduced me to diptych images taken by the artist Dawoud Bey. This quickly became the main technique I used in all of my photos. I also learned the skill of deadpanning, which I now use in the diptych and triptych images to hone in on one main area of focus.
This term, her goal was to convey the theme of longing in her artwork in order to create more thought-provoking pieces. The Longing Photography series has six photos that all connect back to the feeling of want and longing, which is quite fitting for our day and age. With COVID-19, people around the world are longing to once again feel a connection with others and return back to normal life. In the triptych, there are two figures who are longing and reaching for one another. The piece resembles The Creation of Adam painting by Michelangelo in the form of three separate photographs. The middle photo is lighter than the other two since the mood is lighter when the two figures are closer to one another, finally being able to fill that sense of longing. The photos move along the LED screen, enhancing the blue light, with the noise of moving water playing in the background
Overall, art has taught me how to express feelings that are difficult to describe in words. Art lets people portray emotions without having to speak, letting the viewer connect with others simply through a photo.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.
Longing, 2021, Ink-Jet Prints, 8.5x11.