Experimental

Flourgienist

In this photography series I titled "Flourgienist" I show what it is like to look down a pansies' throat. I noticed as I began to shoot these photos they had an interesting focal point which was right in the center of the flower. I do not know plant anatomy nor human throat anatomy, but right away I correlated the two prickly parts of the flower near the center is similar to a human's two tonsils. Then the black beady parts of the flower is similar to a human's uvula.

To create these photos I used my iPhone 8 with a clip on macro lens. I focused the camera on the throat of the flower and began to focus on the two beady eyes. I edited the photos on Photoshop with mostly enhancing the image and cropping to a more interesting angle. Throughout this series I noticed other compositional elements like how some of the pansies look like insects, body parts, and even a bird. Nature is a photographers most natural and photogenic subject. Each pansy has a similar anatomy and I would like to explore this more and see what is it like to look down other flowers throats.

This project underlines my ability to create fresh and impactful visual identities that drive audience engagement.

Experimental Projects from College

I enjoy experimental photography because of how unique and creatively challenging it is to capture these photographs. Below are two photography series that I completed at Albright College in my photography senior seminar in 2020 and my Photography II class in 2019. They have a common theme of exploration of color and contrast along the human body.

Spectrum

I created this photography series “Spectrum” in the spring of 2020 for my Senior Seminar class at Albright College. In this series I used body parts to create seven images in color and black-and-white to be viewed next to one another. The colors reminded me of a Spectrum so I decided on seven images for this series to reflect the seven colors of the rainbow. The black-and-white images follow this idea of a spectrum as an alternate definition as two opposite points. I focused on using color and black-and-white images to conclude my time at Albright College as I created a black-and-white series in my Photography I class and a color series in my Photography II class.

To create these photos, I used a disco ball that had moving light and different options of colors including red, green, and blue. I used a slightly longer exposure to capture the intertwining colors that created a spectrum. I chose different parts of the body to create unusual angles for depth and shadows. I used different perspectives of legs, arms, and back. I cropped the images down to create a tight intertwine feeling of color and light in my images. I used Adobe Photoshop to enhance the photos using Camera Raw and then made a copy of the photo converted to black-and-white. I created a high contrast between the light and dark areas that the colored lights created on the crevices of the body.

My idea for this project was to incorporate my experiences with photography throughout my college career. I learned a lot about contrast in my Photography I class during my Sophomore year because we worked with film cameras and developed film in the dark room. We shot in black-and-white and I have always been drawn to bright and bold colors but this class changed my perspective. I learned that black-and-white images offer a similar idea from bright and bold colors but to bright and bold contrast. I fell in love with creating bold contrasts between black-and-white images and I wanted to share that within this series along with my passion with color.

Body

I created this narrative titled "Body" in the spring of 2019 in my Photography II class at Albright College. In this narrative series I show male and female parts of the body as undifferentiated as I focused on just one section to be viewed. I decided to use a galaxy style paint to emphasize the universal meaning of how the body is depicted. I incorporated my knowledge in Buddhism within this series. Buddhists believe that the body is a vessel to seek nirvana or a state of enlightenment. Once they reach this point they are finally at peace as I would picture with the stars of the galaxy.

I created these images by splattering black light paint on the limb I was focusing my image on. I added a small amount of paint onto a tooth brush and used my thumb to splatter it on the area of the body. A black light was used to illuminate the galaxy style paint that was on my subject’s body. I created these patterns unknowingly because I splatted the paint in normal fluorescent lights to then be revealed in the black light. I carefully picked which colors to be used to create a contrasting emphasis from the neon colors to the dark shadow of the body.

I edited these photos using Adobe Photoshop and enhanced the colors and sharpen the images. The most challenging part about this project was taking the photos in manual mode and trying to focus on the tiny specs of color that were ever so slightly to be viewed through my camera. One of the most rewarding parts of this project was editing the photos in Photoshop to reveal even more of the galaxy colors.

I entered two of these photos into the 2020 Annual Juried Art Show at Albright College and happy that both have made it in. Due to the coronavirus this usually in-person exhibit is now viewed online indefinitely.