Final Project Pieces – Texture & Decay

Unedited Final Project Pieces

Round One – Final Project “Decay”

Extra Credit Post – Gallery 2 Review

I think that the idea behind the creation of the artwork currently in Gallery 2 is brilliant – having the viewers create the show…I also think it is commendable that the art was created in a mere 24 hours (although it makes me less likely to criticize the works harshly.) However, I generally enjoy a more minimalistic type of art, simplicity, elegance etc. and this collection was far from simple, when I first walked into the gallery I was confused mostly, and overwhelmed, so many contrasting colors, textures, media, sizes…there was almost no cohesiveness. For this reason I didn’t really enjoy being in the exhibit, although I did appreciate the artists’ senses of humor. I did however enjoy a few of the pieces of art within the exhibit, specifically the green fuzzy giraffe and the styrofoam ramen.

Not my final project, but…I had fun in the studio!

Final Project Proposal…DECAY.

For my final photography project, I want to create an eerie, but beautiful collection of photographs depicting decay. I want people to recognize the beauty in transience of time and its affect on our surroundings…something people usually consider unattractive and inconvenient.

I will take close-up photographs using zoom, making the usually small and unnoticed subjects appear very large when photographed and printed (giving them more power.)

I do not want to stage any of my final photographs…I want them to be asymmetrical and natural looking, I will however, slightly edit the photos in Photoshop so they have a similar “feel.” Currently I plan on making them look grungy/dirty or smoky. But, I want to make sure the edits are subtle, so they don’t distract from the subject matter.

As of now, I want to avoid any living/breathing subjects – no humans or pets. This is because I want to focus on DECAY rather than aging or death.

I’m leaning toward the use of square frames/pictures. This is because I don’t want any of the photos to be distracting because of their shape, I want the focus to be entirely on the objects in the photographs and I want each photo to have the same importance or weight as each other in my final collection.

I’m not sure how I want the photographs to be lighted…however, since I don’t want them to be staged, I think I will just end up working with whatever light the environment provides me. As of now, I have not yet decided if I want the collection to be high contrast or low contrast. I do however know that I want the colors to be muted, but still apparent.

I’m still thinking about how I want the final collection to be presented. I want to make sure each photograph has enough room to breathe though (not too close to other photographs) because they will be very detailed, and if they are clustered they will probably look busy and unorganized.

Photoediting 101

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Just one of my earlier photographs, but edited in different ways….What do you think? Which is your favorite or least favorite and why etc.

Orange Abstracted

Orange

Urban Youth 2 (Portraits)

Taken by an abandoned building.

This is probably my favorite of the bunch – composition wise. My model, Ashley is one of my friends who is not too shy to stand in front of a camera and not smile.

The lovely Ashley strikes again, this time with a beautiful profile.

Take by an abandoned building…I like this version of the picture because Ashley’s face is tilted slightly up.

“Urban Youth” is the name of this collection of portraits. I think this photograph best exemplifies my purpose…showing beauty unconventionally with the juxtaposition of nature and the city as a backdrop.

Ashley is not amused…I liked this photo because of Ashley’s plain expression.

I enjoyed this picture because it gives me a kind of dramatic horror movie vibe…