For my project, “The Sign of The Cancer” I tried to incorporate pieces of significant facts about my birthdate which are important to me. Such as Jacques Cousteau who died on the day of my birth, and who was also French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. Jacques Cousteau has been an admired figure through out my entire life especially due to my love for marine biology. Another factor, is a question as to why is his name so similar to mine?Another point of my project is my birth horoscope sign, the sign of the crab, the cancer. Although I do understand that you might see this as a coincidence but I see this as a sign. Through out my life, many “coincidences” have occurred and there is no explanation as to why, but they just do. Just as this “coincidence” occurred, it just did. And that is why I chose these two main points as the theme of my project.

I began my process of this project with a photograph of a crab, which I stenciled than painted with white acrylic paint. After doing so, I photographed the painting than input it on to photoshop. For my next step, I chose to photograph images of a beach in my hometown of Miami, FL. To push the concept of Jacques Cousteau’s death and my birth, I chose to begin shooting the photographs with a higher exposure of light and transition to darker less exposed images. I also pushed that with saturation and hue in photoshop. After completing the photographs and inputting them into photoshop, I overlayed the images with the painting of the crab that I did earlier. As for the repetition of crabs, there is no exact meaning behind the crabs repetition aside from an aesthetic that pleased my eye. From the comments in class, I definitely believe I could have pushed it a bit more with arrangement but chose not to.

2 Works of Inspiration:

-Jacques Cousteau’s studies

-News Paper articles from Long Island Post and New York times regarding horoscopes about June 25th, 1997

Q: “What if you are in your rebellious phase?”

Q: “How do you feel about your parents divorcing?”

Q: “How do you feel about your new job?”

Q: “How do you feel about Monica?”

Q: “Do you think you’re going to leave NYC soon and back to Miami?”

Q: “If you could go back in time, would you change what happened with ….. and …….?”

Q: “What is your sexuality?”

Q: “Do you think you’re going to finish University in the states?”

Q: “Why did you choose to wear a yellow shirt?”

Q: “What’s up?”

Q: “Would you ever get back together with your ex?”

Q: “Has ….. ever mentioned me?”

“I try to put myself in other people’s shoes and think about who they are and what they want”- Lynn Goldsmith

For my piece this week I wanted to focus on the idea of naturalism and thought process. The way I intend on doing this is by the inspirations by a few of my favorite photographers. Whose names are displayed below. The main photographer whose work I am focusing on is Lynn Goldsmith.

Inspirational photographers: 

• Irving Penn
• Henry Diltz- rock photorapher
• Neal Preston- rock photographer
• Lynn Goldsmith at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in soho. (Mick Jagger Performing in 1978 hosing down the crowd)
  • Source: http://www.lynngoldsmith.com/bio.html 
  • Photographs by Lynn Goldsmith:
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Short Essay Synopsis of what will be seen in the photographs: 

During the evening of Halloween we got out of class quite late and the extent of my night included going to a quick dinner and back home. I did take a few photos at dinner, but to make up for my absence of photos from halloween I took photos through out the week and during my grandfathers visit.

The background story behind these photos include a visit to my friends apartment and his elevator, a trip to the new Whitney Museum and Guggenheim, my grandfathers presence in New York City, a few trips to the restroom, nature and the changing of leaves, a television show I admired, natural lighting, and last but not least food.

Below are the images I took, the relevance of them and the questions I had while taking them: 

Why have a mirror above your head in an elevator but not on the walls of?

To who ever drew this, what possessed you to draw this graffiti of a ‘jew man’ on a role of toilet paper holder?

Why do distractions such as people and moving cars need to interfere with me taking a photo of my grandfather?

I have not seen my grandfather in 5 months. We are extremely close and this was the first time I saw him since that amount of time. I took him to an indian restaurant, which I have been craving for a while. We had a conversation about my brother and I. Before I took this photo of him, I thought about how this trip will be dedicated to me taking photos of him considering he is 86 and I do not know how much longer I will be given the chance to do it.

What inspired the architect of the guggenheim to create this building?

For the past 4 years, all I spoke about was my dream of working as a curator at the guggenheim. I admired every artistic aspect of what the museum had to offer. Although I have never been there… until I took my grandfather. There was an exhibition going on about Agnes Martin. We had never heard about that artist, and we were not to fond of her work. Although we did manage to admire some of their impressionism artwork.

Impressionism artwork which my grandfather and I admired: 

A quick photo I captured of my grandfather pondering.

I wonder what he is thinking about?

How can I paint this beautiful piece of nature in a way that perfectly represents this?

I love the way this natural light was perceived once it hit the cut out mirrors and reflected off the sun and onto the wall.

How do I make my hair like this?

A television show episode I watch of ‘Friends’. I was admiring Pheobes hair.