Wesleyan College - Digital Photography (ART275) - Fall 2021
Project 4 - Semester Final
Assignment: Create an exhibit to demonstrate your technical and conceptual capabilities while exploring a topic that has meaning for you. The primary goal is to create a body of work that is visually and conceptually consistent. Write a statement that speaks to your artistic objectives and adhere to a timeline that you have crafted.
Tools: Canon EOS Rebel XSi with "kit" [18-55mm] lens
Software: Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Photoshop
Overall Grade: 96 / 100
Professor Comments: I think the final selection of images you choose, along with your artist statement, really transformed this body of work from something 'ok' to something compelling, and it gave the series a definable shape. This is a perfect example of how powerful the editing process is, along with the process of thinking through the photos and contextualizing them within a framework that feels original and authentic to you. You were presented with the difficulty of photographing beings that are constantly moving, while being inside with low light. So, while the motion blur may have been a consequence of circumstances and not directly intentional, you used this motif of motion blur to contextual the photos in a really interesting way, framing them as communication mistranslations. As I stated in critique, to me these blurred images feel very poetic formally and they possess a stark energy. I think in a few of these shots, especially the one of the very soft vignette of the dog running in the backyard (the dog is perfectly sharp and the background a bit blurred), I also get a sense of beauty and regal-ness in the way you captured the form of a muscular dog's body running. That is a very dreamy image, one of my favorites.
To improve this series, I would consider making the selection even tighter, by getting rid of more of the perfectly still images. And if you were to redo this, I would definitely take more outside in natural light, so you can work with a lower iso.
I really enjoyed your presence in this class, and seeing how you interpreted each assignment with originality.
Artist Statement
Dog Life is a glimpse into the exciting yet frustrating life of being a dog. Dogs are attached to their humans through domestication, and yet there is a huge communication barrier between the species. People will say a dog is ill behaved or “bad” when the canine jumps, runs, twirls, wiggles, and just will not “stay put!” on command. Yet, all the dog wants is to “say” something.
By mimicking the color-blind vision of these pets, I attempt to show you the frustration, excitement, and dejectedness dogs express in various ways. Of course, we are all satisfied with the central, docile dog - but most of a dog’s life is spent in the frantic-foggy confusion of translative ignorance.
Further Artist Comments
Dog’s retinas only see shades of yellow and blue, thus they are “color blind” like some humans are with greens and reds. They are also nearsighted and have a narrow field of focus. Most of their peripheral vision is fogged or even blurred out. Dogs cannot see fast-moving objects very well, which is why it is hard for them to focus on small, fast-moving rodents (like squirrels).
The circle of black and white images serves as the dog’s vision – showing the frenzied movements or still and focused attention. In the center of this is the full color “good dog” – a portrait of a dog as we humans desire it to be.
But just look at her face…. Is she a “good dog”?
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the actual exhibit and layout of the images on the wall as it was -very- specific.
About the Work
All images were shot in color, then edited in Camera Raw & Photoshop to enhance the imagery and the message of the image to suit the concept. Originally, I wanted to produce a work about Pit Bull dogs being such a misunderstood breed - but the shots didn't work and I didn't have the time to visit the dog shelters as I had planned. Without the support of the professor, I would have lost all inspiration for this particular series. During a critique of the raw images, she told me I didn't have to stick to color, and there is something to be said about desaturation and going to monochrome. I tried it on a few images - which utterly piqued my muse and totally changed the entire concept for the project.
Serendipity is in a dog's gaze. Full love to Jezzie - the venerable doggie in color. :)
Photos: Dog Life
