Ethnic Project

This is Sachiko representing Japan. I took this in her back yard. I also set the f-stop at 3.5 to make her seem like a ghost. I don't know if you can tell, but she is wearing a kimono, the traditional dressings of Japan, and holding a fan. Her house and a couple of bikes are in the background actually, and I'm kinda glad that it is blurred out receptively.

For this picture, when editing, I saturated it and sharpened it. I also darkened that shadows. I didn't want to do too much to the picture because it wasn't going to look natural, like how it was originally.

I am Japanese, so I'm glad I did this project. But I'm also Mexican, Spanish, Irish, Polish, and Russian, but Sachiko, a japanese, was easier to access with a kimono.

Fine Art

I didn't really enjoy this project because I don't think of myself as a fine artist. I tried my best in the amount of time I had. This picture has to do with anorexia nervosa, or beings who are just not happy with there body. Sachiko, my model, does NOT have anorexia, she was the only skinny friend that would do this photo shoot. I just told her to pop out her bones as much as she could. The elbow thing on the far right is all her. Her elbow can bend past the average limit, so can mine, but not as much as hers. I really like the shadow it creates in the background. I also tried to group the pictures together so it resembles somewhat like a body.

There were other pictures that I took that I liked, but didn't go along with this project.

Still Life Project

I couldn't decide between these two photos. These are my juzu beads and my book that teaches Nichiren Buddhism. For the shadow, it is the logo of the Soka Gakkia International (SGI), a Nichiren Buddhist organization. This two objects are important to me because they have taught me to be a better person and fight through any obstacle. I have also found friends in SGI.

I desaturated the bottom picture while warming up the top. I like the top one because it empfsizes the words "myoho-renge-kyo" or daimoku. It is used in chanting to attain perfect and complete awakening (enlightenment). I like the second picture because you can see more of the shape and the objects as a whole.

I really enjoyed doing still life because you don't have to direct anyone other than yourself.

Senior Exhibition

Almost edited photos

This is the 7 stages of life from the monologue, "All the world's a stage," said by Jaques in As You Like It by William Shakespeare. It is mostly refered to the seven stages of man, but I did the seven stages of women because there is this painting called The Seven Ages of Woman, by Hans Baldung Grien and since I liked the painting, I decided to redo it as a photo and make it more "today."

In this photo the focus is that Sachiko (my model) is growing up and dying. She becomes one with the earth, so that is why I have her in the shade touching the tree. It was difficult to get the infante portion of the photo because Sachiko isn't a baby, so I had her sit and cuddle herself. As a toddler she is playing with the grass (I think I need to redo that photo so you can actually tell that she is playing around). The third stage is lover, I also think I need to redo this photo, but I had her snap and point to make it look like she was flirting. Soldier is in the back, I took this part of the monologue

"Then a soldier/Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard/Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel/Seeking the/bubble reputation/Even in the cannon's mouth." literally. Next comes justice and wisdom, I may have her cross her legs and meditate next time. The other stage is old age, she got a stick and had her seem like she had a bad back.

I think I have a long way to go with this picture. For the other picture I posted Tuesday, I think I need to find another model so I won't have the same person over and over, maybe I'll try to take a picture of a guy since I've never really tried.

Senior Ex Test shots

These are the seven stages of life from the famous speech "All the world's a stage." I actually took this idea from a painting that literally showed the stages of life.

Since my theme for senior ex is Shakespeare, I take quotes from some of his plays and incorporate them in a picture. This scene is from Macbeth and it is when they can't wash off the blood off their hands (I will find the quote later). In photoshop, I plane to put hole in her where light is shining through so you can tell where the hole are. The point of that scene in Macbeth is that they can't undo what they have done. They killed Duncan and can't take it back and will always be there and have an affect on their lives.

Inspiration: Richard Avedon

I think Richard Avedon would be my inspiration for my portfolio because I like how he'll use mostly black and white photography. He also has very sharp pictures. With that you can see people for who they are; their wrinkles and their clothes. For his blurry pictures you are still able to see what action is happening. He pictures are also a bit grainy, which I enjoy.

Dirty House

All these pictures have to do with seeing smell or any other type of sense. This is why I have different colored smokes that match that object. I also made widows dirtier. I had to darken up the spider in the web so you were able to see it and made the webs more visible on the gate by going over them and lowering the opacity little. For all these pictures I wanted to find weird angles to have it seem distorted and feel out of space.