Welcome to the Real World

Meet Brooklyn, Chelsea, Darien, and Eavie.

2011-04-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

The End of March Madness

2011-04-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Lite Brite

2010-10-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

The "Real" World

2010-10-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Lacoste #320 Mural

2010-08-13T10:19:00.001-07:00

WIP: Painting II

2010-07-20T11:32:00.001-07:00

WIP: Painting

2010-07-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

Summer

2010-07-16T15:11:00.001-07:00

Elyse

2010-03-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

WIP X

2010-02-14T09:49:00.001-08:00

Kelly, Catherine

2010-02-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

Poster/Postcard idea(s)...

2010-02-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

Sydney at Pennsylvania in Orlando in Florida

2010-02-02T15:37:00.001-08:00

Style is an option

2010-01-31T16:18:00.001-08:00

Saturday Mornings

2010-01-23T22:56:00.001-08:00

Two Thousand Ten

2010-01-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Katie

2009-12-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

Revised WIP Artist Statement "Fashionable Palettes"

2009-11-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

The commercial and formal artistic duality of fashion photographs steadfastly held my attention this past semester. Fashion images are most easily identified in the context of glossy sartorialist publications yet many have the formal artistic qualities worthy of gallery showcases. It is my belief, and others, that the paramount difference between high art and fashion photography lies more upon the context and overall process rather than the artist’s intention and final presentation of the work.

For this body of work, I choose to place models in less than conventional settings as I feel this allows the clothing to become the focus of the images. By giving the models an opportunity to style themselves an underlying relationship between the model and garment is manifested therefore adding another layer to the narrative. The concept of narrative is furthered by using a variety of field depths and off-kilter points of view to display subtle details illustrated formally. In order to intensify the narrative qualities of my work a strong emphasis is placed on natural lighting and the creation of a tableau. Influenced heavily by those photographers of the past two decades, it was my intent to create broken narratives enticing the consumer by fashioning open ended scenarios presenting the viewer with all the necessary tools for an imaginative ending.

Rough Artist Statement "Voga"

2009-11-22T16:43:00.000-08:00

One of the main drivers propelling me through the past few months was the argument over fashion photography's artistic merit. I am very interested in the commercial and formal artistic duality of fashion photographs as adapted during the past two decades. According to artist Camille Vivier "the difference between the two [art and fashion work] depends more on the context and the process of realization than the intention." The artists of this era were able to cinematically create broken narratives enticing the consumer by creating an open ended scenario presenting the viewer with all the necessary tools for an imaginative ending. For this body of work, I choose to place my self-styled models in unconventional settings as I felt this allowed the clothing to becomes the focus of the images. Each of the models wore their own clothing as I felt this added another layer to the narrative, particularly with some of the more unique pieces. Inspired by the works of Juergen Teller, Irving Penn, Annie Leibowitz, and Scott Schuman, I have an affinity for dramatic lighting, detailed perspectives and tableau compositions. fashion

Joshua

2009-11-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

Improved Ridiculousness

2009-11-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

WIP

2009-11-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

WIP

2009-11-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Keely

2009-10-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

Alex[andra] Revisited

2009-10-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

EOS

2009-10-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

New

2009-10-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

In light of recent critiques, I have decided to retract my previous artist statement. As is the case with most bodies of work, a few revisions must be drafted before the work and the statement can cohesively work together. While I will not be immediately replacing my "flawed" statement with a more accurate description of the series, I will be moving in a more definite direction.

My previous statement declared this body work of work as a representation of people and their identities as conveyed by their dress. While this somewhat coincided with the idea in my head (combining real people with personal style aesthetics), I found myself trying to emulate yet disassociate the Sartorialist's style of "photojournali-ng" his fashionable subjects. While it is true Sart has been known to shoot runway and editorials, he is most famous for his photojournalistic approach in displaying his images, almost a daily fashion commentary to be likened to a daily periodical such as WWD (Woman's Wear Daily).

Therefore, I have decided to change a few things... 1) I will continue to utilize some of the urban, eclectic settings as the backgrounds for my shots 2) I'd like to focus more on the editorial/fashion campaign styles of professional fashion photography 3) Rather than happening upon a shot or subject, I'd like to take a more methodical and meticulous approach to directing my shoots.

Catherine

2009-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Alexandra

2009-09-20T11:10:00.001-07:00

People as Palettes

2009-09-12T06:21:00.001-07:00

People as Palettes

2009-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Leu Gardens

2009-07-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

2009-07-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Final Portfolio w/Artist Statement

2009-04-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Artist Statement

In today’s urban world, many are taking to their own devices in attempt to express their artistic unrest. Webster’s Dictionary defines graffiti as “unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface”. To the general public, graffiti is most commonly considered to be vandalism, or defacement of public property without consent. Yet to many, including myself, graffiti can take on an entirely different aesthetic.

Graffiti, in its very essence, is meant to captivate the public’s attention. Artists most often use “tags”, modern day pseudonyms, to proclaim their marking of a public surface. It is not these minor and overabundant scribblings that caught my attention, but those unique, vibrant and original works accompanied by an artist’s signature. The works presented in this series were selected not only for the purpose of representing the vast spectrum of graffiti, but in an attempt to declare the artistic value of these urban works.

As said before, graffiti is seldom heralded for its purposes other than to simply deface and claim a piece of property. In this modern day and age, art is no longer confined to a canvas or paper. It is my intent with this series to capture the artistic value of these works in a way in which the general public might actually appreciate them. By presenting these images in a composed manner, focusing both on the actual macro setting and the intimate space inhabited by the graffiti, it is my intention to define the artistic merit of the graffiti sect of contemporary art in our modern everyday world.

Artist Presentation #2: Juergen Teller

2009-04-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

I choose Juergen Teller as the subject for my second artist presentation for a few reasons. Firstly, I am quite the fan of his collection of avant-garde portraits most often seen in the context of high fashion magazines and editorials. Combining a dead-pan approach with monochromatics and harsh color balance, Teller has easily become one of the industry's most tell-tale artists. His work for designers such as Marc Jacobs, his most famous ad campaign, has solidly set him apart from the rest of the photography world simply because his work is recognized almost anonymously with the brands he represents.

Secondly, the manner in which Teller presents his portrait to really allow for the subject, either human or inanimate, to casually emote an aesthetic. This really speaks volumes in regards to Teller's personal style of photography. Characteristically shot in burnt, monochromatic palattes, and heavy in their compositional strength, Teller's images really seem to captivate his subjects in po "snapshot" essence. The events taking place prior or immediately after the image has been captured read so clearly in each one of Teller's series, particularly those high fashion editorial pieces.

WIP #4

2009-04-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Summary: "The Photograph As Contemporary Art"

2009-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

"The Photograph As Contemporary Art", written by Charlotte Cotton, examines the photographic content of today's world in terms of the twenty first century label, "contemporary art". Within the text, there are eight chapters, each written on a different key topic or aspect of the contemporary photographic movement in recent years. Everything from performance art and everyday occurrences to the intricacies of human interaction is covered within the text.

During the course of this semester, I have narrowed my preferential focus to images depicting objects from everyday life in new contexts or from a new perspective. While there were some images within each chapter which spoke to me, it was the subject matter of chapter three, "Deadpan" and chapter four entitled "Something and Nothing" that really caught my attention.

Chapter three surrounds the sect of photography known as deadpan. Characterized by images "cool, detached and keenly sharp", the artists practicing this form often use emotive subjects that are often classified as "unglamorous", "austre" or "neutral". The personal politics of the photographer come into play when selecting the subject and anticipating the viewer's response. I was particularly interested in the works of John Riddy, best known for his minimalist perspective on urban architecture. Images I've worked with in focusing my final portfolio of this project have often reflected upon similar characteristics. See below.

After reading through the text, it became obvious to me chapter four, entitled "Something and Nothing", would be not only the chapter I would decide to present but also the chapter relating most to my personal work. The image, "Kings Cross, London, 1999" by Richard Wentworth*, spoke most to me out of all Cotton's examples. Works such as this, images of urban life with a touch of random off-kilter subject matter, are exactly the types of images I've often found myself shooting, as well as drawn to. For example, the image in color below was shot by Wentworth and the following image is one from my own personal collection taken around four years ago.

*This image was not found online but can be referenced on page 119 of "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" by Charlotte Cotton

WIP #3

2009-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Most of these are from my recent holiday in London.

Artist Presentation: Mona Hatoum

2009-03-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

** In-progress (3:36pm)

Graffiti WIP #2In

2009-03-01T08:26:00.001-08:00

In response to the first collective critique, I have decided to retract my previous artist's statement. The initial statement implied my intent to capture a series of simple urban landscapes, emphasizing human impact on their environment, artificial or organic. Three of the five images presented examples of vandalism, particularly in the form of graffiti . However, these images were not simple gang "tags" or insignias; this is where the disparity arises between norm graffiti and "city-art".

Probably the most infamous form of vandalism, graffiti has been widely misinterpreted as a negative side-effect of hip-hop and gang cultures. However, this series, "Graffiti" **, goes beyond a massive cultural stereotype by not only creating a vehicle of connection between the work and the audience but by harking the excellence of such colorful public expressions. **In-progress...

Cityscape...

2009-02-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Past...

2009-02-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

Work-In-Progress...

2009-02-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

Lighting...

2009-02-15T17:47:00.000-08:00