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.