 |
| Contact Sheet Test |
 |
| Final Print Test #1 |
 |
| Final Print Test #2 |
 |
| Final Contact Sheet |
 |
| Final Contact Sheet |
 |
| Final Photo |
After learning about the SLR cameras in class, I was nervous
to start this third assignment. I’m used to just clicking, shooting, and
getting instant results. Taking photos with an analog camera makes everything a
mystery, and the whole time I was photographing, I was apprehensive and I felt
unsure. When shooting my test role, I had trouble wrapping my mind around the
aperture settings and shutter speeds. I felt like every picture was forced and
unnatural, and I had to think about what I was doing for too long. When I took
my final rolls of film, I found that I was a lot more engaged with the whole
process, and really got into the picture-taking experience.
I decided to use the theme of memory for this project. I
knew right away that I wanted to take my photos at the park near my house. I
grew up playing there, sledding with family and friends in the winter, feeding
the ducks, and walking the paths in the summer. It’s a beautiful green setting
right in the middle of suburbia, and shared by all of the local residents. I
chose a crisp sunny day to shoot my photos, and decided to walk around the park
in search of my inspiration. I ended up stumbling on a large group of ducks
along the paths, and used an entire role of film on them. I found myself lying
in the snow in order to get down to their level, and I didn’t care that I was
cold and wet. After that encounter, I went to the sledding area of the park,
and found a lot of children and families playing on the mountains. I took that
opportunity to capture three young girls sitting on top of a snow pile. They
reminded me of myself when I was younger, climbing in the snow, and spending my
Sundays in good company. Again, shooting the pictures came very easily, and I
stopped worrying about my camera settings. I knew to keep my aperture small,
and took my photos with a fast shutter speed to account for all of the bright
light outside.
Developing my filmstrips went very smoothly, and with the
help of a classmate, we managed to finish the whole process within an hour. I
remember being really excited when I was able to peek at my film after fixing
it, and saw that all of my time and hard work had paid off. I ran into a few
problems when working in the darkroom, but the photography students around me
were very helpful, and made good suggestions to push my photos further.
The chapter written by Bell Hooks on the ARTE 352 Moodle
website deals with the theme of photography and specifically how it impacted
the black population. She also touched on the subject of identity and memory
when discussing the old photograph of her father that was hung in her sister’s
home.
“The word remember
evokes the coming together of severed parts, fragments becoming a whole.
Photography has been, and is, central to that aspect of decolonization that
calls us back to the past… Using images, we connect ourselves to a memory that
enables us to construct radical identities, images of ourselves that transcend
the limits of the eye.” (Hooks, 1995, p. 64)
This quote at the end of the chapter describes what I see when
I look at the photos I took in the park. Even though I captured people that I
don’t know, the three young girls represent the memories that I have from my
childhood. When I look at those photos, I’ll remember the amazing days I spent
sledding and playing in the snow with family and friends, and how those
experiences have impacted my life today.
Work Cited:
Hooks, B. (1995). Art on My Mind. In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life. p. 54-64
No comments:
Post a Comment