1. 2. At the deepest core, describe why you like this project. Dig deep! Throughout this class I have struggled with putting my vision of the photographs into my work. I know what I see but haven’t always been able to create the idea so it’s visible to others. I also don’t think that I’ve been as creative as I could have been. I attribute this partially to the situation of the past year, i.e., losing my job, buying a new house and getting divorced but also that I haven’t pushed myself as hard as I should. This project is far outside my safety zone but I believe it will be a catharsis to my healing as well as make me look into how I think, feel about myself and how I can heal and be a better, stronger me. I generally place myself behind others and so putting me into this project is something that I normally would not do. I like this project because it is pushing me to really work at being creative artistically while attempting to share a very intimate part of my life. It also makes me look at it with a critical, objective mind to ensure that it holds interest to an observer.
1. Type twenty words or phrases that relate to your project. Recovery, growth, devastation, history, life changing events, changing perception, new persona, imagination, happiness, worry, fear, joy , progress, sadness, rediscovery of who I am, stepping out of my box, discovery, insecurity, appreciation for the blessings in my life and things learned about myself that I never realized!
3. Look at one of your images. Redesign it entirely. The photo I would redesign is of me lying in bed. I would change the shirt I have on and make it a subdued dark color to take away the ‘fun’ element of the sheep. I think it adds interest because of the busy design of the sheets under the repeat pattern of the sheep.
4. List your assumptions about your project. Reverse these. This project is an interpretation of how I have felt over this past year and the recovery of self-esteem, confidence and happiness that has been absent in my life recently. I believe that when someone looks at the project they will be able to understand the pain that I have endured as well as the growth that has occurred throughout the year.
5. What would your project look like 100 years ago? What would your project look like 100 years in the future? If my project were created 100 years ago the entire feeling would be lost. Women weren’t allowed to leave an unhappy marriage without repercussions so the photos would not be able to progress from sadness/depression to freedom/happiness, it would have to go from depression to feelings of imprisonment. I wouldn’t have the freedom to portray my emotions because of the constraints placed on women at that time, treated as a piece of property rather than an individual. If this were to occur 100 years from now the last picture in the series would be me as president of the United States or queen of the world! Changes are occurring for women much quicker today than even 10 years ago. My goal is to have my story end with me being the queen of my world, in control of things that I’ve been unable to control in the past as well as to find inner peace with the world I create for myself.
6. Remove something from your project. How does it change? If I were to remove the black and white photos in the beginning of the series of shots it would detract from the effect of the darkness I felt throughout this journey. If I were to remove the double exposed photographs of me I think it would lose an important feeling needed to make this project successful.
7. Persuade the reader that your project works well and is the most amazing project you have ever completed. The interpretation of personal growth throughout the photos will show the observer that there was clearly a very dark period that I struggled through and will show success with the final picture of me graduating from MSU. A goal that I have worked towards for many years.
8. Think of one of your most memorable dreams. How could you add elements from this dreams to your project? The dream that comes to mind was last year when a very close friend of my family was nearing the end of his life because of cancer. He and my late father were best friends and truly enjoyed one another’s company. Two days before his death I dreamt that my dad was at my house and I asked if he were here to take Jack. He said, not yet, he was here for someone else. To incorporate this dream into my project I would add something that represents a higher power to me, perhaps a cloud in a specific shape or an icon representative of my beliefs. My belief has helped me through this year in ways that are difficult to put into words. That dream signifies to me that even though we all face struggles; if we believe we will have support from above.
9. How would you convert your project into a narrative? How would you remove any narrative from your project? To create a narrative with my project I would use words to describe the emotions seen in the photographs, such as despair, joy, etc. The person would clearly see what the photos were representing rather than guessing at the emotion. To remove the narrative I would mix the pictures up and not put into chronological order. That would disallow a timeline that tells the story of the past year.
10. Name an artist/photographer/designer/videographer who would hate your project. Why? I don’t believe Ansel Adams would appreciate my project because his photographs often represent nature and the beauty of the land. Although the photos are generally dark because he uses black and white, they represent a light feeling for the most part. This project would be on much too personal level for the type of pictures he generally takes. I think the subject would be too dark.
