A day in the life of... Hands

Think of everything you touch in a day. Think of how much you use your hands.
I decided to use hands as my subject because you do so much with them that I couldn't resist. So, I photographed my average day starting with opening the blinds and followed my average routine, except I paid the most attention to what my hands did. 
I didn't include any narrative for my project because I think the pictures speak for themselves.
I really enjoyed doing this project because I got to think about how much we use our hands. Even now, typing this write up about the project I just finished. 
Without further ado, here it is. Enjoy.

         

Jules Allen

Jules was born in San Francisco, California he is currently working as a professor at Queensborough College in New York and is a highly regarded, award-winning photographer. 


Jules has achieved many successes in his schooling and has many qualifications such as a Master of Fine Arts in Photography, Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and, Master of Counselling Psychology. Jules is inspired by Edward Weston, Robert Frank, Miles Davis because of their eccentricity and influential work. 


As a photographer, Jules wants to capture truth in his images as well as irony and he's won many prestigious awards for his work. He received the New York Council of the Arts, & Public Art Fund Presentation Award for “60 Bus Stop Shelters,” in 1992 and the CAPS Award for Photography in 1980. 


Jules wants people to know about his African-American culture and he focuses on enlightening and exposing the true life styles of these cultures through his marvelous images. Each tells a story, which makes me admire his passion for truth in photography.


Jules uses film for his images, his work is known worldwide it has been exhibited all over the U.S as well as abroad. His work has also been featured in magazines, commercials and numerous periodicals. 


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/africa-in_your_own_sweet_way/e3ca32884#h3ca32884
The first image I've chosen to talk about is of an African woman standing next to a car with a thoughtful expression. I find this image to be captivating because you can't help but wonder what she is thinking about. The woman looks as if she's waiting by the car with a secret to tell which leaves me wanting to know why Jules chose her as the focal point for this image.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/boxing/e11a10507#h11a10507
I chose this second image because it looks like the subject in the picture means business. The subject's stature and clothing tells you that he perceives himself as a person of importance. I was drawn to this image because the subject is stationary while the background is animated. The way the subject's cigarette smoke is also caught in the picture adds an instant focal point to this image.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/rhythmology/e26adf45a#h26adf45a
I was drawn to this image when I first saw it because the more I look at it, the more it intrigues me. The blurred background makes the subject of the image look smooth and almost ornamental, but to me the subject looks like it could be an instrument.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/rhythmology/e26adf45a#h26adf45a
This third image is appealing to me because I have no idea what the people in the picture are doing. The people in the foreground are lying on the sand in a circle, which to me looks as if they are performing a ritual but at the same time attending a social outing. In the background, there are many boats which intrigues me because it makes me wonder why they need all those boats.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/hats_and_hatnots/e1b67e98c#h1b67e98c
This image is quite compelling to me because the expression on the subjects face is not at all threatening, despite the fact he's holding a gun. At the same time, the subject's stare doesn't look afraid to use his weapon. I was also drawn to this image because in the background, there is a younger boy who looks almost amused by the fact the main subject is holding a gun. This image is reminiscent of the gang life style and I admire the way Jules has captured this.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/hats_and_hatnots/e3c07ee01#h3c07ee01
I find this sixth image to be mesmerizing because you can't see the subject's face, yet this adds the emotion of grief to the picture. The fact that the subject is wearing dark clothes and a black veil creates the effect that the place they might be going to is quite solemn. The background also reminds me of a court house or Victorian church.


http://morefurther.julesallenphotography.com/hats_and_hatnots/eb205035#hb205035
The last image I chose to talk about is of a man who is completely in a darker light which makes him appear like a shadow or a very mysterious character. Despite the dark lighting, there is a beam of light above him which makes him appear like he's heroic. I was also drawn to the trench-like crack in the side walk beside him because to me this adds to the subject appearing to be quite fearless and noble.


Jules work is very intriguing and I've enjoyed looking and interpreting his work. His strengths are in the content of his images and I applaud him for his dedication to photography because he's a very creative man. 

Scott Hazard

I'm really excited about this next project we're going to be doing. It's inspired by Scott Hazard who's work is phenomenal and intriguing. I really enjoy his work because it's so interesting to look at and I cannot wait to get started on this project because I all ready have a clear idea of what I want to do with his techniques. 

Here's an example of what Scott does.

I find it to be almost other worldly in the fact that the holes or tears in his images could represent an opening to another dimension.

 I can't help but wonder where he got this idea form or what inspired him.

I wanted to do something really unique with this project and so, I chose to do a morbid theme starring my brother. 

His journey starts with a hole in the ground, which is only the first occurrence of his evident fate of being engulfed by a portal to an alternate universe.

Using the magnetic lasso, I cut out my brothers' leg to make it appear that he is stepping over the hole in the ground. I also created the layers in this image with the magnetic lasso, added inner shadows and strokes to make the hole appear as if it were subducting into the ground.

In  this second image, my brother is running from the portal which is gaining more force and area. 

I created this effect by darkening the inner shadows and adjusting the brightness to once again produce depth.

In this picture, my brothers' fate has caught up with him and the portal is consuming him.

This image was a challenge, I needed a lot of help from Mr.Memmott. Eventually by using inner shadows, outer glows and playing with each of the layers levels; it all came together.

This last image represents the idea of after entering the portal, my brother gets possessed and is offering for the viewer to come into this horrible place. 

This image was a lot like the first. I had to cut out my brothers' hand with the magnetic lasso and like all the other images, use the same editing procedure and finally a 3D effect was created, which was exactly what I wanted to achieve.

I created these images in Photoshop by using the lasso tools to cut out the 'portals' in my pictures. To add the perspective of depth, I used an inner shadow and increased the distance of the shadow as the layers got smaller. I also added a stroke to my images to make them appear like the 'portals' were ripping through the images.

Photographic ABC

For this assignment, we went around to find the hidden letters in the architecture, nature, etcetera. This assignment was harder than it sounds because once we found all 26 letters, we had to put those images on an 8 x 10 canvas in Photoshop, which was also a challenge. The task's difficulty didn't stop there because then we had to create a second image, using the letters we have to spell out our last name.


Without further ado, here's the final result. After a week or so's hard work, here it is.


Enjoy!

Cubism

This is the project I did for photography class. It's based on the subject of cubism, which is a really cool concept. I did this image by scewing certain parts of the picture, adding a texture and gradient overlay in Photoshop. It took a lot of time but, I'm happy with the result. Enjoy.

Friday Photos

Friday Photo #1 - Black and White

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/06/09/beautiful-black-and-white-photography/

This piece is titled "Birds" but unfortunately, the artist is unknown.


I chose this piece because I am fond of everything about the photo.


I like that it's taken from a worms eye view and how the buildings look like they frame the sky.


I admire how the subject in this picture looks like he or she is trying to fly with the birds but also looks like he or she is falling from the building at the same time.  


Lastly, I applaud the detail captured in the buildings and in the sky because it adds more intrigue to the piece itself and the concept behind this wonderful image.

Friday Photo #2 - Something Blue

This is an image I took for this week's Friday photo which I believe captures the essence of perpetual motion that the colour blue represents. The focus on the lighter blue appears faster and more dynamic than the out of focus darker blue, which appears far slower. Thus creating a sense of movement.  

Friday Photo #3 - Power of Words

I chose to photograph the theatre sign because I love every aspect of the theatre. The masks portray the art of being someone else which is one of the main concepts of theatre. I enjoy the challenge of stepping into someone else's shoes and thinking of myself as another person. I really enjoy performing and the art form that theatre captures. 

Friday Photo #4 - Find Light in the Dark

I really enjoyed the subject of this weeks Friday Photo because it is possible to interpret light in the dark in many interesting ways. I chose to capture light in the dark by photographing my brother spinning glow-sticks. The images show patterns of light, colour, dynamic movement and abstract shapes. 

The first image reminds me of a Hot-Wheels track because of the many crossings that could represent tracks. To me this image evokes a feeling of speed because it's a little out of focus. 

The second image is clear and looks like it has two perspectives, one of orange and one of green. The image captures movement and almost a 3D effect.

The last image is more compact yet more dynamic than the second. I like the way the colours create two very different, interesting and random patterns. I also admire the stripes that appear to be behind the wider bands of colour because these add interest to the image.

Friday Photo #5 - Minimize the Horizon

I have to say that I found this week's Friday photo a challenge because at first I had a hard time understanding the meaning of minimizing the horizon. Although I found minimizing the horizon challenging, I quite enjoyed going out and playing around with my camera to get the right shots. Without further ado, here they are.

I chose these two images because I believe they represent this week's subject very well and are interesting to look at because there appears the be more sky than anything else, which was the point of this week's subject of minimizing the horizon.

Friday Photo #6 - Noticing Creases in Fabric

This week's Friday photo was a little like the Alphabet project we were assigned because the subject of this week's photo intended us to pay attention to patterns. I enjoyed this week's subject because much like the project, it enabled me to pay attention to detail and the designs created by the creases.

I chose these two images because they both contain patterns which catch your eye and add interest to the content of the subject.

 The first reminds me of a desert because the creases remind me of the dunes crated by wind in the sand. The sun light also makes these creases look like a reflection in still water. 

This second image is a little different, yet still very interesting to look at. The creases in this fabric reminds me of rolling hills, because of the shape and the appearance of these shapes overlapping. 

                 Friday Photo #7 - Repetitive Patterns

For this week's Friday photo I decided to capture a shell because shells have a lot of detail. They are a beautiful piece of nature and I am fascinated by the pattern that these shells have.

I find this image of the shell to capture this week's subject of repetitive patterns perfectly because each colour on the shell occurs in stripes all over. These colours also repeat to the very tip in an interesting spiral pattern.

The second image I took for this Friday photo is of a wooden lawn chair which has the appearance of being intricately woven.

The pattern created by the wood suits this week's subject perfectly because it is also very repetitive in colour and has a geometric appearance.

          Friday Photo #8 - Reflections in shiny surfaces

For this week's Friday Photo, I chose to photograph three different objects around the house.

The first is of our kettle and I really like how the light coming in through the window appears to be stretched and the objects, like the cupboard also seems to be wider and my reflection is thinner.

This is a picture of a taps' handle. I chose this image because there are two reflections in the picture. This is because there's a mirror behind the sink which reflects my image on the other side of the taps' handle.

For the last image, I chose to photograph a spoon because of the interesting size of the background. It appears that the objects behind me are smaller and the room is more compact yet my reflection isn't changed.

Friday Photo #9 - Somewhere I've never been

This week's subject really made me think. I didn't know what to do for it, so Jonathan and I went for a drive in his brand new car and it suddenly came to me. I had never been in his new car before and so I took a picture.

It's a very nice car by the way! 

For the second photo, as we were driving along I noticed a secluded pond that I had never seen before. I walked up as far as I could and took a couple shots. Like every week, I enjoyed the challenge of this week's subject and couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Friday Photo #10 - Dividing a space in 3 sections

For this week's Friday photo I decided to do something a little different. I divided my closet into 3 sections of colours: lighter, middle and darker. 

This Friday photo was actually a productive thing to do because it brought some order to my closet. :)

Friday Photo #11 - Close-ups

This is the last Friday photo, and it's one of myself. I had to experiment with different angles and I had to bring the brightness up, but all in all I'm happy with the way it turned out.

For this first photo, I wanted to capture my freckles and eyes, so I zoomed in as much as I could, focused and took a few shots of this side of my face at different angles. By far, I find this one the most appealing because you can see the contours of my eyes and nose. I really like how you can only see the top half of my right eye and the freckles on my nose.

I chose to do this photo in black and white because it adds sort of a coldness to the picture. I also really like how the lines on my lips are captured and the shadow created by the light around my right cheek. 

Hanging out with Hannah Maynard

Hannah Maynard was a photographer living in the Victorian era who experimented with multiple exposures, photo sculpture and surreal composite images. Hannah mainly focused on a series of images based around her children and death. 


She was obsessed with the idea of spirituality and haunted by deaths in her family, which inspired her profound and surreal photographs.  This idea is represented in this photograph which fascinates me not only for the content but for the inspiration behind the content.


http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_136/f_05031.gif






Hannah's life was a life I can relate to because Hannah was an immigrant to Canada. She immigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1852 and later moved to Vancouver Island in 1862 with her husband and four children. Hannah's husband was a shoe-maker by trade but also was a photographer who initially introduced Hannah to the photography society. The Maynard's first opened a portrait studio in Ontario which was a very successful business which continued to be successful in Victoria. 


This is a picture of the Maynard Building in Victoria where the portrait business took place:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_75/c_08993.gif


This image is an example of one of the portraits the Maynard's business would take. I chose this particular portrait because it captures the era as well as Hannah's skills as a photographer.


http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_143/g_06738.gif






Our next assignment is inspired by Hannah Maynard and her artistic work. We are focusing on the idea of multiple exposures, which in my opinion is pretty cool. 


Like Hannah Maynard, we are going to be setting up a camera in one area and take multiple photos of ourselves interacting with ourselves. She showed this idea in this next piece which I find to be interesting because it reminds me of a family having tea together and also for the inspiration behind the content.

http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/maynard/art5.jpg

This is the Hannah Maynard inspired piece I completed yesterday, enjoy. :)