Assignment 5 In-process photos

***Potential ideas for project 5

In-class Image Assignment 17

Recreation 5

Recreaion of still life from Jan Groover.

Historical Photographer: Gertrude Kasebier

Gertrude Kasebier was one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century.  She was born in 1852 in Iowa, but in 1864 when her father suddenly died, her family moved to New York and she eventually moved to Pennsylvania where she attended college.  She married on her twenty second birthday in 1874 and soon after has three children.  She was very unhappy in her marriage, but divorce was not accepted then, so Kasebier and her husband decided to live separate lives while remaining married.  Her husband supported her when she was 37 to attend art school even though she wasn't thrilled about art. 
In the late 1890s she began photographing elements of the Western U.S., focusing on people's faces and emotions.  In July 1899 after having 5 of her pictures published, she shot to fame.  In the same year her picture titled "The Manger" sold for $100, the most for any picture at the time.  In 1901 she had an entire chapter devoted to her work in the book Photography As A Fine Art. 
Her husband died in 1910, giving her the independence she had always wanted.  She began coming into the spotlight, not for her work, but because former friends and colleages were criticizing her.  Alfred Stiegletz, who had published her first five photographs, began attacking her work, possibly because of jealousy or because he did not believe in making money and getting rich off of photography, which he saw as art.
She opened a door for many women in photography, inspiring them to follow their dreams and pursue photography like she had done.  She continued her portrait business throughout the 1910s and most of the 1920s.  in 1929 she gave up photography and emptied the contents of her studio.  She later died in 1934.

Contemporary Photographer: Jan Groover

Jan Groover is American photographer born in 1943 in New Jersey.  After receiving a BFA and MA, she began her art in specializing in color techniques.  She is best known for her use of household utensils in her pictures.  She creates still lifes and uses everyday materials to photograph her work and document everyday things that people usually don't notice.

Blog Prompts Week 5 (22-24)

22.  A lot of thought and time went into these pictures.  He had to make sure everything was spot on in relation to what his vision was.  I enjoyed that he was so passionate about his work and put a lot of thought and hard work into his pieces.  It is inspirational because it gives me reassurance that I can do something as time-consuming as that.

23.  I construct my identity by the way I dress and look.  I try to look presentable or stylish even though I am not sure what my style is exactly.  I do spend a little time on my hair and make-up like most girls do, but it is way more low key in the summer.  My personal culture is constructed by the way we talk, the things we do, and the ways we interact.  Different ways of social media like cellphones or Facebook shape the way we interact in person and how we do things.  Real life is doing mundane things that you do everyday like brushing your teeth, taking out trash or running errands.  Constructed reality is getting dressed up for a wedding or going on a first awkward date, something that you don't do everyday.  A narrative tableux would be getting ready for a flight, then having it canceled so you have to go to another flight across the building, then meeting someone and starting a conversation, etc.  In miniture format, you could use small figurines or toys to act out the humans or other objects in the scene.

24.  For the final project, I am not exactly sure yet what I want to do because I am still coming up with ideas, but I would like it to be a series of either people I am close to or of weird landscapes or scenery, but still undecided.

Recreation 4

I did a recreation of the scene in The Shining where Jack Nicholson is peering out of the door.  Because of color differences, I chose to make mine in black and white, while still trying to keep the essence of creepiness and unknowing.  I used photoshop to make the under-eyes darker and to make some of her other features darker.  The use of a girl instead of a guy was merely because of limitations and time constraints, not anything about the picture.