Learning Experience
Overall I enjoyed the Advanced Digital Photography course in that along with learning new techniques and skills, I was also challenged to think more about the images I was capturing. I personally felt like the projects were a bit hard in that there were more aspects to consider than I was used to. Receiving critique while working on a project was also thoroughly beneficial and offered new perspectives that helped to elevate and fine tune what I was trying to achieve. I also believe that I definitely grew as an artist. In this class we did more than just shoot random photos and really attempted to emphasize the meaning behind what we were shooting. It was incredibly frustrating knowing what you wanted to capture, but not really knowing how to succeed in doing so. In the end, I am more than satisfied with my images, which is a rewarding experience.
Project 1 - Making Meaning Through Camera Settings
The goal of this project was to create meaning via the use of shutter speed and depth of field. For this project we worked with film, a first for me. I didn't have any clear ideas when starting this project, but I also did not want to waste any film. For this project I wanted to take inspiration from the daily aspects of everyday life that we may overlook.
Skills Learned
The biggest skill gained was learning how to work with film photography. I like film photography in that it forces me to think about the image before I shoot, rather than just being able to see what is going to be captured and also being able to review the image right after shooting it. Working with film definitely required a lot of patience, and learning how to shoot on film cameras was also a bit frustrating. In working with film, attention to detail was also important because there could be minor errors (water damage, dust, scratches) that would have to be edited out. Speaking of editing, although we used Adobe Lightroom which is relatively easy to navigate, I definitely spent a lot more time editing my images than I have before. I became very familiar with the spot removal tool when editing my images shot on film, which was a very tedious process.
Project 2 - Intervention
The goal of this project was to make a statement about a space via a physical or digital intervention. I had a little trouble with this project because I wasn't too sure about what counts as a space and how my intervention could be impactful. I decided to shoot on film for this project and loved the outcome.
Analysis of Contemporary Photography
All photography tends to be documentary, and a photograph is never simply a photograph. Photography is always focused on what is being told through the lens and what the viewer is supposed to feel when looking at the image. In the photographs we looked at during class lectures there was always a story to be told, even though the images may have not looked like they were shot intentionally. A lot of the series focused on people, without people actually being featured in the images, which was one of my favorite themes/trends. There's so much to be said about humanity without having to say much at all. In many of my favorite images there were no humans present, but the presence of humanity still resounded in them.
Project #3 - Still Life
The goal of this project was to shoot a series of objects that play with the conventions of representation. I had the most trouble with this project because I did not know what to do to create an optical illusion. I opted not to shoot on film because it was vital that I could see what I shot to see if I was successful in arranging everything perfectly.