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Final Project: Bound by light defined by shadow

Do you ever wander around a zoo and feel bad for an animal? Do you ever feel happy when you’re able to interact with them in places such as a petting zoo? In the Queens zoo, I explore the metaphorical view of light and shadow. Light provides a sense of peace, freedom, or reaching out beyond something that is used to confine them- a feeling that what you are looking at is not actually an animal in a zoo but more-so in their natural habitat. However, shadow makes you conscious of their sense of isolation from the natural world- thus highlighting the darker side of captivity of restrictions and confinement. In my series of photos, I subtly included the fence in the background of their enclosure and low saturation to convey the concept of “shadow”. In the middle of the series, i included a singular photo portraying a neutral emotion. When not able to see an animals face, we start to wonder as the audience, what is the thought process behind eyes we cannot see. Towards the end, I included photos portraying “light” by increasing saturation and showing a sense of interaction with peers in the enclosure, stepping into the light, or reaching out beyond a gated fence. Throughout the series, I depict an idea that both light and shadow in the metaphorical sense could exist simultaneously depending on your perspective of your surrounding environment.

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Writing Prompt - Second Photo.

Looking at the benches that slowly go into the distance yet remain in focus, there remains a sense of emptiness revolving around structures and an environment that people tend to use everyday or pass by often. Benches that are used for people to sit and perhaps talk or hang out, a boat that can be used to travel, an ocean full of aquatic animals and the ability to play in it, a house full of a family's life story, and what looks like sand on the ground for a person of any age to interact with. When now empty, giving a feeling of abandonment from what was once a busy and lively place, the photo gives the audience a calm, quiet, isolated perspective. However, not only the benches but the boat in the background stayed in focus. It allows the audience to focus on all aspects of the photo, still giving a sense of abandonment. The idea of emptiness can be seen no matter what part of the photograph you view, simply because the area and the structures are all items that were once used by people of any age, race, or gender. Now with the photo in black and white and no living thing in sight, the photographer was able to evoke the feeling of desolation for the audience.

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Final Project Proposal “Light and Shadow”.

Bound by Light, Defined by Shadow.

The photos will be taken at the Queens Zoo, shedding light on the complex experience of captive animals as expressed through the interplay of light and shadow. I will use light as a symbol of potential freedom and shadow as a representation of confinement, and how both have the ability to shape an animal’s existence in captivity. That being said, light provides a sense of hope that an animal can still reach for the outside world, freedom, or still hold a concept of love and compassion though they are still bound and restrained within the enclosure. Shadow on the other hand represents isolation, loss, and the limitations of their life in a zoo, as if the shadowed existence has come to define them. By providing close up images similar to the style of Marina Cano, a wildlife photographer, I hope to focus on the emotions animals evoke through their expressions, body language, and their interactions with their surroundings. As someone who always loved animals from a distance, there was something symbolic about animals in a zoo being confined and defined as that implied the feeling that it was their worth. It was symbolic in the sense that humans too are defined by their environment and what they allow to bother them: it is a matter of subjectivity and mindset. I also always enjoyed performances such as Broadway and the ability to use their body language and tone of their voices to display emotions but it was the idea that anyone is able to conceal their emotions on their faces, though sometimes body language or changed behavior can say otherwise. Wild animals can not control these actions, thus people tend to say they are like a child’s pure soul, lacking the capacity to lie. In a zoo that tends to be controversial in terms of animal ethics, I want to show the reality of the situation with a multitude of subjects that can not fabricate their feelings.

Outcomes:

I will take approximately eight or more photos.

I will try to capture and evoke feelings of sadness but also hope through my images.

I will print my images in a 8 by 12.

Methods and Materials:

I will rely on both artificial and natural lighting based on the enclosure of the animals I photograph.

I will be using my Canon Rebel T6 camera and the 75-300mm zoom lens.

I will use photoshop to enhance the quality and saturation of the photos according to the emotions I am attempting to convey.

References:

Temple Grandin book: https://www.grandin.com/inc/animals.in.translation.html

Marina Cano photography:

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Influence.

The photographer that influences my work is Marina Cano, a Spanish wildlife photographer. As depicted in her photos, she wants to have a conversation with the audience, showing wild animals, the beauty of the natural world and the threat behind it. Through her sensitive and intimidate portrayals, she also tries to evoke emotion, the vulnerability of animals and the impact human lifestyles have on their habitats. The use of soft light, interaction with their surroundings, close up photos, and attention to detail showcase the souls of the animals she photographed, thus displaying her view on the world. As seen in my series, though I focused on one subject, I wanted to show how a cat moves around their “natural habitat”, that being inside a house and how the lifestyle and belongings of the owners can affect the cat’s daily routine, how they maneuver, and why this specific routine, place, or action. In these photos, even though home can be a safe place, some things can be dangerous, so I left in possible threats such as a plastic bag, toys as a choking hazard, and wandering near appliances or wires, how human interference can potentially endanger an animal. From a sense of innocence, curiosity, awareness, tension, to potential danger, it shows how similar a house cat and a wild animals life can be.

ISO 400

f4.5

1/125s

ISO800

f5.6

1/125s

ISO400

f4.5

1/125s

ISO400

f4

1/125s

ISO400

f5.6

1/125s

ISO200

f4

1/125s

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Midterm.

Silent conversations with the self

To be alone with one’s thoughts and to seeing a stranger stare back at you in what was supposed to be a reflective surface... This series focuses on the saturation of colors to enhance the feeling of loneliness and the subtle eeriness stemming from the unsettling experience of no longer recognizing who you are as an individual.

Through vivid contrasts between myself and my environment, I use color as a tool to amplify this emotional disconnect. Featuring my face as a paper bag symbolizes the disarray and confusion that can accompany moments of deep reflection, times when one feels lost in their identity.

In this series of self portraits, I portray the feelings of unfamiliarity and rumination of confusing thoughts within oneself and how a person could overcome the struggle of self identity but continue to keep the mask of uncertainty nearby.

ISO 1600

f4.5

1/750s

ISO 1600

f3.5

1/90s

ISO 1600

f4.5

1/90s

ISO 1600

f5.6

1/125s

ISO 800

f32

2.0s

ISO 800

f22

3.0s

ISO 800

f22

3.0s

ISO 800

f5.6

1/30s

ISO 1600

f3.5

1/60s

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After Dark

No motion blur.

ISO 12800

f5.6

1/125s

ISO 200

f5.6

1/45s

ISO 3200

f5.6

1/125s

ISO 6400

f5.6

1/125s

Motion blur.

ISO 100

f22

15s

ISO 100

f38

20s

ISO 100

f13

4s

ISO 100

f32

20s

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Assignment 3b

ISO 100

f8

1/125s

ISO 800

f8

1/750s

ISO 200

f8

1/1000s

ISO 400

f6.7

1/750s

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Assignment 3a

shallow depth of field

ISO 100

f5.6

1/750s

deep depth of field

ISO 800

f22

1/500s

fast shutter speed

ISO 800

f5.6

1/750s

ISO 100

f5.6

1/30s

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ISO 100

f5.6

1/500s

ISO 100

f5.6

1/180s

ISO 100

f6.7

1/250s

ISO 200

f5.6

1/250s

ISO 100

f5.6

1/1000s

ISO 400

f4.5

1/500s

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One photographer whose photos I enjoy is Marina Cano, an African wildlife photographer. As someone who enjoys animal photography and observing animal behaviors, her passion behind loving nature and waiting patiently for some form of action is something I have always admired. Seeing animals in their natural habitat seems to fill me up with so much raw emotion, believing that even as wild animals, their everyday lives is just another story untold. As Marina once said, “I always say that if my photographs are beautiful, it’s because my subject — Nature — is awesome”. One of her beliefs is that behind every successful image, there is a story; and that is the story of yourself, the truth behind how you took the photo and why. Regardless, if a photo has an inanimate subject, I like to believe that there is beauty and a story behind everything. Whether they are dried leaves on the tree closest to the sun or ocean waves splashing onto a lighthouse, it is yet another phenomenon that occurs often, just captured. Even when Marina takes photos of an animal from a distance away, there is so much detail frozen in time that makes you feel so many different types of emotions, though most times, one of love and harmony.