Restoring Sanity this Halloween

I'm headed down to DC this weekend for John Stewart's March To Restore Sanity. I was lucky enough to get one of the tickets for the Huffington Post's "Sanity Busses." My Saturday photo professor was perfectly alright with me skipping class that day. I do, however, have to bring back some good shots from the rally...

I've also got a pretty neat shooting script due next Saturday. My "Halloween Scripts" involve everything from my greatest fears to my personal demise. Check the list out and tell me what you think:

1. A jack o’lantern lit from within if at all possible. Otherwise, something else lit from within.

2. Represent fear or something you are scared of; or make something normally not scary frightening by how you photograph it.

3. Make a picture of something frightening, scary, or dreadful.

4. Make a picture of something sweet nice or cute.

5-10. 5 different pictures of people in costumes. Talk to them and have them pose in character for you!

11-14 . (4 pictures) Symbolically represent mortality; death.  Consider that all life and beauty ends.  Think about the Latin phrase Memento mori,  meaning "Remember you will die." It is a phrase that has a tradition in art that dates back to antiquity. It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality. The vanity of earthly riches and the idea that no one can escape death are also common themes in this tradition.

15-19. Stage your own demise. Use the camera’s self-timer and improvise a tripod. (5 pictures minimum) This is a set or series of pictures.  You can shoot the same idea from different angles or in different ways, or do up to six different ideas.  Remember this is a staged photo so there is no reason to do anything remotely dangerous!!!

20-25. The rest of the roll should be devoted to pictures that are of or about Halloween or related subjects, such as the Memento mori, or the Day of the Dead; you may return to the assigned photos above and repeat them; otherwise you may shoot whatever you like, as long as it can be understood as spooky or scary in some way.

There's something about the night...

There's something about the night that I absolutely love. Maybe it's the bizarre way that day and night blend in to each other, in this city. Visit any street, and corner, any strip of land at any time of night and you will see people. Sometimes, the people are just like you- wandering about and exploring. Other times, they're busily on their way from point A to point B. It's not until the early hours of the morning (~4:00AM) that the streets truly empty out. It's at that time that you can walk down Broadway or Madison Avenue and still feel absolutely alone. I'd love to venture out at that time, maybe wake up at 2:00 and head straight out, breaking dawn with the rest of the city and watching as rush hour nears and the streets come to life. Maybe I'll do that, sometime soon. They say that New York is the 'city that never sleeps,' I should get out there and try to catch it napping.

Finding a source

A gift, for you...

I can't make a solid decision as to where I should start sourcing my work. I live in New York City, one of the most alive and diverse places in the world, yet I can't help but think that I should try to avoid using it as my subject. The city, as a whole, is so saturated with attention that I feel as if anything I tried to do would be instantly watered down and made insignificant. Maybe I need to find a new angle, one that only a true New Yorker could spot, for my work... or maybe I shouldn't use my location at all. Maybe I should use the people in it.

But, even then, where do I go? Do I turn to my peers, and shape this into a Hunter S. Thompson investigation where I follow the path of experimental drug users and alcoholic young adults as they smash their way through life in this city, trying desperately to get by without falling victim to the corporate machines that run the every day lives of New Yorkers? Sound interesting, sounds fun, but will anyone else buy into it? Can I delve into that world without allowing myself to be consumed by it?

I don't know where I'm going with my art. At some point over the next two years, I need to start finding a source- I need to awaken my muse. For now, I'll just photograph the pretty things and whatever else catches my eye...

Shadows and Lighting

Relax, take a break...

I'm hoping to, over the next couple of weeks, experiment a lot more using shadows and lighting. I like the idea of using shadow to hide details from the viewer. It gives the photographer a direct sense of control without having to use any after-effects, cropping, or photo editing.

A new day...

Skies over the Bronx

A new day, a new blog. I had started my previous photo blog when I was a Liberal Arts student at CUNY Kingsborough Community College. I've since graduated from KCC, and am now attending CUNY City College. I'm moving toward a Studio Arts degree, with a concentration in Photography. After that, who knows? I've decided to start this blog to showcase the photos I take for my various photography courses. It will be a companion to my Flickr account, which already houses most of my shots. I like Blogger, though, because being able to add text (more than just a mere title and comment) to my images means a lot to me.