For our final photo project, each student was given 2 different names of 2 different tarrot cards. Our job was to represent these cards through photography. Once everyone made their 2 cards, we exchanged and each left with a full deck of tarrot cards. Here are my 2:

 

 

 

 

The Ace of Coins is a card that represents wealth and a new fortune. The tower is an ill omen.

 Amber-Alice

 Chelsea-Pocahontas

 Sheryl-Jasmine

 Carrie-Cinderella

 Kaela-Belle

 Kari-Mulan

 Jordyn-Meg

 Lexi-Ariel

Holden-Prince Charming

 

When we think of Disney, we think of happy-go-lucky,beautiful characters with happy ever after stories. What I wanted to show in this series was the side that viewers never get to see from these characters, and that is their dark side. Disney movies are not meant to be dark and scary, but the idea that they could be intrigued me to shoot this project.  When I think about the story lines Walt Disney created, there is a way to interpret them in the opposite fashion. There are two sides to every story, and I wanted to explore the question of, "What if Disney is truly interpreted in two different ways?" Personally, I have only interpreted the Disney characters above as I thought they should be... pretty, perfect, and fairy tale like. But, what if these goody good characters became their enemies from the stories? For example, Meg is known as the one who saves Hercules, but in my picture, she has become the one who holds the blue flames of Hercules' enemy, Hades. Likewise, Belle is holding a black rose signifying death, compared to the red rose in the story that keeps the beast alive. Also, most Disney movies are based and named after girls such as "Pocahontas, Alice in Wonderland, Mulan..etc." but there is one man in almost every Disney movie that people remember and that is Prince Charming. In most cases, Prince Charming is deemed as the perfect man with charm and strength, but lacks the identity Disney girls have. Therefore, the epitomy of Prince Charming is shown, but in a rather mysterious and less approachable way than normal. The black back drop on the characters releases the idea that maybe these characters don't have the bright and colorful story we all thougth they had. What if they have been their enemies all along? 

Peter Lik
Autumn Mist
Deer Valley, Utah

Peter Lik is a famous landscape photographer known for his exotic and vibrant use of colors along with panoramic landscape scenes. Born in Australia, Lik took a brave step and moved to the United States in 1984. Here he was introduced to the medium format panoramic camera. Completely self taught, Lik took off from there and began traveling the world to find the perfect landscapes. Some of his work includes pictures from all 50 states, shacks, forests, mountains, and rivers. I picked Peter Lik to write about because I have been to his gallery in Las Vegas, NV and fell in love with his work. Also, I watch his show on the weather channel from time to time. This particular shot is fascinating because of the yellow and orange that jump off the picture. Lik was in Utah searching for the perfect shot. He had an idea in his head of what he wanted but the weather was too pretty. So, he waited for days until a storm came over and finally got this shot in Deer Valley.

This shot is so mysterious due to the fog that hangs above the trees and seeps down in the background. The orange and yellow leaves are vibrant and cold at the same time and give the picture life from the gray/dead looking trunks of the trees. I don't believe this picture would have been as successful as it is if it was not a panoramic view. The panoramic view allows us to be involved in the scene and make us feel like we are there. What makes this picture so unique is that we could all go to this same spot, but probably not even come close to getting the same result. Lik captures such a unique angle and his style of boosting the natural colors is beyond anything I have ever seen before.

GIF Video. Shoes tying themselves forever.

Light painting. Here is my attempt to take one picture of someone who moves from one spot to the other in one exposure time.

Working with foil. I wrapped a camera up in foil and took a picture as if the camera was shooting me.

Morimura Yasumasa

Self-Portrait/After Audrey Hepburn 1

1996

Gelatin Silver Print

 

This photograph is by a Japanese artist named Morimura Yasumasa. Instead of creating his own styles and or subjects, he takes previously done art and puts his face into them. Examples are the Mona Lisa and Olympia. This photograph above is part of a series of photgraphs Yasumasa put together as self-portraits of himself, dressed up as legandary silver screen goddesses. This is obviously a depiction of Audrey Hepburn. Yasumasa explored these women in an unusual way. Everyone knows that these women are loved by others and are famous in their own way. What Yasumasa did was to see if these women could be just as sexy and flirtatious if they were men, and Japanese. By becoming these women, he became them, but also attempted to make them more exotic.

I find this series very interesting. One because of the idea behind it, but two, how much he looks like  these actresses. I had to look twice at some of these because I thought they were the real actors. His ability to dress just like these famous women, and the flirtatious attitude he gives off is spot on. I do believe he makes these women just as flirtatious and sexual as they were before because of his posture and his attention to detail. Audrey Hepburn's hair is spot on along with her makeup. Despite Japanese men usually being pretty skinny, Morimura is very feminine looking and can portray a great seductive look. It is his ability to dress the part, but also be the part in looks, and attitude that Morimura is very successful in his goal to explore famous women and portray them in a new yet similar way as before. 

Dog Documentary Part 2-Jordan Sjostrand 

This is the second part of my "Shoot a Documentary" project. I was asked to shoot the other side of part 1 so I decided to shoot what volunteers do for the dogs in the shelters. Being a volunteer, I know what we are capable of doing and it is the volunteers that walk these dogs everyday, take them to showings, and hold adoption events every Sunday. The first picture is of a dog being walked by a volunteer and just so happy to be outside of his cage. The next four pictures are from an adoption event. All the people in the photographs are volunteers. An adoption day entails driving the dogs to the event, putting "Adopt Me" harnesses on them, walking them around for everyone to see, playing with them, and just allowing them to be relaxed in order for their true colors to be shown so they have a chance at being adopted. These volunteers were at this event for 5 hours. The greatest part about these volunteers is that they are always happy and just so excited when the dogs get looked at and adopted. The dogs are just as happy even if it is to be away from the shelter for at least a day. The city tags picture represents the idea that volunteers are the ones who promote these dogs and in return, they are adopted to good homes and are given tags to ensure their safety. Although it is not a name tag, it does represent the same idea and is every dogs dream to receive one because then they are owned by someone. I printed these in color because that is what volunteers do. They bring color to the lives of these dogs. 

Dog Documentary-Jordan Sjostrand 

This is the first part of my "Shoot a Documentary" project. For this assignment I chose to take pictures of the animal shelters in which I volunteer at. Instead of just taking pictures of dogs and how sad they are, I chose to show the funds or lack of funds the city gets for the shelters and the conditions these dogs have to deal with. The lonely dog picture is meant to represent the longing for attention these dogs need because city workers do not have the time to play with them or interact with them outside of their cages. The second picture is of the building with at least 100 dogs in it. As you can tell, the hallway is empty which is normal for shelters unfortunately. Also, it is clean, but not the most inviting place to be. The third picture represents the crowding animal shelters have now forcing dogs to share a cage together. These dogs not only have to live in small cages, but they have to share them with another dog. The fourth picture is of a collar on a dog and the name tag is missing. This represents the idea that dogs in the shelters have no owners. They are owned by the city, but what does that really mean? They don't have a family to fill out a name tag with. The van is the vehicle in which dogs are brought in to the shelter on a daily basis. It is far from inviting and cramped as well. And finally, the last picture is a picture of the dog's playground. This small area, that looks like a cage itself, is an area prospective adopters can take them but they are rarely taken here. These pictures are in no way meant to criticize city workers or shelters, but is supposed to depict the lack of funds the city gets for the shelters and the lack of comfort dogs receive when they live in the shelter.

Artist : Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin is a very unique photographer who captures very intense moments. I chose to talk about one of her photographs because to be honest, her photographs make me uncomfortable. Nan Goldin is known for focusing on gay and transsexual communities and photographing them as they proceed with their daily lives. However, Goldin also shoots couples in intense, sexual moments, but also one member of a couple who has suffered abuse from the other. This photograph is a young man who has obviously suffered intense physical abuse throughout his rib cage area. Although I could not find the title to this piece or when it was shot, I find it to be a very strong photograph that reaches out to the viewer.

The young man in this photograph seems to be showing his bruises off quite openly to whoever wants to see. However, the jacket he is wearing, and the fact that he has his hood on suggests that before this photo was taken, he was covered up completely, trying to hide his pain. The physical abuse looks recent as his nipple looks to be bleeding. The bruises are red and have not turned a complete purple or green which signify a sign of healing. Instead, red and pink dominate his ribs. His facial expression suggests that he has a secret, but will not tell it openly. As many abuse victims do, he seems to want to hide this and wait it out to see if it gets better. Also, his pose represents a strong person with the way his back is curved and the gaze he is giving. It is possible that this young man is trying to say that he is capable of dealing with this situation. Nan Goldin captures these sad, intense moments that most people who have not been subjected to such abuse would never see. These are the hidden stories and the people who are unfortunately subjected to abuse that happen all the time.

Photo a Day Project for the month of September 

 

From the Book Inferno

Famine in Sudan

James Nachtwey

1993

 

James Nachtwey began his career as a newspaper photographer in New Mexico. He later moved to New York where he became a free lance magazine photographer. Nachtwey is known for his photographs which document wars, conflicts, and critical issues. This image in particular is in the book titled Inferno and is a shot from the famine documented in Sudan during the 90's. This man is obviously beyond the state of being hungry. He is starved and is dying. His arms seem abnormally long due to their thinness. Bones are seen clearly almost as if skin does not exist on this man. It is a very hard image to look at, but I chose it because sometimes documentaries are hard, but they are stories people should be subjected to.

 

This photograph is well shot for the circumstances Nachtwey was in. Being subjected to such an intense scene is a hard thing to get over, let alone take a picture of. Most people do not want to make a memory of something so sad, but Nachtwey is fearless in his work. He is not afraid to capture the devastation at its prime time. This photograph captures the sadness immensely by being in black and white. The gray tones in the photograph capture the "gray" mood of a sad, dirty, disturbing situation. The expression on the man's face is devastating. He looks scared as someone hands him a piece of paper. He seems hesitant to take it, and with good reason because a piece of paper in no way could save this man, at least not immediately. The ground this man is lying on sums up the environment he has been exposed to for a long time now. Empty, colorless, and hopless. This is a devastating picture not only for the content, but for the story behind it as well. 

Through the Looking Glass - Jordan Sjostrand 

Respect to Andy Warhol - Jordan Sjostrand 

 

Amanda and Her Cousin Amy

Mary Ellen Mark

North Carolina 1990

Silver Gelatin Print

 

Mary Ellen Mark is a famous photographer who is known to capture shots of the "unfamous" people in society. Although she does work with celebrities and is on scene for movies such as Alice and Wonderland starring Johnny Depp, she prefers to shoot those in society who are not celebrities. Her goal is to shoot people who are on the fringes of society who struggle with society. For this picture, Mark was asked by LIFE magazine to take some shots at a school for children that have problems. Roughly 20 students attended the school and their problems ranged from mild behavior instability to severe schizophrenia. Her favorite student was the girl smoking in the photograph, Amanda. Amanda was 9 years old at the time and was intelligent, but very naughty. Mark was so infatuated with Amanda that she visited her and her family one day. Amanda's cousin Amy came over to play and every 45 min, Amanda would take a cigarette break. As Mark was leaving, she caught the two young girls swimming and took this shot.

 

This is a very provocative photograph and that is what caught my eye in the first place. Obviously, this girl is very young, but her attitude and adult like posture make her look so mature. Her posture and the way she holds the cigarette is very mature in the fact that she knows how to hold the cigarette and to blow the smoke out of her mouth. It looks like she is wearing makeup, indicating she acts way older than she should for only being 9 years old. Mark said that Amanda was the boss at home and told her mother what to do. This attitude is seen directly from Amanda's gaze. Mark captured the lack of innocence of this young girl when most photographers would capture the innocence of adolescence. It seems that Amy, in the background, is the representation of what children should be. She is swimming, and is not too concerned with her swimming suit. Amanda is more dressed for the part which makes her look like she is trying to look appealing to older people. Overall, this is a photograph that is unusual because it captures an action looked down upon by society. Children should not act in this fashion and it is a rare occurrence, but once again society does not see everything that goes on in the world.   

Son of Man - Magritte

 

        Son of Man - Sjostrand

This is my Master Painting assignment. I had to choose a painting and recreate it through photography. I chose "Son of Man" by Magritte. I dressed my brother up for the part and with the help of my awesome parents, I was able to hang an apple in front of his face. I took this photograph on the rooftop of my neighbors house and edited the background in order to get the perfect shot.

 

Julia Margaret Cameron

Paul and Virginia

1864

Albumen Print

 

This photograph was taken by Julia Margaret Cameron in 1864. Cameron began her photographic career at the age of 48 when her daughter gave her a camera as a gift. She had no intention of taking studio like portraits or taking pictures of people she did not know well. She asked friends, slaves, and famous friends to stand in and pose for her pictures. What makes Cameron a unique photographer is the fact that her pictures are not just pictures of people. They are of people who are dressed up and posed to represent characters from famous literary works. This picture in particular represents the French Romantic novel Paul Et Virginie. This novel revolves around a shipwreck during which a heroine must shed her clothes to be rescued. She refuses and is therefore killed. Cameron did not attempt to represent an actual scene from the novel, but instead represent the surrounding environment in the story. Here Cameron shows the tropical setting with the bamboo-handled parsal, scattered greenery by the feet of the children, and the disheveled drapery of the children. Instead of depicting a narrative, Cameron depicts a universal underlying theme from the novel.

 

Unique is by far an understatement for the works of Cameron. Especially during her lifetime, these photgraphs were not taken seriously. Today however, photographs such as Paul and Virginia show a great amount of talent Cameron had for her time period. The mood of the photograph is somber as two young children seem to be alone in the world with an umbrella possibly on the side of the road. Neither of them look staged as their gazes seem lost and directed past the camera. Although I have not read the novel Cameron based this picture on, I would say that it captures a novel scene quite well. Cameron achieves this task by having her models and environment be as naturalistic as possible. The qualities these models have are fantastic. Both would have had to stand in for this shot for a long amount of time due to exposure time. Their expressions represent a lonesome and somber life, the same mood/tone most would assume after reading the small section of the novel. The lack of color, lack of happiness, and lack of a well defined environment truly captures the qualities of a novel and its characters because it allows viewers to make their own story, just like novels allow a reader to create their own characters and scene in their head. 

 

Gregory Crewdson

Boy With Hand In Drain

2001-02

Digital C-Print

 

This photograph was taken by Gregory Crewdson who is an American photographer who shoots unordinary photographs. His photographs are very cinematic in the fact that they look like movie shots as oppossed to regular everyday shots. Crewdson prefers to shoot in Massachusetts in areas represented as small towns in America, but he will also shoot on stages to build his own scene. He searches neighborhoods for the perfect shot and has such a good relationship with the mayor and fire department that if he asks to burn down a house or shut down an entire street for his shot, it is done. His photographs require an immense amount of people amongst his crew. When taking pictures, the atmosphere is like a movie set with cranes and big lights used. The camera remains perfectly still the entire shoot. 40-50 plates of negatives are taken of the same photograph, with small changes such as aperture and lighting slightly changing from frame to frame. Once the "hero" negative is chosen, Crewdson works off of it and adds certain aspects of other negatives to it to make it the best it can be. Through this long process, Crewdson is left with photographs that show an unexpected mystery in an ordinary setting.

 

Boy With Hand In Drain reveals a very unexpected mystert sense.  The scene is a familiar bathroom scene with a boy reaching down the shower drain. The bottom half of the picture shows what is past the drain that this boy is so nonchalantly sticking his hand down. It is a dark, spooky place underneath the bathroom/house that most people would not think about. When sticking your hand down a kitchen drain or a shower one to reach for something dropped, did you ever wonder what that area under the drain looked like? We may never know, but Crewdson gives us something to think about. One of Crewdson's goals in his photos is to reveal fears people have. This may very well be a fear of people. Movies have been known to suck children down a drain into the unknown. The color in this photograph captures my attention right away because it is very movie like. When watching behind the scene action of movies being made, color is very dull compared to what the final product looks like. This photograph looks like the final product of a movie. It is so surreal, yet so normal that it makes you question, what places are there in this world that I don't see everyday? 

 

 

Artist: Edward Burtynsky

Title: Shipbreaking #10

Date: 2000

 

Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer who travels the world in search of the perfect shot. This shot in particular was taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh in the year 2000 and was taken at a shipbreaking yard. It is from a larger series of many shipbreaking yards all labeled with a # next to them. Burtynsky searches for subjects with rich detail and scenes that depict a metaphor to the dilemma of modern existence. He is fascinated with the idea of how man has evolved, from stone to fire, and from oil to industries. This amazing evolution however has transformed nature into a man made thing. These images that Burtynsky has captured are meant to represent a reflection of our time.

 

This chromogenic color print is without a doubt rich not only in detail, but in color and composition as well. The main part of the broken down ship is almost perfectly centered so all attention is drawn to it. However, another part of a ship on the left is a dominating figure, as is the piece on the right. A point is almost drawn from right and left that meets in the middle so all detail in the photograph can be viewed easily. There is no doubt that this picture represents destruction. This shipbreaking yard is gloomy, broken down, and left to rust away. The ships are still very noticeable and easy to identify, but very sad to look at. It is unclear why or how this ship yard came to be, but it is obvious by just looking at it that nature has been manipulated by industry. These man made ships have polluted the world and left it looking as if the world is now in ruins. Many people do not see shipbreaking yards in their lifetime, so they proceed to reject the idea that they have anything to do with this destruction. People demand products that have to be shipped. Our navy must use water based transportation in order to defend our country. Just because we don't see or witness certain places does not mean we do not affect or partake in the outcome of them. Burtynsky does an amazing job of showing destruction by man. Although fascinated with man and industry, he believes the world suffers for our success and this idea is clearly shown in his photographs.  

 

Title: Cloudcatcher

Artist: Robert and Shana Parkeharrison

 

 

This photograph is from a larger exhibition with 42 total prints called "The Architect's Brother." Robert and Shana Parkeharrison have been known to manipulate photos so they seem surreal. Their purpose of these photographs are to reveal a story of loss, human struggle, and the destruction of technology to man. "The Architect's Brother" is a series of photographs of men who seem to be healing the world or finding the good in it once again after technology brought on by man has destroyed the past. This black and white series reveals a somber contrast with many grays and overcast skies, but the subjects in general reveals a sense of happiness. Such as the case of the Cloudcatcher, this man is sitting in the middle of a man-made hole on a piece of wood that stretches the diameter of the circle. There is no sense of a happy environment, but it seems that this man has found the pleasure of catching something we take for granted everyday.

 

This photograph is extremely successful in making an impact upon the viewer. The atmosphere seems dark, uncertain, and moving in a bad direction. Out of nowhere clouds appear in a place they usually are not, in the ground. Althouh unusual placement, these clouds stand as the hope of the past that this man is trying to catch. The landscape surrounding this man is flat, empty, and wide. This photo seems to reveal the story of an ongoing series of events that eventually took away all that was known to this man. Now, in order to heal or remember the past, he finds a phenomenon brought to him from an unknown source. Robert and Shana are very successful in manipulating photographs to reveal a surreal setting. Their use of black and white encourages the dark sad scene and dramatizes the story. This particular photograph is scary because of the fog and darkness that surrounds this man, but overall, it is uplifting and sends that message that fun and happiness can conquer all situations.

Martin Parr

1999

Latvia Beaches

This photograph was taken on a non crowded tourist trap beach. Here an elder lady, possibly a grandmother, is taking a picture of a young girl who is posing for the camera. A rainbow is apparent above the girl's head. The sky is cloudy with a hue of gray, as if the storm has just ended. Because the overall tone is gray, the rainbow, the young girl, and the lady stand out from all other aspects of the photograph. 

This picture seems to capture the innocence on adolescents. A storm has just passed and the sky and atmosphere are dull and gray, but this young girl still finds a way to smile. The rainbow can be taken as the silver lining of a bad situation. Although this picture was taken on a gloomy day, it still reveals a happy mood. Martin Parr has taken many photos of people on a beach and this one seem to relate to them. Every beach shot represents what people do on the beach. No one does or acts the exact same way and he captures the attitude of "no one is watching me" in which people are caught doing things they most likely would be embarrassed about otherwise. 

This is my favorite flower shot I have taken without manipulation. Taken in Wichita Falls, TX.