Wesleyan College - Digital Photography (ART275) - Fall 2021
Project 3 - Contemporary Art - Chapter Presentation & Photos
Project is in two parts.
Part 1 - Slide presentation of selected chapter from Charlotte Cotton's The Photograph as Contemporary Art book
Part 2 - Short photo series (3-5 images) with brief oral statement
Tools: Canon EOS Rebel XSi with "kit" [18-55mm] lens
Software: Adobe Camera Raw, Google Slides
Overall Grade: 95 / 100
Professor Comments: Very strong presentation and artist research – I enjoyed how you started off by introducing your own philosophical take on how we see millions of things every day and only selectively notice some of those things. I really enjoyed the quotes you found by your artists as well. Nice job researching and presenting this information!
For your own body of photographs inspired by your ‘something and nothing’ chapter, I think your strongest image is the second image (the red thread one) – there is something so unexpected about the strange angle you’ve used, along with the interesting crop (the red thread being partially cut out of the frame) that is working very well. As your classmates stated, there is a strong sense of texture in all of these photographs. Overall, you achieve very nice detail through use of shallow aperture and a hyper-upcloseness. However, there is something in Ashleigh’s comment that rang true to me – I think by taking a step back, and allowing more breathing room within the frame (especially for the last 2 images: blue thread spool and the stack of colored pencils) you could allow viewers to see the everyday objects in their lived environments, allowing us to more subtly glance at where these objects reside. Environment is important for something and nothing photos, and I think for me, it would allow me to learn more about how these objects are used by you and allow me to glimpse inside their everydayness in your room. I think including more of a mix of upcloseness, and environment shots that include both the objects and your room would work well. I do understand the decision making you made here: going super up-close to get every detail and to really focus on color, but I do think they could be more nuanced. Your flower photo is beautiful, but flowers are a tricky ‘something and nothing’ subject matter because they do stick out and grab our attention, they already are pretty and captivating. It’s helpful to think in terms of: everyone takes flower photos, so how can I make one that truly does something original?
Slide Presentation
There is no audio in this file. Feel free to pause the video to read the text.
Photo Submissions: Something & Nothing
“Colors: Spool” ƒ/9.0 | Shutter 0.4 | ISO 100
Selected Student Critique: "I know you mentioned how much you love photographing colors, and we can really see that in your photos! With the exception of the image of the flower (which is still beautiful, just not on as theme as the others), it's amazing how you got all of these images of so many colors to work so well! Also, in your powerpoint, displaying your photos as black and white at first was a really nice touch. It really shows how much color can change a photo!" ~ Mackie
“Colors: Pencils” ƒ/5.0 | Shutter 0.5 | ISO 400
Selected Student Critique: "I would've like to see one of the color pencils in focus just for a more exaggerated look of a pop of color. Overall, great selection of photos especially with the vibrance of colors." ~ Ja'Nyia
Selected Student Critique: "I would've like to see one of the color pencils in focus just for a more exaggerated look of a pop of color. Overall, great selection of photos especially with the vibrance of colors." ~ Ja'Nyia
“Colors: Thread” ƒ/5.6 | Shutter 1/13 | ISO 200
Selected Student Critique: "Your use of lighting, aperture, and color really captivates the viewer. With this chapter, my understanding is it's trying to bring attention to something that normally someone would just walk right by without thinking a second thought of that object. Your use of those 3 things allows this happen because the viewer is now drawn to these objects. I would like to if maybe taking pictures of these objects in a more common and everyday life setting instead of close ups would create more of that sense of these things go unnoticed but nothing should ever go unnoticed. Overall I think these fit well within the chapter and your camera work is amazing!" ~ Ashleigh
“Colors: Rain Flower” ƒ/5.0 | Shutter 1/125 | ISO 400
Selected Student Critique: "You had a creative idea for your first picture by angling the camera so you could see the raindrops through the front of the flower. It was also a creative touch during your presentation having the pictures go from black and white to color." ~ Anna
