The goal of Bridge 1 was to create five images that were inspired by five things that intrigued me during our visit to Union Square. From the five thing things that I was curious about, I had to follow the line of thought to come up with five different questions, and make my pieces as a response to those.
For the Image No. 1:
I began the process from the following observation: A man is playing an instrument similar to “a maraca” incessantly while having a phone on his ear.
The first question that came into my mind was: Is he listening to music?
Then, the following questions followed: Does he work on something illegal and is doing this to let someone he works with know he is there? Where could they have planned this? Was it underground? Why am I looking in the personal life of this man? Am I spying him?
The question that I used to create the image is: Do we have the right to spy in others?
I then thought about how I could express that sentiment. I thought of content and medium. From the window of my apartment, I can observe those of my neighbors, and I then reflect on how I thought there was a sense of intrusion on other people’s privacy. To record the feeling of intruding to my neighbors’ windows, I thought of taking a photo of what I could see, or drawing it. Nevertheless, after giving it, some thought I decided to make a video that would show different windows and streets that I could see from my apartment.
To record the video, I used my camera Sony A7 with a lens of Zeiss 85 mm sustained on a tripod since it was at night and I wanted the image to be sharp.
After having recorded some videos, I passed to my computer where I edited them. I decided to let some mystery to the viewer, as it is with those that spy (they can’t see everything that is behind a particular window). I got inspired by Janett Biggs way of framing her videos with the inclusion of black space.
The following is visualization No. 1:
For the image No. 2:
I began the process from the following observation: A man is riding a bike with his dog in his lap.
The first question that came into my mind was: Is the dog safe during the ride?
With that question in mind, others began to arise such as: If they fall, who will fall first, the dog or the man? How would the world be if dogs took care of humans? Then I thought of the animal reign, and if insects had a power in it. Finally, I thought of metamorphosis and in the connection between karma and reincarnation.
The question that I used to create the image is: If we were to become something different, how would our “metamorphosis” look like?
First, I wanted to make a short animation, in which we could observe a transformation. However, it seemed like it would take longer than the time we had to make this assignment. As a consequence, I thought of different ways of portraying my message. I thought I could make a video, and layer someone doing different actions, and show some transformation. Although that idea could work, I was not convinced. I thought of drawing instead.
The question made me think in butterflies, which I connected with insects books such as this one:
http://www.antiquemaps-fair.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4325_957_4431_1400
With this in mind, I drew three lines of abstract figures and how these were transforming with time (It can be read from left to right, or from right to left). I drew these lines digitally in the iPad Pro with an Apple Pen. This is how it looked:
I felt I could add some texture, which I did in Photoshop. The following is the texture I added:
http://bgfons.com/download/313
The following is visualization No. 2:
For the image No. 3:
I began the process from the following observation: Most people are using their phone in the park.
The first question that came into my mind was: Why are all of these people centered in the “I” when many other individuals surround them?
Then, the following questions followed: Why is it that they don’t talk to each other? How was it there were no phones? Were people like birds, meeting with each other in the park? How could we see more contact between each others’ body/mind? How can we all share more knowledge?
The question that I used to create the image is: How will the auras of these group of people look together if they interacted with each other?
I thought I could take a photo of the park and draw on top of it the different colors of auras to show how they interacted. Then, since auras are not something particularly accurate, I thought that it would be better if I expressed what I felt were those colors in an abstract drawing. I decided to use watercolor as my medium since that way the color mixes easily with each other.
To make the piece, I first drew a small drawing with watercolor in which I used the different colors of the auras and distributed in the manner I thought people could connect with each other.
Consequently, I took photos of the drawing with a macro lens on my Sony A7 camera. I then, I edited my two favorite images in Lightroom and decided to put them both together since I felt it expanded the expression of the auras.
The following is visualization No. 3:
For the image No. 4:
I began the process from the following observation: A woman is wearing an umbrella under the sun.
The first question that came into my mind was: Why is this woman wearing an umbrella under the sun instead of wearing a hat?
Then, the following questions followed: Does she have a skin condition? Why is the umbrella white? What would happen if we wore hats to cover from the rain? What is the relationship between humans and nature? Is everything a cycle? Who chooses how to separate ourselves from nature? Is the government part of this? How is the government damaging the environment? Then, I thought of oil spills, and the word spill made me think of “currents of water.” Afterward, I connect water with peacefulness and the sound of relaxation.
The question that I used to create the image is: What is peace for me?
To make this piece, I thought of making a video of water which gives me peace, and relaxation. However, when I went to record the video, I found that photography could also be a great medium to show this. Walking around in the city, I saw a park with a fountain and decided to take photos of that source of water. While I was doing that, a little girl of around seven years old passed in front of me and started playing with the water. At that moment, I thought that she was giving me peace because she was living her childhood happily or at least enjoying that moment.
The following is visualization No. 4:
For the image No. 5:
I began the process from the following observation: I heard a sound similar to a trash can, I assumed it was coming from one.
The first question that came into my mind was: Which part of our brain let us remember sounds and helps us associate them with an object?
Then, the following questions followed: Is this the subconscious? Thinking about the subconscious mind made me feel about dreams, and how some dreams are not desired. When I was thinking of something that I did not want, I thought of cheating, which I connected it with chaos. That brought me to believe that one act can ruin everything, and leave us solitary.
The question that I used to create the image is: How does it feel to feel lonely?
With my question ready, I thought in which ways I could create this image. I first came up with a picture in my mind of someone lying on the floor in the middle of a big space. I asked my boyfriend if he could help me by modeling in the photo, and he accepted. We went to a basketball field where I wanted to take the picture, but people were playing inside. Therefore, I tried taking photos of him in the playground next to it. The following is the best of the images that I made:
I was not satisfied with that photo. I felt it did not adequately portray the feeling of solitude that I wanted to convey. In consequence, I continued taking pictures in the park, and my favorite of those was the following:
Even though I thought this image portrayed the feeling I wanted to convey, I wanted to make something more minimalist, and less obvious. After some time taking photos, I finally took the one that satisfied me, and then I edited it in Lightroom.
This is my visualization No. 5:
