People

"Creation of a Thought" 2008 Self Portrait

This picture was taken towards the end of the assignment using a tripod and self timer.  I think it exemplifies my interests as a photographer, my upfront approach, and obsession with color and light.  I found this project difficult since I was going to be the subject, but I am very happy with the end results.

 

"Make fun of..." 2008 Scavenger Hunt

I have a series of five pictures of this lady who was nice enough let me take pictures of her for my scavenger hunt.  When I approached her with my friend she was in a group of three other female coworkers.  After the third picture I had taken of her, her coworkers began teasing her stating; "don't let this get to your head!   And don't brag about getting your photos being taken in the office."  This was the last picture in the series and although she has a smile on her face, what makes this picture interesting is that her concerns are elsewhere.

"A Couple's Reflection" 2008 Seismic Activity

This picture was not necessarily intended for this project; however, it was an image that I couldn't resist taking.  This picture is of my mom and dad, I was walking behind them with my sister in the park.  They were unaware of me taking the pictures and I think that is what makes the picture so special.  What I find interesting is how my parents reflect each other when they walk.  When my mom's right arm goes up so does my dad's left, when her right leg moves forward so does his left.  If they were aware that I was taking photographs this reflection may not have occurred.

Religion

"Savior" 2008 Monumental

I couldn't quite place why I found this picture aesthetically pleasing, until my father brought up a good point.  In the forefront of the picture is a giant cross, where the pole of self serve meets the top of the blue booth.  The fact that it says full serve, with the cross, and the fact that it seems to be looking down at you from the clouds may have more subliminal religious connotations than I was originally unaware of.

"Angels on Doorways" 2008 Scavenger Hunt

My sister, Becky, worked in the Newark Museum for a while, and I used to like having her that close to school.  When I found out the criteria for the scavenger hunt my first instinct was to take a picture of these doorways that I had always walked through.  If you haven't been to the Newark Museum and are reading this, I highly recommend that you go!

"Religion on the Streets" 2008 Scavenger Hunt

I was walking on Market Street in Newark with a classmate unsure of where I wanted to take my picture of a storefront window.  We eventually passed this store with trendy clothing that was sort of hip/hop but also skater/rock, when I saw these really cool belt buckles.  It's funny how fashion changes, and sort of weird how our generation is attracted to crosses (religious symbols) and skulls (death and purgatory) as items of clothing.  Regardless the belts are pretty bad ass!

De-Ghetto-Fying Dover

"Vacant Streets" 2008 Signs

This picture was taken in my high school's hometown.  Believe it or not there are many people who live in my area that are scared of walking on the streets of this town.  When they drive through it many of them lock there doors or avoid going through the town completely.  In this picture I attempted to depict dover as more tranquil, and empty due to people's biases and ignorance.  People have unjustly demonized this town, the same way that people have done with the Newark campuses, and I wanted to set the record straight.  I think anyone who sees this picture would not get a sense of being in a "ghetto", but what would I know?

"Modernization" 2008 Signs

This is another picture taken in Dover.  I think what I find so interesting about taking pictures in Dover is the fact that it is sort of stuck in a time warp.  The architecture of the buildings, and the Harry Loory sign that is stuck in a 50's style of design, along with the beanbag chairs being sold in the window.

Back to Nature

"The Still Life of a Van" 2008 Signs

My mom actually pointed out this photo op to me.  She really has a much better eye for photography than me, but I like to think I developed some of her talent.  I approached the shot by treating it as a still life as oppose to a graphic on the back of a van.  I tried to get an angle that would help the illusion of the tire being a vase.  As pointed out in class this is one of my more abstract shots in the sense that the picture can be viewed as a still life; however, at the same time it really is picture of a van.

"Illumination" 2008 Self Motivated

For this project I attempted to mimic the photographs taken by my classmates throughout the semester.  The original shot taken by the other student was of a sunset showing through a forrest of bare trees.  In order to put my own spin on the picture I chose to place the sunset behind flowers.  This achieved the effect of illuminating the subject (yellow flowers), similar to the bare trees in the picture taken by my classmate.

 

"Escape" 2008 Seismic Activity

While taking this series of pictures I was throwing branches into Horseshoe Lake in Roxbury.  I was unaware of the wildlife that lives where I was throwing the branches.  Apparently, since I was tossing in branches to get a ripple effect for my photo I upset a local otter.  It swam right in front of me looked at me for a second, then swam very fast to where I had been tossing the branches and dived in.  I was in such disbelief that the otter, in my mind, sent me such a clear message that I was pissing him off.  Unfortunately I don't have a shot of him since it happened so fast.

"The Darkside of Nature" 2008 Details

When my family first moved here I had a dog (Ling-Ling) that was the same age as me.  This picture is of a tree that my dog used to lay under, my family used to call it Ling Ling's tree.  It has been over ten years since he passed away, and over time the cars that are directly under the tree have multiplied.  This prompted my parents to cut half of the tree to stop acorns and leaves from falling onto my father's car.  When I first saw it I was extremely angry, but when I took the pictures I had mostly forgotten what had happened.  What is ironic about this picture is that I took it on the side that the tree was cut, and the sun illuminated the background giving off a rather eerie feeling.  Needless to say this is a very sad picture for me.

Overlooked Beauty

"?" 2008 NJ/NY

I named this picture "?" because when my father took me to take a series of photography on a bridge that is attached to Ellis Island, we got lost and had to ask for directions.  When we asked a man about a bridge that connects to Ellis Island he told us that he had been working there for 8 months doing maintenance and was unaware of such a bridge.  Eventually my dad remembered where it was located, and after a series of checkpoints we finally were able to cross.  My dad had made arrangements a month in advance with the superintendent of Ellis & Liberty.  To me this picture was an opportunity to take a picture that people rarely ever get to see.  However; I don't recommend that anyone attempts to cross without an appointment since it is a highly secured location.

"Sun-kissed Waters" 2008 Seismic Activity

In this project I had to visit the same location on more than one occasion.  In total I visited this location three times.  The first was mid-day when everything was a rich brown and green.  The second time was more or less at the same time as this shot; however, there were no clouds in the sky.  This was not the shot that I wanted since, I wanted to show all of the pigments that are in the clouds reflected into the water, without clouds this cannot be achieved to its fullest.  This was the last day before the project was due, and success there were clouds in the sky.

"Observed" 2008 Seismic Activity

This was another shot along with the shot of my parents that was shot for this project; however, was not printed in class.  I chose this picture to end this series of shots, since the colors are very similar to those in my self portrait, and since in contrast the geese in the picture sort of switched my approach to taking pictures on myself.  Since I wasn't about to jump in the water with the geese to take the shot I was a significant distance away from them.  Curiously enough the geese in the lake swam up to me, stayed observing me for a good amount of time, and then turned to face each other.  If you notice all of the geese are still in a flight-like formation except for the two who are breaking off.  The duck in the front of the formation is looking straight at me and my camera.  In this shot he was the observer and I was the curious subject.