PhotoChronologies

During my time isolating myself from the rest of the world, it has only brought me closer to the natural aspects of my life in which I have always enjoyed, but haven’t always appreciated quite this much. Natural areas are my place to reconnect to the world, feel at ease, and to slow my mind down with everything currently happening that can create huge stressors while living in this weird time. Although I have my family to spend time with and gain a sense of homeyness from, without the constant flow of having school, work, photoshoots, and creative projects to continuously keep me going, I have started to lack a great sense of motivation.

When I go to natural areas, just me, myself, my thoughts, and my camera, I tend to regain a sense of creativeness and motivation. Although there is still a sense of loneliness or desolation within these photos, my true intentions are to share beyond the visual aspect of the photos, and more so for the viewer to experience what I feel per situation through the mood of each photo. Branching off of Assignment 3, I tried to create a play of words in correlation to the photos to create a better sense of how I’ve been dealing with my mental health throughout.

For this assignment I decided to go a bit on the domestic point while also mixing in the current problem of COVID-19. I did photos around my house but I did photos that had people missing. I was trying to make something where you could a person or a family being without even being there. There is also an intentional pieces in each photo to show something about COVID-19 and things that are clean. The TV is on CNN with the news, the kitchen has mask sitting on the counter, and the table has a wipe and a mop that are in view. I placed everything to show a little that is unsaid. I thought that each image would create an underlying hint to COVID-19 without it being right in your face.

When reading the assignment I interpreted the line “Where is the comfort and consolation of home when you have to lock yourself in it to protect yourself and others?” to have a negative connotation. In this sentence I found relation by taking photos of the outside world through my windows. This is due to the obvious fact that many of us would like to spend more time outside, or at least spend more time being able to go outside. However on the other side of the spectrum, I did take photos of the sincere comforts on the inside of my apartment as well. I built a squat rack in my apartment which looks out at the trees from the seventh floor, and then I took a photo of my guitar (my favorite thing) and of Parks and Rec/Netflix (which I binge the seasons repetitively). So in these images I wanted to represent a dynamic aspect of the time spent dealing with the spread of the epidemic from the desire to go outside to the comforts I have with me inside.

For this assignment I️ have decided to continue taking photos related to Covid-19. However, when I️ photographed for this assignment, I️ wanted to capture more isolated and quiet moments. These photos also gave me the opportunity to get out of the house which has kept me sane. I️ feel that these photos are a reflection of my experience which I️ hope others can relate to. It has also been super nice out these past couple days which I️ feel makes it almost more eery and dangerous. More people want to be outside so people are no longer social distancing and it just feels wrong that it would be bright and sunny out during a global pandemic. I️ mentioned this to my family and the said, in that vein, it is a lot like 9/11 because it was a beautiful day which made it feel so much more wrong. I️ also wanted to capture that this is New York because we currently have a lot of coronavirus cases. One thing that was super important for me to represent in my photos is how clear the skyline is. I️ have never been able to see it as clearly as I️ have this past month and I️ hope that is a silver lining.

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Assignment 4

My photos are inspired by two bodies of work: the Museum of Modern Art’s 1991 exhibition Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort, and Carrie Mae West’s Kitchen Table series (1989-90).

Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort is a collection of photographs that take a pointed look at affluent American domestic life: snapshot-style photographs of enviable décor “filled with less tangible things – loneliness, resentment, desire, and uncertainty.” (Sara Knelman in https://aperture.org/blog/terror-pleasure-staying-home-sara-knelman/.) They are a critique of American life.

Carrie Mae West’s Kitchen Table series tells the story of a woman, her child, and her lover. Each photograph is taken from the same perspective at the kitchen table. West cast herself as the central character. The series explores themes of gender, tradition, family, race, and relationships.

My photographs were inspired by the concepts of portraying domestic life and centering the images around a single piece of furniture. Like West, I chose the table. In my house, the dining table is where we most often come together as a family. This table was once old and scratched up; I bought it second-hand and refinished it. It represents my effort to connect the family. I took these photographs over the course of one day, watching for different activities to occur in that space.

During my thought process for this assignment I decided I wanted to show how my family was affected by the virus. My family did not really want me photographing their faces so I decided to focus in on their hands. I chose to show their hands because I felt that was a way to show a big impact on my family but also keep their wish of me not photographing their faces. Originally I wanted to focus in on the impact of their hands at home, but instead I decided to show the impact of their hands at work. My family owns a business called American Ribbon, it is technically closed currently but we are doing curbside pickup and online orders. To fulfill these orders my family is going in throughout the week to cut and prepare the necessary items for making masks. Masks are very important right now and that is why I chose to focus in on our hands preparing these items.

Here are some extra images:

During my thought process for this project, I wanted to really show what being stuck at home is like. I wanted to show how the days all seem to blend together and the same thing happens everyday. I really liked the idea of keeping every photo similar to one another. While my family did not want to be photographed, I knew that I wanted to work with myself. With that being said, I have been spending a lot of time to myself in my room. Being confined in my room has made me realize how much time I really spend alone away from my family. With this being said, I decided to set my camera up in one spot in my room and did not move it for the entire day. I took photos of myself every couple hours throughout the day to show how quarantine has affected my daily life. To show the time passing, I used the different light from the windows. I also used the alarm clock in the center of each photo to display the day passing by.

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Response to Corona Virus

I have decided to continue my project with the Covid-19 outbreak. I personally feel that we are enduring some hard times as a nation and my photos express the emotion that some of us are feeling right now. My first photo is of some blockades that I found at the Kensico Dam near my house. I personally feel that this belongs in my project because we are all barricaded in our houses until this outbreak is over. The second photo is of a glove I found at the Kensico Dam along one of the paths that I was on. I feel that this goes along with my project because it demonstrates the amount of protection that we have to wear in order to keep ourselves safe even when we go in public. The last picture I took was on top of the Kensico Dam to show how separated everyone is in order make sure that no one is spreading the virus. In the picture I also have a man wearing a mask and gloves to show how precautions some people are being when they go to public places during this outbreak. At first I didn’t want to post my last photo but after looking deeper into it I realized that it would be a perfect photo based on what is going on in the world right now.

I personally feel that my photographs reflect the feeling of loneliness and depression which I feel that most people are feeling now a days. I hope that some day soon we can get out of this pandemic and get our lives back to normal. Stay Safe!

For this assignment, I chose to go with option #1 and photograph my domestic life in response to the pandemic. I was very inspired after watching Crewdson’s documentary, so I tried to emulate that as much as I could. I knew that I would need as wide of a lens as I had, which happened to be my Sigma 35 (which I love and use all the time), to try and show as wide of a narrative as I could. I also intentionally used artificial light to highlight more of my subjects much like Crewdson would with his stage lights. I wanted this to be as natural as possible, so I had my parents positioned in a way that they almost always are. CNN is always on in the house during these times, my mom watches while she makes dinner, and my dad watches alongside his desktop while he works in his office. This isn’t usual, as my parents hardly watch the news and like to have it on during the day. Since the coronavirus, though, it is always on, keeping them informed on the newest updates and reports. I also decided to include a self portrait that encapsulates what it has been like to now live at home instead of at State College. I struggled a lot my senior year, and needed to get out of not only the house but my small town as quickly as possible. I’ve grown a ton being away at school, it was definitely something that needed to happen to push me in my life. Coming back, I can’t help but feel those same insecurities and issues arise in the bedroom I spent my whole life in. Doing school work that I was doing just under a month ago in my dorm now in my house is a really odd mix that I’m still getting adjusted to.