Memories

All of these photographers are original work, taken on the campus of the Princeton Waldorf School in Princeton New Jersey. The campus is over 100 acres of converted farmland, and it would be an understatement to say that it was a magical environment to grow in. These photos are meant to be documentary, but with an artistic approach. What I mean by that is, in each image, I see memories, reflections of the walks we took, experiences and connection I had in nature. Though time has moved on, and nearly 6 years have passed since my time there, the terrain has remained locked in timeless beauty. The artistic elements come into play in the way framing, and angles of the images. To simply document would be too simple, I strove in my shooting to maintain a sophisticated approach to photographic representation. 

More Sunsets

The top image is one I took from a blog of sunset photos by a man named Philip Nystedt, the one below it is one I took while laying on the banks of the Delaware river. Sunset photography is hardly a technically challenging style, and almost anyone can take a snapshot of the setting sun. The success and beauty of the image has little to do with technical ability however, and much more to do with timing and setting. In both of these images, the beauty of the sun is complemented by the reflection of the water and intricacy of the cloud structure. All together, sunset photography is not as much a testament to the skill of the photography, but rather to the beauty of the world we inhabit... their is never a redundant moment. 

Homeless

The top image is one I took during our trip to Reading Terminal in center city Philadelphia, the image on the bottom is a photo taken from the blog of Chuck Ferris. capturing the homeless or impoverished people of urban America is an old and stylistic theme in photography. I am drawn to this niche for two specific reasons, the first is that the images almost always have a documentary element too them as if they were a visual analogy of what is truly wrong with the country and the suffering we have all around us. The second, is that despite their limited resources, every portrait is profoundly unique. This is the artistic element to the style, as if every homeless man or woman was a moving collage of struggle, resourcefulness, and grit, all prefaced with a mysterious air of substance... as if they were inviting us to ask them, "how did you end up here"?

Natural Geometry

I took the photo on the top while the one on the bottom came from http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/photography/photos/patterns-rocks-lava/vermillion-cliffs/. 

Both of these photos show natural geometries found in nature.  In mine, the branches of the trees fit together, so that little open sky is visible, and in the rock one, the swirls of the rocks fits together as well.  Both photos are clear and colorful.

Portrait

I took the photo on the left and compared it to Tina Ramsey's (tinaramsey.blogspot.com) photo (right).  In both cases, the image is a portrait of the half eaten fruit.  However, my image is more portrait like, as the sun is coming from the right side of the iamge at an angle, which hels to bring out the different colors in the fruit, from light to dark.  Also, the apple looks as if though it was almost intentionally placed on the rocks, almost like it is reclining on them for the photograph.  The colors are also more vibrant in my picture, and the soft lighting from an angle plays a large role in showing the texture of the concrete and the variation in the color, whereas in Tina's photo, the background is relatively uninteresting. 

Clarity

 I took this bottom photo in Germany over the summer.  I focused the center and blurred the top with one of the settings on my camera.  Above it, you can see the photo without the effect.  I was immitating the type of photography seen in the photograph at the very top, of the train.  The train literally appears to be popping out of the photograph because of its clarity compared to its surroundings.  A similar effect occurs when looking at my photograph.  The eye naturally focuses on the houses in the town, something that might have normally been overlooked by looking at the hills or the closest tree.  Because the tree blurs out at the top and the bottom, it is more natural to look at the other parts of the photograph that are perfectly clear.

the top photo was found at: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/22/the-ultimate-photography-round-up/

Playing Cards

The photograph above was taken by Becky Lai and can be found here, whereas I took the photograph to the right in response to the first photograph. Both photographs depict playing cards and utilize the macro function of the camera; in both photographs, one can see the texture of the individual cards and the small square indentations in the card. Macro photography allows us a different perspective on the world that we often do not take the time to notice; one would likely never notice these small marks on otherwise smooth playing cards.