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.

The Panza Collection at the Hirshhorn

I wasn't anticipating the enjoyment I got out of the Panza Collection exhibit at the Hirshhorn. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find several works that fascinated me and encouraged me to think about their intended meanings.

Larry Bell's Untitled 1973 work that was made of vacuum plated glass really elicited an emotional reaction from me. My first thought was that the material was eerily similar to the bog bodies on display at the National Museum of Ireland, which I saw in March and was really fascinated with. I found it strange that here, the material was the art, whereas in Dublin, the material simply enclosed the art and provided a dim atmosphere in which to view it.

Next, I began to observe my reflection in the glass, luckily I was the only person in the room so I could really examine the piece. At first, I thought the piece was "T" shaped, then after some inspection, changed my mind and thought it was "X" shaped, and only after walking completely around it could I conclude that it was "V" shaped. To have such interaction with a simple glass piece was great- at first I thought that the piece was translucent, only after physically interacting with it could I conclude that it was opaque and reflective. It really made an impact on me for such a simple piece to inspire so much thought, and for my initial impressions of the work to be totally off.

Another piece I had an emotional reaction to was Douglas Huebler's Drawing (Reflecting essence). The work is essentially a framed piece of paper that reads at the bottom, first in French and then in English, "This surface is, at this instant, reflecting the imperceptibly changing physical essence of its percipient." My initial reaction was to dismiss it as psuedo-intellectual. I went on to the piece next to it but kept thinking about it. I returned and stood in front of the work. I wondered, how many people have stood in front of here and done the same thing? How am I changing right now? If I stood here longer would the piece become more and more relevant? I then went on to consider the implications of the piece for those who could not read French or English. If someone translated it to them, would it mean the same thing? I then chuckled at the thought of someone putting the quote at the bottom of a mirror. I think Huebler intended not to be smug and wax philosophical, but instead just to inspire thought about the changes living things endure every second of our lives; they are imperceptible but add up to a change in the cycle from infant to elderly.

Later in the week I attended Hirshhorn After Hours to see Dan Deacon perform, and discovered Bruce Nauman's From Hand to Mouth on the third floor. My roommate (who, incidentally, I was in Dublin with) immediately exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! A bog body!" The Hirshhorn and the National Museum of Ireland have totally different vibes, but somehow they independently reminded us both of each other.

The Panza Collection impressed me. It was extremely varied, yet the pieces flowed wonderfully. I thought about almost everyone one of the pieces, and I'm still wondering if one million years are really printed in the pages of On Kawara's One Million Years, or if the pages were simply opened to the one complete page. I guess there's no real way to find out, but it got me thinking, so the exhibit was successful in its goal.

My Video..

Here's my video I made for class! It was pretty tough to limit it to one cut and two camera movements, but I think it turned out alright.

"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.

My Filmmaking Experience

The process of shooting my video was rather complicated, considering the simplicity of my video. First I realized that shooting from the steps of the Dav would be difficult considering how often people walk in and out of there. Instead, we shot the steps at the back of Batelle which were much less traveled.

Another problem we encountered was that as I was moving the tripod to get the second shot of the video, someone came up and locked their bike to the handrail on the steps, taking center stage in my shot. Luckily, the narrative indicated a passing of time between the two shots, so the slight change of set didn't change the story.

Something that I noticed that reminded me of Blow Up was that I verbally explained what I wanted to see to my teammates, but they then did something different than what I envisioned. I thought I had done a pretty good job explaining, but turns out, just like the characters realized, we all see things differently, especially in our minds, so verbally explaining something visual isn't always the best route. Of course this project also revealed diverse execution styles among our group. I was slow and deliberate while others encouraged improvisation. I think both types will present interesting films.

I am excited to see my film; watching it back on the camera's tiny screen was pretty anticlimactic. I am not sure if I will like the somewhat slanted angle that I used in my second shot, and I'm not sure if I will be pleased with my framing. I definitely think that what I envisioned and what the camera saw will be two distinct things, there might be some surprises when I watch the footage.

If this were a film class, I think it would be fun to explore the same short narrative storyline in a variety of locations, with a different cast, and other variations. This would be a good way to explore all of the challenges faced when filmmaking, even when the story (what many would view as the most important element,) stays the same.

Edited Photos of the Bird

Here is the final element of my Design Through Photo assignment. I did it before the assignment was edited so hopefully at least two of the four are still relevant. It was fun to get re-acquainted with Photoshop as I haven't used it much in the past several years. Here is the link to the album.

Dominance

The large bird is dominant over the smaller bird in this design, and each bird is individually dominant over its reflection. I tried to make the green car with water droplets on it look like water and thought the reflection was an interesting effect- I flipped a duplicate layer of each bird and applied a gradient, then changed the opacity.

Rhythm

I used the bricks as a grid and changed the size and direction of two different photographs of the bird. It came out pretty interesting to look at and definitely established a rhythm in the design.

Asymmetrical Balance

The large bird contrasts with the two smaller birds on the right side to create an asymmetrically balanced design.

Movement

Unfortunately my design is a representation of physical movement rather than the intended movement of the eye through the design, but it still looks pretty cool and is fitting for the subject. I used four layers of the bird image motion blurred and moved slightly so the bird (kind of) looks like it is in flight.

Color Scheme

I thought the dumpster would be a good demonstration of complimentary colors as the blue surface already had orangey rust streaks on it. Since blue and orange are complimentary colors, I gave the bird an orange tint, and also learned that it's tough to colorize something that's white without washing it out.

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.

The Cinema Effect exhibit at the Hirshhorn

The Cinema Effect's examination of film, pop culture, the media and the public resulted in an interesting array of films. On Saturday, August 30, I observed many of the films- taking detailed notes on the first six and the last, and enjoying many of the ones in between. Of those films, here are four favorites and three I was let down by.

Favorites

1st Light by Paul Chan

This was by far my favorite. The computer animation could have been shown on a screen but was instead projected onto the floor, which made watching it just as topsy-turvy as the scene it showed. It seems that gravity has plotted against society as humans fall from the sky and scooters, appliances, and other objects float upwards. The concept was thought provoking and creatively executed, especially with the added contrast of concrete floor versus film screen.

New York, New York, New York, New York by Mungo Thomson

What a great concept. Standing in the room completely transported you to New York- at first. From the neutral color palette of greys and browns to the tenements, sidewalks, dumpsters, and bodegas all presented in sudden, choppy cuts, everything seemed realistic, but where were all of the people? How was Thomson able to shut out the people of New York to film these scenes? Thomson slowly reveals his secret- that he is shooting film sets, by including a palm tree in the background, and exposing the apartment building as simply a facade. More of an experience than a film, Thomson's remark on New York film sets- that there's more to them the the initial glance, was successful and interesting.

Mother & Father by Candice Breitz.

The most stirring thing about this piece for me was the synergy of design, concept, and execution that resulted in the expression of a mother's feeling of isolation in her role as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, etc. The design element that contributed to this was the removal of the character from their background- all twelve were shown on a simple black background instead. The repetition of the cries of the mothers, and their originally unintended interaction with each other only fueled the feeling of isolation and pity by the viewer. Another interesting note is that occasionally several screens were reflected on the leftmost screen, most likely unintended but interesting as it only amplified the interaction of the characters.

John by Ian Charlesworth

The monotony of the screen said it all; despite playing himself, John blended into the background. He required constant encouragement and reassurance by those offscreen, but still couldn't seem to get into his character- himself. The simplicity of everything else about the film highlighted his insecurity- something not uncommon for anyone his age, and also made it seem like it could have been anyone.

Let Downs

Lonely Planet by Julian Rosefeldt

I adored the concept of this film, however; it was perhaps my biggest let-down in that it could have been so much more had the execution been different. The constant contrast of warm vs. cool colors, brown hair vs. red bandana, cacophony vs. harmony was strong, but could have been really built upon by a more narrative feel to the film. Concept might lend itself better to a longer film.

Living a Beautiful Life by Corinna Schnitt

This could have been a powerful idea, had it been presented in a different manner. The subject matter didn't really lend itself to parody, which is what the actor's cheesy portrayals of the teen's tragic responses were. The repetition of the words "sexy," "hot," and "money," as well as the ideas of safety and security reveal the conflictual ideas of beauty within life, no doubt influenced by pop culture.

Marlene Redux: A True Hollywood Story! by Francesco Vezzoli

I had conflicting feelings on this film- it was over-the-top for my tastes, but then again, why shouldn't a True Hollywood Story spoof be over-the-top? The techniques utilized- showing re-enactments of the past in black and white, still photos with over-dramatic voiceovers, were so typical that this could probably be aired on E! (instead of A!), if it were true and had the narrative been a bit more cohesive.

Overall, I enjoyed my afternoon spent at the Hirshhorn. The exhibit's examination of reality vs. illusion within the media was funny and thought-provoking, though I appreciated some films much more than others.