Silver Gelatins

Over this semester I struggled a little bit on what I should have been shooting for class. One of the biggest issues when it comes to photographers is the fact that it all has been done before. With the universality of photography its hard to take a photograph of something no one has gotten before and that is why I'm going to school; I'm trying to find what it is that makes me me as a photographer. 

I noticed through my work in the past and what I've been doing recently that I tend to focus on lines, edges and the shapes of things, not just the entire object itself. I like to see these objects in my lens for more than what they are on the outside. That sounds so lame, but I try my best to see an object for what it isn't. In some of my better photos there are highlighted aspects of a bigger picture which become the most interesting part of the image.

These are just a few of my more successful silver gelatin prints that I've scanned in as digital images. 

Our Dear World

So I've been out of the blogging scene for a while because on Easter weekend my camera stopped working. It was almost like I broke my arm except if that had been the case I would at least still have an arm to carry around. Needless to say I sent in my poor Nikon to get well and I have yet to get it back. I'm pretty sure the shutter stopped working; if you know what that means you probably just made a painful sound in your head like I would have but if you don't know what it means, it really just means my camera won't work at all and no photos can be made!

Luckily I have some great friends who like me enough to trust me with their cameras and to be my models. Meagan is amazing for lending me Gregory the Canon and Lois is great for being our prop.

I've been pretty enamored lately by a photo project called Dear World led by photographer, Robert X. Fogarty. If you haven't heard of it I'm sure you will soon, or you could just Google it right now...do it. Anyway, I've been trying to get on as an intern with this amazing project and I wanted to do a really cheesy project of my own to help me in my search for an internship. Meg and Lois came out to help and this is what we came up with.  

 I asked Lois and Meg what they wanted to say to the world and this is what they came up with. Lois, like a lot of art majors, had only one thing to say to people who hate and Meg came up with her favorite quote.

This is part of the series I came up with to attempt to get a place in Dear World; it is one of the messages to Robert X. Fogarty.

Okay this last one was purely for fun. We shot three separate photos and I attempted to make it one full image.  

Week 6?

Yesterday I took a road trip by myself. I live in an area of Texas that is surrounded by beautiful cities, fields, flowers and rocky hills. I drove a little ways to Gonzales to check out what was there and found myself driving toward Shiner after a while. 

Gonzales looked like a ghost town to me. There were very few cars driving around, much less people to pass by. I walked around the square and ventured through some side streets. I came across the coolest old shop with junk stacked everywhere. After talking a bit to the owners I figured out that the place had been there since the 1920's selling auto parts, junk and rust. Unfortunately I only had my 35 mm when I went in to look around so I don't have anything to show right now but I'm pretty sure I got some great shots. The lady invited me in to look around and photograph all I wanted while her little dog decided whether or not to trust me. She went through the dark aisles pulling light cords so I could get some photographs. She was very helpful and I think she was excited I was there. I can't say that I wasn't a little scared as she led me further back into the old shop as it got even darker. I couldn't help myself though, the lighting was too good! 

After leaving the old shop I made the block and went into an antique store where an episode of Hoarders should really be filmed. The time of day made the lighting in this place pretty awesome so I took a few trips around trying not to fall into the floor or knock a shelf of glass on myself. 

After leaving Gonzales I realized Shiner was only about 17 miles away so I headed there!

 I drove through the town, turned around, went by the Spoetzl Brewery and then parked my car and went to shop. There was a sign out front of one of the few stores open that said "Drink and Shop" so I took advantage! Inside I met the girl working there and an old man drinking a Coke Zero at the bar. I talked to them off and on about the town, the beer and the weather. I ordered a drink- the old man suggested I try Shiner Black- and walked around looking at all the typical tourist shop items. I ended up buying a Shiner shirt, a koozie and my beer and left for home. It was a pretty good trip even though I was alone. That little shop/bar was a good place to stop to meet people and try some local beer.

Sarah

This is Sarah and she has been a good friend of mine since high school. She came to visit me this week over spring break so we could spend time together and get the first photos of the newest thing in her life. Sarah and her boyfriend Kolton will be having a baby this summer and even though we don't know whether it is a boy or a girl, we do know it will be one loved child!

Week 5

For about a month now I've been working on a few self portraits for a little assignment. Before this I haven't been patient enough to try this type of photography but I think I found something else to like.

About a week ago I went into my grandmother's room to look around and think about what I should do for my project. I seem to shoot better when I have the emotions to work with and on this day I had just that.

Self portraits aren't just close up shots of a naked body or a metaphor for what you see yourself as. I've realized that in order to capture myself I have to be myself in front of the camera. I let myself feel what I was feeling that day and went with it.

My family has always been very supportive of me and my photos. Mom and Dad bought my first camera and told me to start doing what I loved. I shouldn't be worried about a career that will make me the most money, I should put everything I have into what will make me happy.

My grandmother was also a huge support to whatever it was that I was interested in. She was a smart, successful woman and I have great respect for her. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be where I am today. I have seen things and been places because of her. I also have done things and held myself to a certain standard because of her. You cannot be anything but the best person you're capable of being when you are the granddaughter of Katie Watson. She was a beautiful, kind hearted woman and I will be lucky if I am anything like her. It has been five days since she has passed now and it's an understatement to say she is and will always be missed. I love her very much and can't wait to see her again, fully healed and ready to have some fun.

To Mamma Kay.

Week 4

BabyBump

This weekend I got to take maternity photos for some friends of mine. They're expecting to have little Corbin in mid march, or even possibly at the end of this month!



The weather calmed down yesterday just long enough to let us take some rain free photos. Even though it wasn't so pretty outside, we still got some really great shots.

I loved the reflection shots we got. There is at least one great thing about the water when it rains!

Week 3

Person of Interest

I obviously skipped week 2, but that is completely because I was too lazy to get anything good and I'm not about to waste your time on not so great photos. This weekend I was out at my grandma's house. She is actually my great grandma and she lives with her daughter, my grandmother. Confused? That's okay. Moral of the story is, I've been learning a lot spending time with two great, old ladies and this is just one of the two. 

Docia Bell is my Great Grandmother and she can make me laugh all day long. She raised 9 children, losing one to cancer as a baby, and before that was raised by a woman who had to "work in the field like a man". Her father died when she was young but her mother must have been a strong woman. She grew up along side several other children in rural Texas during the 30's. I always thought that these kinds of stories were only for movie scripts, but my great grandmother lived that life.

At 86 years old, Grandma has and extremely patient gait. She shuffles her feet inch by inch, taking her time with each step. If I'm ever caught behind her I find myself watching her feet as she shuffles. Step, slide, step, pause. I'm always wondering if one day you wake up and find that you just can't walk the way you used to. Does she get impatient with how slow she moves? Does she even notice? Or do you just slowly get to that point. When you wake up to another slow day. Nothing to do but push the walker in front of you. Her walker's name is Daisy.

I know that aging slowly isn't always the case. Some people don't get the right to a gracious end of life. Great grandmother is pretty lucky in that account. She's 86 years young. The biggest issue she has daily is whether or not there is jello in the refrigerator and when the news is coming on.

I'm often reminded and surprised about how differently my own life has been from hers. Grandma was born in 1925. She remembers when there was no air-conditioning or electricty and when her mamma dreamed of getting a refrigerator. Grandma married an older man at the age of 16. As the story goes, she and my great grandfather and her mother drove to the house of a preacher. They parked at his mailbox and got married right in the truck. The next day, she went to school.

She had a baby at the age of 17, sent her beloved husband off to a world war, watched him come back and had 8 more kids with him. She has most likely witnessed segregation up close and was present in the south while Jim Crow was still in effect. She was around for the deaths of Elvis, Kennedy and Martin Luther King. One thing I can affectionately say about Grandma is, even though she was raised around such prejudice she loves President Obama.

Getting to know my great grandmother over the past two years has really been great. There's so much to learn about people and it's easy to do if you just listen to them with sincerity. Grandma is a unique individual. She has never driven a car, never used a computer, never owned a cell phone and still holds her lady like status. Wherever we go, she doesn't go without her lipstick. She's a different kind of woman than i'm used to. I'm not saying that her life is something I would have wanted. But I'm so glad I'm learning about it.