photographer. visual artist. conservation art framer. licensed cosmetologist
As the semester ends we finally went through our final critique. I definitley did not expect to hear the feed back to be so jaring but I take it as a way to improve. As for the next semester I have something already in mind hopefully it will be more sucsessful.
I am making a series of digital photographs depicting the form of the human body in an intimate manner. In creating this, my thought process was to take body away from what it literally is and instead treating it more as a surface. Since midterm I began to shift my focus onto hands but then changed back into abstraction and treating the body as a surface. Along side that, I began to shoot in a higher contrast than before, focusing on images with a more intimate feeling by getting closer, and to show more of the texture of the skin. Inspiration wise , I looked towards Miguel Ribeiro for his similar concept of the body, the choice of black and white and, high contrast.
Continuing my photographs, I’m still incorporating the background as I go and slowly pulling the camera away each image to create a smooth transition. For this newer set of photos I’m planning to work more in trying emphasize the texture within the skin. I have been working with different lightings and angles to see in what ways I can manipulate light to alter the appearance of the subject matter.
So I have been continuing to take the photographs I have been taking. I also still continue to try to add a little bit of the background as well. The background of my images though are very specific. I look dark backgrounds with a simple design behind the foreground and my subject. I finds it makes the images pop more in contrast.
I’m happy to finally be getting more photographs. This recent few things I have been working on still involve including subtle backgrounds but I also try to emphasize the texture of the skin. I also took into consideration of how to also make it flow smoothly by each photo slowly pulling back revealing more of a space to the back all while keeping still focused on the body.
Continuing my photographing of bodies. As I continue to experiment I add small amounts of the background onto my images. I find t adds something different that my other photos before. I have also started to use a higher contrast to show off surface of the skin.
Lately I decided to broaden myself. Instead of normally photographing very up-close with no sense of background, this time I decided to play around with what I can do and incorporate it into my work.
Since our midterm critique, I starting to take the advice of my professors and tried to experiment and use a higher contrast. I must say I’m actually enjoying the higher contrast in my images. Using a higher contrast really brings out the detail in the subject’s hands. and adds a more bit of a dramatic feel for the other image. My next step is to try to work with different types of light to capture the body.
During the spring break we were given the task of searching for an artist that we admire or relate to. Going through the Art21 website, I came across Lucas Blalock’s photography. Blalocks art making process is quite interesting as he deals with still lifes and uses a large format camera and digital manipulation. His process and art actually reminds me of when I was in community college and I worked with a series of still lifes. I also worked in a similar process in the still lifes were created with a 4x5 Horseman Camera similar to the camera Blalock uses. I also use a lot of digital manipulation in my images to distort and create a new perspective. Blalock talks about his art by saying he finds object that he described as “pathetic” are attractive to him and I can understand to how he feels seeing that the most mundane objects can be altered into a completely different view. Though Unlike Blalock his subject matters are often objects sourced from discount stores most of the objects I source for my images usually come from estate sales and second hand objects from friends and family. His work in all is quite innovative as it is said he is also known of his heavy use of photoshop, not to “perfect” what he is creating but to emphasize and reimagine.
Last week we had our critique for the midterm exam. At first I was nervous to be critiqued by the staff and faculty. Not for the reason of being scared of the criticism received but nervous as how you would be before a performance. I found what the faculty said to be very insightful. A positive thing I got out of it was hearing other peoples input of what could be done to my work to improve. The only negative thing I took out of it was not being able to hear and get separate and complete input from each staff member more thoroughly.
I am making a series of digital photographs depicting the form of the human body in an intimate way. Creating this was my response and retaliation to the unattainable body standards in todays society. For inspiration, I looked towards Sally Mann’s feel of intimacy and familiarity and Imogen Cunningham’s botanicals for its implied sensuality, it’s minimalist look, and use of form.
I continue to photograph the body and this time I have had the chance of being able to use different people as models. It makes it easier that I also have models that are comfortable with such an intimate and more revealing subject matter. This time I tried a little bit of a different approach and this time I tried to go a little softer focus. I feel like it fits well as it adds a a different feeling from the other image I created before.
This week we were given the task of reading an article with steps of what it takes to be an artist. In matching up with being an artist I view this text as steps that I have already taken before within my creative journey. I find the text quite relatable as I find myself resonating with step ten and finding your own voice. The text depicts criticism as a driving force behind creativity. The article says that if a person tells you that the art looks like work from artist the our own to do it many times over again. I resonate with this in the idea that I constantly am worried about how original my work is and if it resembles another person’s art. Another that stood out to me was step number 11: Listen to the crazy voices in your head. Many people would hear that statement and quickly take it out of context. What the step truly means it to trust your intuition and know that the negative thoughts about you being an artist will be essentially the driving force behind your work. Some of the work that Jerry Saltz had mentioned I am already familiar with that being Fountain by Duchamp, Édouard Manet’s Olympia, and Michelangelo’s David is beauty. Some new things that stood out to me was the idea of step 20 and knowing that many people will not reach the same amount of monetary fame and success as others and that only one percent will reach it. To me it shows the reality of the making of art and the reason of being discouraged. Though, with this, it does not mean to stop creating and that monetary gain is not your reason for this.
To try to make things more interesting, I decided to try to challenge myself a bit and attempted to obscure the body even more. One of the images I composed was this one. I feel like the image has a very strong sense of form. It also has a sense of texture within the image showing the many imperfections and bumps on the skin.
I continue to to photograph the human body. There’s something so interesting about it. It has so many textures and shapes. I only wonder is how long can I photograph a body until it all becomes the same. Below is a photograph I’m particularly proud of. I think what makes the image is definitely the amount of high contract and she amount of detail seen in the fingers and a gentle silhouette of the hands. by far this is one of my favorite images so far.
During the last couple of days I’ve been working on a few images. I had this incredibly interesting idea to study the human body. I feel like my photographs are done and finished but I also can’t help but to feel as they need more work. I love the softness of the light and how the shadows in my images exaggerate the curves of the body. The images are very intimate and almost abstract in some forms.
I enjoy the idea of studying the body. The body is a work in itself and I think I might have a good idea of what I’ll be working on during the semester. I do have some other ideas but I’m pretty confident in this concept.
Below are the images that I worked on :
What is art? In class we watched a video that questioned the meaning of and definition of what exactly is art. The video was very informative in the different ways art could be defined. It was interesting. One quote that stuck out to me was when they quoted Ambrose Bierce stating in his Devil's Dictionary in 1906. “Art, n. this word has no definition.” In many ways I find this to be true. Since art is subjective and open to interpretation meaning there are many ways people could define it. Another way I have herd about defining art is “The idea of art is not for the measurement of others but made to offend and/or inspire.” I agree with this as well because the way I approach art is very similar. Art is made to not be “comforting” to the viewer but sometimes creating a piece with a more unusual approach." Instead of always something visually pleasant with meaning, it shows art can also be on the opposite side. Either way art is meant to show the ideas of artists to the people who see it .
For the class that I am in, my professor told us one thing that is key to his course and that is to keep creating. I find this to be a very easy yet at the same time a difficult task. Easy cause I always have many ideas and hard because I need to find time in my schedule. Lately though I have been feeling creative and motivated.
I ended up finding some old photographs from when I visited Paris. So many pieces that I forgot I had! Just looking at all the photos that were left untouched art! Then out of nowhere It’s like my brain started to go crazy and it’s like a storm if ideas and themes came to me.
Here are some potential unedited photos I plan to use and edit soon! I honestly have a really good feeling about this.
