Art Project III - Still Life

My final project in my art photography class was a series of still life photos. Last week at critique for our portraits assignment my instructor called me a "professional photographer." Now it's true that I make my living as a journalist and photojournalist, but his comment was more than acknowledging that this is my job. He went on to point out that I "saw" and "knew" what would be the "perfect" picture. I was seriously flattered.
Photojournalism is seldom an art form. Mostly it's about capturing the action of the story. So you end up with a lot of well composed documentary shots that lend a visual aid to the writer's words. What I want to do is apply my artistic training to my technical skills. Photography plays so many different roles in our culture; it is a historic document, it is a souvenir, it is a memory, it is a record, it is a snap shot, it is journalism . . . and it is art. It can be many of these at once but for it to be art and these things as well is a seldom occurrence and is difficult to do.
I feel, given the input that my instructor has given me, that I am close to breaching this threshold.

Art Project II - Portraits

I have always preferred to take photos of found objects, architecture, industrial sites, shapes, things, but not people, to me they aren't as interesting, not as pleasing to the eye, but mainly I haven't liked it because almost all portraiture is too posed, too fake.

This assignment was difficult because I was striving for various things. Authenticity, artistry, in-the-moment candor, honesty, truth, sculpted or a 3 dimensional look. As an artist I feel like its been hard to push the photojournalist aside, but  I am working at making her pause and not just shoot the action, but shoot that truth.

Almost all the photos are new. Many are onesies. I had one moment to get one good shot. I used the last two, which I shot a couple months ago, because I liked them so much. Gareth was checking out his bass while here at my house practicing. Kelly turned toward me at the D while I was holding my camera and I shot. Most of the other people I don't know. Well there's Truxton and Elijah, too.


I have been taking art classes since before I started school. My mother, who was artistic, began teaching me to draw when I was pre-kinder age. From there it was art classes in elementary school, middle school, high school, private lessons, then college art. I began taking photos for the high school yearbook using a Pentax. Went to college and started taking pictures for the radio station where I worked. I took photojournalism classes and used a Canon AE1. Though my focus in art was always three dimensional, I sculpted, I often ended up being behind the camera.

Again because of my job as a reporter, I’ve found myself taking pictures. It was always a pain in most cases, difficult to juggle a camera, lenses, a note pad, pen and maybe a tape recorder. But, photography has come to replace sculpting for me mainly because it is accessible. I can’t easily bop out and weld up a sculpture, I don’t have a kiln, iron, aluminum and bronze pours require at least 50 other artists to do anything awesome and cool. It’s a very trying medium to work in. But, photography, that is much easier access.

I’ve noticed recently that standing behind a camera, looking through the viewfinder is like meditating. It’s zen; that moment of peace, composing a shot; a work of art. I have had so many years of composition that it’s second nature. It actually truly takes seconds. But, in those seconds exists eternity. I am clam, at peace, looking, seeing what only I can see, knowing what only I can know, because I am the one composing the shot. These ideas are alive in my head. Will it turn out the way I hope, expect? Maybe, usually, sometimes I surprise myself. Others I disappoint. But, always, I feel lost in that moment of being.

That is what I hoped to capture with this assignment; the moment of being.

Corban sends latest class into the world

At graduation, a plea for students to be leaders

4:07 AM, May. 8, 2011

Ashley Strom, 21, of Salem and Tiffany Petersen, 21, of Grants Pass pose for family photos. Both young women earned elementary education degrees from Corban University. / Dee Moore / Special to the Statesman Journal

 

 

Corban University graduates bow their heads during the invocation Saturday. 

Dee Moore Special to the Statesman Journal

College graduation may be a time of new beginnings, but for students receiving their diplomas from Corban University, it also should be a time for leadership, said Kevin Cameron, Saturday's commencement speaker.
"Remember that everyone of you here today ... will impact others. You will influence others. Leadership in its purest form is influence," Cameron, a state representative from Salem, told his audience.
Asking the students why they worked so hard to earn their degrees, he posited, "I would suggest that it is to serve others."
Cameron told the students that the "best leaders are followers" and he suggested that by devoting their lives to Christ they would learn to be good leaders and servants of humanity.
Cameron was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university for his service to the community. Along with him, more than 250 graduates received their degrees while more than 2,000 friends and family were present for the occasion.
Before the ceremony, students posed with family for pictures, adjusted ties, applied makeup and fixed hair, often having to re-do much of what they had just done thanks to the numerous hugs and kisses bestowed on them.
The presence of wind and rain didn't daunt the spirits of the graduates; laughter and conversation flowed, their futures shining bright despite Oregon showers.
Graduating seniors Allyssa Bost, 22, of San Jose, Calif.; Ashley Strom, 21, of Salem; and Tiffany Petersen, 21, of Grants Pass, were busy helping one another adjust caps and gowns between nervous giggles. All three women have earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in elementary education.
Though they are happy to see their families and return home, the women agreed that Corban had been the right choice for them, and they said they would miss the camaraderie of the university.
Bost came to Oregon for her education thanks to happy memories of a brief time here as a student.
"I lived in the area for a year while in high school," she said.
She returns to San Jose with a summer job waiting for her but will have to get out and look for something more permanent. She doesn't anticipate difficulty finding a teaching position back home, though.
The same can't be said for Strom, who said Salem has few open teaching positions. She is going to be spending her time job hunting during the next few months. She hopes to teach kindergarten or first grade.
Petersen will be returning home to Grants Pass, but she won't completely be leaving Corban behind. Her four years at the school were a blessing, she said.
"It was where God told me to go," she said. "It was a perfect fit. The school did all it could for us as students."
She hopes to teach middle school-level history. Her face lights up when she discusses the topic.
"I love it," she said. "I could spend all day in Powell's Books store's history section."