Dayanna Hughes Capstone
For my capstone, I wanted to incorporate the photo skills that I have been taught my last three years of high school. This would be the time to show my art, and what I value as a photographer. Everyone’s interpretation of their world around them is different. Honestly, in the beginning, my thought process was all over the place, not knowing how I would put everything together. At first, I wanted to explore homelessness in Philadelphia. I felt as though bringing awareness to the problems that we ignore every day would be refreshing and different. In the end, I finalized my capstone to be “The people of Philadelphia.” I focused on the major hotspots in our city and took pictures of people whom I feel like we're set apart and made our city unique. With my overall question being, “How does living in an urban setting affect the lives of the citizens and how they interact with one another?” I was nervous about how I would show this effectively. I didn’t just want to tell a story, I wanted my photos to be “Philadelphia.” It was hard at first because I had to get all of the places I wanted to go to. There were some people that didn't want to take photos, and even the weather was out of place. But in the end, it all worked out and I am proud of my final product. Below, are some of the photos I took, but not all due to my final presentation.
“5 Photography Editing Tools To Make Your Photos More Striking And Dramatic.” Hand Luggage Only, 26 Nov. 2018 handluggageonly.co.uk/2016/03/14/5-photography-editing-tools-to-make-your-photos-more-striking-and-dramatic/.
This source gives me insight on how editing can make or break a photo. You can take a photo of anything, and make it more dramatic or have more depth. My goal is to tell a story, and I want it to be deep. This editing technique is called ading “drama.” I want to capture different aspect and views of the people that make the city the way it is. Perhaps different backgrounds can have different effects and edits. There are a lot of misunderstandings when it comes down to the idea of dramatics, like it having to be “dark,” or “sad,” when that isn’t necessarily the case. Now I have a deeper understanding of things that happen and don’t happen.
Formhals, Bryan. “Interview With Photojournalism Legend David Burnett.” About B&H | B&H
Photo Video, B&H Photo Video, 4 Dec. 2013,
www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/content/interview-photojournalism-legend-david-burnett.
David Burnett is an extremely famous photojournalist. He has been named 100 most important people in photography. His photographic opinion matters in the industry. He’s took photos of people like bob marley. This source gives me a view on what higher ups like him do to capture the eyes of the people. For example, he says his photos are not in any way shape or form strategic, he experiments and it works for him every time. It makes the photo more fluid and feels more natural. With portraits as well you want people to be comfortable or it shows in your art.
Maher, James. “What Is Street Photography? - An Introductory, How-To Guide for Beginners.”
New York Fine Art Photography and Portraiture Services, James Maher Photography, 2
Nov. 2018,
www.jamesmaherphotography.com/street_photography/what-is-street-photography/.
This source differentiated what a candid, and other means of photography are. Candids are more fluent and smooth. They seem more natural, and are meant to capture the moment. The author of this described it as poetry. Street photography is up to the photographer as far as what they want to portray. This style isn’t as strict and done a certain way. Like I said before it is up to what the person wants to convey.
Masoner, Liz. “What Is Photojournalism?” The Spruce Crafts, TheSpruceCrafts, www.thesprucecrafts.com/an-introduction-to-photojournalism-2688644.
This source tells me what exactly is photojournalism. I didn’t know it was a specific means of journalism but it does make sense as to why it is like that. This website told me in specific what I need to do to capture the moment and what I need to do if I interview people. Not only does the photo tell the story but what you say behind it.“This doesn't mean simply taking an action photo. Communicating the verb is much more than that. Stories are captured in slices while photojournalism strives to convey what is happening in one shot.”
McCurry, Steve. “Home.” Steve McCurry, 6 Aug. 2018, stevemccurry.com/. ``
This source is a website from famous photographer Steve McCurry who is noted as one of the greatest photographers of his time. This is his personal website where his galleries are put out there for the world to see. I really want to have my photos to look like his, because even though he downplays his art, you can really see the work that is put into telling the story. This website is direct links to interviews and “behind the scenes” where you can see the steps he took. He travels all around the world, where sometimes english is hard to understand. It’s amazing to me how even though there are barriers his work is universal.
Meyerson, Arthur, et al. “The Stories That Can Be Told Through Photography.” Nikon Df | Classic Nikon DSLR with Modern Features Inside, www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/ideas-and-inspiration/the-stories-that-can-be-told-through-photography.html.
This source is a professional giving his knowledge about photography. He tells his specific strategies on how to convey different things. Like previously mentioned he switches it up, his style always changes and he said to keep that in mind when doing photo projects. This helps me because I can see through the eyes of a professional what to do and what not to do. He picks different locations based on who he is interviewing because not every person he is taking portraits are all the same.
sivak, cathy. “Interview with Lisa Schreiber, Photojournalist - JournalismSchools.com - Directory of Journalism Schools and List of Journalism Programs.” JournalismSchools.com, journalismschools.com/resources/interview-with-lisa-schreiber-photojournalist.
This source is an interview with Cathy Sivak who is a photojournalist. She has been doing it for majority of her life. She is an award winning photographer and currently works for the post tribune. She mentions trends in photography and how that can help more people to see what you are doing. Which makes sense, because trends are what people are currently interested in. When capturing my art, I think it would be good to edit based on what editing tools are in. For example, bookah or color which are specific trends now could help me win over some of the people that come to my viewing connect more. It seems to be a common thing among professionals to pay attention to what specific things your people are giving them to properly tell your story.
Stanford, anna. “Photography Storytelling = Portrait Project 365.” Design Bridge, 19 Sept. 2016, www.designbridge.com/photography-storytelling-portrait-project-365/.
This source is another interview of a person who has a whole business around teaching journalism and photography. He mentions common struggles that his students face. For example, not having a relationship with their photographer. Often times they look angry or you can see the frustration that the photographer had while trying to take the photo. He warns of things to pay attention to and once again how to make people feel safe enough to put their business out there publically for the world to see.
strayhem, vanessa. “The Best Photos From TIME Photographers in 2017.” Time, Time, time.com/time-best-photojournalism-of-2017/.
This source helps me by giving me specific names of people who do what I want to convey in this project. I don’t want to copy them, but from seeing their art I can base my project to be overall better. I want these photos to tell a story, and if I can study the greats I can make my photos great. These people have different styles that are being acknowledged, and like other sources I have noted it teaches me what not to do.
Swift, Paula Ferazzi. Storytelling Portrait Photography: How to Document the Lives of Children
and Families. Amherst Media, 2017.
This source is a book that explains how to make your models comfortable. Along with different strategies to make them that way. For example, she incorporates a lot of toys and childlike mannerisms to make toddlers and babies more relaxed. She also includes analysis of why she does do that, for example childrens photos always include them smiling. That’s why during the shoot she does this childlike things to get that out of them. She has different sections for different ages, of like I said what she has noticed and picked up on. For older people she makes sure where she has them is comfortable, and she may have a brighter background or overall setting due to things like shadows.
Comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Log in to post a comment.