Portraits

I believe a good portrait of a person shows their inner being, and their inner nature. Anything from an emotion to an action showcases a person and their inner soul. Portraits should reveal if a person is strong and resilient, soft and loving, or fun and energetic. The top photo shows the blur of a frantic character drawing on the floor. This reveals a frantic nature to me and a desire to unlock something. In the bottom professional photo, we see the subject in a place that relates to him as it surrounds him. I think a portrait should tell a story of someone.

In my photo I want it to show my story, and my life as it is to me inside. I want to take a self portrait capturing something about me, in its most eccentric, ecstatic form, or maybe the bulk of my soul deep with in. I would accomplish this by possibly performing something I do everyday, or showing my default emotion in a simple setting.

Shortlist Warmup

Landscapes: I like this photo because of the narrow path past the gate, and the daunting nature of this small gate versus the mountains and the large misty land.

Travel: I love this photo because of the colors, and the environment. The dark blue versus the green trees and then the yellow moss on the black rock really appealed to me. To me it shows forces against each other.

Fashion: This photo really appealed to me because of her eyes. They are very vivid and colorful compared to the whiteness around her face, and even in her face.

Family & Friendship: When I saw this photo it made me think of the connection I have with my best friend, and so I connected it and it became my favorite.

Portraits: There was something extremely mysterious about this photo. It reminded me of the cover of a book I have called Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, and it also reminded me of a comic book character Rorschach.

Documentary: I really enjoy this photo because it shows the man in the wheelchair and his difficult task of the modern London bridge. It may be a journey he frequently takes, but it shows his daily challenge.

Gardens & Plants: My favorite colors are warm ones such as the reds, oranges and yellows in the flowers. I believe it contrasts well with the green grass and green trees, and gives a mysterious effect to the stones in the background.

Wildlife: Spider's main base and place to be is their web, and this photo shows the creation of this spider's web, as he creates and connects the pieces, creating his always unique pattern.

Creative License: I really enjoy this photo because of the effect of the light and the place it is set in. The tunnel and the man at the end of the tunnel shows the man, producing the light. The square wave of light is particularly interesting because of its shape compared to the circled rays.

Action & Movement: When I see an action in my head, I always seem to instinctively take a snapshot of the action, mid-swing. When I think of free running, I often think of a jump like this. This was my favorite from this category because of how the photographer was able to capture his jump.

Ethics in Fashion Photography

1) In the computer, the model's head was raised in position from her neck. Her eyes were made bigger and more blue. Her lips are made bigger and the rest of her face is made to be narrower, as well as her shoulders brought together to give a slimmer look.

2) I don't think it is ethically acceptable to change a person's appearance even for a fashion advertisement, because it conveys a false set of results using a particular product.

3) It would be more ethically wrong if it was for a competition between competitors, or it would be more wrong if it depicted a piece of evidence.

4) Small changes such as adjustment to the lighting or the clearness of the photo would be okay to manipulate. If its to be used to be a piece of art, whether to convey a story or show cool effects, there is more you could change.

5) Fashion photography is specifically supposed to advertise a product, or the result of using a product. Photojournalism depicts and gives visual aid to real time events, informing and spreading information.

6) Different types of photography have various purposes, and with them varying ethics. I think that purposes to depict and show current events should be very rarely modified. They should only be modified for the subjects to appear clearer so if the photo is unclear. In Fashion, the most real and true result should be depicted of a product. And in an Artistic purpose, than the limits are much broader, in order to show a beauty or a piece of awe with in a photo.

Photo Manipulation and Ethics

A) The story offers about 4 to 5 stories about doctoring and modifying photos. In each case, it was either to make a situation more appealing, or correct, or even to just make up events. The manipulation has led to people getting fired, Pulitzer prizes being mis-given, or all images being removed. Photo manipulation in important event document journalism is considered wrong, and unethical.

B) I think this kind of work is unethical because it alters real time significances or events, changing the view on history, or the memory of history. Photojournalism and journalism is about reporting and depicting events in a fair and real way.

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A) I believe this photo is the most unethical because it adds a person who wasn't there before to increase the good reputation for Wisconsin.

B) I believe the doctoring of this photo is the least unethical because the image simply seems darker and the orientation seems further up than the other.

National Geographic Warm-up

This is my favorite photo because of the colors and the effect the sand in the middle gives. Its so detailed and it looks really awe-inspiring. I also have read most of the science fiction series Dune, and this reminds me of the mystic land of the desert planet in the story, as if this picture could be where a hideout for a rebel organization from the book would be hiding out.

I would take pictures of music. Instruments, musicians, performances, or anything that relates to music. I would also take pictures of things like landscapes, and scenes.

Abandoned Theme Parks

1) The theme park in Prypiat, Ukraine interests me the most to visit. It was abandoned due to a nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl. I want to visit it because of its limited availability and its brief danger of a nuclear fallout. There is a certain danger appeal to it. I would also want to visit it because if its eerie existence and scarring of abandonment. You can see the history, and it has been slowly taken over by the surviving nature around it.

3) I think other odd places for photography would be
-Scrapyards/Junkyards
-Warehouses
-Abandoned malls
-Old recording studios
-Old unused schools

Junkyard Photography

5) I think It would be fun to do some photography in a junkyard because of the unique objects and things I could find. All kinds of cars, old appliances, new products that have been just thrown away, have all sorts of history. You never know what you could find in a junkyard. I would definitely take photos of cars, lonely tools and mechanical devices. This would all be to capture and put a commentary on our natural instinct to throw things away and not conserve them or use them for other things.

6) I would have to research possible junkyards and scrapyards to take pictures of. Also, I would need to research the time to get there, if its ever open for public use, or if its even accessible. I probably wouldn't be able to do anything with the junkyard unless it was opened. I may encounter a fee to browse and look, and aside from gas there would be little else to pay for.