Concept/Subject

When I moved to JP two years ago and started learning to skateboard, I heard there was a skate park nearby. I was excited to have a spot to practice so close to my house, but was disappointed to find that the park was really just an old street hockey rink with cracked pavement and a random assortment of handmade ramps in varying stages of decay, some of which were clearly constructed by pouring concrete over piles of trash. I immediately deemed the park unusable and spent the next year or so practicing in areas that I saw as more reasonable. 

Eventually, I became aware of the local skate brand Fancy Lad and learned through their videos that the JP DIY skate park was far from unusable and neglected. In fact, the way the local skaters make use of the trashy skate features is some of the most creative, expressive and humorous skateboarding that I’ve ever seen. I have begun visiting the park more often, and during the pandemic it has become one of the few places where I’ve been able to make new connections. Not only is the JP skate park a fully functional and extremely fun skate park, but it’s also a vibrant social hub and an adult creative playground.

I am fascinated and enchanted by the way my perspective on this space changed and I would like to try to communicate that experience with photos. I want to capture the JP park in images of two themes: those that communicate the atmosphere of neglect and disrepair that primarily characterized my initial impression, and also those that reveal the space’s social and creative vibrancy. The former will focus on the low-level physical characteristics of the park that contribute to its decrepit appearance e.g. rust, puddles and crumbling concrete. The latter will attempt to capture the personalities and attitudes of the folks who spend time there and the way they interact with the space.

Technical Approach (Input)

I’ll be using a Nikon d750 with 35mm and 50mm prime lenses. The environmental shots will likely be longer exposures with small apertures to maximize depth of field, and may require a tripod. The shots of people will be faster shutter speed with higher ISO as they will likely be in motion, unless they’re portraits. Light will be a bit of an issue, as it gets dark so early this time of year. 

Technical Approach (Output)

I will process these images in color, and they ideally will be displayed in pairs. Each pair will have one image of each theme. I imagine that a book would be a cool way to display it (one photo on the left side, one on the right), but for now I’d like to display them with a website. I’d like the images to be as large as possible because, at least for the first theme, there will be a lot of emphasis on texture and other small-scale physical features.

RESPONSE FROM  REBECCA:

Lawton,

Great idea. This is rife with possibilities, particularly if you take the viewer on a similar journey of understanding to what you yourself experienced, showing us the dilapidated structures in detailed and incisive landscape/structural images and then injecting more energy into the work with action shots of this space that you thought was unusable, being used by creative skaters. 

I would definitely try to incorporate some portraits, as you mentioned, perhaps made with your 50mm (or your 105mm?) on a wide aperture, so that those shots create a visual foil for your maximum DoF landscape/cityscape images of the park itself, and the action shots of the skaters in motion. And I wouldn’t shy away from using slower shutter speeds for some of those action shots as well, in the vein of Ernst Haas.

The pairing, particularly with an eventual book in mind, has potential. But I wouldn’t marry yourself to that idea too rigidly or too prematurely. Projects that use pairing in such a prescriptive way can begin to feel static and formulaic, and might steer you away from more fluid and unexpected sequencing/rhythm that is likely to emerge organically if you leave more space for discovery.

Take a look at the skateboard photography of recent MassArt alum Liam Annis; it’s democratic and sweeping in its approach, and the result is full of energy and variety. You may also be inspired by the urban landscapes of Tomás Cambas in terms of their use of color and form. You may also want to look at Larry Clark (though that’s going down a darker avenue), and Amir Zaki, particularly California Concrete.

Looking forward to seeing what you make.

For this project I would like to do an observational/narrative series of photos pertaining to relationship dynamics. Whether that be family, friends, lovers or even the relationship between humans and nature. I chose this concept because I feel that during these times a lot of people tend to be so busy that they do not take the time to slow down and appreciate the people and environments that exist around them. The project is not only meant to portray the joy that these relationships may bring but also the frustration and hurt that comes along with it.

To shoot this project I would like to focus on both very fast and very slow shutter speeds. Whichever one I decide to use while shooting will vary depending on what message I am trying to portray behind each photo. The main technical concepts that I will be using for this project is point of view and a limited color palette. I plan to use POV to shape my concept and create a set of photos that are unified through the technical aspects of photography as the subject matter of my photos is going to vary. Using a limited color palette is another way that I will achieve this. My focus when it comes to color is to manipulate my colors in post production to achieve the look that I am going for.

For the output of this project I want to challenge myself and try an idea that i have been thinking about doing for a while now. I want to take the photos that I have taken and merge them into graphic design modules that describe what this project is about visually. After the post-production I will create two of these modules. One will describe the positives and negatives that comes with relationship dynamics and the other one will describe how we as humans have neglected nature. 

RESPONSE FROM REBECCA:

Hi Makayla,

Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed proposal. This is an ambitious idea.

I think that keeping your color palette streamlined as a unifying gesture is wise, particularly considering your background as a painter and the work that you did on the Expressive Color assignment. I have no doubt about your ability to create a body of images that are chromatically and aesthetically cohesive.

When you describe the project as observational, do you mean that you plan to make candid images of people? I’d love to hear more about what the actual process will involve, since the sample images you sent are less observational and more staged/constructed. This project could be carefully staged/crafted, but involve an observational aspect in that you’re researching/observing people and relationships (like field notes) that feed into a body of images that reflect on these ideas. How many different people do you imagine photographing? Will there be recurring “characters” who play multiple “roles” in the images? Is it performative?

I’m not sure that the shutter speed should be your central concern here, as far as the technical input, outside of simply having control over it in general, so that you’re generating the results you want. Regarding the design “modules” that you mention, I’d love to hear more. I think that your previous experience in Photoshop will serve you well if you do plan to do some layering/montage. Just be conscious of time.

I think that the multiple thematic threads you mention, in addition to the highly involved post-production, might be overly complex and varied for such a short-term project. If you plan to layer images, I strongly recommend a tighter thematic focus. The humans/nature/neglect idea might be one that allows you to settle into a tighter way of working for the next two weeks. Bringing together, for examples, landscapes and portraits into layered montages, would already make for a rich and ambitious project, without the complication of the other human/human relationships and the constraint of the positive/negative dichotomy you describe creating.

Take a look at the project Lovely Days by former MassArt Photo student Marissa Ciampi, which (albeit in a different way than what you describe), looks at the complicated and sometimes toxic relationship between humans and nature through the commercial flower industry. If you’re thinking about human relationships, a body of work you should definitely know is Carrie Mae Weems’ Kitchen Table series, which you can read about here. You may already know the early 20th century photomontages of Hannah Höch; those might inspire your collage/montage post-production if you decide to go in that direction; and she’s an important artist to know in that realm. A more contemporary example of photomontage work can be found in the Iranian artist Setah Shabazi’s series Spectral Days. Liam Rimmington also looks at the human/nature relationship. Alexandra Bellissimo is another photomontage artist exploring the same themes.

Overall, I’d focus the idea in a bit more tightly…human relationships or our relationship to nature. Lookig forward to seeing what you come up with. Reach out any time with questions.

Zeman Project Concept

I’m interested in shooting diaristic account of this peculiar time of pandemic.  Trapped in a house for safety,  I’d like to record  the house I live in  and explore it from that perspective,  and the ways the outside world breaks into that sanctuary.  I am particularly interested in photographing the lamps in my house as a stand-in for the body, as a metaphor for awareness and enlightenment.  Literally shining a light on the situation, I am also interested in what each lamp will illuminate.  This would be a topology project, with narrative and observational elements.  Each photo would document a lamp, but would also capture the surrounding environment, suggesting, through other objects around the lamp, a story of the people who live there.

 

Zeman Technical Approach (Input)

I intend to shoot this series with my Nikon D3500, using a manual 50mm lens and a new tripod.  Many of the pictures will be in a vertical format to center the lamp.  I am probably going to try several different methods of shooting before I settle on one.  I’d like to shoot the lamps turned on at night.  My shutter speed can be a bit slow, and I will either raise the ISO, because I don’t want to have a very shallow depth of field and have to open up my lens (which only goes to f2.8), or …I might light the lamps, as I have a light kit that I could use.  It might be interesting to either spotlight the lamps, or spotlight the objects around them, photographically faking the light the lamp would normally cast.  Any suggestions?

I am not going to limit my palette, but rather work with the color relationships in the house and its contents that already exist, and perhaps rearrange and dust off the objects to compose the photo.

 

Zeman Technical Approach (Output)

I have a tiny obsession with lamps.  In my living room alone, I have three floor lamps and 15 table lamps.  I firmly believe tables exist to hold lamps.  A few years ago I dedicated a hardcover sketch book to lamps that I own.  On one page I drew the lamp, and on the facing page I wrote a bit about where I found it or bought it.  I would like to consider these photographs as a continuation of that idea, documenting a specific time and domestic place with a sense of humor – a portrait of a person through things.  I think a book or website combining the drawings, writing and photographs might be interesting.

 

RESPONSE FROM REBECCA:

Cynthia,

I like the idea of the lamp, particularly as an anthropomorphic stand-in for a human subject. I have no doubts about your ability to document objects with wit, creating domestic still life images that, I imagine, will intersect the mundane and the magical. That the project will act as a diaristic account of your personal space during the pandemic, and also add to an existing object-image-archive creates additional layers of specificity. I see this work as having poetic potential, opening up the possibilities of varying your apprach image to image for a body of work that feels complex and varied even as it looks at similar objects/spaces.

My thoughts return again to Irina Rozovsky’s Quotidian and Surreal series of pandemic images in the New York Times, which feels relevant to what you describe. Consider also the history of photographers who create image series from within the confines of their own homes/studios, such as Josef Sudek’s The Window of My Studio (shot over a period of about 15 years) and Uta Barth’s light studies (which are perhaps more abstract than what you’re looking to do but should nonetheless be on your radar). Other work to consider: Margaret Watkins’ Domestic Symphonies, Takashi Yasumura’s banal objects, Laura Letinsky’s Hardly More Than Ever, and the photographers featured in the 2009 exhibition Photodimensional at Columbia College of Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography, which looks at photography’s efforts to capture sculptural objects and space.

Regarding your technical input, consider using your tripod and live-view manual focus to shoot with small apertures for maximum depth of field that will allow you to capture extensive information. This will avoid the work feeling overly romantic, and I think might create a relationship between this body of photographs and your paintings. I would also consider finding a time of day when the exposure outside of a room’s window is the same as the interior exposure of the room with the lamp on. At this time of year, that is likely around 7am or 3pm, but you’ll have to run some experiments. This will act as an entrance into the work we do with mixed light sources next semester, and might have the potential to create interesting relationships between exterior/interior views. I don’t know if I would stay married to the idea of vertical framing (my fear of commitment is showing), if only because it might limit your ability to discover potential spatial relationships when you set up to shoot. Introducing additional artificial light sources like your kit is a great idea…it will “weaken” the lamp as the only light source in the image and allow us to truly see it without being blinded by it. I might consider a mix of that approach and the lamp as the main souce of light (particularly when combined with exterior light as described above). You might also consider long exposures where you paint with a flashlight…these are all options to try at the outset, but I also think you can create a compelling body of work without overcomplicating the production.

Regarding your technical output, the idea of a book is exciting. In the long-term, I can imagine that there would be an opportunity for you to make a piece that includes text, hand-written notes, and drawings/paintings (which you mention here) along with the photographic images. For this semester, I would focus on making, processing, and sequencing the photographic images.

-R