Final Photo Essay

For my final photo essay I chose Eugène Delacroix's 1824 painting, Girl Seated in a Cemetery. I was assigned to come up with a story inspired by the painting and illustrate the story in a series of seven photos, edited appropriately in Photoshop. Here is a link to all of the photos I took before narrowing things down and really deciding my story. Here's what I came up with for my final seven images. As you can see, the final photo is the reference to the painting.

Here are the alterations I made to each image:
1) Adjusted brightness/contrast
2) Adjusted brightness/contrast
3) Adjusted brightness/contrast
4) Converted to sepia, added grain texture filter
5) Converted to sepia, adjusted brightness/contrast, added grain texture filter
6) Converted to sepia, adjusted brightness/contrasted & sharpened, added grain texture filter
7) Adjusted brightness/contrast

I adjusted brightness and contrast to make sure it looked pretty gloomy (luckily, it was also a gloomy day when we photographed,) but to not lose the details in the shot. I made the fourth, fifth and sixth images sepia toned and added a grainy filter to indicate that they were a dream/flashback/remembrance and not actually occurring.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the turnout! If it weren't for the title of the painting, you wouldn't even know that it took place in a cemetery--but I was able to come up with a story (if you take a peek at all of my 70+ initial photos, you'll see that I edited it down quite a lot) and express it visually.

"Time" Photo Essay

Here are my final photos for my photo essay, which I have titled "Time."



















Also please click on the thumbnail to see the essay all in one:


Overall, I wanted my essay to communicate the frustration that often stems from the public transportation's system apparent disregard of timeliness. Although we all depend on WMATA to get us around the city, and most of the time it works great, when delays, out of service buses, and rail work combine forces with the AU Shuttle, sometimes a trip length can double in time. I wanted to communicate the way that public transport can quickly shift a mood, either in a negative way while waiting for a bus, or as a surprise when a bus does show up.

Finally, here's my original photos and my final photos in albums. It was pretty tough to limit my essay to nine photos because I had a few more that I really would have loved to include. The editing process wasn't too complicated: I knew that I wanted to manipulate greyscale and color to represent Kim's mood change while waiting for the bus. I also lightened up a few of the images as the shadows were quite dark when in greyscale.

Georgia O'Keeffe & Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities

I recently enjoyed this joint exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and thought I would briefly discuss it for extra credit. I had only read brief mentions of the exhibit, and stumbled into the museum not expecting much as I had been there several months ago to see Recognize! and, of course, Colbert. In truth, I was only trying to pass the time before a dinner reservation, but I'm so glad I stopped in.

What I was expecting of the exhibit was stark contrast, as I envision O'Keeffe's art as colorful, airy, and light, while greyscale, powerful, and large-scale speak to Adams' work.

Entering the exhibit, it seemed that my expectations were affirmed. The signature style of O'Keeffe's paintings jumped out at me, but Adams' work was quieter. The longer I spent in the exhibit, the more their works complemented each other beautifully, just as the museum intended. Their interpretations of Southwest-style architecture, and examinations of small objects in nature became more and more alike the longer I looked at them.

This exhibit was highly successful in comparing and contrasting the work of two iconic American artists, two friends really. Their examination of the Southwest is particularly striking, and really shows that no matter how different two things may look at first glance, the longer you look, the more alike they become. This is true in the exhibit in terms of O'Keeffe vs. Adams, painting vs. photograph, color vs. greyscale, and dreamlike vs. real.

Finally, I found that this exhibit really proved to me how important placement, environment, and a work's surroundings are in personal interpretation of the work. I interpreted Ansel Adams' photographs much differently than I did when I saw them at the Corcoran with Annie Leibovitz's works a few months earlier.

Photos of the Bird

For my Design Through Photo assignment Part 2 I photographed a bird figurine sitting on my dining room table. Click here for the photos. It was a little difficult to decide what constituted a 'medium shot' when I wasn't sure what one would consider above a bird's waist. I did my first several shots using natural light from outside, then several with a key light at a 45 degree angle to the bird, and then added a back light behind the bird. I liked the natural light photos most, but I'm sure that with more high-tech lighting (not bare lightbulbs somewhat shining in the correct direction,) I could have achieved better shots using a key light and back light (and background light!).

Here's my four favorite shots:

Bird's eye view medium shot with key and back light

Medium close up with natural light

Bird's eye view medium long shot with key and back light

Medium close up with key and back light

Background Library

Here are the photos I took for my background library assignment at Soapstone Valley Park today (and in my apartment as well as a few on my walk home from class). I wander around there often but it was great to take notice of new things that I wouldn't normally pay attention to but which might make great photos. I especially like the one of the light blue paint peeling taken at Wilson High School, the super-cracked sidewalk that looks like it was meant to be that way, and the brick wall with multiple personalities.