Core Exhibition

Against Nature

It’s all comes down to the respect we have or don’t have for nature. I’m interested in the relationship we humans have with this Earth and how we interact with it. From what I’ve observed in the last few months is that our Mother is moderately treated as though it is something special. I have a very large appreciation and love for nature that I would like to see the rest of the world have.Through my own personal experience and observations I have noticed that the technological world has distracted us from the green wonders outside our doors. I want my viewers to see the beauty this world holds.

For this piece I started to play with the idea of stripping away society and materials we are used to(clothes, technology, etc) and taking yourself away from the man made world we live in and revealing my subject to natural environments. Due to my hesitation in doing this shoot,I realized that it has been programed into my head that the naked body should not be exposed, especially in a public setting. The human figure and nature have been two of my biggest subjects this past year. I connected the two because really, they already are connected to each other in a way. Society has stripped the body of it’s natural beauty and made it out to be this purely sexual and dirty thing that we should be ashamed of, but in actuality the naked body is natural, and if you put that against a tree it’s all natural, the way the world was intended to be. I want my viewers to see the beauty their bodies hold.

I chose photography as my medium because it allows me to keep everything natural, with no alterations or disfigurements to the body or to the nature. I chose my scale based on how I see this issue of lack of appreciation towards the body and nature. It’s a big deal to me, it’s something I feel very strongly about, and I want my viewers to know that it’s something we should give thought to, but I don’t want to shove my thoughts into anyones face, I want them to find it with a little help.My decision to shoot close-ups instead of full body prints is because the body, along with nature itself, is much more intimate up close. People need to not be afraid of looking closely and stop looking from afar.

This piece is my way of saying we need to love this Earth and be unashamed of our bodies.

Presentation 1

Question: 

How does/can the human figure and nature interact with each other physically?

Dictionary:

Nature: "the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations."

Perception: "the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses."

AAron Konieczny

Arno Minkkinen

Research: 

Cinematic Space

For my Cinematic Space project I did a series of photos that portrayed nature vs. technology. To me nature is the center of it all. We are part of nature, we live with nature(our Mother). This Earth is a beautiful place that we dismiss to spend all day absorbed into electronic rectangles that in most cases isolates you from people and nature.

Hybrid Project #7: Documentation

From Past the Present

The Start of it all!

 The road I started my journey on was a gift. Literally. My very first digital camera was given to me on the Christmas of 2007. I only had experience using a disposable camera, so this was very new to me!
But I loved it. Every second of it. I was constantly taking pictures of  absolutely everything.

Two of my main focuses of my experimentation while I had this camera was my friends, family, and our house.

These photos are nothing special, but they were really the start of it all.

Beginners Stage!

 Due to an unfortunate, or rather, fortunate event, my previous camera broke in . My lovely uncle bought me a new one very similar to the old one. After a few years of experimenting with taking photos of anything I could get my hands on, 2009 is where I started to fall in love with photography. This is the year it became my passion. The downfall to this newly found passion was shitty camera quality.



My main focus while I had this camera was nature. I was self conscious about taking photos of objects and people around other people so I took pictures of nature. This is when I truly discovered how beautiful the world was.

New Nikon!

2010 brought new and exciting changes. I was gifted a Nikon D3000. 

All of my creativity started to flow. Nature was still one of my main models but I stepped out of my box and started experimenting with objects. I knew nothing about editing and I had no editing software, this was a good thing. I got to experiment and see things raw. 

 

 I learned more about angles and composition. I started to become more comfortable with taking photos around and of people.

 

Into the Green

 A new camera and a new year (2011)led to new discoveries. This new discovery was changing the color balance. For some odd reason I was very attracted to the green color balance. I believed that it gave it a more darker/edgier/creepy look to it, and I loved that. This method was performed on every single photo that I took.

 

Black and White

After messing with colors I veered towards black and white.  The absence of color other then black and white gives photos more of an emotional, darker and mysterious feel. As I fell more into black and white photography I opened my horizons. I began using people and started paying more attention to objects.

Over Edits

                                     

                          

Learning how to edit photos was one of the best things to happen to me. I discovered so many different things you can do to a photo to change the mood, etc. But it is also one of the most embarrassing stages I've gone through, Once I started I couldn't stop! I learned so much from this stage. I learned what works and what does not work, it was a very educating experience.

Recent Years

  

                   

                        

In recent years I've learned how to not over edit so the photo does not look bad. I've also discovered new things I can do to a photo, like how to do double exposures. I swear, these things will be the death of me(not literally). I've gotten a better handle on the whole editing thing, thank goodness!

 One of the biggest improvements that I have made over the years besides learning how to edit, is taking chances. I've learned to be more comfortable with taking pictures of people and things. I don't care who's looking, I don't care where I am; I will do whatever it takes to get the photo I want. Photography taught me to see the world in a beautiful way, and it also taught me to be brave, that is why it's my biggest passion.