Blog for thought

After presenting the work that I worked on last semester, which is still what I’m most inspired by, and hearing some advice on where it should go, I do agree that my work needs to become more thematic than where it’s currently at. Although with that, I’ve hit somewhat of a rut with where to go or what sort of theme to associate with my series. As with many artists I do find my childhood and movies, which I’m a huge fan of, to be very inspirational to the person I am and the work that I create. However, I also find that if I were to try to relate to some of the major events that have happened to me or to America for that matter, it might be too similar to Lori Nix’s, as well as the fact that these “major” catastrophic events aren’t the direction that I feel comfortable dwelling into. Not that it’s because I’ve lost someone towards them, but because they have affected me as a person, perhaps to the point that I don’t find ease or inspiration to revolve my work around. Also I don’t know how those ideas would be taken by my audience and if they’re willingly ready to accept or even look at it. The world has changed and will continue to change throughout my lifetime. Morals have loosened in certain areas, especially with younger generations, not to mention the effect we’ve had on the environment and how were steadily destroying the planet earth.

Some ideas to inspire me in this event of focusing on a theme to my series are to reflect on some of my favorite movies and why I find them to be my favorites, although, I still want to focus or leave open to the idea of revolving or associating with the environment along with my desire to travel. On the note of inspiring movies, over this summer I watched some documentaries that I found to be very eye opening in many different aspects; for example, perhaps it’s the environmentalist in me, but my favorite and the one I found to be most stimulating was “An Inconvenient Truth”. Another was, “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Cost, 2005”, which led me realize how terrible the Walton family, who owns Wal-Mart, really is and how it’s destroying America’s values of freedom, not to mention that it’s staggering our economy, which isn’t being helped by our ever soaring gas prices and crisis in Iraq. Like I mentioned before, times are changing and they certainly don’t seem to be for the better, at least not from what I’ve seen in my short lifetime.

to be continued in thought….& in blog....

what's to become of me......

Upon graduating VCU which is in my very near future, I want to become a commercial freelance photographer and eventually have my own studio; but, to build up my connections, knowledge, and skills I first want to work as an assistant to other commercial photographers already established in the photography/ art world. There are many aspects of photography to which I enjoy so it’s somewhat hard for me to just pick & stick with one. I believe being a freelance photographer or at least a commercial photographer will allow me to one, pay the bills, but more importantly let me to dwell into the many aspects that photography has to offer.

An influential photographer that influences me, especially to the work in which I’ve created in last semester’s senior portfolio and will continue with this semester is Lori Nix (www.lorinix.com). Her work is a combination between David Levinthal’s because of her work with miniatures, and Gregory Crewdson due to references from her childhood as well as from motion pictures which have been major influences to her ideas and vivid imagination. I admire her work not only aesthetically and conceptually, but like both Levinthal and Crewdson, she has a keen eye for detail and brilliant colors. Another thing I respect about Nix’s photography, she uses a hands-on-approach to create her set ups relying on capturing her image through the lens of the camera, rather than depending on photoshop.

..from her series
"Accidentlly Kansas"