MIAD PhotographyExhibition Text: My goal for this project was to photograph an object that represents my theme, which is Exploration of the Natural World. The other important element of this project was the environment that it is placed in. By placing a ship in a bottle in front of a large body of water, I aim to evoke the magnitude and immensity of nature compared to a miniature boat, a symbol of exploration. My final edition of this photograph was taken at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Here, the writer Henry David Thoreau lived in solitude for over two years while he wrote Walden, a reflection on his spiritual relationship to nature and his role to the transcendentalist movement of the 19th century. I chose Walden Pond as the setting of my artwork because it has deep meaning regarding my theme, while also being a beautiful background.
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Artistic InspirationPlanning ProcessAfter reflecting with Jason on my first attempts, he recommended that I be more intentional about the relationship between the object and horizon. In both of my rough drafts, they are slightly off which lowers the quality of the composition. Also, I felt that the environment did not create very much conceptual meaning, so I chose to take the object with me as I traveled to the east coast during spring break. First, I took some photos at Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Here, the writer Henry David Thoreau lived in solitude for over two years while he wrote Walden, a reflection on his spiritual relationship to nature and his role to the transcendentalist movement of the 19th century. My final photograph was from this location, because I felt that it had much more conceptual significance related to my theme. Later in the trip we also visited Niagara Falls, where my photos were unsatisfying because I was wet and cold, so I did not take many closeup photos.
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When this project was introduced, the prompt was to photograph an object in an environment that shapes its meaning and significance. Jon Horvath is a MIAD faculty member who specializes in photography. I drew inspiration from his "Pathetic Clouds" series, where he photographs clouds in a perspective that makes them very small. With different nature settings in the foreground, his intention with this series is to represent the scale of natural environments. I also enjoy how it contrasts typical examples of cloud photography, where immense cumulonimbus clouds are more appreciated.
The overarching theme of my portfolio is "Exploration of the Natural World". The object I chose to represent this theme is a ship in a bottle, which I got as a souvenir while traveling in Ushuaia, Argentina. A Usually the intent of a souvenir is to bring it home from a travel destination. I wanted to contrast this by taking the object with me to various destinations to represent exploration of the natural world. For my first draft, I experimented by Lake Michigan to represent the immensity of a large body of water in comparison to the small object.
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ExperimentationNext, I experimented with the angle from which I took the photo. This was important because it directly influences the meaning behind how the object is positioned and distance from the camera.
CritiqueSimilarities
A way that my artwork is similar to Jon Horvath's work is the intention behind the relationship between object and environment. My intention with this project was to photograph a meaningful object in an environment that enhances its meaning. My object, a ship in a bottle, already contains lots of metaphorical connection to my theme. The metaphor is completed by the environment I placed it in, while also adding to the aesthetic quality. In "Pathetic Clouds", Horvath photographs clouds that are meaningful alone because they are very small but striking. Then, he turned this project into a series by photographing these types of clouds in different contexts, similarly to how I photographed my object in different locations around the country. ReflectionOverall, I am very satisfied from the product of this project. As my first exposure to photography, I feel that I successfully refined my skills and techniques through experimentation to get a beautiful product. I think that it was a good introduction to the medium, and I hope I will have the opportunity to revisit it. My favorite part of this project was the planning process, where I traveled lots and got to photograph my object in many contexts. I hope that my artwork is viewed for the deeper meaning, so the viewer can understand the context of the background location and the meaning behind the object.
ACT QuestionsClearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
My artistic inspiration directly effected my artwork through inspiring my connection of the artwork to nature. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? I focused on using my object to enhance the meaning of the landscape, in connection to the Exploration of the Natural World. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration? Art is often more effective if the meaning is not initially revealed, and the viewer can interpret on their own. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? I inferred that both photographers can harness light to influence the way an artwork is affected. |
Since this was my first exposure to the photography medium, I experimented lots with different angles, zoom levels, and focuses. First, I manipulated the point of focus. This part took lots of consideration since the object and environment are equally important in the composition. Because of this, I preferred a medium focus where the object is in the foreground, with slight blur in the background while still being distinguishable.
Finally, I also experimented with the 0.5 effect of the iPhone camera. The benefits of 0.5 were that it included more of the background, but I also felt that it included too much of the concrete in the frame which does not add anything to my intended meaning. Also, 1x zoom allowed the sun to glare through the glass of the bottle, which is my favorite part of the piece.
Differences
A main way my artwork differs from my inspiration is the type of object displayed. The bottle I photograph is obviously not naturally in its intended environment, and looks like it was placed intentionally. Contrarily, Horvath's clouds look like they could disappear within minutes depending on the weather environment. Because of this, his artwork has an ephemeral quality that mine does not possess. Also, I chose to use a landscape configuration, which is different than Jon Horvath's work, which has square aspect ratio. My configuration was mandatory as a part of this project, but if I had freedom in this area, I think I would have used a square similar to his. To me, the effect of the square is that it offers a perspective as to how the sight would have looked in real life. I think that the landscape orientation makes my photograph look more like a painting, and a portrait orientation would just look like a quick iPhone photo. Also, in his portfolio website each photo is displayed very small, which enhances the effect of the small cloud, causing the viewer squint. Bibliography
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