Old Work, New Ideas

I believe myself to be a landscape photographer when it comes to my aesthetically pleasing shots; the photographs that I and others hang on their walls. I will never be satisfied with the quantity of amazing shots Mother Nature gives us only because I know there are millions more. I draw inspiration from places such as The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, NASA, Hubble, and much more. I love to travel and take photographs to assist my memory so I can’t forget these wonderful places that I have been and these amazing moments that I have experienced. This photograph was taken on the side of the road to Yosemite National Park. I want to go hiking there for weeks and take my camera as well as many other national parks. I like this particular photograph because as the background fades into the top of the image, it seems painterly in contrast to the bottom where the foreground is crisp. The overall feel is stunning for me. The blistering cold river flowing through these hard rocks where life has sprung, while in the distance, an enormous mountain of rock emerges from the forest and feels warm by the sunlight. If it were not for the foreground, I would believe that this image was computer generated for a scene in the Lord of The Rings or similar fictional film.

The one thing I believe I have not made a valiant effort in mastering or exploring is portraiture. I have stayed away from taking photographs of people, especially in a photo-shoot for an art class. I have taken photos for weddings, family portraits, and senior portraits, but only to find the aesthetically pleasing photographs. I would like to try and shoot people with the intention of making art. Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler created a scene for a photograph named Untitled, 1998. This image is a great example of a type of photography that I would very much like to explore. They created a narrative with so many questions. This image specifically makes you wonder so much about her, the subject, the house, the yard, the past, the future, etc. There are other types of photography within the portrait that tell us about the person more than a normal dressed up “say cheese” type of photograph. I would like to explore that as well. I will have to get over my fear of dealing with people in front of the camera. For some reason, I just don’t feel comfortable telling people what to do for my photograph.