leubanks99

[leubanks99]

Five Images From Final Project and Artist Statement

These are my five favorites, aside from the first test picture, from my final project. I think I captured the horror theme very well and the hunt and creative process in searching and crafting horror scenes. I tried to work well with angles and lighting in the project to help capture a more eerie tone. 

My idea for the final project was to do a constructed narrative. My plot idea was to do a project over spooky themed scenes. Considering I am limited to the amount of resources I have, my scenes might be broad, yet still concise and connecting with one another. I wanted to dabble with experimental photos, maybe to add a more gruesome vibe. My first image is of a bloodied knife (ketchup of course) and it is the only thing pictured. I plan on going to take photos of eerie scenery, or images of spooky objects to evoke the audience to think about what they are looking at and how things came to be. I will be putting these images on a Tumblr blog with captions to provide more context to the images, possibly to add even more suspicion and thought to the image.

The final project came out well and I had fun experimenting with the lighting in certain images. My favorite use of lighting was in my picture “The Haunted” in which I used red ambient light to help capture a hellish vibe to the image, as if the ghosts were rising from hell. Another one of my favorite uses of light is in the image “The Shotgun” in which the light coming through the blinds covered and illuminated the shotgun. Another is in the image “The Bodies,” in this image I used dim lighting around the edges, only lighting up the bodies and the light fading as it goes down the hallway. To me this provided a nice eerie feel that completes the image.

Overall, I am very happy with the images. The hunt for spooky places was fun and the act of creating a spooky scene was fun as well. I let my creativity of scene creation flow, especially in the time of this pandemic being very limited to supplies and locations. I had a few places in mind to shoot photos but was unable to actually get to those places given the stay at home order. I’m still happy nonetheless with how the final project came out.

Check out the full collection here: https://loganeubanks99.tumblr.com/ 

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Final Project In-Progress Photo

For this photo, I wanted to experiment more with mood lighting. I feel like I was successful with the dim light around the edges, as well as the projection of light down the middle emphasizing what needs to be seen. This fits my horror theme well and I am happy with how the photo came out. 

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Final Project Test Image

This is my first image for my final project. I plan to do a spooky themed project, portraying different aspects of spooky and eerie vibes. I plan on doing ghostly scenery, murderous scenery, creepy landscapes, and spooky paths (if I can access those locations). I’m looking forward to this adventure I have set forth with this project. 

[leubanks99]

Art Event

Diane Durant at the College of the Mainland Art Gallery

This art exhibit was one of the most interesting and unique art exhibits I had ever visited. The Mental Pictures exhibit by Diane Durant was definitely an interesting presentation. Instead of traditional sculptures, paintings, pictures, drawings, or digital art, this exhibit consists of words and words only. While going through this exhibit, my mind was left thinking deeper into the quotes and wondering what was meant by the words. With the descriptions of the art pieces, it added a little bit of backstory to the words depicted in the works of art. I enjoyed the artists look on what art is, instead of focusing on visuals, the artist focused on words and storytelling which one doesn’t see too often. My favorite work from this exhibit is the piece that read “fear seldom felt imagined.” I enjoyed this one because of its emotion depicted in the work. Nobody imagines fear as if they long for it, people usually tend to steer clear of it. The description portrayed a young child’s life, being invited to a birthday party in which the invitation read “come as you are.” The child wanted to hear those words. To me, it represented a fear being lifted off their shoulders, again going back to how people don’t long for fear. Overall, my experience going through this exhibit was fun, I enjoyed thinking about what the words meant then reading the descriptions of the works, usually adding visual cues to go off of to help imagine a picture yourself.

 Martin Amorous, Anderson Wrangle, and Pablo Gimenez Zapiola at Rudolph Blume Fine Art / ArtScan Gallery, Houston

This exhibit portrays the works of Pablo Gimenez Zapiola, Anderson Wangle, and Martin Amorous. I found their work to be rather interesting, experiencing the unpredictability of the creative process, often having slight mistakes after countless times of trial and error. The mistake ends up opening different questions to the picture. I find this very interesting because it adds something to the image that one thinks about, a small detail that can often be missed, that or it sticks out like a sore thumb and one can’t help but wonder why it is there. My favorite piece from the exhibit is the image of the condos on the beach. The error in this image is that there is just one single person walking on the beachfront. It begs the question why he is there, and why everything else is so quiet and deserted. He is the only life in the image and he seems out of place. To me, I get a sense of loneliness in the image since he is literally the only person in the entire piece. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. I had fun wondering whether or not the image was intentional for the “mistake” to be there and it was really enjoyable.

 Tate - - London - - Soho Art Gallery Exhibition - - Live Life

This exhibit was rather interesting to me as well. I loved the visual art style of the entire exhibit. Personally, I’ve never been to an exhibit this large, nor one that was this focused on a specific style of art. I enjoyed the art style as well, it brought me back to my younger days when my sisters and friends would outline words or designs in the same style to make it more interesting. I also like how the exhibit was used as to portray a message. Animals disappearing has become a large and sad problem in today’s world, and this exhibit is great at providing awareness. The exhibit also portrays the life, beauty, and perfection of the world. I also thing that the art style portrays the many intricacies of the world as well and its beautiful and interesting. My favorite piece from this exhibit was the one with the heart statue in between the 4 walls with trees on them. I interpret this as the heart of the world is lying in nature; therefore, nature is the heart of the world. I think it is a beautiful message and the art style adds many intricacies to its meaning. All in all, I found the exhibit to be wonderful, I love the art style, and I love animals and nature as well. This exhibit had it all and it was massive, so I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

[leubanks99]

These Four Walls

For my images, I wanted to portray what my experience in the quarantine in my four walls has included. For the first image, I wanted to portray something that is somewhat out of reach, and that is the outside world. Since we are all stuck in our homes, a lot of us crave going out and doing things. For me, looking outside makes me long for the end of the quarantine. I open the blinds and let as much sunlight in as possible to enjoy what I can.

The second image pertains to what I’ve been mostly resorting to in my free time, and that is video games. This image is different from the first in terms of sunlight because I like to play games in dark environments to utilize my ambient light kits. For this particular image I set all my lights to blue to symbolize a sense of sadness since the quarantine is depressing.

For my third image, I portrayed my second best thing to do as a means of passing time, and that is watching TV. During this quarantine I binge watched most of the shows I’ve been meaning to watch and have started running out of things to watch. I took this in a point of view relevant to the TV user to help portray it as being my action to give a more personal aspect to the image.

For my fourth image, I focused on the others in my household, and what they are doing that’s different than what I do to pass time. In the image I captured my sister completing a puzzle. It’s humorous to me because my family isn’t the puzzle type, in fact we don’t own any puzzles, my sister borrowed the puzzle from my grandparents. The purpose of the image was to portray the amount of boredom that the quarantine has caused, so much that it has come down to my family taking part in activities we once found boring. But what else is there to do?

In the end, I think my images came out successful in portraying what I intended and I was happy with the outcome. I also enjoyed trying the POV shots with the TV and gaming, its a whole new prospective to photography I might have to experiment with more.

[leubanks99]

I love the lighting in the first photograph, it immediately captured my attention as well as the subjects eyes. The lighting helped set the dark mood of the image and the eyes definitely portray that something is wrong. With these combined it speaks a whole new level to the audience that something terrible had happened in her revelation, but it also leaves the audience to wonder. I also loved that about the image because I like to view open ended photographs so I can be left to think about the plot or intentions the photographer has put forth in the image.  

Constructed Narrative

I chose the story of sleeping beauty with an added twist. My story includes a mixture of reality and dream. Her expression is the representation of the revelation she discovers. I used the dark and light as well as blacks and grays to represent the division of her revelation. Her eyes are in important aspect of this image, they are meant to capture the viewers attention and hint her revelation. I used an asian female to convey beauty within other cultures. The bird’s eye view shot is tied to her dream. I am leaving her revelation to the interpretation of the viewer. 

This is the story of Snow White and the poisonous apple. This photo was taken with the intention of humor and encouragement. The low angle shot places the subject in a superior position above the poisonous apple. Demonstrating it has no control over him, therefore not being able to harm him. He holds it down rather than the other way around. the the colors he is wearing are more vibrant than the color of the apple, also showing his dominance. I wanted to use a man instead of a woman to demonstrate that they are also hurt and mistreated by poisonous people. 

[leubanks99]

I always find these types of constructed narratives very interesting. Instead of photographing real people in nature, you used props which adds to the creative side of the whole idea and I love that. To me it makes it more unique and personal since literally everything in the photograph is designed and staged by you. 

SA 06 - Constructed Narratives

3/22/20

I was inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood Story for my assignment. I wanted to create a slightly darker interpretation of the story. In the first image, Red is wearing a tattered cape and looks like she may be pleading to the wolf. There are also flowers on the ground below her to symbolize this loss of hope. In the second image, I depict my spin on the grandma’s house part of the story. Here the wolf is a shadow behind the figure’s head. This was meant to imply that it is not necessarily the grandma in lying in the bed. Additionally, Red’s cloak is lying on top, but Red is no longer there. The lack of figure adds to the darkness of the image. This was the first time, I have ever tried constructing a narrative in front of a camera. When I look at these photos myself, I feel like at first glance they do not say much. On a deeper look and when pared together, I think the photos say much more. Lastly, the story between the wolf and Red, I found interesting and relatable given the era of MeToo. The wolf symbolizes this abuse and power over the young girl.

[leubanks99]

I loved your video. I have been worried about the whole covid-19 situation and have found it difficult to keep track of the time and day since it seems like all there is to do but sit around inside. I liked the message it gives off about how nature keeps on moving just as it would without covid-19. It reminds me that time hasn’t just stopped, it tells me that there is still light at the end of the covid-19 tunnel.

Video Assignment - PASSAGE 

For me, passage relates to time and movement. With all the worries and stress around covid-19, I thought it would be nice to see what nature was up to around my family’s house. I found it comforting to see various animals just go about their day. A friend of mine once told me that “time is meaningless” now because of the stay at home order. I have to admit that before online classes started, I was starting to lose track of the days. However, after observing nature, I realized that time is not meaningless. Obviously, the animals still make the most of their day looking for food, shelter, mating, etc. Just because our days, or lives, are different now, does not make them any less meaningful. 

 4/2/2020 

[leubanks99]

What is Video Art?

Video art is a form of art that relies on using video and media technology as a visual and audio medium to portray art. This form of art came out during the later years of the 1960s as new forms of video technology became available to the mass public. Video art takes place in many different forms which include broadcasts, installations placed in galleries, online streams, video tapes, DVDs, performances that use TV sets and monitors, and projections. The difference between video art and theatrical cinema is that video art does not rely on what theatrical cinema relies on, it may not use actors or dialogue, it may not even have a narrative or plot. It doesn’t confine itself to what is generally defined at motion picture entertainment. 

I have to say that my favorite video we had to watch was Andy Warhol eating a hamburger. It was so basic and intriguing, yet bizarre at the same time. I think the reason why people may see this video as bizarre is the fact that it is of Andy eating a hamburger, it is something that is a part of everyone’s everyday life because we all have to eat, yet nobody focuses on the actual action of someone or themselves eating. This is why I think it is intriguing art. A couple of his other videos which I watched for the discussion board were “Sleep” and “Kiss.” “Sleep” is a five and a half video of someone sleeping, which a lot of people would find absolutely pointless and boring to watch. Because it is a piece of everyone’s everyday life, most would find it meaningless, yet Warhol made a work of art out of it. I would back him up on this too. People tend to lose focus on the many beauties of life and the human body, as well as its complexities. With “Sleep,” what a lot of people miss is the beauty of the human body, or the complexities of what is going on in the subjects head while they sleep. What are they dreaming about? It leads us to think. I was intrigued by the simplistic use of everyday activities in his art, simply because most people have a blind eye to that sort of activity since its everywhere around us. It really interested me how Andy made it a work of art. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDHSBVZpzc - Andy Warhol Eating a Hamburger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaiEM2lUoZg&t=5872s - Sleep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mASfuc8WDQs&t=459s - Kiss

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Video Assignment - Passage

With this assignment, I took inspiration from Andy Warhol in his portrayal of everyday human events in his art. In my piece, I took the action of waking up and leaving the house as my concept of passage. In the video, I have my subject get out of bed and go outside and through a handful of flour into the air. This was to give the effect of flourishing. The idea is to get out of bed and to accomplish success. I think I portrayed passage in a symbolic and successful way and I am happy with the way my piece turned out.

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Constructed Narrative: Lonely

With this project, I decided to take a focus on loneliness. The first picture I used comes from the idea of a breakup and the person watches their ex lover through a window with their hand on it, with what they want out of reach. The same goes for the second image but I decided to go with a more humorous take. The subject wants a soda, but they are out of reach, hence the hand and body against the glass, admiring what they can’t have. 

I had fun with this concept. I played around with other ways to portray loneliness as well. For example, I had the subject in an empty hallway sitting far at the end with his head down. The lighting was low which made the mood of the image gloomy. I also took a picture of the subject sitting in an empty study area, looking into the distance to make it seem as if he was waiting for someone to show up, but nobody is there. 

[leubanks99]

Reading Response 4 - Photo as Contemporary Art

In this reading, the author focuses on the tableau technique and how contemporary artists use it in their photographs and how each has their own story. Before this reading, I had never heard the term ‘tableau.’ This technique is where characters are arranged and staged to be dramatic and to remain unaware of the audience. Within these photographs, symbolism is very common to tell a story. Since a photograph is a still image, the artists use light or objects or character placement to symbolize and portray their story. Sometimes the story is left open ended, leaving the viewer thinking endlessly. 

I enjoyed this reading because it went in depth of how the artists may think and analyze each photograph. I found this interesting because it was like seeing in the minds of the artists, and it was fun to understand the tactics and thought processes used by other artists. 

[leubanks99]

Instagram Project Wrap Up

My project is focused on student life. My original intention was to capture student life by taking photos of students as they interact in their daily lives. I had a problem at the start of the project where I was slammed with homework, projects, and work that made me not be able to go out and shoot photos of students in their daily life. To solve this, I slightly altered my original project idea and decided to do my project of student life from a students prospective, me. This made my photos have more of a point of view aspect that allowed college students to relate to the theme or objects in the photograph. As time went on, I was able to go out and shoot photos of other students, so I decided to include photos of other students life which I found very interesting. It made me look and analyze a scene more so that I could capture students in an action or movement that allows other students to relate. For example my elevator photo, I’m showing a lot of students waiting for an elevator to where it forms a line. Every student can relate in some way because students don’t want to wait for an elevator they won’t even fit in. I also found that taking photos in my prospective was somewhat difficult. There were a lot of missed opportunities involved because I was living life just as I would, and id forget to take a photo or realize something I had just done would’ve gone great in my project. I also decided to take an experimental photo. The photo of the car and its headlights was originally intended to relate to commuting. But it more focuses on the unique light that the fog caused, as well as the details of rain in the headlights. I still included a commuting theme in the hashtags and description, but it stood out from the rest of the images. All in all I think I had a successful project, and my original idea was portrayed well.

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Instagram Cross Post 3

Friend night on the town

#pnm3379 instagramproject3379 studentlifeproject spookymovietime

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Instagram Cross Post 2

Nobody likes paying for gas

#pnm3379 instagramproject3379 studentlifeproject gaspricessuck

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Instagram Cross Post 1

We all have that break moment in-between classes 

#pnm3379 instagramproject3379 studentlifeproject studybreak

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SA - Symbols

With my images, I sought out to create a feeling of wonder and emotion. I wanted the images to provoke the audience to think. With my first image, I wanted to use the giant jack as a symbol bigger than human, bigger than life. I have my subject standing forth the jack, looking up to it. My intent of this is to provoke the audience to think about what could be bigger than life. 

My second image I wanted to focus more on negative space to provoke emotion. I had my subject sitting alone at the end of an empty hallway. My intentions of this image were quite simple, I wanted to portray loneliness. I wanted the audience to think why the subject is all alone, and why he is sitting at the end of an empty hallway. 

The third image I wanted to portray a symbol of power. In movies such as The Lion King, important figures are often looked up upon, usually where the subject is literally higher up than the rest. So for this image, I had my subject stand on a catwalk while I took the image looking up from below. I feel as if this symbolizes power well.