Final Reflection

My experience in this class, to say the least, has been a wonderful one. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to combine my love of photography with giving back to the community and helping others. While I had no initial reservations on the photography aspect of the course seeing as I used to avidly study photography in high school and my early years of college, I did have some reservations on the service aspect of the course as I had never worked in a medical clinic before or with persons who have disabilities. However, my reservations were immediately put to ease after our first trip out to UCF. The course opened my eyes to see that there was really nothing to be apprehensive about, these people were people just like you and me and talking to them was relaxed and informal and in fact extremely enjoyable.

My experience with my client was also wonderful. She is such a kind hearted, strong, driven, and talented woman. Always with a smile on her face she perseveres through every task given to her. She showed me how no matter what obstacles life throws at you there is always a means to overcome them.

I remember as a child visiting my grandmother in her nursing home and looking at the patients, many of whom now I have come to realize had aphasia, as people completely unlike myself and the people I knew. However, working with these patients (and also growing up) allowed me to realize just because we experience tragedies in our lives it does not make us any different than everyone else in our hearts and minds and we will always still remain people who share similar emotions, fears, joys, and trials.

This course has been a wonderful way for me to wrap up my experience as a student at Rollins College. I am so happy I can graduate knowing that not only did I go back to my photographic roots but I did something that helped someone else, and that feeling of accomplishment will always be with me.

Independent Project

My independent project is complied of a series of photographs dealing with the different stages of our lives and the way we express these stages outside of the use of language. It shows how a snapshot of one certain act, expression, embrace, or physical suggestion can allude to the emotions we feel in certain stages of our lives. And, how through our actions rather than our language we revisit these different stages of our lives in our journey of growing.

The first image, Boy in the Sand, conveys the struggles we endure as children when trying to grow up. How our young bones can take the falls that teach us, and persevere to try and try again until we learn to do the tasks that we will later deem as easy. In this photo, the boy struggles and falls to the ground to catch a ball almost the size of his body. In photographing this boy he fell down over and over again, never giving up until he successfully caught the ball. Later in life, catching a ball this size will come easy for him, but in this photograph we see the learning process when young isn’t always easy.

The next image out of my project I have posted, The Release, shows the joy we have in the acceptance of all the stages in our life and the action of the subject hitting the piñata shows we are never too old to experience the joys of youth. While the child sees the adult as somewhat as a separate species, the adult views the child as a memory.

The Last image I have posted, the cycle, seeks to provoke the idea of Just as when we were young we were taken care of, we grow up to be the caretakers and in a sense return to the childhood we remember by sharing it with another.

I feel the images are able to allow the viewer to be empathetic with them as they can relate to all these different stages of life and also show how sometimes the use of language is completely unnecessary to convey and express these emotions and experiences associated with these stages. The pictures are our unspoken words on our reflection of our lives.

Final Top 10

Hey Guys- Instead of giving away the theme i wanted to see if you guys had any clue to what it was first. Let me know your thoughts!

Assignment #4- The Narrative

For this assignment we were asked to tell a story through our pictures. I chose to document something that I, and everyone else, does to start their day. We wake up, we take a shower, we have our coffee and breakfast and we leave. Living in an historic apartment I used this opportunity to also portray the timelessness of this routine.

The first picture is the foot of my claw foot bath tub. I loved the texture in the foot on the tub and the way it contrasted with the tiles. I also liked how it wasn't so obvious and the viewer has to think about the shower connotation within it.

The second picture is of my coffee and breakfast. I liked the contrast between the round coffee cup and the scalloped edges of the bowl. I also thought the angle was interesting as we don't usually look at our breakfast from a birds-eye view.

The last picture is of the stairs leading down to exit my apartment. I thought the lines and shadows of the stairs made for a great picture, and playing with the angle and framing i was able to include the stairs above which i thought added to the composure of the picture.

Final Project: Work In Progress

For my final project i plan on focusing on the individual and the emotions we as people can convey without the use of spoken words. I feel this will go along well with the cause we've all been so passionate for all semester. I've attached some images below to show what I've been working on thus far and i wanted to get some feedback from you guys on what you think. Also, if you have the time, i have a few questions for you all:

First of all, do you think my topic is too broad and i need to narrow it down to one specific emotion or act in people? If so, which emotion would you suggest to focus on?

Secondly, do you think i should compile multiple photos together to tell a specific story about something or someone? I was thinking of doing this but with the final assignment being the narrative i feel it may be too repetitive....let me know what you think

Lastly, let me know what you think of these images. It would really help me with my project to get some feedback from you guys telling me what emotions are evoked in you when you see these images.

Assignment #3- The Home

For this Assignment I explored aspects of my own home and also submersed myself in the home of a culture I experienced for the first time on the island of Anguilla. I found there were many photographic opportunities within my own apartment and the historic aspect of my building allowed for a lot of cool shots. In Anguilla, most of the pictures I took were at a sea side bar called Banke Banks, where the owner, Banke Banks himself, actually lives. I also photographed some of natures creatures in their homes on the island to give a variety of definitions of the term home.

I chose the picture of my backgammon board because I feel it is an important part of my home away from home (my apartment at school) and my home in Connecticut. I grew up playing backgammon with my mom and dad and the game is a big part of my home and one of my favorite games. I don't think i'll ever own a home without a backgammon board in it, and i also thought the angle of the shot was very interesting.

The picture of the door and the white wall with the artwork on it was another one of my favorites because it shows my taste in art and i also thought the lighting in it was great and loved the light-pull dangling in the background against the white shower curtain. I also liked the contrast between the brown of the door and the white of the wall and the framing the art work does to the left side of the image.

I really liked the picture of the claw-foot bathtub. I think the bath/shower is a very important place in the home. It is where we either start our days or decompress after them. It is something we all have in our homes and I chose to photograph mine for this purpose and for the purpose because the claw foot makes it unique and interesting, especially against the tile floor.

March 3rd 2010

Today was our second critique with our UCF clients. Again, I was extremely impressed by their work and their progress thus far. I loved my clients picture of her and her husbands hands interlocked together with their wedding rings in clear site. I loved how she was able to go outside the normal definition of "portrait" as simply a picture of another person and came to a deeper meaning of the word. Her portrait showed love without words, showed people through their emotions opposed to their physical attributes. Her photograph corresponded perfectly with the theme of my blog, "Our Unspoken Words." Through that picture love, emotion, age, loyalty, security, and compassion were all expressed without the actual use of any of these words. The picture evoked these emotions within us and allowed us to gain insight into her relationship with her husband without language.

Another photograph that interested me was one a client did of his wife. The subject was placed in the left side of the frame with some negative space to the right and created a wonderful and fluid c-curve. This photograph was particularly interesting to me because the client said it was by accident that she was placed in the frame this way and attributed it to his lack of function with the left side of his vision. I thought this was wonderful actually because it shows that through art our flaws are able to create beauty. Something he though handicapped him was in fact a tool for creating a wonderful piece of art. I hope it made him as happy as it did me to see this take place and witness finding the good in the things we sometimes perceive as the bad.

All the pictures the clients took this week were beautiful. I loved the picture of one woman's grandchild. It was a beautifully framed shot of a beautiful baby and again was a way for her to express her love for her grandchild without the use of language. I also loved the picture of another man's dog. This photo too also showed the love he has for his pet and is very interesting because it shows a love that also needs no words.