Salvi

One of the ways in which I learned how to use my camera was through the use of following my two and a half year old cat, Salvi (named after Salvador Dali), around and taking her picture of her cool and collected poses. She has always like the camera, even when she was just a kitten. Like all cats, she has an elegance about her that transcends through the lens of the camera and onto the photograph. She is a curious one, but her independence helps her to forget there is a camera 8 inches away from her face, and I end up with shots that can't be coaxed. For others, her eye contact is crucial as her eyes are special, as they are orange like her fur, and I believe that is what draws me to her with my camera; therefore, I have to make a strange sound to get her attention.

First Take Away Card

For photographers any artist, leave behind or take aways are a must. They are the next generation of business cards for artists, good for leaving at galleries, for potential clients, and or just anybody you think might be interested enough in your work, and might tell others about it. This one is my first one, and as I grow with my artwork, I plan for them to grow with confidence and become much more than just a little post card. Nonetheless, this is my first. Any suggestions? 

Experimenting with Artistic Photographic Styles

When working with photos I tend to lean on the more expressive and artsy side of things, because of the immense amount of potential a photograph can have. The simple idea of a photograph can deliberately be turned into a story telling mechanism. There are countless ways to render a photograph, but the kind I like to focus on are tricking the eye with the camera, photo manipulation techniques, and artistic rendering of the photograph.

One of the first techniques I like to use are tricking the eye into an illusion. Illustrated here is a photograph of a shadow of a couple of leaves, however the eye is tricked into seeing something quit different. What does this photograph instead look like to you?

The second technique I have fun with, is the photo manipulation technique. This technique gives me the freedom to do just about anything I want with two or more images. I can stack them, add more characters, and take ordinary photographs to a different dimension.

These first two images are my very first taste at cutting out images and placing them into the same frame with another image, layering images, and using the opacity tool.

Still using the photo manipulation technique, I layered these images together to create an other worldly place or sense of memory in the image:

 

 

And this last image using the same technique is from a series of images that illustrates a story I wrote about a girl's journey to find her true self, titled, "Tiger Light":

A new interest with working with photographs has come over me; the idea of rendering a photograph to make it look like a painting. Here is the first image I have experimented on, and I feel very pleased with it. What do you think?

The Breath of Photographs

What are photographs? Are they a memory, or a piece of art to hang on a wall? Do they tell a story, or recount an event? Do they show the world for what it is, or is it manipulated in some way? Or do they preserve a piece of history and take stock of an artifact? And can they breathe? 

Pictures can be taken on a daily bases and shown more easily and more regularly than ever before, will this have an affect on their sentimental value? In the past, portraits were a commodity to have taken. Not everyone had a photograph of themselves and their loved ones hanging prominently on the wall or tucked in the front-inside-flap of a watch or locket to be easily viewed. Many people had to depend on their memory to recall that loving face. Therefore, with the evolution of photography, with the cheapness, and accessibility of cameras and ways to share the image, one can almost say that people have overridden the world with images upon images of things that do not seem of the up-most importance or critical to just allow that much public glamor to shed their light upon it. In the age of social media, everyone wants to be a celebrity, or becomes a celebrity just from how much attention they receive, and/or just not even by choice.

A person can begin to wonder how this generation's future children will perceive our generation. What will they take from it that was special and meaningful in terms of photography? This generation, and those before us, can look back to just their parents, or even just 10 years ago, and if they wanted to see a photograph of a family member or close friend, the person will go to a photo album and pull out or point to a photograph of that person. The printed photograph came first, and the digital copy, if there is any, came around later. In the future, and even now, if a child wants to see a picture of there parents while they were dating, the parent would search the computer for the image, pull up the folder, cypher through it, and finally click on the image they want to show. What may be more of a challenge still, is finding one image in the stockpile of hundreds that will really convey what the child has asked to see. Of course, not every person is like this and many do sort and categorize images into a photo album in either digital format, or in a printed version. However, so many do not. 

But, What IS Photography? 

With this stockpile of images so many are producing every single day, have we lost the true meaning of photography?

What are photographs? Are they a memory, or a piece of art to hang on a wall? Do they tell a story, or recount an event? Do they show the world for what it is, or is it manipulated in some way? Or do they preserve a piece of history and take stock of an artifact? And can they breathe? 

More photographers are choosing to create portraiture that have settings in other worlds, with models wearing outfits that reflects the other world that the photographer has created. Many of the works include symbols and meaning, and they are perfectly valuable. However, how can the viewer be so sure that their was something in mind other than just a concept to get by in class, or if the photographer fully meant to convey a story or meaning? How can everyday, run-of-the-mill people even recognize meaning in art anymore if non-artist and wannabe's are flooding the scene with images trying to convey something that the image doesn't really say, and people actually buy into that thinking that this is AMAZING art? For the fine art community, this is becoming a real problem. The reshaping of people's minds is occurring, and it is scary.

A soul is forever trapped in a portrait. 
A soul is also forever trapped inside of the internet.

We share so much of ourselves through social media, just trying to reach to others. We share our soul, through our eyes, with every portrait we have up of ourselves. We share our soul through the things we type with every keystroke, whether we mean what we post or not. There is something in human nature that is fighting for expression, and to share with the world. As children we are taught to share. We are taught to share our emotions, our dreams, our aspirations, our apprehensions, our talents, our fears, our intelligence, and most of all: our thoughts.

So, what is privacy? Is it a control setting on our Facebook page, or is it the blank pages of  a special book we write or draw in with a special tool? Is it confiding close friends and family members? Is it a secret we tell our pet, because we know that they cannot talk, so they cannot go and tell anybody. Is it a simple thought that creeps into our mind at night while we sleep?

Is a photography an image of our soul?

Traditionally, in the Islamic religion, artist were not permitted to depict human figures in artwork, because it was feared that it would promote polytheism, since the religion is monotheism, believe in God, only God, no Son or Holy Ghost. It seems like the general public appreciate celebrities more than they should, and obsess, and even worship them. As much as people are sharing with one another, the bubble is inflating and so are people's egos. Photo apps have given simple people the power to make their photographs look like a professional has taken them, until they are printed out at least. What does this mean for professional portrait photographers? This can mean one of two things: the need for professional portraits done is dwindling, or the need is escalating with much force.

Where are you on the argument? Do you think you know what a photograph is? Do you feel like social media is more harm than good for the course of good photography? Or do you have your own take on self-expression through photography? Remember, all I wrote is just my opinion. You may disagree with me.

Back Story

The day I learned that I needed to take a black and white film photography class,  I was not very excited. I actually dreaded my first day of class. However, once I became acquired with photography and learned more about it, I really began to enjoy it. Instantly, the process became fascinating to me, the history and techniques were awing (the images my professor showed us are breathtaking). During the time I was just getting my feet wet, learning how to use the tools in the darkroom, I was truly struggling. However, I constantly engaged with my professor, and he worked with me one-on-one until I learned how to judge the shades or grey in my photographs myself. quickly, I advanced in the class and became neck and neck with the top student. Although, I never stopped asking questions, having long conversations with my professor and just wanting to learn more. Over the course of my second semester in the darkroom, I was the only student taught fiber printing, although, we did not get to actual process of toning the image for lack of time.

When we had a project, I always chose to base mine off of a time  in my life, or a young girl's life, like my niece, and tell a story through my photographs. The first series is called "Childhood Memories." Below is an image from the series:

 

Then, when I began classes at Texas A&M University - Commerce, I took Introduction to Digital Media, and I continued my work on the female mind, and new worlds. For that series, I based the idea off of a story I wrote in 2010. Creating that world, sets were required to be built, and so I constructed them out of paper, painted Styrofoam, cake, chalk pastel drawings, tin foil, a small jewel. Here is an example image from the series title, "Tiger Light."

 






















I have a passion for writing, and I plan on writing children's books and illustrating them as well. I love childhood and animals, nature and landscapes, people and travel.