Final Portfolio: Research

ROSIE HARDY, 7 DEADLY SINS

Envy

Greed

Gluttony

Sloth

Derek Blanks

 

Derek Blanks is another one of my favorite photographers, both when it comes to celebrities like Annie Leibovitz, and his overall work in general. I particularly like his Alter-Ego photo shoots where he captures two or more sides to his subject, most of which are representations of either how they see themselves, how the media and society sees them, or a combination of both. These are two favorite images of mine, especially the lower one of singer Michelle Williams. Growing up church, I connected to this image because being in this environment you're expected to behave and present yourself a certain and are pretty much judged if just a tad bit different.

Annie Leibovitz

Meryl Streep (1981)

Rihanna, Vogue (2011)

Keith Haring (1986)

Natalia Vodianova, Vogue (2003)

For History of Photo, we have to create a casebook on a particular photographer, including their bio, any publications by/about them, exhibitions and images that are both iconic and of personal interest. I've always loved Leibovitz's photographs, especially those of particular celebrities, because I feel like she captures a piece of their personalities and makes them seem more real and not a character they may play.

Carol Golemboski: Psychometry

Life of the Party  (2003)
Toned silver-gelatin print

I chose the 'Psychometry' show by Carol Golemboski because I was really drawn to the black and white contrast and graphic nature of the images. There were a few that stood out to me, but my favorite shot was Life of the Party.

This image displays what looks like a dart board, with a donkey in the center surrounded by various numbers. On the outside of the circle are illustrations of people, possibly those at the "party" in groups of two or alone. There's also inscriptions of both the title of the piece and comments of judgment and laughter.

When I look at this photograph, the first thing I thought of was the "class clown" - the one person in class or in a group of friends that always makes jokes or tries their best to gain everyone's attention around them. They think that everyone is laughing with them, when in fact they're being laughed at.

I think Golemboski did a great job in portraying this idea. With all the components combined together, it definitely gets the idea across to the viewer. One thing that I really think helps is the inscriptions of the laughter. Because some are a little bolder than others, it gives off the idea of what you do and don't hear in a conversation, or what is said behind someone's back. Another part of the piece that works well is the donkey in the center because it's putting itself [in a way] on display for the people in the corners, as well as the viewer.

Project #4: Inspired by .... Aline Smithson

For those project I chose photographer Aline Smithson. Her images are mostly in color, aside from a few series shot in black and white. She uses 4 different cameras for her work - a twin lens Rolleiflex, Hasselblad, the Diana and a Holga. They are usually cropped, focusing on a particular subject, sometimes from an awkward angle. Typical subjects in her work vary from self, family, objects and sometimes landscapes.Smithson’s work uses themes of childhood, relationships and self-relection. A few of her series also focus on the concept of tradition and history, like Arrangement in Green & Black: Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother. Her Self-portraits series is based on identity, with a main focus on the feet shot at a downward angle.

Taking all of this into consideration, for my project I wanted to combine some of her concepts and techniques. From all of the themes she has used in her portfolios, I connected with memory and identity the most. Wanting to want to focus on what makes a person who they are, I decided to take the concept from her In Case of Rain series and mix that with the idea of the self-portrait. I kept a few things the same as far as format is concerned, but wanted to experiment with digitally painting on the color as an accent with black and white shots - that way I mixed a little of her style with my own personal preference.

Project #4: Before Edits

Final Portfolio: Ideas

At first I thought about continuing with Aline Smithson's Arrangement series for my final pieces. But when I actually sat down and thought about what I wanted to shoot images of, I decided to tackle the subject of the 7 deadly sins and 7 holy virtues. I've always had an interest in it, but have yet to actually do anything with it for an art project. Given that there's so many definitions for each sin and virtue, I know I'll have a lot to work with - I'm just not sure if I want to go the traditional route and work solely with the definitions that I found in my research, or if I want to give my own take on it, still keeping the known meaning in mind. Maybe with a little more searching I'll come up with a final idea.