Assignment 5: Diptych

Assignment 4 - Miniature Objects

Assignment 3 - A Family of Portraits

Assignment 2 - Self Evaluative Tendencies

In an attempt to capture my personality, I felt that using a slow shutter speed along with quick movements would help capture a ghostly feel that would illustrate my thoughts as always present but never around. Although I did not intend for the photos to be out of focus, the blurry effect helps portray the mood of the disassociation with my environment.

Assignment 1 - Detour

Research 1

Dorthea Lange

Aaron Siskind 

Finding interesting shapes in natural environments isn't the most difficult task, but once an artist masters this specific skill the results are always astonishing. After looking at the works of those such as Dorthea Lange and Aaron Siskind, I found myself interested in the more abstract pieces, but still appreciating subjects that present a more figurative form. 

For example, Siskind has an image titled "The Tree 35" dated in 1973 and this photograph presents an interesting composition, to say the least. What intrigued me most was the way the branches float across the frame and one of them actually dips down to the ground. It is as if the tree had dropped something on the ground and is attempting to reach over and grab whatever it lost. Not only is this particular tree strange and eerie, it also gives a very mystical vibe that seems unreal... as if it was painted by a painter experimenting with the pressure of a brush on a canvas, pushing and pulling against gravity. I find this particularly interesting and feel it is the reason Siskind decided to capture this image because of his work formally known as Abstract-Expressionism.

Now, although I find the shapes of nature capable of showing an expression that is hard to replicate, there is a certain sentimentality faces are able to produce that is capable of connecting one to the subjects psyche. Dorothea Lange executes a portrait that captures a catalyst of emotions, and this is mainly due to her ability to beautifully craft a portrait that aims to tell a very melancholy mood. The Migrant Mother, a portrait of a woman who is gripped tightly by two young children captured in 1936. The image depicts a women with an aura of hunger, scarcity, uncertainty and also a faint simmer of hope. This photo can be analyzed as a time piece of sorts, then again what photo isn't? Along with the expression on this woman's face, her body language almost invites the viewer to sympathize for this woman's struggle and how she may be having to bargain with a very difficult financial position, as these people are in very poor condition, and are in the middle of the infamous Great 
Depression of the 1930's.

The Migrant Mother

Dorthea Lange

1936

The Tree 35
Aaron Siskind
1973