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Final Project – Lyn Miranda
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Author Archives: lmiranda
Final Project – Work in Progress
Here is a couple of pictures that I was thinking of using for my final project. I definitely wanted things to feel moody and so I went for pictures with lower light. I plan on making a photo book and I still have some work to do with editing the final 10 pictures that I choose. I wanted to focus on the environment around me and focus on using only myself as the subject if needed since this project is supposed to be a reflection of my feelings during this period of time so I relied on self-timer a lot taking some of these and I tried to play with long exposure as well. Excited to see what you guys are thinking!
Part 2: I Love It So Much I Had To Make One Myself
I chose to try to recreate Harry Callahan’s “Sunlight on Water” because the way he played with light was something I wanted to try to replicate. It was difficult to recreate the way the light moves in his photo but I tried to trace the light as it looks in his photograph. This was something we looked at when we worked with long exposure which is something I had a harder time with. I wanted to go back to it from a digital point of view and how the two differed. I think the way that lights look during a long exposure shot gives the photograph movement and gives an abstract effect since the image looks as if it was under water.
Research
Clarence John Laughlin, “Lost” Chicago Clock, Number One. 1963-02-0, Photoprint, 11″ x 14.” I think the way that the clock was shot is what interests me the most. It makes you want to turn your head in order to orient yourself rather than look at it straight on, it’s almost interactive.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Untitled (“Motion-Sound” Landscape), 1969/1974, Photoprint, 7 x 7 inches. The concept behind this photograph is what interests me. I like how Meatyard captures something that can’t be photographed which is the movement of sound.
Francesca Woodman, House #3, Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Gelatin silver print, 6 5/16 x 6 7/16 in. The effects that long exposer can give adds to a creepy atmosphere that I find interesting. What interests me is how she made herself disappear into the wall.
Francesca Woodman, Space², Providence, Rhode Island. 1976, Gelatin silver print on paper, 140 × 140 mm. Something that interests me is how movement is captured in this photo. It is also interesting that the person’s identity is obscured.
Harry Callahan, Sunlight on Water, 1943, Vintage gelatin silver print, 8.25 x 11.43 cm. What interests me about this photo is how light is being played with. It is especially interesting that the light is being observed in water which gives an abstract effect.
Harry Callahan, Chicago, 1955, Gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 in. x 11 1/4 in. What interests me about this photo is how it not just a usage of long exposure but also the usage of directing your subject. The two people walking toward each other makes the two subjects lose themselves into each other.
Photobooks
http://selfpublishbehappy.com/2018/04/frozen-by-sarah-michelle-riisager/
Sarah Michelle Riisager, Frozen.
What I like about this photobook is that it takes the title literally in the sense that it is winter and the world outside is frozen but there is also a symbolic meaning that I see. The people that are photographed appear to be frozen similar to the snow outside.
http://selfpublishbehappy.com/2018/04/god-bless-new-season-cafe-by-hollie-smith-in-collaboration-with-leskgraphic-studio/
God Bless New Season Cafe by Hollie Smith in collaboration with LeskGraphic-Studio.
What I like about this photobook is how the pictures don’t come off as directed, the people in the photographs are going about their day and these photos merely capture that. The colors also work well with each other, the pops of color but it also visible that the area is rundown but bustling with activity.
Oluremi C. Onabanjo, In Pictures, a Family’s Odyssey from Poland to South Africa, March 5th 2020.
What interests me about this article is how the author notes that the photo seems boring when someone looks through it; however, when it is put into context, there is a story to be heard. I resonate with this idea that any picture can seem boring but when you care to understand its story, you see more than you did originally.
https://shop.foam.org/en/foam-magazine-56-elsewhere.html
Amal Alhaag et al. Laia Abril et al. Elsewhere The Other Issue, Printed on selected specialized paper, 300x230x23 mm.
What interested me about this magazine was the message the photos and text conveyed. The different ways each photographer showed underrepresented communities and resistance in their own ways.
My Mother
My family doesn’t usually look at photographs and albums very often. I think since the majority of my family is still back in El Salvador, they rely heavily on social media like Facebook to connect with the rest of the family that is in the United States. A lot of pictures get posted there and that is what we usually talk about. It was rare for my mom and me to go through the pictures especially, pictures of herself. She grew up in the more rural parts of El Salvador and she doesn’t have any pictures of herself then but through stories, I feel like I can imagine what she looked like especially when I have a lot of her features. I think having her by my side during this process helped me find my “winter garden photograph.”
My mom appears to be a serious woman when someone glances at her but in reality, she is a social butterfly that is constantly smiling during conversation. Photographs are able to capture her essence within her smile and her mannerisms that make her who she is. Most of the photos are from her being the U.S. for the first time and so she appears differently, I wasn’t able to meet that version of my mother, the one who came to a new country and sought a better life for herself. My mother is brave and she worked for what she has and she made a lot of things grow, that is who she is. She nurtures those around her despite coming from a background in which she had significantly less than others.
My mother told me the story of how she met my father while we were looking at photos of her since a couple of pictures of my dad came up. He also came from El Salvador when he was young with his brother and from those photos, you can tell he was one of those “cool” guys with the way he posed in his pictures. She told me how she would walk by him on the stairs of the apartment building they both lived in on her way to work and that he would always try to talk to her. She gave in one day and spoke to him and he asked her out to the movies. They both watched Titanic but the thing with my mother is that even now she struggles to understand English and so I asked her if she understood the movie and she said no. I proceeded to explain Titanic to her. If there is something that explains the kind of person my mother is, it is that story.
Making it Real
Being back home has made me realize how much of my life and my story is within the house that I live in. Ever since I have been back, I started to feel less like an adult which has felt good. When I am on campus I feel a lot more independent since I am so far from home but when I am back, my parents don’t fail to make me feel like a kid again which isn’t always a bad thing. There is a magic to life when you are a little kid. Nothing feels real and you feel like you have nothing to be afraid of minus the scary staircase you hated. With every broken window there is a story and each of these pictures contribute to hidden stories within my house that shows we were here.
Sometimes you need to build a fort or eat Oreos with milk. A lot of people grow up too fast and overlook the small things that gave them joy when they were younger. I know I did when I tried to fit into my father’s shoes as a kid wishing to grow up quickly.
Lyn Miranda-Pictures that Matter Now
Hello everyone, it has been a chaotic couple of weeks. When Spring break began, I was in New York visiting someone when I got the news that Bowdoin would be kicking students out. My friend was also kicked out of his dorm and so I spent those days packing up his things and then my own. Everything has felt incredibly fast and slow at the same time.
I thought I would capture a couple of moments that represent daily life for me. I decided to isolate myself from my family just in case I came in contact with someone with COVID-19 while in New York. That was difficult for me especially in a time in which we all need someone, but I knew it was the right choice. Since then my days have consisted of online work and walks.
I am now back in East Boston, where I grew up and these walks have reminded me of how eerily silent it is. Occasionally you see another walker but either you or they cross the street to avoid any contact. I wanted to document leaving New York and coming back to Boston using my phone camera to document the feelings of isolation and how life has been changed in a short period of time. It is easy to feel alone without a routine but my family has helped with creating structure by having us all participate in making dinner which is something I wish I had taken a picture of. I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!