Annie


 * AP PHOTOGRAPHY **

Ambition
At this point, I am combining the focus points that I've had in my previous images. I'm trying to capture somewhere in nature that shows how nature, over time, takes back what humans have left--they phisically grow over whats left behind. I am also trying to find more places that I can photograph at this point. I think I have too many shots at railroad sites, so Im looking to broaden my horizons. In the following weeks, I want to capture people in my images..but that is still in the process of happening.
 * What are you attempting that is more ambitious than anything else you have completed thus far?**
 * Is it more intricate, larger scale, more images, deeper idea, etc.**

Since the beginning weeks of my concentration, I have found a more specific concentration than what I started with. Because of that, it has become easier to find places in nature that fit my focus. Not that its easy, but easier. I have learned that I always have to be looking around for places to photograph, the perfect shot is not going to just pop out at me. April 15
 * How have you pushed your project beyond its current state?**

** Evolution **
**How has your project evolved from its beginning stages?** My project has changed completely from my original idea. I couldnt have planned this, it was just something i had to figure out over time after taking a few rolls of pictures & exploring my ideas. Specifically, my project has started moving from nature showing attachment, to the idea that nature takes over everything at some point--everything starts from nature & eventually, everything will be taken back into nature.

**What did you change deliberately?** I deliberately changed my mind about being so set on my first idea for my concentration. I realized that i had to make my concentration more specific, because otherwise i would be stuck trying to think about what i should be taking pictures of. I have also had to change how i go about planning my pictures. Ive come to realize that the subjects that i will photograph wont just come to me, but i have to go out into the world & look around, & figure out what i can capture in order to best represent my concentration.

**What has changed naturally as you got a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish?** My attitude towards this project has changed because it is much easier to think of subject matter to photograph when my concentration is narrowed down, rather than when i had the idea of photographing nature connecting with nature & man. Now that i have a better understanding of what i want to concentrate on, i can more clearly focus my ideas so that i can actually go out & find the pictures that i spend so long contemplating. March 1

Generation
Generating something is different from creating it out of thin air. It implies that something needs to be built up over time in order to reach a certain level.

I have been thinking alot about this project. Definitely more than I've thought about any of my classes. I started out wanting to do a concentration on the relationship between people & animals. I quickly realized that there are only so many different ways to photograph that, so i moved on. I then started watching out for examples in nature that showed connections in nature..things that naturally came together. The thing that gave me this idea was a curvy road sign on west paces ferry road, that had vines wrapping around the bottom of the pole, then up & around the sign. I wanted to find things in nature that showed this without having to manipulate it digitally. At this point in my project, i have come to find that while these things are pretty easy to think of, they are hard to find outside. I am determined not to manipulate my images & find them in nature, so wish me luck!
 * How have you gone about generating this project?**

Finding the pictures i want in nature has been more challenging than i expected. I know that there are plenty of examples out there, but thinking of them, finding them, then photographing them has been more challenging than i thought.
 * What has proved challenging about your materials/ idea/ sources that you had not anticipated?**

I have learned about all of the effects that I can digitally add into a photograph to enhance it. Although im not a fan of manipulating images, I enjoy having the ability to modify the colors, & more spicifically, the shadows & highlights. February 11
 * What have you learned that you will take with you into the second Quarter?**

Project 7: Surrealism [[image:chickenII.jpg width="343" height="227"]]
Surrealist works feature the element of surprise & unexpected juxtapositions (definition) In my own words, surrealism is capturing an idea that is impossible to achieve naturally in the real world, but can be artificially created. The surreal images that i found went along perfectly with my definition. The artists take the impossible idea & add an element that is possible in the real world to create a surreal picture. They are all similar in that they use the objects in the picture to symbolize the idea they are trying to get across & in all of the examples, there are objects that are both impossible & possible. They are all different in that they are using different subjects, & the setting of their photographs are very different. November 5

Project 6: Using & manipulating images from mass culture
**What are you saying about the images you are using?** for the animal rights image, im looking at animal cruelty from the animals view, & how it makes them feel, & also the relationship it has to people. the poem is from an animals point of view, saying "what did i do? i just tried to love you. im starving, please feed me, but instead you just beat me. stop! im begging you..." the picture that shows what my view is (as the artist) is the horse with the water dripping down from its eye, like a tear. through this piece, im reiterating the quote "you dont //really// know until you walk a mile in his shoes", looking at animal cruelty from an animals point of view. for the map image, i distorted different sections of a big map, then connected the major roads & rivers. i distorted the images to make the image as a whole have more depth & "elevation". the legs walking at the top is encouraging people to come to atlanta & see everything there is to see. in this piece, i am advertising atlanta as a city, & hoping that people would buy my elevated map of atlanta!

**Are you glorifying them?** **Are you critical of them?** i am against animal cruelty, & i have shown this through the dark, negative colors & the pictures that i used. i am glorifying the map of atlanta, by making just a normal map look more interesting & adding the legs to encourage people to visit & walk around the atl!

**Is art more valuable than mass culture?** i think that both art & mass culture are important because it gives every one a chance to show their views of social concerns. i think its important for everyones opinion to be heard & considered, even when it gets ugly. unfortunately, i think that art has become less popular than mass culture, therefore less noticed/important to society in the recent decades.

**How does this position fit in with Rauschenberg, Warhol, and Koons? Explain your understanding of their positions.** like Rauschenberg, i am illustrating important concerns in society & taking a side (either for or against) the situation. the map image is most similar to Warhol's work, because i took one image & distorted it in multiple ways, but not in a way that takes away from the meaning of the image. like koon, i took multiple images to illustrate one idea (the animal cruelty image). December 6

Project 5: Symbolism
I have always wanted to use hands for a photography project, & i decided that this project was perfect. I knew that i could show symbolism through hands in many different forms of relationships--marriage, race, religion, family, school spirit (GO CATS!!) & i wanted to explore the different ways i could photograph hands. Through this project i learned that the way the hands are shaped & the way they hold the other hand, changes the mood of the entire picture.
 * How did you come up with the idea of photographing these specific objects?**

I would rather name each individual piece because they all represent a different kind of relationship, but as a whole, i would name it....
 * What is the title you would give this series?**

Each photograph shows a different type of relationship represented by the relationship between the hands.
 * What greater meaning do you think they contain?**

All together, my group of images shows different relationships shown by hands. One picture seen by itself would still show relationships but it wouldn't be quite as clear. Because I included so many different types of relationships, if one was seen by itself, it would only represent that one relationship instead of showing all of them. November 1
 * How does the group of images seen together send a message that is different from one seen by itself?**

Project 4: Creating a Narrative
Original:

Edited:

This project was challenging because coming up with narratives that fit the project was tricky. Each photograph had to tell a story but the objects couldn't be telling. For my photographs, i placed my objects in a way that made them look like they were left there--like they were the remains of whatever was happening. I did 5 separate narratives instead of only 2, but with variations, so they dont share a theme of a story. November 1

Project 3: Digital manipulation and multiplication of an image


I used multiplication of my shapes to create a more interesting photo. For the horse picture, I used only black & white, & changed the opacity & contrast of each image in order to lead the viewers eye around the piece. The different values of each horse adds a dramatic effect, that would not be as apparent if I had used colors. For the duck picture, I used all vibrant colors & changed the opacity of each duck to make the picture more interesting. The positioning of the ducks fills the negative space, & what was left, was hidden by the rainbow background. The shape of the ducks was not changed in anyway, only the size was changed. For the flower image, the sizes varied, & each flower was rotated differently. The shape of individual petals were combined to create a more abstract shape.
 * What enabled you to create something interesting out of one simple shape?**

Shapes are repeated to make the specific subject more interesting, & to help it be viewed in a new & different way. The shapes are taking on the new forms that I have given them because they are not alive & don't have the ability to disagree with whatever it is that I choose to do with them.
 * Why might these shapes be repeated, and why are they taking on the new forms that you have given them?**

The horse picture expresses the idea of motion, over a period of time. The duck picture expresses the idea of value of shape, negative space & the value of colors. Lastly, the flower picture expresses the idea of multiplication of specific shapes in order to create a more interesting shape.
 * What ideas could these works express about the subjects used?**

I would continue to use multiplication of an image to create a specific emphasis, such as motion over time. I would also use the opacity tool to layer & add depth to the picture. Cutting out specific segments of the image & creating a new shape can create a more interesting image & add a specific emphasis on that one segment, which can help get the idea of the photograph across to the viewer, but I prefer to leave objects as a whole & not cut out individual shapes. October 7
 * If this were the beginning of a concentration, how would you proceed?**

=== Project 2: Studying Cinematography ===

Inspiration:

The lighting conveys the mood that the characters are feeling. When the overall lighting is light, with warm colors (the top 2), the characters are having a good time, & living lightheartedly. The pastel-y colors are childish, which tells the viewer that the characters are happy. In the 3rd picture, the black figures on top of the chimnies would be assumed to be upset because of the dark colors, but their dancing tells the viewer that theyre happy. The orange light coming from below the chimney gives the still some life & feeling. Specifically, the orange is like fire & happiness, & conveys a happy mood despite the darkness. The 4th picture is interesting because of the shadow that is casted on the house. There are no super lights & darks in this picture, but the shadow gives it a magical feel (like mary poppins!) The 5th picture is using darker colors, with the darkest object in the middle & in front of the rest of the picture. Because she is the darkest, it draws the viewers eye directly to her.
 * How would you describe the lighting? What colors are used? What moods does this convey?**

The camera angles for stills 1, 4 & 5 are from behind or the side of the character, which gives the viewer a chance to see both their body language, & their surroundings. With these angles, the focus point is still on the characters, but the viewer can also see their surroundings & where they will probably later go (foreshadowing), but is not focused on their facial expressions. The 2nd & 3rd pictures are taken head-on, which makes the characters the focal point, & the background has less importance. Angles like this are used more when the artist wants the emphasis to be on the characters rather than their surroundings.
 * How would you describe the camera angle? How does this affect our reading of the image or scene?**

The expressions on the peoples' faces tells us that something is happening & their body language tell us that they are excited about something & ready to move on. I can recreate this image by setting up a focus point (people, animals, an object) with an interesting background that suggests that the focus point will eventually go to where ever the background leads. A still image from a film is different from still photography because in a movie, the character usually is in the middle of doing or saying something, which is conveyed through their facial expressions & body language.
 * Even looking at a still, what gives us the impression that something is happening? How would a still image from a film be different from still photography? How can you recreate this affect?**

I am going to try to convey the mood of my character through the lighting & the landscape. The emphasis will be on how the picture is shot, where the camera is in relationship to where the character is in the picture. I am also going to create shadows in order to show a magical/creative form of my character. I will take some pictures where my character is the darkest point in the picture to add emphasis on him/her. I am going to not only take pictures from strait-on, but also from behind (to put an emphasis on their surroundings & the future) & from the side, so show that the character is moving, & to give the viewer a glance of the characters facial expression, body language & surroundings. I will take pictures where the viewer cant see the characters face or facial expressions at all, so that the emphasis is on their body language & the colors that surround them. September 17
 * What are you now going to try to attempt on your project?**

I didnt expect that I would have to consider all of the elements that were used in my 5 screen shots, into 1 picture. Combining all of these elements was hard at first to find & to think about each of the elements for each shot, but after a while, it became easier.
 * What did you have to consider that you did not expect?**

I didnt realize how much thinking goes into to each shot that a cinematographer films. The little details that make up each shot have been considered & thought through, which i had no idea was so intense before this project.
 * How has your understanding of a cinematographer's role changed?**

I really like the pictures with the character being just a silhouette, it adds alot of drama to the picture. I also really like the colors that were used & the combination of these colors. Lastly, i like how the artist had objects close to the camera & far away. The objects in the foreground add a nice frame to the main characters in the picture.
 * What did you end up taking most from this other artist's work?**

I would continue to use interesting framing to lead the viewers eye to the character in the picture & i would continue to use silhouettes to add drama to my work. October 6
 * If this were the beginning of a concentration, how would you proceed?**