NEW BLOG

I got sick of this name. Though I will miss these entries, they are going to become archives for this past year's work, and I'm starting anew for the summer. Please follow me here, somewhere a little more official looking.

Finale

Our last critique in photography class was held just last week, and with that, I had one last series to show off. With the theme of "semiotic images", we were to print once again a series of three, but this time they should be connected, as well as have a meaning behind them.

After much thought, I came up with three square images to present to the class, which I loved so much, they went into my final portfolio for my professor. Before I explain all my ideas, I'll let you have a look.





In the end, I wanted to show the life cycle through images of time.

The first one, Birth, was supposed to be shot at dawn. However, in the time constraints I had, all of the mornings I attempted to wake up it was cloudy and rainy. The dawn light was a goal that never came to be, and yet, the image is clean and white and innocent looking - smooth and untainted, just how I wanted it. Doubling as an image that speaks for "the gift of time", birth was an appropriate start to the watch. I even made sure it was set to day 1.

The second one is Life of course, and much thanks to my friend for modeling her hands. With simple chains, it illustrates how life, people are constrained and bounded by time. "A slave to time" is what the title doubles as, showing how people are limited by the hands of the clock.

And the last is Death, about the death of time. More graphic than the other two, but with an interesting color palette, I enjoyed laying out in the middle of the road at night to shoot this outside my dorm with a friend. Though it could be a punny double for "killing time", it means more of actual killing than the phrase, which is simply to waste time. This death could be seen as a freedom, as someone has said to me, but in the series I intended it to be more of a simple death.

Overall I loved the last one best, but all three managed to be put into my final portfolio for my photography class. As my favorite assignment all year, I am glad it fell last as going out with a bang, I hope sharing my work with my class and my favorite professor has made others as pleased as it has made me.

Wait Day!

For the celebration of last day of classes, Res Life in our dorm Wait Hall poured the rest of their money into making an epic program which consisted of yummy food, tye dying tees, and painting the epic life-sized bear my friend made in elementary sculpture. After class, I came back to join the most successful program the RA's have held all year, and took many pictures of the bear's progress as well as the several t-shirts I made. It was a great way to de-stress everyone now that finals are arriving.

Here are the shirts I made, the first two being for myself, and the last one I made for a friend who wanted a surprise shirt. My first one was originally a splatter design, but when I hung it on the bench, began to bleed. Yet, lucky mistakes can be awesome!






Here began the process of painting the bear, from ties to tattoos, and many more amusing things.





And the final product:



Overall it was a very successful day!

May Pole

Yesterday was May Day, and downtown on Friday, just one day early, the Waldorf school in town celebrated with some pay pole dancing. I was assigned to go take pictures for the event that might go in future brochures for the school (or maybe even a paper or two), and they certainly came out cute. Today's entry is basically just going to be a gallery of favorites, but please enjoy :]

Things are Looking Grateful Dead

Finally I have finished this design! Weeks ago, we were assigned two pieces on silk for a Batik project. Of course, making this hard on myself, I chose to do a skeleton theme. The assignment was to have one be a scene, and the second be a closeup of that scene (the best way I can describe this). I always tell myself I'm going to keep it simple, but I never learn, because that never happens.

So I chose to do a skeleton, and then a spine - using cool and warm colors on each. I wanted the effect to be a bit more like watercolors, but since this was my first time doing Batik, that didn't really happen. However, with some silk resist, wax, and a little bit of patience, I was able to pump them out.




The Skeleton is shown all dry and hanging up on the clothes line finished! The spine here is an older shot, still wet and unwashed, with the wax still on - but you get the general idea.

In the end, I decided it looked rather Grateful Dead. However, this is only one more reason to like it. :]

I Hate the "Busy" Excuse.

But it is so true. Literally counting the days until school is over, I've had so much work. Barely had a weekend this weekend, but stories on that later. For now, I need to compose myself. And work. Some more.

In other news, I'm back into Ebay. Uh oh.

Not by Any Standards is this Well Made

But I still like it.



For one of our final projects in textiles, we were to make a wearable garment. Months ago, we dyed and printed on four yards of fabric, trying to keep in mind it'd eventually become some article of clothing. Though I went out to purchase a pattern for it, little did I know I wouldn't have enough time to use it, and it was more complicated than I thought once I actually read the directions. Returning the pattern, I set out to make a dress all on my own. It's a bit hazardous at the seems, but besides a slightly crooked zipper and a few misaligned seems, it's pretty wearable.

I started off with a straight cut top I made two thick straps for, seeing it as a halter dress. Once that was finished, I made a skirt designed to be poofy and wrinkly, which I will wear a tulle slip under to make it more fifties style. Once I scrunched the fabric enough, I sewed over the folds and came out with something that looked quite like this:



When I was finished, one of the last steps was to attach them. Taking a strip of fabric and sewing it to the shirt, I then sewed the skirt to that strip that way all of the wrinkles would show in this little cute border. The zipper was the hardest, and not centered I realize now (aka too late), but it wasn't that difficult to sew on, just had to be careful as always. The end product, with my belt, looks like this:

Stylized the Steampunk Way

This week though we had three assignments, my focus dwindled to one, yet another stylized edgy topic - steampunk. My model choices were another thing beginning to narrow, but thankfully as soon as Emma uttered the words "stylized portrait assignment," I had an idea. Jordan, and goggles.

I focused on grungy placement, steampunky clothes, goggles, many wrist watches, and canisters. Dressing up Jordan, I dragged him around to several places which included Emma's favorite alley, as well as an old abandoned house in Franklin Square. The black and whites I ended up choosing were fantastic.





Of course, I still miss color. After printing for Emma, I proceeded to edit a few of my own which I found enjoyable.

A Week of Success

This week for my internship, several assignments were due. I couldn't even begin to think of what to do for half of them, however with the nice weather all this week I was presented with several opportunities. This past weekend in summer weather that reached mid-eighties, I was able to dress up a few people and make them sit for me. Since breaking rules is my new thing, I shot three lovely models in front of the infamous grafitti'd water tower.



This group assignment finally passed me, and I was glad Emma was in love with it. In that same weekend, I set out to a very specific place to capture the assignment "the space between buildings". The place I had in mind ended up being just perfect. Instead of your typical urban space, it was two lovely old rotting houses next to each other. What could I like more?



Inspirationless with a seeming art block that developed over the days following the weekend, I set out with the other intern on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon off work. Needing to do three assignments before the light was through, we spent hours on the road and nearing the boarder to Vermont before I had shot all my successes. The most obvious assignment was landscape - something I am comfortable with, and very familiar with. I shoot them naturally, so obviously, my eye nailed this as a piece of cake. Three out of my five prints made it through, not including any from spring vacation, but all from some lovely farmland.





Walking on thin ice, I decided to use myself for both the decisive moment assignment, and the 'bravery' assignment. Changing clothes, putting on wigs, and playing around with settings seemed to pass me. I was a bit surprised, but also relieved. Never again will I have to do these assignments over. Now that we've dipped into the world of stylized, I am happy to say things are going much better.




Overall, this week was much more successful than any week yet. My bravery with the radio has been dubbed print of the day; Emma could barely look at it. With good words, I forge into another stressful week I hope will turn out fun in the end.

A "Tree Portrait"

I have been meaning to put up this short but interesting tidbit for weeks now, but I finally remembered to show all of you something amusing:

Taking the "tree portrait" to the next level.

The other intern and I had to do this assignments a quite a few times. Upon discussing it with my photography teacher one random day, he decided to gather some photos to show the class the next day, like a small little tip off to me during the class. I smiled as I looked at several photos of differing trees like these:



If I had the time, money and resources, I wish I had been as epic and thoughtful to complete something so.... funny and perfect.



If you're interested in more photos that could slap anyones tree portrait in the face, check out Myoung Ho Lee.

Goofing Off for Credit - College Kids

Because of my lack of entries, I'm just going to post another one of those dumb "OH HAY LOOKIT WHAT I'M DOING" entries tonight. Since nothing productive can be done at 1:20 am on most days, and I put off my DDR workout until tomorrow, I'm going to share with you my recent experiences.

Though my art classes have been somewhat slow, I have been having an actual life - which is nice. Tonight, one of my several RA friends had a program on her floor that was basically an excuse to dye eggs. Needing to make it PC and nonreligious of course, we dubbed it a night of Ukrainian Egg Dying. Which is real! And thus made eggs. Though I gave my best egg art away to a friend who couldn't come, my two purple eggs managed to make it back to my room unharmed.



Afterwards, my hands looked like this - they didn't quite make it without looking so colorful.



This past weekend, I have also been goofing off with my good friends - this time for my internship. Though none passed at the prints review, it was a good first step, and I enjoyed my time shooting in the basement with pool sticks no matter what she said. Our assignment was to have a minimum of four people and shoot them. Although she was expecting graceful (and of course did not tell us graceful) I shot another g-word, namely goofy. Because it's a mood I enjoy and she doesn't like, it didn't work - but the amateur part was actually pretty amusing.





This week our assignment is much more official, much more nerve-racking, and much less goofy - but I will be shooting another group soon that will hopefully pass. Won't be nearly as amusing, but you know.

Charleston Fashion Week

One highlight of this spring breaks' short vacation was seeing my first runway show ever - part of fashion week in Charleston. Though the venues started Tuesday night and continue on until Saturday, we only had time for Thursday night's showings. When we arrived there were no seats, and we stood for the eternity of around 6:45 until around 10:30, surrounded by fashionistas. Everyone looked like they were in four inch heels and outlandish dresses (minus the photographers and a few tourists), next to Leslie and I in jeans and and T's, standing as close as possible to the photographers pit in hopes we could slide under the radar.

And though I stood next to a staff member for the second half of the show, we were never pushed from the very front of the runway. I managed to get some awesome shots, even if I did have to sink to using automatic again. I was asked a few times if I was shooting for a magazine or a newspaper, to which I declined and said I was just there to take photos over my spring break and admire. After a set of batteries and one bow off my new (and much lower) heels, I shot several pictures I'd keep only to edit for facebook later.

The night started off with a fabulous and unique violin performance from a man who's name I can't remember - all I know is that he played the most epic performance of anything Michael Jackson I have ever heard. I was never a huge fan of MJ, but this was incredible. His CD was waiting for my money after the show, but sadly I didn't have a wallet present to buy it. I will be searching the internet after this entry....



After the music, the DJ returned with several remixes of songs I knew - which Leslie and I remarked throughout the show that it was unexpected but nice to hear some mainstream or remixes of mainstream electronic to accompany the runway models. Passion Pit, MGMT, Justice, and Radiohead all made appearances, and I'm sure several other people we knew but might not have caught.

Local designer Eden Boheme started the night with one of our favorite collections, featuring several vintage looks Leslie and I both claimed favorite until the end. It was a large collection with so many pieces I enjoyed.




The next feature was an awkward letdown, sadly enough. Tommy Bahama's awkward male models did nothing for us except the occasional giggle, and even the clothes were pretty boring themselves. Though I'm already disinterested in beachwear (it's never that different), this was what I might have caught down at the beach club in Florida, not on the runway. To highlight the awkwardness, I chose our spotlight male model of the night in his always stunning and ever so edgy Hawaiian shirt.




Copper Penny is a cute name, and much to the likes, had some cute dresses. A few of their models looked a tad awkward, but by this point Leslie and I had guessed that there were a few people in here that weren't models - which was actually kind of nice, even if they did walk a little funny. Having some normal people in there gave us all the perspective of what these articles would actually look like on some real people (aka not bags of bones, nothing personal). Though some of it was a bit boring, the colors were cute and over all I liked the collection.




Next up was Hampden Clothing, a surprisingly edgy line compared to the previous show. With cobalt blue panda-eyed makeup, shiny blacks and bright colors we haven't seen since the last century, thin models showed off a line I half-enjoyed. Though the makeup went with some outfits and didn't with others, I shot the pieces I thought were interesting at least. The music during this session was wild and fun though, I had to say, and these models looked like they were having a good time, and were definitely confident.





After Hampden clothing, a long break ensued. Not wanting to lose our spots, Leslie and I stood in our spots enjoying the music and pointing out several interestingly-dressed viewers as they passed us by. Feeling rather short, I admired the heels on every other woman in the room but us once more. Though my nautical red heels (at his point missing a bow) couldn't compare to some of the expensive footwear, it was an odd concentration of tall people. Even Leslie remarked at how unusual it was to see so many people nearing her height.

When the show finally returned, a model competition was on it's way. Several judges somewhere in the seated audience were to choose one girl and one guy from twenty, ten of each, to win said competition and announce the winners at the end. Though we didn't stay for the announcement, and neither did several others, the runway walk of twenty models lasted a good twenty minutes, and the most crowded period of the show we witnessed. Snuggly behind the staff man in the amazingly awful snakeskin loafers with elongated toes and a tall woman shooting for the newspaper with a point and shoot, there was no way I had a hope of catching any of my favorite fetching models during the competition.

Afterwards, a few people cleared out and I was able to weasel my way towards the front, shooting for the next show of the local designer Seeking Indigo. With a large collection featuring flowy dresses, earthy colors, and some nice bathing suits, this was one of my favorite groups to come.





Featured after was Pearl, a relatively edgy but somehow forgettable collection. Some of the pieces were wonderful, and others were unexciting. Most of the colors were eye-popping though, and turned out to be fun.




The finale came along right after with a fancy intro to the featured designer Mary Porter. Interested in Parisian Couture, her designs were mostly formalwear, and included everything from sleek and slinky blacks to garish greens and pinks, and even a few white dresses that could pass for a very expensive wedding. The largest collection of the night, and by far our favorite, I picked out for lovely dresses I think summed up the collection relatively well.







For my first runway show it was largely successful, and with good timing for once, my batteries managed to last and not die until the very end (thank god I hadn't wasted my chances on the model competition when the finale was so worth it!). As we walked back sometime after 10:30, getting ahead of the crowd by skipping the contest's results, we ambled back with fashion on our brains. Though there were designers we were dying to see in Saturday's wedding and formal collections for the fashion finale, we made a vow that we would indeed try to go to more shows when time permits us. With New York a train ride away it's plenty possible - though the price is debatable, and picture taking might not be as easy as it was this time, I'm sure if we looked it wouldn't be that hard of a venue to find.