All posts by Joshua Becker

Project 3 – To Feel

Title: Looking into my world

Artist Statement: The “to feel” project was a challenging, yet empowering assignment that forced me to go out of my comfort zone. I photographed the state of depression using my body. The essay is a narrative of my experience with depression, bumpy and confusing but with help, can be managed.

Video Project Proposal

Concept:

We are not doing a really traditional linear story but rather a mashup of interviews with students at the Parsons summer intensive in which we ask them questions about who they are, what their relationship with fashion is, and how those two things intersect.

 

Goal/intended purpose:

Our goal is to explore these students’ identities, cultures, similarities, and differences through the clothes that they wear and discover how their clothing empowers them.

 

WHO: Students in the summer program!

WHAT: 

  • The students, their outfits, close-ups of them and their clothes (we want to get personal and capture textures and details)
  • Other B roll taken in stores, on streets, of clothes in stores, what people are wearing, etc.

WHERE: 

  • DIY studio in Stuyvesant Park/in stores and streets surrounding where we have class
  • We will create a set-up with a white backdrop, LED panel lights, a tripod, etc. in the basement of the dorm

WHEN:

  • In-class: B-roll outside of interviews
  • Saturday (7/20/19): Interviews with students
    • 10am – 6pm (approx and max)

 

HOW:

  • Shoot with 2 cameras:
    • One focusing on a wider shot to get interview clips (on a tripod)
    • One focusing on capturing close ups

 

Media Question:

A lot of media work has definitely been produced on the general subject of fashion and identity, we were really inspired by the Calvin Klein video that we watched in class as well as the two videos linked below. For our video we are focusing on teenagers, artists, people who came to this summer program at Parsons in New York City from all kinds of different places.

 

  • Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeMmUglv6wA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u9sILIHAnQ

 

Sound:

There will be sound in our video: music and students talking

  • There will be music in an intro (and outro) as well as possibly spliced up within the video
  • The students answering the questions we ask them will be most of the audio

 

Who is working on the project and what will the role of each person be?

  • Groupmembers:
    • Jill
    • Maria
    • Joshua
    • Tess
  • We are not fully decided on what role each person will have while we shoot and want to remain flexible so that everyone can try out different roles as we shoot.
  • Roles:
    • Equipment renting: Jill, Tess
    • Bringing equipment from home: Joshua
    • Editor:
    • Audio:
    • Interviewer:
    • Cinematographers (2): 

7/17/19 – Questions for Bill Owens

Questions:

  1.  Your photos of suburban areas (Suburbia, 1973) are some of your most well-known work. What made you choose to photograph these areas?
  2. What role, if any, did your childhood upbringing have on your photography?
  3. How did you use the Guggenheim Fellowship to further your work?
  4. What do you want young photographers to be inspired by in your work?

7/16/19 – Museum of the Moving Image Reflection

Reflection:

The studio strobe light in this image is one of the most fascinating things I saw. I stared at it from different angles for about 10 minutes. I am a person who loves lighting so the lighting section was really fascinating to me. This light, in particular, was massive in comparison to not only all of the lights I work with but also in comparison to the other, surrounding lights. I can’t imagine how much power this light used and how bright it may have been but I wish I could try it!

This projector was fascinating to me because it tired into what we learned about in the morning before we went to MOMI. After photographers began using film to create moving pictures, this projector was one of the first used to playback the creations. Comparing it to small projectors like the ones we often have in classrooms shows me how far we have come in terms of modern technology.

This model of Auschwitz, created for “Sophie’s Choice” bought up deep feelings in me. I lost many family members in the Holocaust and to see people in modern-day life trying so hard to accurately tell the stories of those who died and suffered makes me feel slightly more reassured that we will truly #neverforget what happened to so many people.

Persistence of Vision:

The persistence of vision is an optical illusion that occurs because people retain the light that enters the eye after they cease seeing it. While this effect is brief, scientists believe that this is responsible for our perception of motion. This is also one of the premises of how we perceive film as fluid instead of individual pictures.

7/12/19 – Museum Bard x HGG, Bruce Davidson, Pace/McGill, Keith De Lellis Exhibits

The above image is a simple but powerful photograph of a young girl seeming to stare off into the distance. The photographer had a shallow depth of field in order to have a sharp contrast between the girl and the background. The hair beads, water color, and shirt contrast beautifully and flatter the skin tone of the girl. The lighting is soft and gentle which adds to the gentle but lonely message.                          These photographs that go together are beautiful representations of an ideal portrait, something I enjoy taking.  The gorgeous contrast in the colors is something that stands out to me and  I like the non traditional expressions. While the beauty of this photo is hard to observe in this photograph, the photo is gorgeously colored and full of detail. There is a sharper depth of field which allows for the eye to wander more. The rule of thirds is slightly utilized here because the subjects are placed almost on a “rule of third line”. Furthermore, the shutter speed was high because you can see the details in the water rippling and the woman is in motion but captured perfectly. The lighting is also aligned with the subjects which add more depth.

7/10/19 – Coney Island Photo Essay

On Wednesday, July 19th, 2019, we went to Coney Island. Despite extreme weather conditions, the sun was bright and people were joyful. These photos were taken using various techniques to cohesively illustrate the rainbow, something I hold dear to me, as it is the representative symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, which I am a part of. I find that color is relative, it can be digitally manipulated or simply perceived differently in various environmental conditions. I wanted to play with this concept of color saturation, brightness, and tone which can be observed in my photos.

7/9/19 – Applying Manual Techniques

In order to demonstrate my understanding of basic manual techniques (aperture, iso, shutter speed, white balance, etc), I took some sample photos to play with various techniques we covered.



The photograph above was taken using f/22 aperture and a 23-second exposure. I was aiming for the ghost effect using extremely low a shutter speed.

The photograph above was taken using f/5.6 aperture and 1/50 shutter speed. I wanted a deep field of view so I tried to use a lower aperture.

The photograph above was taken using f/5.6 aperture and 1/160 shutter speed. I needed a relatively high shutter speed because of the natural movement of the subject however, the aperture was kept low in order to ensure a deep field depth.

The photograph above was taken using f/5.6 aperture and 1/20 shutter speed. I wanted details in the makeup brushes so I used harsh lighting to highlight those details.

The photograph above was taken using f/5 aperture and 1/4000 shutter speed. To emulate action photography I photographed glitter being dropped into a jar which took a lot of patience and made quite the mess however, it was worth it.

The photograph above was taken using f/25 aperture and 1/200 shutter speed. I really liked the detail in the glitter and brush here so I included this high aperture photo to show sharp contrast.

The photograph above was taken using f/25 aperture and 1/200 shutter speed. I attempted to make a bokeh.

The photograph above was taken using f/5.6 aperture and 1/200 shutter speed. I photographed the glitter that had risen to the top and that was moving and settling throughout to show depth and movement.

The photograph above was taken using f/5.6 aperture and 1/160 shutter speed. Again, I tried to capture the tiny glitter particles and their movement.

The photograph above was taken using f/6.3 aperture and 1/160 shutter speed. I wanted to show the texture of the beautyblender so I tried to light it softly and manipulate the position of the camera.

7/9/19 – Essays by Tony Hiss and R. Murray Schafer Reflection

In an excerpt of “In Motion: The Experience of Travel”, written by Tony Hiss, the concept of “deep travel” was explained and analyzed using literary analogies and examples. To summarize my understanding of the text, “deep travel” is a state of mindfulness where we fully observe our surroundings. It is crucial not to judge or modify them but simply to absorb as much information as possible. Once that is complete, you can describe what you observe without using past biases as judgment. Since the state of mind is very well just that, a state of mind, it can be sought after, practiced, chosen, repeated, and one can get better at this skill. This piece is important to aspiring photographers because the concept of manual photography, something we have been practicing our understanding of is directly correlated with a state of mind such as “deep travel”. Understanding and using the manual mode on a DSLR camera after having been using the automatic modes can be a difficult adjustment. In order to be successful, Hiss’ concept of “deep travel” must be followed in the sense that the mind must be clear and open to learn information and reformat one’s understanding of DSLR usage. While slightly, abstract, the analogy of the human mind and its effect from environmental influence is similar to the concept of a DSLR camera, we can control certain aspects and hopefully achieve a desired outcome.

 

        Similarly, Murray R Schafer wrote a piece titled, “I have never seen a sound”. While similar to Tony Hiss’ work, the article mentioned ideas presented by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau which included, “‘I have plenty of games in the dark…If you are shut up in a building at night, clap your hands. You will know from the sound whether a space is large or small, if you are in the middle or in one corner” (Schafer, R. Murray, “I have never seen a sound,” Canadian Acoustics 37, no. 3 (2009)). Rousseau brings up a key perspective of making the most out of certain situations and adapting. If you are in a dark room and want to figure more information out, clap and listen for the way you hear it. Again, the same concept is present in photography. Often, various conditions are provided or created and a good photographer must learn to adapt to these changes using features in their camera. The immense yet, rapidly disappearing sound system we have firing all around us constantly is a crucial example of taking for granted our ability to hear sound and similarly, the fully automatic functions of a modern DSLR camera.