camrynjade12

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Artist Statement

I believe photos speak for themselves yet still leave enough room for the imagination. My whole life, I’ve lived in Staten Island, New York. Over many years, I’ve seen my surroundings change, whether it’s shopping plazas, new homes being built, the list goes on. I photograph these things to keep the memory of what has been there, & what might possibly not be there in the following years to come. Sometimes however, I escape the city, where it’s peaceful & quiet. No matter where I go or who I’m with, I will always be found taking photos.

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Lauren Greenfield

Girl Culture, Lauren Greenfield

Generational Wealth, Lauren Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield is a phenomenal photographer who is well known for her exhibitions. She was born on June 28th, 1966 in Boston, however she grew up in Los Angeles. In 1987, she graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in visual and environmental studies. After graduating, she worked as a photojournalist based in Los Angeles and London, publishing multiple works in famous magazines, such as National Geographic, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine. Over time, she has received many awards for her work. She was awarded ICP’s Young Photographer Infinity Award, along with the National Geographic Society Documentary Grant, and a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Award as well. Her work has been featured in many museums around the world, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the J. Paul Getty Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Smithsonian, the International Center of Photography, the Center for Creative Photography, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. She is mostly known for her THIN, Fast Forward, Girl Culture, and Generational Wealth projects. Out of all of her projects, Girl Culture and Generational Wealth stand out to me the most.

Lauren Greenfield’s photography exhibition named Girl Culture is a collection of photos that show how some girls in today’s day and age primarily use their body as a huge form of identity expression. The photos have an array of girls who differ in age, weight, skin color, and many other things, however they all have the same idea that their body is a large part of their individuality. Each photograph explores the relationship between girls' lives and emotional development in the material world and popular culture. In my opinion, Lauren Greenfield couldn’t have done a better job with this project. As you look through the photos, the point in which she is trying to get across is very evident. You see photos of girls looking at themselves in mirrors trying to figure out how to make themselves look better, or little girls playing dress up with makeup to make themselves feel grown up, or a large group of women in bikinis showing off their bodies. I understand what it feels like to compare what you look like to others, almost wishing you looked like something completely different. As a female, it hits you right exactly where I imagine Lauren Greenfield wanted it to.

In another one of her other projects, Generational Wealth, it visualizes today’s generation and its obsession with wealth. It documents how we as people value materialism, celebrity culture, and or social status all around the world. Lauren Greenfield spent years photographing for this exhibition while travelling to many parts of the globe, to show how we all are alike when it comes to such. She travelled to places such as Los Angeles, Bel-Air, Monaco, Moscow, Dubai, China, and many more. The idea of the project itself isn’t about being rich, but instead, it’s about the desire to be rich and have the luxuries that most do not, which I think at some point all of us can relate to at some point in our lives. I believe this exhibition in particular was a great thing to present to society because it kind of gets you to step back and realize our thoughts or even behaviors when it comes to this subject.

Between Lauren Greenfield’s Girl Culture and Generational Wealth, the two have a lot of things in common because they both have a lot to do with peoples’ opinion of themselves socially and materialistically. Besides story wise, they are similar because the subject in both exhibitions for most of the photos are females. I believe she chose to do this because in society I think that these kinds of things, such as wealth, status, or looks, mean more to girls than they would to men. Therefore, the subject matter for these projects were pretty spot on in my opinion. The way she photographs makes her seem like a fly on the wall. None of her photos are staged to where she told her subject to pose or look a certain way, they’re more documentary than they are narrative, which I think proves her points even more because they are truthful in what they show.

Works Cited :

International Center of Photography. “Lauren Greenfield.” ICP.org, ICP, https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/lauren-greenfield?all/all/all/all/0

Institute Artist. “Girl Culture.” InstituteArtist.com, Institute Artist, https://www.instituteartist.com/filter/lauren-greenfield-exhibition/exhibition-Girl-Culture-Lauren-Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield. “Generational Wealth.” Generational-Wealth.com, https://www.generation-wealth.com/

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Martin Parr - GB. England. New Brighton. From The Last Resort, 1983-1985.

Martin Parr, 69 years old, born May 23rd 1952, is a famous photographer mostly known for his project The Last Resort that he worked on from 1983 through 1985. The project shows the working class families of New Brighton on holiday in Merseyside. While looking at all of the photos from the project, it is shown that Merseyside was the place where most families went to have a good time during the time of nice weather. This photo in particular stood out because it is evident that is may not be the most luxurious vacation site, however you see multiple families there trying to make the best out of whats there since that is their vacation. In the far back towards the right side, you see children dipping their feet into the water although a few inches from them there is garbage in that same water. You see the main focus of the woman holding her baby by the water as well, not seeing it as a concern for her baby, because they’re on the one vacation they’re fortunate enough to take.

This photo stood out to me because I was raised with my younger sister by my single mother, so I know how hard vacations are to come by. Obviously in the picture shown above, these families aren’t on a tropical island like what other’s may think of a vacation as. People who come from working class families, such as my own, may think of a vacation as being with their family somewhere anywhere other than their own home.

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~Narrative Project~

For my narrative project, I photographed Jeeps that I came across for the past 2 weeks to portray my storyline. While shopping for my first car, I struggled to find something that I could afford but that was also reliable. After many failed attempts visiting various lots in many different locations, I saved up even more money to be able to find something that I truly wanted, not something that I would settle for. Being that I’m a 19 year old college student with a part time job, there was no way I could afford an extremely luxurious car at this point in my life. In my narrative, I used pictures of cars in comparison to my car, to get the point across that sometimes you can’t go after what you want but to go after what you need- sort of like dating. All of the cars I took pictures of could be symbols of possible people I would normally go for romantically, the good & the bad ones, but not the type of person I would necessarily need in my life. Therefore, that is why when you look at the photo of my car, it has a picnic setting, compared to the others who are just photos snapped from the street or parking lots, to show that my car is the one that I needed. My car is very important to me since I saved up for a very long time in order to be able to afford it all by myself, & now I can’t imagine having any other car.

The Stories Behind the Photos:

1.) The Broken One- he made his demons mine too

2.) The Ego Freak- he always had to make sure he looked his best

3.) The Rule Breaker- he was too much of a risk junkie

4.) The Jealous One- he only let me spend my time with him

5.) The Soldier Boy- He left to join the Army

6.) The Nice Guy- He was too friendly with other girls

7.) The Manipulator- he was always telling lies

8.) The Workaholic- he was never home

9.) The Guarded One- he wouldn’t let down his walls

10.) The One, Just What I Need

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Stay a While

Chaotic Spaces - 9/22 - 3:53

This photo was captured with my iPhone XR. Here is what is known as the parking lot of The Boulevard. I left my house earlier than usual to go to work because I knew I wanted to take a photo of that statue for this assignment. While trying to find a parking spot, I said this myself “This is so chaotic.” Soon after I realized I needed one more photo for this assignment & that one of the suggestions was ‘chaotic spaces.’ I went up to the second floor of the mall & took a picture of this always seemingly busy parking lot. I played around & edited the brilliance and shadows for this photos to get a nice looking texture to clouds. I have come to the conclusion that because all of these stores a new, everyone must see everything, therefore, they stay a while…