Art Historical Reference: Yoshitaka Amano's "Spring"

"Spring" 1998
The Fairy tale

My rendition.
Amano is a genius. And I absolutely love his work. His women are beautiful, fluid, and just gracefully lonely. His art has a mysterious and sensual quality about them that haunts you, quietly kindling your imagination to greater heights.

It's interesting that I ended up doing this illustration for this assignment because it's entitled "Spring." It's somehow appropriate to how things are going right now. Winter's almost halfway over and I'm graduating soon.  There's so much to look forward to and yet no matter how exciting it is, I'm still in "battle mode" trying to prepare for what's inevitable. It's surely a competitive industry out there and right now I'm grateful for this environment surrounded by friends and teachers who have the best intentions.

On that note, this portrait wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Jessica Ramsey and Rich Lily. The flowers refused to stay taped to my back so Rich had to hold them. For this assignment, we weren't allowed to composite so everything had to be done in camera. I love love love the way it turned out.

Other works: Amano's World: 

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Lighting 101 with Greg: 1 2X2 ft Profoto softbox

Documenting Dakota's newly straightened hair.

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Portrait Studio

This class was the day after I spoke to Tony D. Talking to him helped me change my whole attitude towards my current work. I AM here to learn after all and failing or mediocrity isn't as bad as it seems at this point. But this doesn't mean that I don't mind being mediocre or making mistakes, because I do. And it also doesn't mean that I don't still struggle with my self-confidence, because I do, do, do = constantly. But even if I do, the difference now is, I know that I should just keep on taking pictures anyway. It's the only way to get better, right?

Chris

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Abandoned.

Like any normal student, we found ourselves "seeking shelter" in an abandoned building. Many of my shots were meant to emphasize the snow. It was pitch black in there except for the areas where the roof gave away. I only took a few pictures of Claudia in one of the areas there before my bravery faltered and forced me to hurry back to the car.





An S.



Plant Surviving Weight

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On Location Shoot

Watching Hiesler and DT teach was a real treat. We were challenged to create alternate realities by using 1 strobe to allow us to expose for the subject and to be able to stop down and underexpose the background. Shaun, Dakota and I teamed up and headed for the corn fields.



The sky was so bright that it made Dakota cry. I caught a tear falling but it's only really visible when you zoom in.

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Portraiture with Greg Heisler

I talked to Greg about this because I was bothered about the idea of taking someone's portrait. When he showed us a couple of photos done by professional photographers in the industry and his comments about style, gesture, and purpose, it raised several questions in my mind:

1. What makes a good portrait?
2. Does it have to be real? What about surreal portraits?
3. Does it have to tell a story? But what if a person's face is interesting on it's own?
4. How does one take a candid portrait without trespassing on someone's privacy?
5. What is good portrait lighting? Does a portrait have to look 'unpolished'?

It was an interesting conversation to say the least. I told him about my struggle with seeing and watching. I told him that I found it embarrassing to be 'photo-journalistic,' to take a stranger's portrait on the street without asking for their permission. The candidness of the moment would be ruined by awareness but at the same time, how can I just steal a picture of someone's life? It's a weird feeling: watching, loving what I see, and interrupting it with a click.

He brought up the idea of watching vs. seeing what we want to see/ imposing our vision on a scene.

"I want to stop taking pictures of pictures." 
It's a challenge to distance ourselves further from the reality that we are composing to the reality that's actually there. I remember Barbara Bordick mentioning that "Every portrait is a self-portrait"--on the one hand, the photographer has a say. He/she has stake on what the photograph is meant to say. On the other hand, because of this, it brings up the question of who the photograph is really about. Is it about the subject or the artist?
Richard Avedon then talks about surfaces and how the face or a specific surface was enough to make a photograph. It's true that it seems like that's all photography is, a one-dimensional art. Flat. I still don't know how I feel about this. Is portraiture merely a means to record a surface? It seems too easy... to forget the 'why.'

"Personally, I wouldn't take a picture of someone that I wouldn't want of me." This is one of Greg's greatest advice to us, for sure. It implies the gravity of the work we create--how our pictures affect the world's way of seeing itself.

"Sometimes I wish I could just do this: (blink) CLICK."
I also told Greg about this couple that J and I saw in New York. We were walking towards the subway and there was a couple in their sixties wearing black and white. The woman was white, with snow white hair, wearing a black dress, and white shoes. The man was black, with a black beret, a white suit, and black shoes. They looked like they stepped out of a movie set. It was too perfect..how opposite they were. Coincidentally, they sat in front of me and J. AND endearingly, they were so in-love. I told Greg how I'll never forget that couple and it was during those times that I really felt the burden of ethics. It would be perfect to have a built-in shutter inside our brains when something like this falls on your lap. But, then again "if you think about it, that moment will never be lost because you'll always remember that couple on the subway. And because of that, it'll resurrect itself in your future work."

"Sometimes it's my dream to hire an artist's model. And just look. Have the pleasure of looking. Not in a creepy way. But to really see someone. I took a drawing class and it was illuminating because you really need to pay attention to the details instead of just going 'click.'"


"Ultimately, portraits should be about the subject. But that's just me."
As long as we are aware of the person in front of our lens and in control of the person behind it, then we'll be okay. It's a matter of struggling with ourselves, finding a balance between what we want to say and the story that's already there. 

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We breathe ourselves out and away, like a perfume.

An exercise from Greg. We needed to take a picture that illustrated intimacy.

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Just Smile.

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Mikha's Fragile World

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Where's Fluffy

" The way you're moving in your sleep
The way you look before you leap
The strange illusions that you keep,
You don't know, but I'm noticing. "

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