Final Portfolio

The Idea for my Project was that i wanted to continue the concept behind the passage of time so i wanted to have a pocket watch displaying the current time that each photo was taken meanwhile in the background showcasing different times of the day from sunrise to sunset. Due to the bad weather however many of the images below became less of a single photo and more of a collage with many of the photos being the same with slight changes.

Within these photos i wanted to showcase an idea that i am greatly interested in that being the concept of time and the many ways it can be showcased meanwhile having a beautiful background to accompany it. As stated i love manipulated photos which means that many of the photos below are edited with a ton of small details to hopefully make them look better. I wouldn't say i’m pleased with every one but as an overall package i think i did well.

Virtual Art Tour

The 3 images I decided to analyze from the Virtual Tour are Andy Warhol’s “Exploding Plastic Inevitable”, Lynn G. Fayman’s “Red Feather”, and finally Claudia Ruiz Gustafson’s “Historias Fragmentadas. 

Andy Warhol’s “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” is a room designed by the Andy Warhol Museum which was meant to give an evocation of the EPI shows. This is based on Warhol’s interest in combining film with music eventually co-organizing multimedia shows such as Andy Warhol’s Uptight and later as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable or EPI. The shows used new technology that has now become standard practice in live music gigs. When I first look at this piece I get a very rustic feel with the grainy video and constantly flashing colors. The content itself on-screen has a variation of calm and fast-paced which can cause it to be hard to focus on. The videos can also be connected to one another or have nothing to do with each other depending on when you are watching them.

Lynn G. Fayman’s “Red Feather” is a special photo as it is one of a few that uses the Kodak Flexichrome and was a part of his “A colorful Life” Gallery The image itself has a heavy contrast with the main focus of course being that of the red feather. This feather is easy to view because it contrasts well with the white and light blue that are underneath it. When I first look at this photo I think of a calm river scene because of the use of blues and whites but also the idea that there is a hint of something possibly wrong with the small red feather.

The final image is a set of 3 images each with a similar concept and idea and that is Claudia Ruiz Gustafson’s “Historias Fragmentadas. These 3 images each are fueled by a sentiment of longing and nostalgia after the death of their grandmother, the family story keeper in 2015.  The 3 photos give a mysterious and unsettling vibe by showcasing old pictures with string and wood sticks on top. The first image Lazos de Sangre is the simplest as it is a string connecting family members between generations. The second image labeled Los que se fueron is a family portrait with wooden sticks in the shape of an X covering up two of the family members likely symbolizing that they have passed away. The final image labeled Mi Abuelo y yo is of a father and his two sons with a red string circling the father and one of his sons covering up the other this could represent the stronger bond between the two or the idea that the other son may have passed away. Each of these photos allows for heavy speculation as well as being simple but effective collages.

I would say that each of these photos is effective in their own way managing to convey the specified meaning that the artists had as well as being a piece of art that allows for plenty of speculation and interest from the viewer.

Artist Research-Filip Dujardin

Filip Dujardin is a fine art and architectural photographer who lives in Belgium. He is well known for his series of fictional structures that use photographs of real buildings he sees around Ghent, Belgium, and uses digital collaging techniques to create buildings that either couldn’t exist or seeming perfectly ordinary buildings at first glance, with the more you look causing its more fictional nature to be revealed.

The reason I chose this photographer was because of how clean and creative each of his photos was. The other reason was because each of his photos was not simply a photograph of a building it was a photo of multiple buildings put together using digital collage techniques.

     https://youtu.be/5Pxdj0QqfjE 

Within This video i wanted to convey the idea of the passage of time and how cruel and stressful it can be when you have something you need to do but are running out of time. I decided to choice this idea because i have a tendency of procrastinating so i feel like i always have more time than i actually do until the last seconds.

     Within a moving image you are able to convey more of a whole concept which allows you to create a whole story instead of a simple idea. Because of this however there is less for the viewer to interpret, as with a still there can be many more possible meaning and interpretations than in a moving image.

Nam June Paik- “Megatron/Matrix”

Nam June Paik is a Korean American Artist who has worked with a variety of different forms of media and could be considered the founder of video art. Most of the works showcase his experimental, innovative, yet playful work that has had a profound influence on today’s art and culture. Most of his major exhibits are more focused on the use of mesmerizing riots of sight and sound with him having over 200 different works ranging from robots, to room sized video works.

Because almost all his works have the concept of video included within his works many of them use tv screens many of his works have this chaotic feel to them. This is due to many of the different screens showcasing varieties of different  videos and images which can cause your vision to look all over the art attempting to figure out what the main purpose might be.

The best example of this would be his work called “Megaton/Matrix” which is a giant area of television screens that create many different images by layering videos on top of one another somehow making an image that not only is visible to the viewer but is also managing to tell a story. This gives of an acid trip like effect while your brain is attempting to make sense of the multitude of different images being thrown at you.

Video-Art: Storyboard idea

The main idea I have for my short video art assignment is two shots stacked on top of one another one of them showing the sun rising and setting with a quick time-lapse. Then layered above it would be a video of me on my computer with the screen blurred out. The color of the screen will be slowly changing colors over time to add a bit more artistic flair. The idea being of someone wasting there day away doing nothing.

Midterm:Surrealism and Photography

My story decides to take a more horror like direction with the entire concept being the idea of exploring the unknown no matter what might await you. Every day is a new day and while you can try to make it so that you are in control of your life there is always an unknown element that may make your day better or worse depending. I wanted to showcase this with a variety of different doors with varying degrees of fantasy and horror. When making each image i used a lot of brightness and contrast, as well as lighting effects, color overlays, bevels and glows each image presenting similar but different showcases of the same idea.

Photo Prompt#3: GLITCH

The 3 images themselves i wanted to kinda go together in a sense with each of them having a majority of one of the RGB group, I also wanted each to slowly become more chaotic with each image introducing more colors while still keeping a color sceme. With the first image i wanted to create my own variation of the hacker type character by literally using glitch art to showcase their methods . The second i wanted to use wave art to go along with the water with it being there even as the whale is out the water. The final image i wanted to go with a more fantasy idea with the literal idea of being trapped in a forest with no where to go.

Photo Prompt 2 -Identity:real or Fictitious

Both Identity montages are playing with the idea of being trapped in life. The first image shown represents more of how life traps you with many stressors in life those being work, school, and money/debt. each of these are things you cant escape from and are apart of every persons lives the background used is of a hedge with a little door within showcasing how little escape their is. Meanwhile the second image showcasing more of a trapped state that i myself have caused with the background being an entrance to a cave which is meant to represent my room with each of the objects inside being what i do and use on a daily basis almost to the point of extreme repetition.

Composition & Perspective

Filled Frame Photo:

Negative Space Photo:

Perspective Photo#1:

Perspective Photo#2:

Scavenger Hunt

For My photo Scavenger hunt I decided to walk around my neighborhood in order to find the needed elements When going around I found a lot of elements could be found in bushes and trees as they can carry a lot of important elements such as pattern and contrast. The elements i found most difficult were the unique points of views and the negative space because I found it a bit more difficult to be creative with those besides looking up into the sky or straight down on an object.

Photograph of the week

Marc Adamus(https://www.marcadamus.com/gallery/favorites/)

I find that his work goes above and beyond the usual nature photography and im astonished by many of his works wondering how he managed to get such beautiful photograph’s 

Josh Cripps(https://www.instagram.com/joshuacrippsphotography/)

Many of his photos while simple are what make me love nature photographs, they showcase the beauty of the world with many of his photos have his photographing many different locations which no photo being in the same location.

Thomas Rackers

Hello My Name is Thomas, I am a student at UTD studying the field of arts and technology mainly focusing on the fields of graphic design and photography.

When it comes to photography im intererestd in the factors that go into taking a seemingly simple photo and making it look like a piece of art. My favoritie type of photography would have to be manipulated photos simply becauses of the increased chances for a more creative and artistic photo. My favorite subject matter would have to be nature photos because you are able to take your time to make sure the photo comes out well without having to worry about those around you.

I hope that in this class i will be able to gain more knowledge and experience in photography while also branching out into new subject matters.