Proposal/Abstract:
My final project goal was to explore an environment in a photo essay. Specifically, I was investigating the scene at a working horse farm in Edison, New Jersey.
Research:
For this project I used a Canon Rebel Digital SLR as well as Photoshop. The images were shot
Aside from my own personal connection to the subject matter, his project was mainly inspired by two artistic works. The first is Donald Hall's poem "Names of Horses" which can be read here: http://www.library.unh.edu/special/index.php/exhibits/jane-kenyon-and-donald-hall/hall/names-of-horses
The poem was inspired by Hall's experience at his grandparents' farm. It is a tribute to the animals there, which were viewed as work horses and utilities; much like we consider vehicles and machinery today. It made me consider the equestrian industry that I have worked in today: although it is a livelihood for many, the consumers are primarily partaking in a luxury. This poem was something I was continuously considering when taking the images, and I have a fondness for the single image of the horse nameplates in the tack room because it so directly and literally connected with this narrative.
Secondly, I was extremely inspired Walker Evans and James Agees' experimental photojournalistic essay "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men". Evans and Agee travelled south to document conditions amongst sharecropper families during the "Dust Bowl." Their results were documented in a book which first presents Evans' images without text. I love this idea because the images stand alone and one is able to devour them without influence from language. Then, the viewer indulges in Agee's text, which is so interesting because it is so untraditional. Agee writes in a mix of factual journalism and pure prose that often almost reads as poetry. I have never read a book like "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" before, and I feel that the approach Evans and Agee took has not been explored much further, so I would love to expand on a similar project in the future.
Production:
I have included the images in a separate post below for clarity.
Using the digital photography format allowed me to produce a lot of work quickly--I was able to shoot over 200 photos for this project before editing it down to approximately twenty images--and I was able to experiment with many techniques such as long exposures and different ways to frame the same image. I was also able to work on my post-production image editing skills by using Photoshop filters, sharpening, dodging/burning to give the photos a more consistent appearance. This was helpful for cohesiveness since not all the images were shot at the same time, and some of the harsh mid-day lighting I experienced produced very different images.
My prints were produced at drug store for consistency and to keep costs down due to the large amount of prints I made (23 in total). As I gain the liberty of more time and experience, I would like to produce my own prints to avoid the "sterile" albeit clean look of the prints I received. In retrospect, the cleanliness of the final prints may not have worked with my usual aesthetic.
My prints were produced at drug store for consistency and to keep costs down due to the large amount of prints I made (23 in total). As I gain the liberty of more time and experience, I would like to produce my own prints to avoid the "sterile" albeit clean look of the prints I received. In retrospect, the cleanliness of the final prints may not have worked with my usual aesthetic.
Self-evaluation:
I feel that my final project was a personal success in that it allowed me to work in an explorative manner.
Although I am not entirely happy with every image, there are several that I feel are successful and that I would go back and continue to rework or use as source material for another venture. What I feel was most valuable about this project was my experimentation. I did step out of my most comfortable aesthetic for some of the images, and that was a learning experience.
If I were to expand on this project or re-do it, there are several things I would address. Firstly, I would frame more of the image in many of my shots and crop the image later, rather than trying to frame everything in-camera. Otherwise, I would take multiple shots and stitch them together in Photoshop as a panoramic image. I would also like to invest in a polarizing filter to help reduce the problems I experienced with much of the harsh lighting. Conceptually, I would like to draw more from the literary element of Evans and Agee's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and produce a language component or narrative to accompany the visual work.
