JSC Intro to Digital Media 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

I was born in Southeaster Alaska and although I was not born as an Alaskan Native, I was brought up engulfed to their culture. The style of Pacific Northwestern Indian art has inspired three generations of my family. My Grandmother needlepoint many designs into pillows and wall hangings and my father has created several woodcarvings and prints. As I started this project I became acutely aware of how my family's artwork inspires me.

Each member of my family has an animal or a type of energy that they are drawn to and their totems just fell into place. The colors that I used were partially inspired by tradition totem poles and carvings, but if I felt a better color match for my family member I used the colors that fit.

The eagle is my husband. I have multiple images represent the stages of life that I have know him as: the friend, the student, the artist, the husband.

The polar bear and her cub is an image of myself and a symbol of the children I surround myself with as a teacher.

The hands are my mother because healing is one of her passions.

The crab is my father. A creature with hidden strength and a multitude of ways to be creative.

The salmon represent my brother. A wise fisherman who appreciates the bounty from our rivers and oceans.

The porpoise is a totem that my little sister has chosen from a very young age. She identifies strongly with nature and water.

The images can be viewed as individual pieces or as a totem pole.

Thank You, Hosanna

Emma Final

For my final project I decided, after an inconvenient misplacement of a neon yellow hard-drive that I’m still determined to find, that I would convey my absolute favorite quote through pictures I’ve taken over the years. I strived to convey the quote through images of the most significant individuals in my life, as well as monumental events and places I’ve been. Of course the details of the quote put limitations on this, but I was able to achieve this idea to a certain degree.

To begin with, Hunter S. Thompson was a complete lunatic and in my opinion, one of the most successful writers ever. He was a journalist who fabricated portions of his articles with such graceful absurdity that no one could argue with his methods. The quote only partially shows his maniacal attitude and style, but it has been, and might always be, my favorite quote ever written.

“"Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate, who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll." - Hunter S. Thompson

I broke down the quote so that I would have 15 different images. I eliminated the line, “have fun” because I found it to be redundant when put to images, and I was more focused on the “get wild” part of the quotation. I went through all my images, digital and scanned from my 35 mm, to find the perfect images to convey with each line of the quote. It was not very hard to select these images, the only exception was “with a heart full of hate”, and “falling in love”. I had no idea how I wanted to show these images, especially since the rest of the images were more about spontaneity and carelessness, and I have a hard time putting hate and love into that mix, especially when I wanted to use my own photographs for this project.

I decided to use an image I took during a photo journalism weekend course for the “falling in love” part of it, I guess I didn’t realize how cynical it was to use an image of a rusted gutter with the text seeping through the breaks in the gutter, until someone pointed this out during critique. The image always reminded me of an Oscar Wilde quote, “We’re all living in the gutters, but some of us are staring at the stars.” I remember thinking of that quote when I took the picture and I think that perhaps that was my subconscious thought in selecting the picture; that love is a gutter, but you can see the stars from the sewer…. Then again, I’m just trying to justify my unintentional display of cynicism with showing love as a picture of a rusted over gutter.

I lived in Providence, Rhode Island for awhile, which is where the “heart full of hate” image was taken. My entire eight month stint in Providence was essentially based around the porch the photo was taken on, cigarettes, and that ash-tray. I have always believed that regret is a useless emotion. It doesn’t get one anywhere, if anything it only brings you to worst places. Life is about moving forward, who has time to waste on being upset over the past and bad reflections. However, I will always have a love-hate relationship with that ash-tray, that porch, and the burning Turkish Gold cigarette captured in the photograph. They are the reason I’m sitting in Johnson, Vermont. While intently reviewing all the images I had, this was the only image that invoked a bizarre stir in my stomach. I will not call it hate, I’m not sure what to call it, but it was the only image I saw fit for that portion of the quote.

The rest of the images were easy choices that fit while with each line. I chose an image of Sadye at Prospect Rock with a view of a spring coming into flourish for “maybe there is no heaven,”. The second image in the series, “or maybe this is all pure gibberish,” I took this winter when I spent a month in Colorado. To say the least, my experience was pure gibberish and reflected extremely accurately in this photograph. Next, a blended photograph of Nemesia and I standing in front of deer horns at the most interesting bar I’ve been to portrayed, “a product of the demented imagination,” which suits both of us, because we have always been the weird ones. An image I took with my 35 mm of my father gardening and smoking a stag is labeled with “a drunken hillbilly”. The man does love his beer, but he is not a drunk, nor a hillbilly, however I felt he could pass for one in this photograph. I used another 35mm of him at our favorite fishing spot for, “where the real wind blows”. Rek being a lazy beast soaking up the sun explains, “sleep late” and a photograph of Sadye, myself, and a friend sitting on the roof of our house in Johnson says, “has found a way to live”. The rest of the photographs are self-explanatory really. Nemesia being wild, a run-in with the police, whisky, and probably everyone in Northern Vermont’s favorite tree. Rabble, rabble, rabble.

Using Photoshop I just messed around with the images until I was content with their aesthetics. I’m pleased with how the project came out, although every time I see something neon yellow my heart skips a beat. Now that I’m reflecting on the project, however, I think I would like to change the image of “falling in love” to the photograph that Sadye took of Rek and Leea on the porch with their noses together. That most likely would induce “awes” rather than raised eyebrows during a critique. Oh well, res ipsa loquitur.

Officer Lets Loose, Consequences Follow

An Artist Statement:
We've seen hippies prancing around naked, and we've seen the guys from Jackass stripping infront of unassuming store clerks, but have we ever seen a cop strip down to his skivies and wander aimlessly into the woods? I don't think we have.
When I think of a police officer I think: strict, uniform, put-together, and possibly powerful in influencing the lives of others. The thought of a cop relinquishing his polished appearance, and consequently his status, for a randy frolic in the woods gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. In this dimly possible scenario, a police officer could show his free spirit while embracing the primal instincts that any mammal might have on a beautiful day. Unfortunately, without his tools (helmet, badge, weapons, etc...), there is little hope that this officer will survive in the great outdoors. By simply derobing and venturing away from civilization, this man's title as a "law enforcer" is now meaningless. To any observer, he is just some crazy dude running naked through the woods. To a tiger, he is simply a yummy lump of flesh.
I made this series to underscore the fact that men and women, despite thier status, weapons, or titles, are just lumps of living flesh like any animal in the world. I think we forget this sometimes.