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.

Light Source Assignment

A glass mural in the UMass Fine Arts Center reflects yet another rainy day as students pass by on October 6, 2010.

A student hustles out of the rain and into the main lobby of the UMass Fine Arts Center on October 6, 2010.

Depth of Field FInal Photo

A student approaches one of the several construction sites that are working to renovate UMass' Morrill Science Building on September 29, 2010.

Photo Showcase

William Eggleston

William Eggleston

Call #: 312066 0289 5856 6

Page #s: 54, 93, 146

The photographer I chose to showcase on my blog is William Eggleston, a popular American photographer of the 1970s and 1980s.  I particularly enjoyed paging through his work because he produced many vivid color photographs that have interesting themes and compositions.

The first photograph I have chosen to write about is on page 54, depicting a sharp light reflecting onto the corner of a dark, deserted room.  This photo interested me mostly because it's unique; it's not your average everyday photograph of the picturesque portrait or landscape.  To me, it's a picture of nothing, and making nothing into an artistic photograph is a chore itself.  

I am impressed with Eggleston's ability to control the exposure of the photo.  Since Photoshop and computers were not options for artistic editing in the 1970s, this picture is purely what is shown.  I also love how he captured the pattern of the floor tiles in the photo.  Although this uploaded blog picture doesn't demonstrate the detail that is actually depicted, each design in the illuminated floor is clearly visible, giving the photo more description of the eerie setting.

The second photo I chose to showcase is that of a still life on a kitchen table.  Again, the bold colors and simplicity of the work struck me as interesting.  This photo shows a display of condiments, often taken for granted, but that are irreplaceable in an American kitchen:  salt, pepper, hot sauce (but possibly ketchup), and sugar.  It is shown in a simple cooking environment, shelves and cabinets blurred in the distance, implying that these much needed cooking products have become a well accustomed part of an average day in the kitchen.  I also enjoy how Eggleston found grace in a still life such as this.  It shows me his creative side, and that he is able to look at ordinary objects as art work.  The composition also caught my attention in this photograph.  The condiments are barely un-centered on the table, portraying the significance of the negative space in the background.

The third photo I chose is my favorite; an no, I did not mean to save the best for last.  This photo really caught my eye because of the color and the composition.  I did not gather as much meaning from this picture as the other two I have showcased, however I'm sure there is a motive behind the artwork.  In this photo, the electric blue sky is unforgettable, unsurpassable, almost unrealistic.  The strength of the color nearly hurts my eyes, as I have never seen a color so evident even in real life.  I think that the photography of this color was the main goal of the picture, and that the dainty branch of flowering buds slicing into the sky just makes for a publicly needed subject matter.  The real photo shows a much more cerulean blue than my blog photograph, however, you can imagine.

First Post

Hello everyone,


This is only my second blog so I'm still not that great at blogging.  Just figured I might as well write my first post while I'm sitting here in my house watching "The Hangover." Great movie!  So I look forward to meeting and re-meeting everyone in this Writing for the Web class.  Although we only meet once a week, I hope to get to know all of you and stay friends even after the semester's end.


Just a little background information on myself (I guess that will do for a blog ice breaker):  I'm from Swampscott/Salem/Lynn, MA.  A Boston girl through and through, I plan to live in the city when I'm out of school.   Aside from my northeast coast-ern culture, I love to run.  Weather's never a factor either.  Running in the rain makes me feel like I'm in a movie, and getting in a tough workout in 90-degree weather gives me such an adrenaline rush I get goosebumps.


I'm definitely not your average Josie even though I may look pretty normal.  I'm the crazy one in my group of friends, and the most distant one in my family.


So, that's it for now.  See ya in class!