Extra Credit

I am taking this opportunity to get more points since I am not pleased with my work this term. It is not that I feel I was graded unfairly, I just wish I would've worked a little harder, and never been satisfied. I also want to take this opportunity to tell anyone who reads this (cause I have so many fans) about one of the many things I regret from photo this term. I don't just deplore absolutely everything I've done, don't get me wrong, this is the most I've ever loved a class! (no, I'm not just sucking up to Slade, I'm actually serious.) There are just some things I wish I'd improved. Anyway, this is one thing I regret not taking the time to do:

I've always been planning on shooting something that told a personal story. Not a story like Humpty Dumpty (though I loved your work Chan) and not a pointless story to simply entertain viewers. I want a photograph that resembles me. I want to capture the things I love in life, right now, in one image. One of the reasons I didn't shoot it this term was because I don't quite know what to shoot. I don't know what this picture will look like.. because I'm still figuring myself out. This photo, if I ever take it, will be for me. Not for an audience, not for Slade, not for Chan or for my parents, but for me. I want to look back on this one photograph, and remember the things I thought about at this age. The things I did, what I loved, because I want to capture the memory of my life right now. One reason why I want to do this is because I see myself loving photo in the future, not just now. It might not be my profession, but I'm sure it will always be at least a hobby. And as I'm building my foundation right now, taking these classes, learning lessons and gaining skills, and it is just the beginning of my life as a photographer. When I'm old, hopefully still into photography, I want to see what my work looked like when I was just starting out. When I research professional photographers, I've always wanted to see what their first print looked like. What their photos looked like at my age. This would give me hope that maybe I could one day be as great as they were. Yes, this entire paragraph is cheesy with finding myself, and capturing memories, but I honestly hope to soon find out what this photograph will look like, and when I find out I will shoot it.

Josef Koudelka

At first I just liked this guy cause he was named after my favorite printer. (Maybe it was the other way around.....) but in my research, I have learned that he is much more than a printer. That printer is very very fortunate to have a pleasure and honor, of being named after such an artist. Here is just one favorite:



I really like this one, because you can see into the head of this hand. You can tell, by just the subject of the image, that this man is either bored or in a hurry. But then as we look at the background, a busy city with people with places to go, we see that this man is in a hurry. One small side element of vantage point simply shows us how great a photographer he is, and it also tells us that this man has a long way to go, and not a long time to get there. I love the story this tells.

William Eggleston

This one also is great. It's full of wonder, why did he take this picture? What is this significance? What was he thinking? Maybe it was just great light, maybe it was his favorite car, favorite drink, who knows? But I think he wanted to leave us wondering. The reflection is awesome. It is what caught my eye, and it adds so much to the picture. By the style of both the cars and the bottle, you can tell what year/era this is. Maybe it's just the great representation of light, but this photo is great.