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.
