LO 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
"Suffocating" - This photo portrays the interview response quite literally. The subject is, after all, underwater. She is, however, close to the surface. This is because I wanted to emphasize a feeling of almost drowning, or almost being smothered, but ultimately prevailing. This interview response was in the context of social pressures. The interviewee commented on how the many, and sometimes conflicting, expectations of women can feel suffocating. One of the many pressures she referenced was that of body image. This is an issue which has historically greatly impacted women. To emphasize this aspect of this woman's story, I chose to photograph the subject in a bikini. I did consider other outfits, including heavy clothes to symbolize being weighed down, and a dress to symbolize ideals of beauty. Ultimately, the focus on the female body specifically became the prevailing issue and I chose to represent that.
Interestingly enough, I have had a lot of experience with underwater photography. The main challenge with that, however, is that I don't have professional equipment. Instead, I used a waterproof phone case and an iPhone 8. The primary area for growth in this photo was working with equipment of lesser quality, as this forced me to focus on the framing and other technical aspects of the image. I knew it would end up blurry, so I played into that and depicted more of an impressionist scene.
LO 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
"Proud" - This photo was taken at the Carbondale Rodeo. I didn't go with the intent to capture this word, but I took photos of the entire event and found that this photo exemplified the feeling of pride. To take this photo, I used the technique of photo panning, which is used to clearly capture objects in motion. I moved my camera to follow the cowgirl as I took it. This made the background blurry and emphasized the subject. The woman I talked to in this interview mentioned feeling a sense of pride in the female community for always being there for each other. I find that flags are often symbols of pride, as they also represent a community - in this case, Colorado. The woman carrying the flag has a striking look of determination on her face, which I feel adds to the message of this image.
The technique of photo panning, which I used in this photo, was a technique I was only familiar with in theory. I watch a lot of motorsports, and photographers in that industry often use this technique to capture clear images of cars and motorcycles. So, before this day, I knew technically how this technique worked but had never practiced it. In the process of taking this photo, I practiced panning for about an hour in the warm-up events before the grand entry where this photo was taken. As such, this photo allowed me to take on the challenge of learning this new photography technique.
LO 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
"Pain" - There are many ways to capture the idea of pain in an image. In a way, this made this word even harder to imagine. I considered doing this in many ways but felt that the more symbolic the image was, the better it would fit into the context of the anthology. Having decided on symbolism, I eventually landed on the idea of fire as a symbol. This is because fire can be comforting until it gets too hot, too close, or out of hand. Sometimes, the line between comfort and pain can be blurry. The woman I spoke to about this word emphasizes the confusion between help and hurt, and how it was often difficult to tell the difference until after the event was over.
This image is from a bonfire, which was planned for the purpose of taking this photo. It was an interesting experience to try to plan how a fire would look since that's not usually something you would think about. I didn't really want the traditional campfire look, so we decided to stack the pallets against each other and light the fire in the middle. We planned it this way so that I would be able to take a picture from closer to the middle of the fire. This would symbolize being in the middle of a chaotic event. In the end, though, I found this photo to be my favourite. The contrast between the brightness of the fire on the right and the darkness on the left was more visually appealing and made more sense than an entire image of fire. Overall, the planning of this fire was an interesting experience and allowed me to take a more symbolic and thoughtful photo.
LO 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
"Limitless" - Birds are traditionally a symbol of freedom. So, in that way, this photo isn't very creative. I feel that its simplicity does, however, convey the feeling of freedom and being limitless even better. It was taken in Iceland, on a small and beautiful island where seagulls flew overhead all day. The sun shone through their wings and struck me as incredibly beautiful. I feel that the framing of this photo also contributes to its meaning, as the bird is in the centre of the frame, completely unobstructed. Overall, I believe its simplicity amplifies the sense of being limitless.
This photo took me an entire day to get perfectly right. Lining the bird up with the sun made the image too overexposed. When the bird was too far away, though, the translucency in the wings was lost. I also had to perfect the shutter speed so that the photo was clear and the timing so that the bird's wings were spread out. My perseverance in taking this photo paid off in the end because it is one of my favorites in the collection.
LO 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
"Lonely" - This photo portrays the feeling of loneliness. My first thought for this word was to take a photo of a solo figure, but when talking to this woman, who was a college student, she mentioned aspects of loneliness among her peers. Being lonely, in her experience, wasn't just being alone; it was feeling disconnected. As such, I chose to photograph the shadows of a few people. The shadows intertwine and demonstrate how one can feel like a shadow in the presence of other people, even amidst apparent connection. Some women feel like their connection with other women is surface-level or two-dimensional. This aspect is also portrayed in the photo.
The process of this photo involved three of my friends. They agreed to help me with this picture, but we had to find a place to take it. We happened to be in the art museum, and one of the exhibits had a blank wall with light from one of the art pieces. The wall was perfectly flat and white and made for a good canvas. At first, my friends and I tried stricter posing of the shadows. In between poses, they would move around, and that was when this photo was taken. The spontaneity struck me more than the posed photos, and I felt that the chair embodied the feeling of loneliness better. I wouldn't have been able to take this photo without the help of my friends, and thus it effectively demonstrates the benefit of working collaboratively.
LO 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
'Beautiful' - This was a photo I already had, of my hair before the homecoming dance. I asked my little brother to take a picture of my hair so I could check whether it looked okay. He stood there and took a blurry photo because he was laughing so hard at the way I was standing that he could hardly hold the phone still. That memory is now one of my favourites and the sibling connection which I felt was similar to the connection this girl described that she sees between women. She admires the way women stand up for each other, and help each other. She told me that she thinks her mom, specifically, is very beautiful.
Of course, while labeling a picture as beautiful is nothing meaningful, labeling the subject has more of an ethical connotation. I debated for a while whether to include this image since I didn't mean to send a message that just because aspects of this image are labelled beautiful doesn't mean other versions would not be. Labeling curly or straight hair as beautiful could carry connotations that the other hair type is ugly. That is exactly what I wouldn't want to do.