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.