Emulation Project

For my emulation project I decided to focus on the artist Cindy Sherman, who is known to take self portraits in different settings, dressed as different people. I was inspired by some old photographs I found of my grandmother when she was around my age. There are a lot of similarities in our appearances and I wanted to try to emulate Cindy Sherman by taking photographs of myself in the exact same position as my grandmother in that photograph. I am going to style my hair and clothing like she did in those photos, and try to make my photos look as similar as possible to hers. I will take the photos digitally but alter them to be black and white in photoshop so that they look more similar to the original photos. Here are some examples of Cindy Sherman's work:

iPhone Photography

Words>Images

This is a list of words that sound interesting and inspiring for my project.

Homonyms and Homophones

Aloud/Allowed

Awed/Odd

Blue/Blew

Buy/Bye

Close/Clothes

Currant/Current

Days/Daze

Feat/Feet

Whole/Hole

Mourning/Morning

Rose/rose/rows

Synonyms and Antonyms

Deep/Shallow

Pale/Dark

Ponder/Neglect

Lush/Sparse

Aloof/Friendly

Image as Word Interpretation

Evoke: to call up or produce (memories, feelings, etc.) 

Ephemeral: lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory

Sparse: thinly scattered or distributed 

Words and Images

Here are some literal examples of photography that uses words. I think that in these cases, the words help make the message of the photograph stronger, just as the photo helps make the message of the 

words stronger.

Poem Project-

Two Trees By William Butler Yeats

ELOVED, gaze in thine own heart,

The holy tree is growing there;

From joy the holy branches start,

And all the trembling flowers they bear.

The changing colours of its fruit

Have dowered the stars with merry light;

The surety of its hidden root

Has planted quiet in the night;

The shaking of its leafy head

Has given the waves their melody,

And made my lips and music wed,

Murmuring a wizard song for thee.

There the Loves a circle go,

The flaming circle of our days,

Gyring, spiring to and fro

In those great ignorant leafy ways;

Remembering all that shaken hair

And how the wingèd sandals dart,

Thine eyes grow full of tender care:

Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.

 

Gaze no more in the bitter glass

The demons, with their subtle guile,

Lift up before us when they

Or only gaze a little while;

For there a fatal image grows

That the stormy night receives,

Roots half hidden under snows,

Broken boughs and blackened leaves.

For all things turn to barrenness

In the dim glass the demons hold,

The glass of outer weariness,

Made when God slept in times of old.

There, through the broken branches, go

The ravens of unresting thought;

Flying, crying, to and fro,

Cruel claw and hungry throat,

Or else they stand and sniff the wind,

And shake their ragged wings; alas!

Thy tender eyes grow all unkind:

Gaze no more in the bitter glass.

This is a poem I studied it in English this year, and spent a lot of time trying to interpret. I chose it because I love the imagery Yeats uses, and it evoked a lot of ideas for photos I could take to represent the poem in ways that aren't just literal.

Independent Project Ideas

For my independent project I wanted to focus on photography that was abstract but incorporated nature into the photos. I love to work with dramatic lighting and different abstract textures, and I think that nature could be a great way to find both of those things and express its unique beauty. These are some examples of work that inspired me.

                                                          Barry Masoni, "Untitled 2"

John Canning "Abstract Tree"

Joe Lee, Singapore Botanical Gardens

Dalibor Talajic, "Olive Tree"

                                    

                                                                      Ken Piros "Spider Web"

  

Byron Jorjorian, "Untitled"

                                                              Daniel Sroka "Old Tree"

                                              Daniel Sroka "Untitled Desert Plants #184"

                                                                Daniel Sroka "Dance"

Cubism

Cubism is a perspective that abandons a single viewpoint and instead uses simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and collage.

This piece depicting a guitar is interesting mostly because of the fact that  the end of the guitar is pointing towards the viewer, unlike the rest of the guitar.

The piece above  by Diego Kuffer, uses smaller images to make a whole, and captures the movement of the people really well.

      The different shades of green in the grass, as well as the depth created by the lighting on it, help make this piece interesting. This is a work by Joshua Naylor.

This is another piece by Joshua Naylor. I like how the different shades of yellow on the floor add depth.

David Hockney's Joiners

                                                           

                                                     "Chair"-- David Hockney

                                                 "Untitled" David Hockney

                  "Walking in the Zen Garden at Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto, 1983---David Hockney

                                           "The Desk", 1984, David Hockney

Triptychs

 A triptych is defined as a set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together. 

Above are examples of two different triptychs by the artist Claude Tomas. At first glance, it seems like they are just one image, but if you look more closely there are three separate images in each piece of similar subjects. I love the rich colors in both of these pieces and the interesting textures.

The triptych above is an example of one that is one scene split into three separate images. I love the fact that each image would be beautiful on its own as well as with the other two. The lighting and contrast between black and white make this piece interesting and unique. 

I love that the focus is the same railing in all three images in the piece above, yet it is in a different place in each piece. I also love that in the middle image, the man is facing the camera rather than having his back turned.

Diptychs

A diptych is defined as any object with two panels connected by a hinge. In photography, a diptych is two images side by side, that can either be related, or literally connect into one image.

I love the diptych above because of the fact that the images contrast yet tie together well. I also love the unique lighting in the image on the right.

Diptychs can be completely different images, or they can connect to make one image. In the example above "Summer vs Winter" by Stefan Jansson, I really like how he connected the two images to make one, yet made them different enough that they contrasted and made the piece interesting. I like the idea of exploring the change in a single subject over a period of time.

The image above is "...and they both went their separate ways"by Salbjorg Rita Jonsdottir. I love the idea of overlapping the two images in the middle, and I think it really works well for this piece. I like the softness of it, and the contrast between the black and white. Overall, I love how this piece contrasted two things, the human and the bird, yet also brought them together with the similar  soft color and texture in the background. This is a pattern I am beginning to see with a lot of diptychs.

The piece above is "Untitled" by Antoine Rouleau. I find this piece very interesting because it seems to be two images of the same building through different things. The bottom image is just the building through the naked eye, but the top image seems to be the same building through a window with rain on it. I think that playing with the perspective through which you see something is very interesting, and deals with similarities and differences just as the diptych of the tree in summer and winter does.

Emulsion Transfers

These are all examples of emulsion transfers that inspired me. The one of the beach with the bridge in the background is by Jen Barrows.

Independent Research

Interesting Self Portrait Ideas by Matt Wisnieweski

Self Portraits

The first photo is of me riding my first bicycle when I was about five years old. I wouldn't say that my personality has changed dramatically since I was a little kid. I've always been shy at first but not shy at all around my friends, and adventurous. I still love riding my bike around Portland, and I would definitely say that I'm a little but less of a girly-girl now. Below is a recent photo of me rock climbing. This is definitely a big part of who I am, as I spend a lot of time doing it and am pretty committed. I would say that rock climbing is the adventurous part of my personality showing through.