Monday, June 13, 2016

Beyond the Selfie

Artist Statement
When I had to choose what electives I wanted to participate in, I considered a few things. First, I decided on whether or not it would help me reach my graduation requirement and second, whether I thought I would enjoy it or not. I selected this class because I figured, if I'm going to take so many pictures in my lifetime, I might as well learn how to do it right. Now, as I look back, I know I made the right choice. Photography has become something that I want to do regularly because of how exhilarating and relaxing it can be at the same time. From my photos, I can get a better idea of how I look at myself and the world which is something I'm glad to have help with. As a bare picture, I have learned that abstract pictures are really common and can be made beautiful. In Photoshop, I learned many things I did not expect. My personal favorite tools were the clone stamp, lasso, and curve feature. However, I only used one of these tools in my favorite project, which was either the macro or golden hour project. In both of these, I think I could have improved by having more variety in the picture itself and the tools I use. Digital Photo was defiantly a class I won't forget.

In my Beyond the Selfie project I tried to have fun with it. By having fun, I mean trying to let out my creative side and go with the flow. I found out that a lot of my pictures could be portrayed in many ways even though I did not expect that. For example, in picture #5, I was going to mainly try to portray confidence, but as I looked as it I saw that it could be portrayed as difference and being different. In general, I tried to pull out different parts of me to make sure there was a variety in my pictures. Specifically, in pictures 1, 2, and 10, I tried to explore my stress and discourage. I tried to use a lot of color to represent these feelings. In a few of my other pictures, I had some neutral picture emotion wise, where I mostly wanted to present ideas that are common in our generation and world. In picture #3, not only am I portraying overuse of technology, but also my passion for books and my phone. I do not have one favorite picture because I am proud of all of them, but one that is high up there is #6 because of how much interpreting the viewer needs to do. I like that I engage the viewer a little more. Overall, I hope someone looks at my pictures and one, learns more about me and second, relates to what they believe the pictures mean.

For anyone taking this class, I would recommend that they just try to accept what is being taught, and to open up and learn about yourself because it is a great opportunity to do so.  

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