Young Love and Ambition

This is the story of Michelle and her life as an engaged teen.

 

 

Sports Assignment

UMass Track and Field sprinter, Dianna Julien, races to beat University of Hartford runner, Marisa Poleto (left), and Yale University runner, Alexa Monti (right), on the second leg of the 4x200 meter dash of the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston on January 13, 2010.

Question for Ilana Panich-Linsman

How did you make your photographs well-known to the public?  What got you started in the industry and how did you network your work?  Was it difficult getting your "foot in the door?"

Interaction Assignment

Ed , an Amherst resident, proudly wears his "I Voted Today" sticker after voting in Wednesday's state and town election.

On and Amherst sidewalk Charlie Tebbetts, a teacher at Frontier Regional Public School, and Holyoke resident Bill Baxter (right) hold signs in support of the election on Wednesday November 2, 2010.

On an Amherst sidewalk, South Hadley resident Joe LaFond (center), and Holyoke residents Bill Baxter (left) and Mike McKenna (right) hold signs in support of the election on Wednesday November 2, 2010.

Sarah Farrell, a long time Amherst resident, holds a sign supporting Bob Garvey outside of a local Amherst voting site on Wednsday November 2, 2010.

Halloween Costume Portrait Assignment

*** full shoot can be seen at:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066447&id=1240830461

Ashley Cubbage, a junior at UMass, dressed as Luigi for Halloween, does a heel kick in the backyard of an Amherst house on October 26, 2010.  She says, "I got this costume in the little kids section.  It was $15 so I figured I might as well use it and I think I play the part pretty well."

Composition Assignment

Brittani Kissane, a Mount Holyoke student, walks through her school's Talcott Greenhouse during Family Weekend on October 22, 2010.

Photo Story Ideas...

1.  I think it would be interesting to interview a physician in the cancer treatment program, as I'm sure they have very emotional and stressful lives treating their patients and watching death hover over other people.  I would like to interview one at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton and find a physician who can show me a day in their life and tell me some of their stories and the cases they have seen.  It would  be interesting, also, to talk to either a cancer survivor in rehab or a cancer patient who may have an added meaning on life.

My plan is to email or call some of the cancer physicians to see their availability for an interview and to see who would even allow me to interview them.  After that, I would choose one physician who seems to have the most to offer to my photo story (I'm sure they all will).  I will plan my schedule around their appointments and free time and meet with them in and outside of work to ask questions and take photos.  I plan on going day by day.  Possibly, they will be treating a specific individual whose case varies from day to day and each day can have a different mood, explaining the full essence of their job as physicians.  Finally, I want to see how being a cancer physician effects their life and touch upon some biographical aspects of their life outside of the hospital and the office.  I think this will make for a very interesting photostory.  This is my first choice, so hopefully it will work out.

2.My next idea is interviewing a painting or drawing professor at the university.  I think this would make for an interesting interview because many artsits have an unique sense of personality and a different view on life.  I would like to know how this professor teaches their students to be better artists and how they got into art and what it means to them.

My plan for this assignment (if I were to interview an art professor) is to find a professor that i have not had as a teacher yet and to figure out their drive when it comes to art.  Personally, I know that I never had enough drive or passion for the arts, and therefore I went into writing, but to hear from a real artist what encourages them to stay with the arts would be interesting to me.  I would then want to ask them about their college experience and see what kept them with art even when money may have been an issue in their thoughts while they were in school.  I would also liek to ask them what their parents thought of their decision to go into the arts/art school when they were deciding their profession.  I knew that my parents never supported my major as art, and it would be interesting to find out if other parents may have supported it more.  Finally, I want to photograph (well not finally, as I would have been photographing them throughout the interview process) some of their work and their students work to see where they are headed and how they are impressing their students at the university.