Idea

I realized that this week I needed to do some thinking. I, like most of the people in this class that I have talked to am a little lost with my work. As it has always been trough my entire life whenever I feel that I need to meditate, I gravitate (that sounded cool) to a secluded, calm interior or exterior space where I can gather my thoughts. I feel at home at these places but I never gave much thought as to why I choose these places to begin with. Ever since I was a kid I have always loved going off on my own and finding a space to just sit down it and enjoy. I would do it at the grocery store with my mom, at hotels and malls. Now I'm 21 I still do the exact same thing.

I'm starting to realized that these spaces that I have spent my entire life searching for are a direct relation to the way that my photography has progressed. When I go to these places I usually don't think about photographing them, which is strange because the photos that I take at other places end up with the same compositions and use of line and space that see when I am sitting at these places. The way that I position my body when I am sitting in any space is directly related to the way that I compose most of my daily photographs.

I feel like this is something that I was starting to touch on with my hospital project but I didn't really know what was driving me at that point. So I have started to go to some of these spaces and photograph them the way that I see them. Position myself how I would normally sit, with the objects that I would normally bring and photograph the space using my wide angle. Here are some early tests, including one I posted last time.





These are all places that I turn to when I need comfort, quiet or peace. And I've realized that I go to these places when there are the least amount, and in most cases no people. It's funny that I've never really seen a common link between these spaces until now. I'm still not 100% sure that I want to use the objects yet, but I think that they add another dimension. I want the viewer to know that I am taking the picture. If I were to photograph the space with out the objects then they would be to much about the space itself and not about my relationship to them. The photos show no life, but the objects imply that I the photographer am present and showing what it is that I see. The camera becomes my eyes; when I look at these photos, I don't see them as flat pictures. I can see right into them and feel like I am there because these spots are so familiar to me.

I have more ideas and locations for this project and it just feels right for me to go in this direction right now. More pictures and lovely thoughts on the way.