Documentation of my “personal space”; my lifestyle; my aesthetic.
Photo Essay Book
Video Slideshow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3lyOKGdjDA&feature=youtu.be
Process
Reflection:
When asked to describe my aesthetic I often think of clothes that I usually wear or things that I would design. Often overlooked as an answer to this question is my personal space. This is not to say that I do not care about what my space looks like, yet it is something that I do not constantly observe and is an aspect of my life that evolves right before my eyes. This project enabled me to see this so-called “third dimension” of my aesthetic, thus continuing to form the collection of objects, ideas, and concepts that inspire me.
To begin the project, I photographed my room in my apartment, which is where I do the majority of my work. This included furniture, general space, and objects of significance to me. I also decided to photograph the area in Brooklyn where I live, because there are specific places that I see everyday which I would consider “personal space”. Out of all the photographs, I chose 15. These I edited to create a consistent monochromatic neutral tone, which also serves as a representation of my personal aesthetic. I have titled my final photo essay book “Être”, which is the French verb “to be”. The photo essay represents my life; my being. Each photograph has a word that describes an aspect of my personal space and/or aesthetic. Finally, I chose the quote said by Coco Chanel because I feel like it really explains the concept of an aesthetic as a personal lifestyle.
The additional video slideshow of my photographs serves as yet another way to display what inspires me, this time adding sound to the visual. I found that the sound addition had an integral part in defining the mood of the piece because as I was choosing sounds, it was difficult to find one that I felt captured the feeling I was trying to evoke. In the end, I chose two sounds that are minimal and layered them to add dimension. Finally, I uploaded several of my photographs to Instagram to get feedback from followers. I received comments mainly about the consistent theme – saying that the photographs “looked good together”. Although nice, these comments did not do much to add to my process.
Overall, I am pleased with the evolution of the project, and I feel as though I am learning more about my aesthetic and what inspires me as a designer.
