Series: Contact Sheet

Includes : Christine Galvan, Farhiya Mohummod, Victoria Van.

Cultural Identity Picture with Reflection

This assignment was about cultural Identity, and my original Idea was to take 2 pictures of farhiya, one with her "cultural" clothing on and the other in her regular clothes, and I was going to put them on the same paper. But the printing got way too difficult for me because the lighting would be hard to fix and try to get all my whites. So I just decided to print out one picture instead and I decided on the one where she's in her cultural clothes. I just wwanted to show her culture and her heritage. This wasn't my favorite picture, but I did like my original idea. And in this picture, it shows her in her traditional clothing. Its organized by her in the middle but I was shooting at different angles. And I wanted the emphasis on her.

Current Articles: Google Art Project- Exploring Museums Virtually

1. I feel as if this author's viewpoint about this is that she prefers to see art in person and not on the computer and looking at it through the computer is nothing like seeing it in person. But she does think that you can't go through this process without getting frustrated. Some of the drawbacks are that the image can come up blurry, is full of bug and information gaps. Some of the positives of the program is that you can search up all these museums by yourself and you could spend hours on the computer looking at art and you can zoom up on the picture, magnify it, and look at the photo on high resolution. 
2. I think looking at art online is a convenient way, but I don't think its the way to go because its not looking at it in person, and having that thrill of seeing art physically right in front of you. And a lot of things are going digital so I wouldn't want to do that. And looking at art is more for someone who has no time to travel and look at museums or has the patience to do that.
3. An experience I had is, I would religiously watch So You Think You Can Dance Season 7, and I found out they were going on tour so I had gone to the tour and I got to meet the dancers and seeing them in person is way much better than seeing them on TV. It really is different because they look bigger on TV when most of the dancers are tiny. So everything is better if you see it in person.

Outdoor Portrait with Reflection

*I tried to rotate this picture but when I would save it, I would upload it but then nothing would happen and it would go back to its original way.

This assignment, we had to shoot an outside portrait using a scrim, and the purpose of using a scrim was to soften the lighting, because the light from the sun would just be too harsh and possibly make the picture super bright. This photograph is just very simple, it involved Victoria and a tree, I want it to be very simple because it is a portrait, and when I think of portrait, I think of simple. But then I wanted to include something else as well, because I think it would make the photo more interesting, so I wanted her to stand next to something earthy. I also wanted the photo to focus on her, and the background just consisted of the school building and some leaves from the tree that was hanging. The emphasis is on her, but I tried to make the picture have balance by having both things on each side and not everything in the middle. This picture does have texture because of the tree, the tree creates this rough edgy texture to it but then you can also see a shine on Victoria's hair which makes like a smooth texture. I just wanted to create a photo that's simple yet fun.  I felt like this piece was just ok, but definitely not my best. 

Responses to Cultural Identity

When I had asked people about what cultural identity meant to them, the frequent answer I would get from them, are usually something that has to do with their OWN culture and their own beliefs. I wouldn't really get an answer on another type of race except their own. For example, when I asked my mom, she would give me something about our religion and how Filipinos act and whatnot, and I had asked around my friends what responses they got, and they had gotten the same thing. But I would also get answers like: "Cultural Identity has something to do with the food you eat, the kind of people you hang out with." and so on. But even then, when food would get brought up, its usually a type of food that has to do with what their culture or their race eats. Also, cultural identity doesn't have to do with just food you eat or the kind of people you hang out with, it also has to do with the type of music you listen to, your hobbies, any sports or activities you do, and the list goes on. It could even be stereotypical, that's usually the kind of answer I would get anyways. 

Cultural Identity Resources Consulted Page

http://fotografiadeautor.es/

http://www.moriyamadaido.com/english/#/gallery/

http://www.gonzalezpalma.com/v2/expo.php?portfolio=17

Still Life Photography

In this photo, some materials I used were a mask, a really pretty candle holder with flowers and a candle. And everything was put in a plan background and this shoot was indoors so we had to do the lighting ourselves by using hot lights and such. We also used those old huge cameras, the ones where we see the picture upside down and we only had 2 shoots at a time and the negatives were big as well. The way I arranged it was that, I want there to be a lot of different types of texture, so we have a shiny feel from the mask and a hard feel from the candle holder. Also the flower gives it a soft texture. The way this picture is organized is I wanted everything to be together but not really uniform. I wanted there to be levels as well. The emphasis of this picture is the middle part, be the middle of the candle holder and the mask and everything in the middle. I also think that the materials so well with each other when it comes to theme. Line is created by the branches of the pretty candle holders. which draws the eye to it, and then I look at everything else below it, but my focus is the candle holder. The feel that I get through this picture is a type of dim relaxing yet fun feel. The candles and flowers symbolize relaxness and calmness while the masquarade mask gives it a fun party feel. I really like this picture because the print came out beautiful and I love how everything is arranged. I also love the materials I brought in.