This Is Not The End of Alfredo Jeff IV

I am very happy with the work I did this semester. I had never thought about doing a project with paint and I’m glad I got to work with Professor Matthews again. She has helped me think of photography in different ways and I plan on constantly using what I learned in class. 

I came to school to become a journalist but when I took my first photography class I knew that I wanted to be a photo journalist or just freelance. I love photography because it is an awesome hobby. The fact that you can capture the beauty of almost anything and capture an image that may not ever be captured again is awesome. Photography creates memories! In the end, it all keeps me sane, happy, and eager to keep learning and growing as a photographer. But whenever I'm asked why I love photography my answer always changes. It's just something that I love to do.

These are the final photos I took for the semester trying to keep the relationship of the artists Jean Basquiat and Andy Warhol together and keeping my idea of paint.

Photography in Life #2

CUNY YORK

Alfredo Jeff

Digital Photography

March 20^th, 2013

Photography in Life #2

Photography constantly changes. It’s changing right now while I’m typing this paper and while you’re reading my work. “Today the medium of photography is often described as ‘protean’ in nature” means photos change frequently.

            Everyone in my digital photography class has different ideas on what they want to do and create. When we research artists we branch off their ideas and come up with our own trying to either recreate them or do something different. I personally chose Jean Michel Basquiat’s paintings for one of my projects because the way how he created his work was very interesting to me. It’s unexplainable but the way how he created his paintings didn’t just show a drawing or something that can be recreated. He had a struggle in life with drugs and always had a passion for drawing.

            Recently photo apps such as instagram and cineagram have taken over the photography world making everyone possible photographers for a new age. People are buying iPhones because of how simple they work and how easy they are to use. A simple photo can give you a great amount of likes when you use hashtags.

             Photography allows us freeze information and document what we have done. It allows us to go beyond borders looking into space, looking at the human body, and exploring the oceans floor. Photography influences us to desire more work and what we cannot see. It changes who we are as a person and how we represent ourselves. I am a photographer and photography is me.

Works Cited Page

"Collections." Street to Studio: The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Presented by JPMorganChase. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.

Heiferman, Marvin. "Photography Changes Everything." Photography Changes Everything(n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Photography in Life #1

CUNY YORK

Alfredo Jeff

Digital Photography

March 20^th, 2013

Photography in Life #1

            I agree with Marvin Heiferman’s quote, “Today the more photography images we encounter and get to work with, the less certainty we have about the nature or possibility of photographic truth”.

When I grew up as a kid I would take photos with my father’s Canon T50 which is an automatic camera with a 50 mm lens. When I took photos I felt like a photographer. I didn’t do anything with my images to enhance the quality. I enjoyed film and how I could just get it developed and know that was my photo and it was original.

Marvin Heiferman says that, “we need, use, and respond to photographs in their myriad forms for all sorts of reasons”. When you look at a photograph in the 20^th century, as a photographer you have to wonder now if the photographer who took their photos used anything like Photoshop to enhance the image or change some natural qualities. We all respond to photography differently and may see something the next viewer sees differently from us.

An example of work would be from Jean Michel Basquait. In his paintings one person may just see street art or vandalism upon a wall. Viewers ask why it was done and wonder how it was thought. Jean Michel Basquiat’s paintings and drawings describes his ideas about life and the world around him. The Brooklyn Museum had an exhibit of his work eight years ago based on his life and work.

Marvin Heiferman also says that, “Photography excites us to the point that it makes us greedy to see more”. When I started to do the personal project my idea was to focus on identity and how paint and makeup transforms a person into someone totally different. I had finished recreating my piece on Jean Michel Basquiat’s painting of the 90’s recreating this African holding up his catch of fish for the day. I had to edit this in class with my professor and she showed me something that I wish I had more time. She transformed my photo.

She applied the background from the original painting that Jean Michel Basquiat created and placed it on top of my photo. I wanted to do more of this but had little time to do the rest of the photos but this made me see a totally different view of my photo.

Every day we are influenced by the little things in life and as photographers we try to capture those moments. We inspire others and give reason to our work. What we as photographers cannot do is to be completely satisfied with our work. There will forever be a hunger for more work.

Works Cited Page

"Collections." Street to Studio: The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Presented by JPMorganChase. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.

Heiferman, Marvin. "Photography Changes Everything." Photography Changes Everything(n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Panoramas and Sequences - Graffiti x Oliver x The Mistake

As a photographer we always go back to our work to see what we've done and think about what else can we create from our photos. I believe I created panoramas and sequences from the beginning when I did the Erie and Unreal project and thought I could submit something that was already done. That is considered being lazy but I did like what I created because doing that project taught me more about Photoshop and I created this: 

For this new project I did not focus on how paint effects the body and changes how a person feels. I decided to go around LES (Lower East Side of Manhattan) and take photos of my friend with graffiti on buildings and walls. Graffiti is not only vandalous but a creative form of abstract art. I tried to avoid shots of him just posing and looking good for the camera because I wanted the graffiti to express how he felt at the moment. This is not what I wanted although it is a great photo:

I gave him my Hunter Green Polaroid Camera to use as a prop on the photos below because since we've been hanging out more and becoming good friends, he began to find an interest in photography because of me. He wants to take little steps first finding himself within the film category and then advancing to digital world. This project helped him figure out that he wanted to look into photography and capture graffiti that you normally don't see around neighborhoods often.

I thought I had did a good job and got some great photos but I didn't realize how far apart I took the photos leaving Photoshop confused on how to make my pictures come out as one whole one. I lost too much data and I'm going to redo the project over again. This is the only good paranormal I could do but it's not what I wanted:

Well back to the drawing board.

Jean Basquiat's "Untitled 1981" - Photography x Painting

It took about an hour and 30 mins to try and recreate Jean Basquiat's, "Untitled 1981", with the man reeling in his fish that he caught. As soon as the paint dried and we got the look that we wanted, we starting to shoot some photos. When asked how did he feel when the painting part was finished his reply was, "wet because I'm covered in paint but I feel like a warrior". He began to act like a warrior as well. Paint covered over his personality and created a new person. This project took about 3 hours or more and I'm happy with my results.

New Ideas

My professor recently showed me this artist named Jean Michel Basquiat and his work is very interesting. I have seen one of these t-shirts before and the famous, "SAMO", saying. I know the exact friend who would be fine with me recreating this painting him. I've been just having fun doing this personal project and doing something I haven't done before. Masks are interesting because they allow a person to become someone and something else. I'm preparing for the next ideas that come to mind.

The Personal Project x The Erie & Unreal

I had combined the two of these projects and I loved the outcome of it. When I started to put make up on my face I started to feel like a totally different person and realized probably how he felt. I felt like a warrior when I posed in front of my camera and just started feeling serious and feeling pain at the same time. It took me about an hour to get a few good shots of myself and even when I finished I didn't want to take the make up off yet. I felt like I wasn't done and decided to do more. It felt good to be in another character.

Understanding My Project

As soon as I finished the second day of class and speaking to my teacher about my project, I decided that I wanted to recreate some celebrities and music videos I've seen as my personal project. I've been having fun using paint and doing this. When you put on a mask you become this totally different person. When me and my friend first did the shoots he felt like a totally different person.

WASTELAND REVIEW

Vik Muniz was born into a working-class family in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1961. He was shot in the leg while trying to break up a fight and received compensation for his injuries. He used this money to fund a trip to New York City, where he has lived and worked since the late 1980s.

The film, “WASTE LAND”, follows Vik Muniz from Brooklyn to his country he was born and raised in, Brazil. Here goes to the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The people who live over there spend their days digging through the huge pile of garbage, extracting stuff they can recycle known as catadores. They normally earn $20 to $25 per day to support their families. Muniz asks many women and men to be a part of his project, photographs them, and then converts their images into huge collages created from the trash they collected for him.

Muniz’s intention is to help the pickers to improve their lives using his photography artwork. Vik and his friend Fábio spend around two years in Jardim Gramacho and become closer to the pickers learning about their lives and how they grew up. When his work is done he then he travels to London and sells one of the portraits in an auction earning him and the model he used $50,000. With the money, the pickers buy a truck, equipment and build a learning center and a library. The pickers that worked with him learn how to improve their lives and leave Jardim Gramacho.

In this movie he finds beauty in unexpected places capturing the real meaning of the environment so you can practically smell the place and want to avoid it. When Muniz picks his characters, he follows them on and off their job, providing us with details that give us insight and make us care deeply about each of them. This movie was very emotional for me and there were times I had to pause it so I wouldn’t cry. Some stories that stood out to me the most were Tiaõ, Suelem and Isis.

This movie shows that people in difficult circumstances can accomplish great things if given the chance to do so. I’m glad everyone was able to do something better with their lives. When I checked out the website I browsed that some people have actually went back because they just love it there and some just rather avoid it now as it’s something in the past to them.

The Erie & Unreal (Photos)

I enjoyed doing this project.

The Personal Project x Paint

I had a few ideas when I ended my fall semester last year of doing a project called, “The Black + White Project”, and I want to continue with that project but add onto it with paint. I had no idea exactly what I wanted to do with paint but after taking some photos of my friend recently recreating Rick Genest, I realized I want to focus on the face and body. I want to do something I never done before and try and use paint on people’s faces like drawing a picture. I know over the next few months it will be difficult getting people to help me out but I want to have fun with this project, learn from it and grow as a photographer.