Facial expressions are some of the most unpredictable parts of the human experience. We set out to try to capture this in a series on surprise. After several attempts, we managed to set up the school’s green screen. One by one, we selected our victims. We positioned our subjects in front of the screen, and Aizhan would launch into an explanation of our project, a lie that we perfected over the course of several weeks. “So, we’re just taking portraits. The school just got this green screen, cool right? And so we’re going to take some pictures and then we’ll Photoshop something behi-” Splish! Anna would whip a spray bottle out from behind the screen to squirt them with water. Below you will find a selection of the most interesting reactions, which vary from a simple squint of the eye to a full body movement. This range is what we were trying to capture. One surprise for us was that our subjects kept the secret of our process for almost two weeks. Please check back later, as more will be posted over time.
Do you ever look at someone and think they look just like a celebrity? That is what we attempted in our "Portraits" project. Many people in our school look just like subjects of famous paintings, have personalities that match famous movie characters, or have a striking resemblance to a revolutionary leader. We made our costumes, built our props, and grabbed a green screen, but it was our models that made the photos really work. We would like to thank everyone who participated in our projects, from modeling to make-up, for helping us pull this project together. Photographs by: Aidan Moore, Kimmy Li, and Ben Taylor
Everyone has heard how Video Killed the Radio Star, but what many of us may not realize is how the Polaroid camera killed the negative. For decades, the exposure process was often considered a pain. But, by eliminating this step, instant exposure film could never be copied. A single memory could only live in one place. Throughout the shooting and editing process, we were inspired by the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who aimed to capture the “decisive moment” in his photography. Our idea could be explained by a phrase from Susan Sontag’s book, On Photography: Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again. For our series “Polaroid Killed the Negative,” we decided to create something that could never exist--the negative image of a polaroid. In the world of photography, a negative can be duplicated over and over again, akin to the background scenery of our lives. The positive image represents moments that can never happen again, similar to Polaroids that can never be reproduced. Luckily enough, you can look at our photographs as many times as you like, so feel free to enjoy a few moments with us. Photographs by: Aidan Moore and Aizhan Myrzabek Kyzy
With the advent of digital photography, and later social media sites like Instagram and Facebook, some of the magic of photography has been lost. Very rarely do photographers spend hours hunched over in dark rooms, painstakingly developing negatives in the hope that the shot would be the one. Photography was a kind of miracle, some said. We sought to reclaim some of that magic by using early photography methods as inspiration for our own work. We were further inspired by the question of identity. In front of the lens, I am at the same time: the one I think I am, the one I want others to think I am, the one the photographer thinks I am, and the one he makes use of to exhibit his art. In other words, a strange action: I do not stop imitating myself, and because of this, each time I am (or let myself be) photographed, I invariably suffer from a sensation of inauthenticity, sometimes of imposture… We attempted to use these concepts to form our photographs. The end result is at the same time haunting, abstract and thought-provoking with an element of mystery. The subjects and forms are often open for people to interpretation. We invite you to do so. Photographs by: Callay Boire-Shedd, Espen Swanson, Hannah Frazier
In order to represent the origins of photography, we decided to break it down to the bare basics of capturing a photograph: light and reflection. We did this to pay homage to the camera obscura, the invention that started the era of film and photography. It consisted of a simple box that captured light through an opening. The image was created in reverse and then mirrors were used to re-reverse the image so it was upright. We used those simple elements in order to create these complex and abstract photographs. Going into this project, we weren’t sure what to expect and predicted a minimalist outcome with not much to show, but instead we got these elaborate designs. We used two different lamps in our shoot to give different personalities and life to our photos. For Cerulean, Fracture, and Omission we used a blue lamp held in different positions. Doing this gave the pictures a bright hue of blue. For Core and Imitation, we used a yellow light to give them an antique or warm feel. The combination of light and mirrors adds a sense of intense energy to the infinite landscape that mirrors provide. We put lots of energy into our photographs and we hope you enjoy them. Photographs by: Anna Zacovic, Ben Taylor, Kimmy Li
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ContributorsInstructor: Julieta Vitullo Archives
January 2015
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