mounmelanie

[mounmelanie]

SURREALISM

As someone who grew up in a conservative, traditional household, I find myself blending in with the crowd most of my life. I used a chameleon and my portrait to represent my life behind the scenes. As someone who always hid in the background, I find myself keeping my thoughts to myself and staying quiet. I tend to day dream a lot and my mind would be elsewhere. The girl flying with the dandelion represents my ever flowing mind. My head is always in the clouds, and will go on and on, hence the infinite white space. With that being said, time is my worst enemy. I’m always in my head, and can’t focus on what’s happening in the moment. The photo of the two men with clock heads, symbolize that time is always running. Time will not stop for anybody, nor will it wait for anybody. It’s always going to be there, and it does not favor those who are constantly day dreaming.

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DOUBLE EXPOSURE -  The first glitch photo consists of two images (two models and a butterfly), and I used the complementary color pairs - purple and yellow. I wanted to use a bold, bright color to amplify the butterfly because it’s the main objective of the photo. As for the models, I settled with a feminine, yet subtle color such as purple to represent femininity of the women. The way the models are positioned represents the wings of a butterfly which is why I decided to overlap the two photos. The butterfly represents change, freedom, the joy of being alive. With their colorful and decorative wings, they also denote the desire of humans to fly free and live a lighthearted life. 

FILTERING - The second glitch photo is the front cover of Love Me / Love Me Not Album by HONNE. I took advantage of the red space and complemented it with a green glitch effect. The two complementary colors add a dramatic effect to the woman’s expression, and overall tone. The focal point is the mirror, therefore I added a glitch cut around the eyes to draw attention to the viewer.

PAIRING - The third glitch photo composes of two images (model holding a blank paper in front of his face, and a sketch of cartoon character). Being a kid at heart is not a question of age, but more so a question of spirit. You can be a child by enjoying small things and being happy with almost anything. To be child-like as an adult is to still have an interest in learning new things, being excited by simple things, and knowing when to act your age. 

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My overall vision for the final project is Y2K aesthetic. I was inspired by my parents’ photo albums, and their fascination with photo collages. There would be photos cut into heart shapes, flower stickers, and magazine cut outs all placed in a single page of the album. I wanted to incorporate the same aesthetic, and use photos of myself, and people that are closest in my life. I used many photos of myself of when I was a kid, to showcase growth and who I grew to be. 

I utilized bold colors, and fun stickers to bring my collages to life. I wanted to make use of the white space by adding a more busy and bright background, or filling up the page with photos. By adding stickers and effects to the collages, it adds more flare and personality. The stickers, effects, and background all correlate with the images. For instance, in the first photo, my outfit was purple and I kept the background and stickers consistent with the color of the image. Although there’s so much going on, the background and stickers unify the collage as a whole. Same goes for the third photo collage. The brown hues correspond with the beige-toned portraits. 

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Art Tour 2

Some argue that by staging photographs and adding props or accessories, Curtis took liberties with the concept of ethnography, both imposing and reinforcing white notions of Native American appearances and culture. Without Curtis, there would be hardly any extant imagery of the cultural heritage of the tribes he worked with. I think that these images clearly show someone who began to understand more deeply the importance and uniqueness of the American Indian cultures. 

Edward Curtis’s intention with his photography is for his audience to understand that white America had something really poignant and important to learn from Native American culture, especially the depth of their spirituality. Western art institutions continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by Eurocentric imagery and artists. Therefore, by putting these photos on display, they help contribute to a collective understanding of racial injustice. 

Edward Curtis’s color scheme is singular and unifies his series. The brown hues emphasize on each individual portrait and portrays the skin tones of the tribe. The saturated hues also add a bit of a dramatic tone because it amplifies their features. By displaying photographs of people of color, it pushes forward a takeaway that the majority, dominant, white male culture in America still has a lot to learn from cultures that are not themselves. It brings forward a new perspective of other cultures and races. Each portrait showcases a different feature, expression, accessory, and uniform. I think Edward Curtis was trying to embrace the Native American culture, and bring awareness to his audience that there are beautiful cultures, other than our own, that we can appreciate. 

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Art Tour 1

At the time of the final bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945, Yōsuke Yamahata (1917-1966) was a propaganda photographer for the Japanese News and Navy Divisions of the Information Bureau. Sent to take propaganda pictures for the Japanese military, he ended up creating an extensive, almost dispassionate documentation of the ruined city that functions as a bitter condemnation of nuclear war. 

At the root of all war photography is an unrealistic hope: by visually describing horror, images can help prevent future horror. It is a staunchly idealistic position. It is also one that most photojournalists would not admit to. What they would say is that they simply work to bear witness to important events. 

The tone was set by the lighting conditions and the use of a background that unify the elements together. In postwar Japanese photography, photographers turned to documenting aspects of the physical landscape as symbolic of the war’s national, social, and psychic traumas. Not only did photographers capture the aftermath of the landscapes, they took images of injured people and their horrific environment. Yōsuke Yamahata’s image above diverts away from photographs of land demolition and brought attention to the people and their living conditions. As you can see from the photograph, there are areas puckered with damage along their skin and clothing. These “scars” on their body and dismantled clothing serve as metaphors for the bodies of bomb victims and of the nation. Yōsuke Yamahata’s intention was to bring awareness to those that have caused the mass destruction. The conditions of innocent lives that were affected were showcased through Yamahata’s photographs, and set an empathetic tone to the audience. 

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Artist Research - Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono is not only a multimedia artist and musician, but also a peace activist as well. Her work represents empowerment and has left an impact in the art industry. Although she is best known as a performer and musician, Ono has also created significant works of poetry, film, sculpture, and public art. She uses her work as a way to promote human rights and world peace. Throughout her career, Ono has maintained a deep faith in art’s ability to transform and uplift. 

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PHOTO PROMPT 2 – IDENTITY: Real or Fictitious

My first photo montage represents all the people that have significantly impacted my life. It embodies my personality from my younger self to the person I am today. I chose a warm tone as my background because these people in my life have kept me grounded and humble throughout my life. It symbolizes the warmth they have given to me. 

As for my alternate montage, it portrays the opposite of who I am. I displayed cool tones because I’m not cold, but rather have a warm heart. I’m not a very deep person, but more so direct and straight to the point. One of my greatest fears is dying alone, therefore the largest photo of a man on a bench represents loneliness.  

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Photo Prompts Week 1

Here’s the link to my photo prompts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O26RcWynO-qbqFB_Yb5H8gMPOcpAb9guW9NZ3dbZmp8/edit?usp=sharing

Nature was my biggest advantage during this process because of the limitations of being out in public. I decided to experiment with different angles and capture the mundane from a new perspective. I witnessed more color elements through this week’s photographing experience, and tried to emphasize on that by photo manipulation and angles. 

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Photog Inspo 2

Another photographer that interests me is Tyler Mitchell. He’s a young photographer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, working across many genres to explore and document a new aesthetic of Blackness. Mitchell is regularly published in avant-garde magazines, commissioned by prominent fashion houses, and exhibited in top tier institutions. Not only does he represent aspiring, young artists, but also POC. His style is intricate and soft, yet playful because of the bold hues. The project that captured my attention was the Vogue photoshoot with Beyonce. This was one of those projects that snapped his career. Because, for the first time in the magazine's 126 year history, a black photographer, (and a very young one at that) was chosen to photograph an iconic cover of an iconic woman for an iconic magazine.

 https://www.tylermitchell.co/photography/

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Photog Inspo

The photographer that I find interesting is Hiroh Kikai. He’s a Japanese photographer best known within Japan for four series of monochrome photographs: scenes of buildings in and close to Tokyo, portraits of people in the Asakusa area of Tokyo, and rural and town life in India and Turkey. His simplistic, yet telling style is what caught my eye. His portraits capture the reality of how different we are from one another. Each individual tells a story, and it reminds me of Humans of New York, but without the caption. The photo itself leaves a mysterious element, and it leaves you guessing what their life story is. Kikai said that people and scenery are two sides of the same coin. To me, this means the environment an individual is placed in, plays a significant role in their lifestyle. You can see this in Hiroh’s work. 

https://www.yanceyrichardson.com/artists/hiroh-kikai/index.html%20.

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A little bit about me, Melanie :)

Photography is a powerful medium of personal expression, and exploits vulnerabilities of the human visual perception. I think this is a concept that makes us experience emotions, or for us to simply witness a moment in time. 

The type of photography I enjoy are Street and Fashion photography. As I mentioned previously, photographs can evoke emotions and I think Street photography does a great job at portraying authenticity and expression. It is a constant practice of gratitude. Capturing a candid moment of someone’s day to day life, and wondering what their story is. 

Fashion photography on the other hand is more simple and direct. The idea is to capture a product and display it aesthetically, to convince the audience to purchase. There can definitely be meaning behind Fashion photography, but the way I perceive it is to simply appreciate the art of Fashion. 

I’m no expert in photography, and I’m taking this course to learn and expand my knowledge on art through different mediums. I’m an Arts and Technology major, with a concentration of Design and Production. My career goal is to become a UX/UI Designer. Although photography may not be an important factor in my career choice, I still want to experiment and gain new skills that may aid me towards my future job. Who knows, by the end of this course I may acquire a new hobby, or maybe do a 180 and change career paths? ;)