Photography

For my basic digital photography class we were assigned to come up with 3-5 narrative panoramas. I really enjoyed taking these, and found some interesting locations for them. Below them is my artist statement for them.  While taking this photographs, I was considering what it might be like to teach a photography class. While it is an interesting class, it also has a lot of technical information which must be taught in order for the students to understand their cameras and photographs. For example, some things that would be important for any student with an interest in photography would be: Angles, Resolution, File Formats (Jpegs, tiffs, RAW), contrast, lighting, etc. It would also be very beneficial for any photographer to understand photoshop, in case they wish to alter their photographs. These particular panoramas were put together using photoshop and then edited in multiple ways.

Often times people walk around through various locations without really paying attention to the finer details surrounding them. For this project, I really wanted to emphasize this  concept.

Loomis Cemetery

            Growing up in a small town, it was easy to spot interesting locations that have been totally forgotten by the general public. For instance, after a small hike through the woods across from a church you can find an old cemetery dated back from 1861. I have always wondered how many people, dead and alive, have come through this way to this cemetery. The tombstones are all in shambles, knocked over by weather and/or rebellious bored teenagers.  The idea of someone visiting the cemetery as a story really intrigued me. However, rather than just have the tale of someone visiting a loved one or just visiting in general, I thought it would be interesting to play with the concept of the afterlife. By making the girl somewhat see through, I want the viewers to question: Is she alive? Is she just a memory? Is she a ghost?

Huguenot Street Cemetery

            Upon exploring the historic street I came across this old cemetery. I thought it would be interesting to play with the angles, to get a sense that the viewer is the person in this cemetery. It brings a whole new type of narrative to this photograph. If it was you, what were you doing there? Why were you going? And if you are not the person in the photograph, who is she? What is she doing?

Unknown Cemetery

            I came across this location while driving, and decided to explore it. I was walking around the small cemetery when I stumbled upon these gloves left behind. Questions instantly came to mind for me. Whose gloves are these? What were they doing? Is it a groundskeeper? Was it someone visiting a loved one? Was it left over from some Halloween pranks?  It leaves a lot un-answered and up to the viewers to come up with their own narrative.

Ghostly Encounters

            As I was growing up I was always interested in ghost stories and visiting haunted locations. As I got older, I began to do more and more research on my home town since many people, including myself, have claimed to see unearthly things around, especially on my street.  It did come to a surprise that directly behind my house (and other houses on my street) was an old tuberculosis clinic.  After reading this, my sister and I would explore the woods behind our house finding old parts of foundations. Remembering all of this, I thought it would be an interesting narrative to have a ghostly person entering my childhood home since this fascination with ghosts was a major part of my youth.  I wanted the viewers to question whether the person was a wanted or unwanted visitor, and also if the person was in fact a ghost or once again just a memory.