UO :: Intro to Digital Photography

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Final Project: Leah Bierly

With my final project I wanted to investigate into my interest in portrait photography, specifically into the creation and exploration of identity. As a theatre major focused in costume design, a huge part of my work deals exactly with the creation of different characters visually, and how changing clothing, posture, and makeup can change someone’s character. With this in mind, I approached this project with the intention of using mostly makeup to create different characters. For the format of the images, I also chose something relevant to my work in theatre, and took a straight on documentary approach, as opposed to placing these characters in a more natural environment, to recreate the type of photos designers give actors as a makeup plot. I felt this was a practical way of merging my biggest passion into this final project.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

final project

Statement:

I took a picture from an object-the door as my portrait subject. This idea also is from an abstract idea about “the portrait”. I try to take different parts of a little bit open door. I want to make those different parts as different view about a “portrait”. The portrait without showing a person, but it could be an abstract idea about a person. Or an abstract idea about how do you identify a person. I choose the door as my portrait, first-it also an abstract drawing that I created using ink and glossy paper; second-it’s from daily life, it’s very normal object that people build in life. I think a portrait do not must be a specific or an unusual subject; on the other hand, it is a reflection or impression about oneself or every person. For example, Richard Avdon’s works identified the “beauty”, I think it’s not just from women, it’s existence in daily life and it’s just around every person. So I think “the door” can be a real substance from daily life, but when it used into a view from photography, it’s can be a subject and source about an idea and an identification. I also want to use sculpture view into my work. The comparison between light and dark into white and black picture can be very simple view about a subject. But the light, dark and gray can transfer each other, not just in color theory, also a movement from the view. I think it’s from my view and my idea about how to express this subject as a portrait and how to make it an abstract idea from my identification or imagination. I also want to get idea from Jack Pierson, his series “self-portrait” gives me the idea about how to develop a portrait in different way. His works also related to sculptural identification. So I think portrait or self-portrait is not who is in portrait or how this portrait looks like, it’s more important for me about how to use the subject as a portrait, how to create a subject as a portrait. And for myself, I am more interested in abstract style, therefore, I want to develop or study deeply in this area. In my final work, I use HDR to create all pictures. I think I adjusted much in my all pictures, because I want to (and try to) create a life through an unliving subject that using light and dark, the clear and blur part. So the whole works maybe just about an idea, maybe it is not very focus on taking a picture. And the adjustment is just for creating this idea. In the different pictures, I made the blur and highlight contrast with the dark, and for one small picture, I made clearer and highlight. And I left the movement during took photos. For me, I want to leave the working process in my pictures, (I don’t really want to make a perfect frame, maybe that’s me).

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Final Hafu Project

Hafu is a term used in Japan for those who are half Japanese and half other nationality. As hafu, I asked my brother to be model and asked him to wear his Yukata, a traditional Japanese clothes, and western clothes to express and show our identity as hafu. By also showing some similar and different poses, I was going for expressing that we are just human being living our life in our own beliefs. I didn’t want any distraction by any of the colors so I decided to do black and white classic type photography.

Shawnie Forgue - final project

For my final project, my proposal was to photograph people’s faces as well as their hands and then pair the images up in a diptych set. The initial vision I had in my head of the project was a face (not smiling) photo on top, and hands on the bottom, both photos in black and white. The images would be in a diptych rather than two separate photos put together to create more cohesiveness between them. I specifically wanted to photograph people that are important to me, as well. To me, you do everything with your hands and your hands say a lot about you. That’s why I’d like to pair up people and their hands.