So this is just going to be a generic rambling of sorts (if anyone is so interested to read this here blog...). I was talking to a friend of mine and the subject of Tae Kwon Do photos came up. Every year we have hired a professional to come in and take action shots of the students and then photoshop them into different martial arts backgrounds etc. So I got to thinking, why can't I do that? I have a good camera. I have a decent flash. I can easily buy a nuetral back ground. Granted, I don't have any extra fancy lighting as of right now, but did I not just graduate with a degree in photo? Moral of the story, I'm going to be experimenting over the next few weeks with my lovely go to model Emily. It's nice because not only did she model in all of my other shoots, but she's a 2nd degree black belt and State Champion, which means she knows what she's doing TKD wise =). I will post the photos up whenever I finish them...and whenever I purchase photoshop. The only downside to not being in school anymore is the lack of equiptment (CS5, Darkroom, Digital Lab, Printers, etc.).
-blg
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Gang-Free Zone
This is from my Senior Thesis show at Dominican University. Also, I thought I'd post some ramblings about how this came to be. I'll start with the photos...
These are contact prints of sights where murders due to gang violence occurred in my old stomping grounds of Cicero, Il (mostly pouring over from my old, old stomping grounds of Little Village).
I lived there from the time I was 4 until about the time I was 14. I remember playing outside, but needing to be careful. I remember my neighbors across the street from my house, the police were constantly there for drug busts and domestic abuse. I don't know the full details, but I do remember gun shots from time to time. At the time, I never thought much of it. It was just a part of my every day life. It wasn't until my sculpture class last semester that I really started to think about it. I then started to research reported murders in the area, and found that at least 60% were due to some sort of gang related activity. I was stunned. Well, not really. I knew it was bad, but in all honesty, it didn't hit until I read all the reports. Ever since I was a kid, I had seen the "Gang-Free Zone" signs posted everywhere and I always thought it was ironic because we knew what gang signs were, what we shouldn't wear so we didn't get caught in any cross fire, etc. Anyway, this is where the title came from. It seemed to make the most sense.
So on to the process...
I chose this method because I felt like negatives are like a memory, and these spaces in themseleves are memories, thus I made negatives on paper.
That's pretty much all there is to it...
These are contact prints of sights where murders due to gang violence occurred in my old stomping grounds of Cicero, Il (mostly pouring over from my old, old stomping grounds of Little Village).
I lived there from the time I was 4 until about the time I was 14. I remember playing outside, but needing to be careful. I remember my neighbors across the street from my house, the police were constantly there for drug busts and domestic abuse. I don't know the full details, but I do remember gun shots from time to time. At the time, I never thought much of it. It was just a part of my every day life. It wasn't until my sculpture class last semester that I really started to think about it. I then started to research reported murders in the area, and found that at least 60% were due to some sort of gang related activity. I was stunned. Well, not really. I knew it was bad, but in all honesty, it didn't hit until I read all the reports. Ever since I was a kid, I had seen the "Gang-Free Zone" signs posted everywhere and I always thought it was ironic because we knew what gang signs were, what we shouldn't wear so we didn't get caught in any cross fire, etc. Anyway, this is where the title came from. It seemed to make the most sense.
So on to the process...
I chose this method because I felt like negatives are like a memory, and these spaces in themseleves are memories, thus I made negatives on paper.
That's pretty much all there is to it...
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Gallery Stuff
These two prints are contact prints I did almost six months ago, and were submitted to the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation in Chicago. They were chosen to be displayed June 2nd in their gallery to be juried against other photos. Wish me luck ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)