Pre-Writing Assignment 1

"Photo journal: Tales of rape in DR Congo" is told through the interviews of two Congolese girls, Aimerance and Yvette. I read their simple yet heartbreaking story on the BBC News website to provide myself some initial background for the photographs included. I am almost ashamed to say that I knew little about what was going on half a world away from me. Anna Kari and Suzanne Fisher's piece was poignant and moving; Kari's fairly simplistic photography complemented the girls' words beautifully. The final picture--the sewing machine on a table to the right--spoke to me the most, interestingly enough.

As most basic guidelines of logos indicate, efficiency (or simplicity) is an ideal quality for any piece of art making a statement. This photograph does just that with a lovely and ornate sewing machine sitting on a plain wooden table in front of a slightly dirty wall. There are very few bright colors here, minus the gold and silver on the machine. It evokes a quiet elegance that I find very hard to capture. However, there's still the knowledge of the terrible things that happened to these girls lurking in the background--represented, in my opinion, by the dirty wall. They are not dirty, per se, but broken. But hope is still retained, I feel, as indicated by the hues in this picture.
Ignore the sewing machine for a minute and examine the colors used in this photo. The stark white wall is splattered with dirt and dust so it appears an almost light gray. The mud is a very unattractive color, yet almost matches the normal warm brown of the table and chairs in front of it. The three elements of the picture cascade from back to foreground in their levels of brilliance and beauty. The final one, the sewing machine, seems to be speaking the loudest. The machine is the last picture in the photo journal, paired with the end of Yvette's story. She was a victim of a rape at the hands of the soldier that left her pregnant with no family or money.
She is learning how to sew so that can she can have the money and skills to feed and clothe her child. Her parents have virtually abandoned her to raise him/her on her own.
The machine is the probably one of the darkest blacks I've ever seen, but still has the slightest bit of shine to its finish that makes it all the more elegant. There are also spots of silver and gold and even a few specks of a reddish hue. To me, it is the bright spot in this picture, despite its fairly neutral tones. It is the perfect pathos representation of these girls' stories. Although they suffered great injustices, their lives continue on. They have been filled with hardships, but there's still that shimmery glint of hope in their future, even if it might seem small or unreachable. As that famous saying goes, "If it's not okay, it's not the end."

Go here to help people like Aimerance and Yvette.

Weekly Blog Post 7

I have fairly limited experience as a photographer. The picture in this blog is an example of the little work I have done. I did this shot on a whim with my old electric guitar one day. I used an editing software to get these levels of contrast, etc. and ended up with this as the finished project. I displayed this, other photos, and various drawings on DeviantArt. I also dabbled with other effects, such as saturation and brightness; I also would also try spontaneous things that didn't make too much sense, like taking shots of apples with pins in them (really). This picture was taken at least 2-3 years ago, however; I haven't done much as an artist since then. I found more success on DA and in general as a writer rather than a photographer/drawer. The most recent thing I've done is a photo slide show using Windows Movie Maker for a friend for his birthday in the summer of 2008.
Although I can't call myself proficient in photography, I've always had an interest in it--hence, why I tried my hand at it in the first place. Photojournalism as well as wildlife and nature photography are some of my particular favorites. I use a website called StumbleUpon when I'm out of things to do; it leads me to different pages around the Internet and, as I "like" things, it starts to send me to places more akin to my interests. I've found several beautiful examples of natural and wildlife photography via SU, like some of the shots here. I truly enjoy pieces that use something slightly out of the ordinary--the long exposure photos that I linked to and well-done action shots, for example. I've found a couple favorite artists in Ansel Adams and Rodney Smith.
Photography is definitely something I'd like to study more and analyze, so I have no qualms about the upcoming project. I have looked at different pieces and enjoyed them for their face value, but I haven't done much as far as deconstructing the shot and trying to see the artist's intent. I'm looking forward to that immensely.