For this project I decided to target something that has always made me feel so many different things. Catcalling, by definition, is when one “whistles, shouts, or makes comments of a sexual nature to a woman passing by;” but I feel as though a simple definition does not explain the feeling of being catcalled. To me, it is uncomfortable and dehumanizing. It makes me feel objectified and as if I am not being treated as a real person, merely just an object. So, I tried to portray these emotions into my photos by cropping them in a way that would make most uncomfortable. I attempted to dehumanize these pictures by not including the peoples faces and make them feel more like an object. All in all, this project was very difficult to come up with, but in the end it worked out and I am glad Amy could help me figure something out that I am so passionate about!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1r4jg3z95uxrHAUBdXljdMIMFyE9TBjB5

1. When did you know you wanted to be a photographer?
2. What/who helped you make that decision?
3. What age did you first begin to do photography?
4. How did you figure out what style of photography you wanted to do?
5. Did you ever have a photography based internship?
   1. If so, where?
6. How do you suggest one gets into the photography business?
7. What are your three best pieces of advice for us as students hoping to study photography and go into that field?

The persistence of vision is when images are shown so quickly that the viewer sees it as a continuous moving image rather than several still images. This is a type of optical illusion, like most of animation.

 

I was drawn to this collage mainly because of how busy it was and how much was going on. What makes this piece successful to me is the fact that every square was a different scene so you could look at it for as long as you’d like and it would be very rare for you to see the same thing in two different squares. It was really cool to see all of these put together in a moving collage which made me distracted, but in a good way which is not something that can be experienced very often.

Similarly to the collage above, I was drawn to this piece due to the business of it. I enjoyed how much was going on at once and it was really interesting to see how live TV was produced especially sports games. I sat down and watched this for about 20-25 minutes and I never got bored with it. I found it so intriguing how everything worked together so well and how the director (so to speak) was able to choose which cameras to use and when and still make the live production look good, almost as if it had been edited prior to airing.

A common theme throughout these past three pieces is how ornate and busy they are which also correlates to this last piece. I was really drawn to this piece because of how the strobe affected the object. I found it so crazy how a simple light fixture can create a whole scene out of a moving object. I tried to capture this as best as I could on my phone camera, but it was difficult to get the timing of the strobe perfectly in order to capture the moving image it was producing. (Side note: the left side is with only the strobe lights and the right is with no strobe, but regular lights.)

 

I was drawn to this picture not only because of its size but because of its simplicity and how pleasing it is to the eye. I think what makes this photo so successful is the perfect ring around the two people in the middle. That ring helps create a bubble around the two people making it a much more intimate picture. I think the photographer is trying to create the idea of remoteness and emptiness. I can see this because the frame of the picture is much larger than it needs to be for just two people, yet she still included those two people making it feel as though they are all alone.

This picture in the first gallery was hard to miss due to the fact that it was very large and right in front, but I also enjoyed this picture due to the fact that it looks very simple, but in reality, is much more complicated. I think what makes this photo successful is all of the geometric shapes hidden within this picture from the buildings. But, I also enjoyed the small detail of the horses looking directly at the camera; I think that was a nice touch by the photographer. What I believe this photographer is trying to get across in this image is the idea of regressiveness. I think this is an interesting concept because I think the photographer used a digital camera which almost contradicts the less advanced state that this barn seems to be in.

This picture stuck out to me because of the dog; I am always a sucker for animals, but this one impacted me a little more than normal. I, of course, noticed the dog first, holding out the hat hoping to get things from people. After I studied that for a while the man in the back caught my eye. I noticed how he didn’t seem upset that the dog was getting attention instead of him, intact, the man looked happy. I think the concept that this photographer is trying to convey is the fact that people tend to be more generous to animals rather than people, so animals are trained to do things in order to get peoples attention. This also shows a very lazy side of humans; they won’t go out and get a real job, so they put their animals to work, begging for them because they know that is how they will get the most income.

 

This project was a little more difficult for me because before this I was not very comfortable with talking to strangers. After the first few people, I asked said no I was feeling pretty defeated, but once I got my first yes I realized it wasn’t that bad. As I asked more people my confidence grew and by the end of the day it felt like no big deal.

For my photo essay, I created a theme of passing time by capturing people on Coney Island either working, going to the amusement park, or simply just hanging out. I decided to go with this theme because it shows how people choose to spend their time differently; some like to be with their families, some like to work, and others like to create entertainment for others. I included the pictures of the amusement park because that is where people went to pass their time. Along with that, the rides that I chose to incorporate have an underlying theme of time passing due to the fact that they move in circular motions. This motion refers back to the idea of the Earth orbiting around the sun or a clock with the second hand ticking away creating time itself.

I found that both readings were really interesting. From the Hiss piece, one of my favorite passages was “But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night perhaps they will never see it,” which gave me a really interesting perspective by putting it in the context of New York City. From the Schafer piece, I got a deeper understanding of how there are so many facets that contribute to the atmosphere of soundscapes. I loved the passage that said, “I imagined the soundscape as a huge musical concert that is running continuously. The tickets for this concert are free, and we are all listeners. But we are also performers because we make sounds,” which I’ve thought about justing walking the streets of the city. I think we were assigned to read these pieces to understand that the surroundings of the world, and New York City specifically, are heavily influenced by the visuals and audibles. I think it is meant to help us tell stories and narratives when we are photographing. Even though photos are silent, the surroundings and soundscapes can still be extremely important features of any photo.

I trigger Hiss’ ‘deep travel’ wonder through spacing out while listening to music. It helps me relax and forget about the chaos of the outside world for a little bit, almost as if I’m in my own little bubble. Although spacing out may seem as though I am distracted, it helps me clear my mind and is sometimes when I come up with my best ideas. While I am taking photos during this program, I can channel this by listening to music while taking photos. The impact that music has on my creativity may be more than others, but it truly helps me think of new and exciting things to shoot. I think both of these readings will really influence my work the rest of the course along with work I produce in the future. These articles tapped into aspects of the creative realm that are often passed over or taken for granted and I am really appreciative of them now. I’m excited to use these techniques in the future and see where they take my inspiration when creating.

For this photo, I did a bokeh by slowing down the shutter speed and increasing the ISO in order to capture the light while still maintaining the silhouettes of the buildings. I think I can incorporate this in a motif of habitats because this street is a habitat to humans, animals, and everything in between and this bokeh help give off the feeling of winding down after a long day and being able to relax.

For this photo, I did a shallow depth of focus by increasing the shutter speed and lowering the ISO in order to decrease light sensitivity. I think this image also fits into my motif of habitats because everything in the city has its own habitat and by using the shallow depth of focus it allowed me to capture the squirrel in its habitat without any other distractions.

For this photo, I attempted to do a pan shot of the cars by lowering the shutter speed and increasing the ISO, so more light could be let in, but because I haven’t done any pan shots before it didn’t turn out how I was expecting. I think this image also fits into my motif of habitats because cars have their own habitat along with any other object living or not and by attempting to do a pan shot of these moving cars I was trying to capture the hectic essence of the city.

For this photo, I did a shallow depth of focus by increasing the shutter speed and lowering the ISO in order to decrease the amount of light in the image. I think this also relates to the habitat motif because, along with the squirrel image, this picture shows the bird in Stuyvesant Park and the shallow depth of focus helps depict the importance of the littlest things by aiming all the attention on them.

For this photo, I also used a shallow depth of focus by increasing the shutter speed and experimenting with the ISO to figure out what would look best with a bright shadow. I think this picture goes with the motif of habitats because not only do flowers provide habitats for many creatures, but they themselves have their own habitat in which they live in and, similarly to the bird and the squirrel, the shallow depth of focus helps remind people of the smaller things that make up their habitats.