Assignment Brief: Raw Photos Only, No Edits. Photos were taken via an extremely cracked, slightly bent iPhone, using Adobe Lightroom Classic.
An update for the worried fans - I have obtained a new phone, one that does not have glass falling out of it. Woo!
1) The thing itself refers to photography providing representation of the world. Is it possible to take a true picture? Is it possible to capture a moment? Does any photograph objectively represent the world it displays? For this part of the assignment, you will show 1 photograph that you believe is a truthful representation of the thing itself.
2) The detail is the way a photograph can tell a story without telling the whole story. The details you choose to photograph make you the narrator. Photography has the ability to reveal meaning in what might have gone unnoticed. For this part of the assignment, you will show 1 photograph that uses detail to narrate. This is a good exercise in subtlety.
3) The frame is where you choose to begin and end the photograph. What are you including? What are you leaving out? Why? The composition can be formal or loose, close-up or far away, straight on, from above, from the side. There are infinite possibilities, but what and how you frame are intentional choices that you make as the artist. Make sure you are purposeful with your framing and can explain why you chose to frame the photograph the way you did. For this part of the assignment, you will show 1 photograph that highlights framing in some way. Make sure you are intentional with your decisions and can explain why you chose to frame the photograph the way you did.
4) Time is a fascinating element in photography. Not only can the photograph freeze time, but it can document it, render it, expose it, distort it, subject it, and reveal it. Not only can time be a subject of the photograph, but it is also inherent to the physical process of the photograph. The amount of time you expose the negative will give you very different results. For this part of the assignment, you will show 1 photograph that implicates time in some way. Be intentional about the technical aspects of your photograph and be prepared to explain them.
5) Vantage Point is otherwise known as perspective and is not always in our control as photographers. When we can be intentional about the vantage point, the photographs often reveal a very different world than we are accustomed to seeing. This can function in many ways – graphically, poetically, politically, etc.. How does the vantage point change the viewer’s relationship to the subject of the photograph? How are you implied in the vantage point? You will be showing 1 photograph that shows how vantage point can function in a photograph. Be prepared to discuss your choices and how YOU are implied in those choices.
6) Light is the most elemental of all photographic concerns. Translated, photography literally means “light-writing”. The process of capturing photographic images pivots solely on the negative’s exposure to light. As a result, light both makes the process possible and can act as a powerful tool in addressing the poetic, metaphoric, allegorical or psychological. You will be showing 1 photograph in which light is an active subject in the composition. The light can be dramatic, subtle, bright or soft. It’s really up to you. However, its use should be implemented to transform the image in some way.
See contact sheets below to view more photographs taken for this project. These were not chosen for the final submission, however I feel that they show my thought process and progression throughout this assignment.
