Backyard View...

            My final project is titled Backyard View. The series of photographs depicts the yards and surrounding areas of people’s homes. Most of the photos focus on the upkeep (or lack of) of back yards and the objects that occupy them. The concept first came to me when I was riding the train into the city. Passing through local towns in surrounding urban and suburban areas, most of the view from the train window is the backs of homes. Most of the homes had yards with cluttered corners and piled spots, some looking like an attempt at organizing. Most of the time yards hold a collection of random objects. It was interesting to me at first when I imagined these cluttered yards as the fronts of the houses. It occurred to me how people really have no concept of how their yards look from a farther outside perspective. I assume in their minds, their yard is private and people only see it when they want it shown, and no one would notice from the street. Or maybe people just don’t realize how cluttered or unkempt their yard might look because they see it all the time. When you’re always in or around something it is hard to notice the changes over time. Looking at these yards from an unusual angle or perspective made it all stand out so clearly. Sometimes that new perspective can be a photograph. Seeing something in a photograph can reveal more than your eyes notice, or reveal something you may have not seen with your own eyes but lets you relate to the content. For example, my own back yard is represented in this series and not until I took photographs of it, did I notice that my home fits into that same category of strange clutter. I guess I initially found the subject matter interesting enough to capture because I can relate in some ways to these homes. And the ones I can’t relate to, I find intriguing and am curious about the owners after seeing the unusual glimpse into their lives.

Sharpening...

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Curves and Spotting...

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 Before Spotting

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corrections...

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Before Curves, Burn, and Dodge



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Before Curves, Burn, and Dodge

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the second crit...

I disagreed with Carl on Ancin's tire photo. I enjoyed the abstracted detail of the treads and how you can see dust or dirt on the surface. To me it worked as an unconventional landscape. I agree that alone it might not have much meaning to the viewer but I feel in a series of some sort, where there were more of the subject or more meaning behind the vantage point, it could be a strong photo. I also disagreed with the tree knot photo. I thought it was interesting and had a funny look to it. The tree did almost take on another form like Sarah's "excited cyclops" example. I did enjoy the rotting berry photo the most. I agreed that the fuzzy green background made the red of the berries pop. I also felt that if the berries weren't rotting it might not have been as strong of a photo in content.


I enjoyed Yuna's photo of the Asian performers in the supermarket very much. There were so many interesting parts coming together and even more hidden things that revealed themselves the more you looked at the whole picture. I noticed that the one girl looking in the opposite direction mimicked, yet contrasted with the girl's smiling face on the TV screen. Also the matching costumes mimicked the matching posters on the wall. It was also interesting how the posters lined up with a few of the girls and looked like thought bubbles above their heads like a comic book or something. I disagreed with Carl on the photo of the peppers. I am also attracted to color and enjoyed the vivid colors of the peppers all lined in a row. The things I found interesting about the the cafe lobby photo were the lighting and the large shelf of cans on the wall. They reflected the light and made up a nice composition.


In Ana's photos there were a few things I enjoyed but felt they could've been improved upon. For example, The guy on the bench with pigeons on one side and the other people on the other. If those other people were more in the frame you could get a better feeling of their stories. Also if you got a bit more of the main guy's face, it would've been more interesting. I agreed with Anthony about the scarecrow photo. I did think it would've been a little hokey if it hadn't been in front of the city backdrop of the construction and building scaffolding. It felt a little out of place and that made it interesting. The pumpkins in the graveyard had a really nice composition, but the subject matter fell a tiny bit short to me. One more element or part to the story would've made it great. I really enjoyed the church photo and how all the elements came together in the composition. The organic tree in front of the style of building, juxtopostioned with the geometric light post and flag all made up different pieces of a puzzle.

burn and dodge...

color corrected...

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the first crit...

There were a few of Krystie's photos I felt were strong. The princess party photo was my favorite. The low vantage point and crazy angles created a lot of motion. The scene looks chaotic and bizarre, which children's birthday parties tend to be. I agreed that the one small spot in the back of light should have a little more detail. The second photo I liked was the McDonalds photo. I have to disagree with Carl about how it appears dilapidated and run down. The upward view of the brightly lit sign against the pure black surrounding makes it stand out and look important right away. In comparison to the tiny moon glowing in the back, the McDonalds sign is big and powerful, sort of like it is it's own moon. Maybe if the photo was in color the feeling would come off differently. You might then notice the burnt out bulbs and messy letters right away.

Although Carl felt that some of Anthony's photos were too close to the subject, I understood what Anthony was trying to accomplish. For example, in the caution tape photo it was not really clear what the tape was blocking off, but that might make the viewer wonder a little more about the content and let their imagination make sense of it.

Erick's photo of the popcorn was not strong in content but I felt it was very visually pleasing. I tend to gravitate toward photos with clear subjects zoomed in on and shallow depth of field. I also enjoyed the photo of the trees and the one of the village housing. It was interesting that his vantage point was sort of behind another building peeking out to the street view. I agreed with Carl about the odd fake setup of the trees. It makes you think of the architcture's scale model of what the end result of the site will look like.

converted to black and white...

Rowing home the Schoof-Stuff    

Peter Henry Emerson (1886)

This photograph by Peter Emerson stands out to me because of it's simplicity and boldness. The composition gives it a painterly feel. Emerson captures a moment in his subject's specific lifestyle. His knowledge on country folk helps convey an unusual perspective on what we might perceive as a "country/fisherman's workday". This man sits in a small row boat alone and seemingly motionless as if staring ahead, deep in thought. There is a pile of hay or some material in the front of the boat which the man is most likely transporting. Since the boat and oars seem still, their shadows are mirrored on the water in a dramatic way. There is no sign of other human life around. The softness of the plant life and horizon emphasize the man and the boat, giving off an extra sense of isolation.