Elements of FIne Art Photography

September 20, 2011 Christine Shank

Course Description:

This 5- credit course presents students with an introduction to the discipline of Fine Art photography. Projects will be assigned as a vehicle to explore specific areas in this subcategory of contemporary photography. This course has been designed to introduce theoretical, aesthetic and technical strategies for the production of Fine Art photographic artwork. Through conceptually driven projects, group assignments, readings, discussions, and written projects the meaning and intent of photographic imagery will be emphasized and explored. Both the still and moving image will be explored as contemporary possibilities in the current practice of Fine Art photography.

Austin Wright, The Landscape Project, Winter 2012

The Landscape

Conceptually, The Landscape instantly evokes imagery of sweeping plains and mountains captured by artists such as Richard Avedon. His systematically created shots of nature enthralled audiences. The world, at that time, was huge. There were undiscovered places just waiting to be found, documented, and shown. These sights never before seen were brought to the forefront of the human consciousness.

Now, the world is shrinking.

I am completely disconnected from images such as his. The deluge of information made available by National Geographic, textbooks, and the Internet has desensitized viewers to splendor. I have always felt that the only way to experience the world was to be there itself.

This assignment eluded my grasp for a long time. I shot in my hometown, in Rochester, in Manhattan, and everywhere in between. The shots bored me. In the end, what is another shot of a sweeping field? My grandmother’s forestland and the aggressive New York Skyline became a chore. “There is nothing new under the sun,” after all.

These images are meant to explore the perception of disinterest and physical separation. They abuse common technology in hopes of creating something dreamlike and somehow unearthly. The photographs are the compositions of other artists, changed, distorted, and cheapened. Captured by a cellphone, the subject matter of beautifully wrought films and stills is changed into something gritty yet ethereal. Versailles, Fjärås, Paris, and Manhattan are transformed into dreamscapes.

Both the editing and the method of capture represent my own commentary on the cheapness of landscapes in general. They are the resolution I searched for under canopied tries and dizzying skyscrapers. Hopefully with these images I can achieve something that causes the viewer to linger.

Austin Wright, The Landscape Project, Winter 2012

Dan Wang, Final Project, Winter 2012

Sean Sullivan, The Constructed Image Project, Winter 2012

Allison Pfefferle, The Constructed Image Project, Winter 2012

Final Project

Constructed Image Assignment Continued

Miniatures

For my final project, I have continued with my work from the Constructed Image assignment, in which I was influenced by the though of using something small to explain something much larger. This line of thought got me to thinking about how I could apply this in a way that was meaningful to me. I am not a person who finds it easy to talk to other people about mundane things let alone discussing matters that I find more personal. As a way to work past this, I chose to create miniature models depicting scenes from my past. The result being a collection of memories that reveal close guarded aspects of my life that hopefully in turn allow for a connection between the viewer and myself that I have never been able to make with another before.

I cannot remember a time my mother’s boyfriend did not have a beer. He was always a heavy drinker, but then he made the transition to violate alcoholic. At times, he would be the nice guy I had known him to be and at other times, he was this new scary person. This cycle continued until his death via a car accident. After his death, my mother received sympathy flowers that she placed on our kitchen table; a spot in which they continued to sit for a few more years. Overtime our house, like the flowers, began to decay.

Allison Pfefferle, The Constructed Image Project, Winter 2012

Timothy Ira Morris, The Landscape Project, Winter 2012

Madison McKenna, Landscape Project, Winter 2012

Madison McKenna, Final Project, Winter 2012

These spaces are familiar to you. Every day you may interact with these simple items. You may even find them mundane. Do you notice these fleeting moments? Moments of pure splendor are frequently overlooked.

You know these things, these locations. It is possible that some of them are your own.

With intention, I have simulated these fleeting moments long enough to capture. I share them with you. We notice things of grandeur, often. How often do you stop to observe and glorify the simple? The simple things are beautiful.

I have contrived these moments in spaces that emulate the notion of the domestic. I want the viewer to be able to relate to my photographs and understand their content on a basic level. Due to the simple nature, I hope that the audience brings their own understanding and knowledge to analyze further the meaning of these spaces. An eggshell on a counter will signify different things for different viewers.

By creating these scenes I am formulating my own understandings of domestic life. I am interested in the prevalent solitude and awkward nature of the domestic. These spaces seem without history but remain so familiar to you. I want to capture the beauty of leftover moments that occur in a space, the remnants of interactions fascinate me. These photographs are a way for me to do so.

Madison McKenna - 2012

Madison McKenna, Final Project, Winter 2012

Madison McKenna, The Constructed Image Project, Winter 2012

Madison McKenna, Still from Moving Image Project, Winter 2012

Amelia Katz, Final Project, Winter 2012

Amelia Katz, Portrait Project, Winter 2012

Farrah Julin, Final Project, Winter 2012

Denis Doorly, The Constructed Image Project, Winter 2012

Sammy Castillo, Landscape Project, Winter 2012

Jessica Butler, Final Project, Winter 2012

Growing up I was always fascinated by how makeup could alter a persons looks. I consider it to be an art just like painting but on a complex surface. The colors are fantastic and I just find the process so interesting. What I’ve recently started to notice is that the process of removing makeup can be just as beautiful as putting it on. The patterns that the make up leaves on a make up wipe are different each time and different for each person. For my constructed image I had several different people remove their makeup at the end of the day. All I told them was to keep it all on one side of the wipe and to get as much off as possible. In the process of the removal they created their own little works of art.

Jessica Butler, Final Project, Winter 2012

Liam Storrings, Intro to Self Project, Winter 2011

Alex Strohmeier, Intro to Self Project, Winter 2011

Chris Snyder, Intro to Self Project, Winter 2011

Elements of FIne Art Photography

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