Gallery Visit // Madison Herrema

This photo was taken in Gallery 154, downtown Grand Rapids. It is a framed photograph of a cemetery landscape, in the fall. A little bit over the top half of the photograph is full of red-orange fall leaves. The lower part of the photograph is green grass with a lot of white-gray cemetery stones. 

I like this photograph because fall brings out so much color and vibrancy. Also, this cemetery reminds me of the one by my house where my friends and I would play and read all of the names and dates of dead people. It brings back a memory. 

Color harmony COULD be a technique used in this photo because the orange is more of a RED-orange, contrasting with green on the opposite end of the color wheel. The rule of thirds is also used. The horizon line is right where a line of rule of thirds is and a couple of cemetery stones are lined up on two more lines. 

I'm not sure of the interpretation of this photograph. From what I think, I think the vibrancy of color surrounding the neutral stones symbolizes life. But, then again, fall is the season of falling, dying leaves, so maybe the leaves are vibrant in color before they die and the stones in this photo represent the future. So maybe this photograph represents present and future. Leaves being the present time and the stones represent what is to come in the end of life. 

I do like this photograph because of the color and cemetery stones really interest me because each one tells a story. Although, the framing of this photo really gives it an old look. 

I chose to go to the cemetery by my house and take some pictures like the one above, except it is spring right now, so I do not have colorful trees. I thought I caught the horizon just right in the photograph below. What is different from this photo and the one that inspired me is the horizon line in the photo below is higher than the one above. Also, the stones aren't as grouped together as I'd like them to be, and the season is not fall. The other photographs below this one are extra. They represent a family line that died and were placed by each other. All photographs are same metadata.

  ISO: 100 f/6.3 Shutter 1/125

Gallery Visit: Becca McDonald

This is a photo of a pencil drawing that hung in the art hallway of Kendall College of Art and Design. It is a drawing focused primarily on a person's hands that are folded together at their waste. The background of the drawing is made up of the person's pants and shirt. The drawing contains both of the individual's hands, half of their right forearm, and the top side of their left wrist.

When I saw this piece, I was intrigued as it forced me to think about what the individual was doing and thinking. Additionally, it prompted questions like "Why did they have their hands folded," "What kinds of emotions could they be feeling," and "Where could they be?" Because this image pushed me to consider such things, I became interested.

Due to the fact that this is not a photo and instead a drawing, there were techniques used that I am unfamiliar with. However, it is clear they made great use of shading to shed light on certain areas of the drawing.

I don't really know what the artist was attempting to convey in this drawing, but I do know that when I look at it, I get a rather somber feeling. It feels emotional to me in the sense that it looks contemplative and intentional. Furthermore, it makes me think of prayer. Perhaps the artist was attempting to convey those things (somber, emotional, prayer).

I like this drawing. It focuses specifically on hands, which I think tell you a lot about a person. These particular hands tell me that it is likely a middle-aged white male in the drawing. Moreover, the drawing made me think. It prompted questions and forced me to consider the different states (emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual) of the subject, which makes me like it a lot.

The image below is the one I took that was inspired by the above drawing. I think they are similar in that they both convey a rather heavy emotion. Though my photo is not of folded hands, it is of open hands, and like the closed hands above force you to ask questions regarding the state of the individual, I think the photo of the open hands does the same.

Also, a bit of a side note, my final portfolio was inspired by the drawing from the gallery as well.

Shutter Speed: 1/6
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 200

Gallery Bre Wilson

Cotopaxi

Over Spring break I visited the Detroit Institute of Art and came across some wonderful art pieces. The one that really caught my attention is called Cotopaxi. It’s array of fall colors, olive green, burnt orange, yellow, and green come together to create this sunset over the mountains. I enjoyed this painting because I loved the color scheme put together by the painter. The orange in the painting combines the energy of red while also showing the happiness in yellow. These colors represent joy, and sunshine. The orange also catches my attention highlights the most important elements of the painting. While the yellow obviously is the color of the sunshine hence the joy reflects in this painting as well. It produces a warming effect, and cheerfulness that stimulated my mind. The red brought out the emotion in the painting. Leaving the green, to create the color of nature. The green symbolized the fertility and healing power of growth and hope.

            Cotopaxi painting used oil paint to create this masterpiece, on a 48 x 85 in canvas. I think this painting is pretty unique because it captures all of the elements of the colors that are mentioned above. This painting is about the calmness of nature (green color), while life can knock you down bringing some negative emotions (red color), the sun still rises reflecting on the joy (yellow color) that life brings as well. Everyone feeds off of energy orange color) so it’s up to us to a positive environment to get the most of life.

            Overall I really do like this this photo because to the naked eye it just shows a sunset, but once you look deeper and find a more complex meaning you begin to think what the author of this painting was really trying to show. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photo of the painting.

ISO 400

f-stop 5.6

shutter speed 1/80

Gallery Visit//Dylan Desgranges

F-stop: 16
              Shutter speed: 1/250
              ISO: 400

We went to Kendlle Art school to look at some photos and I was inspired by one of them there, but I totally forgot to save to my computer. We went to the Airport to take this photo and timed it just right as a plain was taking off.

Gallery Visit // Charity Hamme

                         
                                                                                                          ISO 1600    f/2    1/15
               The photo I selected when we went to Kendall was a picture of a person with a silk scarf or cloth covering the whole face and upper body. The picture appears to have been taken in a studio because of the harsh shadows that are cast around the fabric. Although the face is covered with cloth, the viewer is still able to see the outline of the eye sockets as well as a shadow where the eyebrows are. The picture has a gloomy/mysterious feel to it due to the covered face and harsh shadows.
           I enjoy this picture because it is mysterious; I want to keep looking at it because I can’t see the face. The way the shadows fall help me discern certain details, but overall, I am not able to fully see the face.  I like that the photo is in black and white because it really adds to the mysterious and creepy feel of the photo.
            To me, this photo shows how important the face is, because it is hiding it. In pictures, the face is usually so vital is showing emotion or creating a feeling, but this photographer uses other elements to send a message. The cloth, the hidden face makes us feel a different emotion; the photo has a gloomier feel.

            I really enjoy this piece because it draws me in. I want to figure out why the face is hidden, I can come up with a story in my head. I don’t get bored looking at, instead I want to uncover the mystery of the face and why it is being hidden.

       The photo I decided to take with the photo above as my inspiration includes fabric and being in black and white. I did not take this photo with studio lighting; however, my photo is also a portrait, however, other aspects of my photo are different; I am showing part of the face. I still want mystery to be a part of my image and there is still a melancholy feel.

Gallery Visit: Sierra Flack

I had to borrow this from the internet because I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the gallery that I visited.

This is a serene picture of the mountains and its wilderness. The picture has a calming feeling to it. There are quite a few different pictures that complement each other well. When looking at this picture I find it very easy to look at and it makes ones soul peaceful.

The picture that I took is pretty similar in the fact that it keeps with the use of darker colors. My picture focuses on a little bit darker side of nature, but with leading lines as well. I really liked looking at this piece of art/picture and to me I feel like the artist did a good job of portraying what he was feeling and what he wanted the viewer to feel as well.

ISO 200
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Gallery Visit: Amanda Buffum

I visited the Kendall College’s Art Gallery with the rest of the photography class when we went during one of our class periods. I found a photograph that I really liked and will describe it in more detail. It was a picture of one strawberry cut in half. There was no knife in the picture, and the strawberry was laying on it’s rounded back so that the audience could see the symmetrical insides of the berry. The green top was still in tact, and one of the halves of the strawberry (the one on the right) was higher up on the photograph than the other.

The background was all white except for the strawberries and imprints of each half right below them. I believe the white background was a blank sheet of white printer paper. It looked as if the photographer had stamped the paper with the strawberry’s juice in order to show the outline and figure of the strawberry halves. The main subject was the strawberries and they occupied the upper third of the photo. The lighting was very well lit and it looked like the photographer used natural lighting. There was hardly a shadow in the picture. Most of the frame was white negative space. The color of the strawberry was very vibrant and you could still make out some detail of the lines of white and red in the strawberry. From a bystander, it looked as if the strawberry was popping out of the picture.

I love this piece because it was so simple but very captivating. The color contrast between the white background and the red of the strawberry caught my eye. I also love strawberries, so of course I liked the subject of the photo. It had great use of natural lighting and liked the fact that there was hardly a shadow. It looked like a happy photo to me which made me feel good emotions about the photo. I also love fruit and think it reflects a healthy lifestyle of living, which is super important to me and is a big part of my life.

I feel like this photo could have had a meaning about how life is so simple but yet we really complicate it a lot of times. We can stress about things or worry or doubt, but those things don’t make our lives any better in the long-run. I feel like the photo relaxed me a bit and allowed me to take a deep breath. I think I really connected with this photo because I have a tendency to stress out about things that don’t matter in the long-run or worry about things, and this photo reminded me that everything is going to be okay. God is in control and holds me in His hands. Life is simple. Trust in Him and things will be alright. This might be far from what the photographer intended, but that is what I got from it.

After looking at this photograph, it inspired me to shoot a photo like it. I chose to shoot a photo of fruit as well, with the strawberries as the focal point of the photo. I shot a photo of a variety of fruit that I cut up and the picture is located below. I decided to include the knife in my photo as the other one did not. I also was much more close to the subject in order to capture more detail. I used natural light just like the first photo and I also made it feel as if the strawberries are popping out of the frame. I used rule of thirds like the first photo but located my subject in the lower right corner of the photo. I also feel like I was able to capture happy feelings in my photo with the bright colors of the different fruit. I also did not use as much negative space as the other photo, but included some negative space in the top section of my photo.

ISO 3200

ƒ/10

Shutter 1/100

After looking at this photograph, it inspired me to shoot a photo like it. I chose to shoot a photo of fruit as well, with the strawberries as the focal point of the photo. I shot a photo of a variety of fruit that I cut up and the picture is located below. I decided to include the knife in my photo as the other one did not. I also was much more close to the subject in order to capture more detail. I used natural light just like the first photo and I also made it feel as if the strawberries are popping out of the frame. I used rule of thirds like the first photo but located my subject in the lower right corner of the photo. I also feel like I was able to capture happy feelings in my photo with the bright colors of the different fruit. I also did not use as much negative space as the other photo, but included some negative space in the top section of my photo.