Gaspard Mix Tournachon, better known as Nadar, and Muybridge

Bohemian, family was "of radical leanings," was interested in "many of the era's most daring ideas in politics, literature, and science." Worked in journalism before taking up photography. First to photograph underground using artificial light, and from a balloon.

Bio from Masters of Photography

Eadweard Muybridge: name was originally Edward Muggeridge. First changed his last name to Muygridge, before changing it to Muybridge (first name was was only changed once, when he changed his last name the first time. "Eadweard Muybridge (b. 9 April 1830; d. 8 May 1904) was born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston on Thames, and it is said that because this area is associated with the coronation of Saxon kings, he took on a name closely resembling (as he saw it) the Anglo Saxon equivalent."--from Adventures in Cybersound

selfies!

The self-portrait assignment was one of those times when I have difficulty coming up with an idea—but when I finally come up with one, I start to build on it and the whole thing starts to come together extremely quickly. In this situation I decided to play around with rear-curtain sync (called second-curtain sync in my camera’s manual). So I put on some music (a combination of Green Day and Charlotte Church) and danced around my room for one to eight seconds at a time. I then realized that in some of the photos it looked as though I was interacting with a portrait that I took of my FVA academic advisor Adam MacDonald that I have tacked to my bulletin board. So I decided to play it up and really interact with the portrait (mostly using implied line, though in some of the photos I got up close and posed with the photo: "scolding" him, posing with the photo as though it’s the most normal thing in the world—all the while fighting back a serious case of the giggles), as well as sticking my face in front of the camera like people do sometimes with point ‘n’ shoot cameras (a night out with the girls, etc.). I ended up having so much fun that I didn’t get to bed until about midnight—on a school night.

I shot the photos in my room, primarily because that’s where all the elements of my idea are based. Although I could’ve done the shoot somewhere like the first-floor lounge—which would’ve given me more room to move around—I’m glad I shot it in my room. Besides, it was quiet hours (ten PM to eleven AM on school nights)—and as a result, I lowered the volume on my computer (I was playing the music off of iTunes).

I’d learned about rear-curtain sync in Lighting: Available Light and On-Camera FlashTech, and although I haven’t used it much since then, I decided to try it out for this idea to capture the movement. I tried different exposure times and light configurations (floor lamp on or off, table lamp on or off, etc.).

Except for all the junk in my room, I would probably show them. I’d probably do a reshoot in a bigger space that doesn’t have so much stuff on the floor (a living room, perhaps—but definitely not a lighting studio: it would look too formal and stuffy for the look I’m after). But in general I’m very happy with the portraits.

Maggie Jean Chestnut Residence and Renaissance College (which is attached to the residence) have been the setting for a lot of my assignment photos that weren’t taken in the lighting studio: my Freedom to Read photo, one of my photos for the target assignment for Re-Presenting Ideas and my photo for the first assignment for Professional Practice being some of the most recent shoots.

The residence and the college (especially RC) have a lot of interesting nooks in which to take photos, and I have yet to run out of ideas for shoots—either for assignments or for myself.

I would probably print them at about 8" x 10"--definitely no smaller. Since I've been using the studio's printer, I've fallen in love with printing BIG--probably because I've never had the resources to do big prints before. And because I've finally been won over by RAW format.

2/24/11: PS I came up with a title for the photos today while uploading them to Facebook and Flickr: Self-Portraits of the Artist with her FVA Academic Advisor.

Lauren Greenfield

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Teen Lipo series, in which she documented Brook Bates before and after her liposuction surgery. Brook, who had the surgery when she was twelve, is believe to be the youngest to have the procedure in the US. Before having the surgery, Brook was pre-diabetic and had tried everything else in order to lose the weight.

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Thin series, in which she documented several women who were receiving treatment at Renfrew Center in south Florida. The photos document the ups and downs as the women go through treatment, as well as follow-ups after they're discharged.

Part of Greenfield's Girl Culture series, in which she documented the different things girls deal with today.

Definition: DOCUMENTARY:
Pulling attention to a subject or a person, telling a story without flinching, and without editing the story to tell it in a "prettier" way. Telling it like it is.


Reflection:
I love Greenfield's work: one of the things that I like about documentaries (both photography and movies) is the fact that they aren't meant to sugarcoat life, which is how I try to live and photograph (when depicting something that isn't exactly pleasant, I don't like to try to pretty it up), and her work is a wonderful example of that approach.

I don't know if I would do that kind of photography: it fits with my personality, and how I see the world and live life, but at this point I'm more interested in pushing the creativity to the limit--and then pushing it even further (e.g., cranking up the colours, clarity, etc., in Camera RAW).

Proposal:
What I would do and why
I would photograph other artists--let's say, members of an orchestra (maybe the Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony, or the Bangor Symphony). I would photograph the members during rehearsals, hanging out, doing other stuff besides playing their instruments--basically, orchestra life (and I'd try not to show too much favouritism towards the violin section heehee). Documentaries have been made about orchestras, dance companies, etc., before, but each one is different, whether it's the orchestra/company, or the approach used in the documentary.