After painting for awhile and deciding I was pretty good at it, I wanted to branch out and try something new. Well, I say this, but while signing up for a new art class I added a painting class in there. This blog post half-counts; yes, I am taking a class, but there is still quite a bit of 'winging it' going on. After painting, I decided to try..... photography! And not digital photography, you know, with the really nice and fancy cameras? No, I decided to try film photography- black and white film only, developing and all,
In class we learned how to use the cameras, obviously, develop film, and other 'rules' of taking cooler photos. Instead of explaining all of these processes, I'm going to describe my awkward fumbling though assignments and discovering my artistic self again in a new way- to stay true to my blog of doing art without knowing what I'm doing. When drawing, I slowly realized I liked realistic drawings best, particularly portraits. When painting, I found myself most attached to nature- I have very few paintings that are not flowers, skylines, or landscapes of some sort. And finally, photography. What type of photographer would I be?
The first assignment: One Object.
We had to take 24 shots (as all rolls of film are either 24 or 36, and we saved those for trickier assignments) of ONE object, in different ways. Still sticking with my nature roots (pun intended) from where I had last left off in art, I made my object a bouquet of flowers. That way I could use flowers of different colors to achieve slightly different colors when they developed in black and white. I walked up and down my neighborhood street, arranged my flowers in different kinds of cracks in the sidewalk, trees, and stumps. I only trespassed twice into other yards, and one of those shots became my favorite so... worth it! However, all of these shots were completely different and my aesthetic was all over the place.
The second assignment: Composition.
We were actually learning different ways to take photos to make them more visually appealing, such as framing, rule of thirds, texture, patterns, and leading lines. I did this assignment in the movie theatre I work out, using popcorn and ceiling tiles for texture, etc. I used a coworker and a theatre sign as quick models to get some really cool shots on the spot! I really liked some of these shots, but not confident in where I was going in photography.
The third assignment: Action!
Turn on all the lights, I've got my camera, this assignment is action! I used my baby sister as my muse for this project. We did many different things to fill up this roll (36 shots): painting, waving a pride flag, and playing with water. My favorite shot from this assignment was when I put flour in her hands and had her clap to create a cloud. I liked that shot, but none of the others felt as 'me.'
The fourth assignment: Mood & Emotion.
I used a coworker for my model for this assignment. I planned out many different ideas to portray different emotions, and I think this over-planning is made it feel forced. There are a few photos that turned out good and I really like them, however, they just don't stick.
The fifth assignment: Vintage.
For this assignment I went to Tanner's Orchard. They have many antiques and old wheels and such lying around, so I got many really cool pictures. I quite liked this assignment! I liked how some shots turned out and I feel this helped me understand what kind of pictures I liked taking more. I liked being outside and taking pictures that felt real- nothing was planned with this photo shoot! I last minute decided to take my camera and just took pictures at things that looked cool. Sepia-toning these to add a real vintage-look definitely made me sure that as cool as black and white was, color is part of my aesthetic (just like painting yet the opposite of drawing).
The sixth assignment: Night Shoots.
This assignment sounded really exciting but was actually quite disappointing. I attempted pictures of a white lit candle where it was completely dark outside, and I put it on a table with some brown leaves surrounding it. I was in awe of the picture I had created in real life, however the black and white photo just didn't have the same aesthetic.
These are all of the assignments we have finished in photography. I have not finished the class but I have discovered my aesthetic in black and white film photography- color and nature. This is very similar to painting, maybe I should have just signed up for the painting class and sooner actually found out what I'm doing?
