Photo Project

Problem Statement

The goal of this project is to create three pairs of 4"x6" photos.  Each pair should have one photo of leaves and one of linear shadows.  We are to use our understanding of the design elements to create pairs of images that have maximum contrast.  The three sets should also have contrast as a whole.  These photos are to be mounted on 12"x18" matt board for the final presentation.

Edits

Early photos had too much similarity in them.  I wrote down the similarities and contrasts to help me identify the ways to make the contrast more intense.   I then used cropping and took new photos to make the contrasts more obvious and powerful.

Final combinations

contrasts

light-dark

random-organized

diagonal-horizontal

contrasts

curvy-straight

red-green

depth-flat

contrasts

textured-smooth

saturated-desaturated

stable-dynamic

Week 3

The hardest thing to see is what is in front of you.

I can't count how many times I have been trying to solve a problem only to realize that the answer was right under my nose the whole time.  When I am working on an art project, I usually don't notice the things that are wrong with it while I am working on it.  When it is in front of me, I am usually too invested in my work to see it objectively.  Sometimes I never notice the problem areas until someone else points them out to me.  It is important for me to learn how to see my work more objectively while I work on it.  It seems to help if I walk away from it for a couple days and then look at it again with fresh eyes.

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

There is a big difference between looking and seeing.  When I look at a great piece of art, it is easy to recognize that it is great.  Our minds can intuitively understand whether something looks good or not.  The hard part is learning to see it.  As someone who wants to learn how to make my own great art, I need to be able to see what makes it good.  I need to be able to look at a great design and pick out the design elements and how they work together to make it great.  That way I can learn from it and apply the principles to my own work.

Week 2

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This is true because any good picture can have infinite different interpretations.  No two people look at an image the same way.  When we look at a photo or painting, we bring our entire life experience with us.  When an artist creates a picture, they might have an idea of what they are trying to express but once they show it to someone, it's meaning gets altered.  Each person will have a different idea of what it means based on their beliefs, education, lifestyle, etc.  This is why even the most simple picture is worth a thousand words.  We will all have something different to say about it.

Week 1

Every human has four endowments: self awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination.  These give us the ultimate freedom, the power to choose, respond, and change.

Steven Covey

These four endowments are the things that separate us from animals.  As Covey says, these things give us the power to change our lives and surroundings.  It is our job as humans to use this ability for good.  We should use our independent will and creativity to create positive change in our personal lives and the world as a whole.  We should use our conscience to make good choices.  We should respond to problems in our lives with positive, creative solutions.