Final Project: Small Towns

TriangleTriangle

Sannah Kvist

Sannah Kvist, a Swedish photographer from Gothenburg, has a very simplistic, crisp, and clear artistic style that she uses in composing photographs of people, things, and landscapes. I am very drawn to her photography because it is so simple, yet aesthetically pleasing and thoughtful - something I am excited to develop in my own photography as well.

Art21 Article Review

Art21 Blog

"The Undead Tree of Charles Ray"

Written by Caroline Picard, Nov. 2, 2012

The article's subject category, "How are stories and art intertwined?" initially caught my interest because it is something I want to develop in my own photography; learning to create layers of meaning and context in images is not an easy task, but finally creating a finished product that has both depth and narrative is always satisfying.  In this article, Picard explained the process that Charles Ray underwent to create a wooden replica of a rotting redwood which he titled Hinoki.  From a cast Ray made of the tree, the replica was carved from Japanese cypress - essentially a tree transformed into the form of another tree.  Ray's work is given additional context from the informational placards on the museum wall which explain the process, allowing the viewer to understand how its story intertwines with the art.  Then, with the knowledge of the work's past, the viewer is able to make connections to the essential question which Picard asks, "What does it mean to say the work is an imitation of nature? What is nature?"  Both the original tree and replica were living organisms; yet one died, the new tree took on its rotting form, and "has taken multiple tree-lives to make this single representation of one." In addition to creating aesthetically pleasing images, I am also interested in exploring other techniques like challenging myself to create meaningful pieces that beg the deeper questions, making onlookers see things from a different perspective.

Conscientious Article Review

Conscientious

"How to Tell a Story with Pictures Part 2"

Written by Joerg Colberg, Oct. 21, 2012

I initially chose this article because the title caught my attention; one of the things I would like to develop in my photography is the ability to tell stories or evoke emotion through the images I create. In the article Colberg explained that the best way to tell stories through photographs is to visually guide the viewer through either a sequence of events or by displaying a coherence of ideas through both literal and contextual pictures. I also found it interesting that Colberg pointed out that not all the pictures should convey the exact same idea; rather, there should be "images that only function as a breathing space for the viewer." This gives the viewer the flexibility to both follow your story or idea and also form their own connections. I am excited to work on creating more meaningful images as I grow as a photographer and hopefully apply this same idea to my current project.

Project Preview

Small Town Charm

Multiple Places Project

Lenscratch Article Review

Lenscratch

"Latin American Week: Paccarik Orue"

Written by Eleonora Ronconi, October 22, 2012

This article highlights the work of Paccarik Orue, a photographer raised in Peru and now living in San Francisco, California.  His work mainly focuses on finding beauty in struggling communities,  reflective both of his experiences growing up in a turbulent Peruvian social climate as well as the hardships of an immigrant living in the U.S. Soon to be published, his book There is nothing beautiful here compares the difficulties in Richmond, California and Cerro de Pasco, Peru; through this project he has created a collection of images that blend both hardship and hope through the endurance of people and culture.  Orue's photographs initially caught my interest because they juxtapose a happy color tone with themes of hardship and plight, challenging the viewer to see that there really is beauty in places that we usually categorize as unappealing.  I love this kind of work and would like to pursue an avenue of this idea in my final project: capturing the iconic, often overlooked, and unique elements of small towns and representing them in a way that really is beautiful.