FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL IDEAS & PROCESS:

Enhance the conceptual (connotations and meanings) framework for your final project:

1. What are your research interests?

I think I’ve always worked with really conceptualized topics when it comes to art: things that aren’t really tangible and are up to the audience’s imagination. I had to use a lot of imagination and staging to bring my concepts to life. Recently, I’ve been more interested in taking tangible things and finding the deeper meanings behind them. I feel like as I’ve matured, I have also become more in touch with my own emotions and became better at communicating them. I am interested in researching how artists use different tools and techniques to better convey their own thoughts and/or illicit emotions in their audience.

Additionally, I have also recently been very interested in macro photography and street photography. In this busy day and age, it’s difficult to find the time to stop and look around to find beauty in the little things. And since we rarely ever give ourselves the chance to appreciate the things we do everyday, street photography is something that I find very admirable. Unfortunately, macro photography typically requires a macro lens, which I do not own. Instead, I will likely just explore close-up photography, which won’t be as detailed.

2. What are your questions?

Some questions that I have include:

  • How can I pinpoint small things that make up a community?
  • When it comes to close-up photography, what should I do to determine what small part of a whole I’d like to isolate?
  • How can I help my audience understand my emotions and thoughts?

3. What are your aims?

I aim to further develop my own style with this project. I think through this class, I’ve been able to explore more photography styles and learn more about photo editing. With the midterms that we had, I started to form a routine in how I like to frame and develop my work. Also, as I mentioned above, I am also trying to learn more about macro photography and street photography. I want to take aspects of both and incorporate what I find fitting into my final project.

 

Enhance the practical (technical) aims for your final project:

1. How will you approach the start?

Determining my shooting location will be the first thing I do. I am trying to convey a more emotional connection to my subject, so I have to find somewhere I feel has meaning to me. At the same time, I can’t choose a community that is too big, as pinpointing specific shooting locations will be too difficult. Currently, I thinking about a series of blocks in my hometown, or Tabler Quad: the quad that I’ve lived in since coming to Stony Brook. I believe I am leaning towards the latter.

After this, I have to pinpoint specific details that have meaning to me––even if it might not be that noticeable. I’ll shoot at my subject from different angles to try to capture the best composition that I believe will help to convey my fondness of it.

2. How will you use the Photography medium, and its technical aspects?

The settings that I will definitely be manipulating the most are aperture, white balance, and angle. With each thing I am trying to shoot, I will be changing all three of these to see what I think is the best fit. After actually taking the photographs, I’m going to relying on photo editing to enhance the mood and bring out the details more.

3. How can you allow the iterative process of creation to impact your work?

The iterative process is all about trial and error. Through it, I can determine what works best to communicate my vision. Additionally, I think that repetition gives me the opportunity to mess up more and do something different. In the end, I could be using photos with compositions that were only made possible because I have the freedom to try things out.