First Project Idea

For the first project, I am planning on photographing the anagama kiln that exists on campus. For ceramic people, this is super cool. Unfortunately, the firing of this kiln- which maybe happens once a semester- is happening a week after the critique. So the pictures will be slightly lack-luster since the most fascinating part of the kiln and the process will be non-existent. However, the space is still very interesting and slightly eerie when empty and overgrown. To someone who is aware of the process and use of the space, it is familiar and fascinating. Obviously it would be more captivating if the flames from the firing were involved in the picture, but I think that the space is interesting enough. Other than daylight through the rafters of the roof and openings of the shed, there are garage lights with various bulbs mounted around the space.

Below are some pictures that I was thinking about using as my composition for the project. I plan on going back to the site and spending more time with it when there is better weather so I can have more than just blank white skies. There are garage lights inside that will add more lighting features to the compositions and will drastically change the scene at night since that would be the only source of light. Normally, the flame would be an additional light but more often than not, the door will be closed until the firing is in reduction at the higher temperatures and flames will be coming out of the spies. Again, this will not be a part of the project since the firing is scheduled for a week after the critique. But, having this space with only workshop spotlights and the moon's light will make the scene interesting and drastically different especially throughout the day.

Week One Readings

After reading the first passage, I thought a lot about how we take the the things around us for granted. The world presents us with beauty in all things and often times we don't take the chance to appreciate it or even look at it enough to truly see it. As artists, we often call attention to those subtle but beautiful occurrences that happen in the world around us. From a non-photographer standpoint, I believe that that is a common goal of photographer. To capture moments, emotions, objects, and scenes that are often overlooked. While doing photography as an art form, I want to attempt to do just that.

The reading about color made me think about the fact hat we all perceive things differently. I understand the different scientific reasons for color involving light and how that translates to photography purposes. However, I come from a different background of chemistry in art. As a ceramicist, my understanding of color is not immediate. Oxides, and materials combine in a certain way upon the presence of heat to create a finish which contains a certain color. Color in its relationship to photography seems so much more point blank, which is comforting in comparison to the unknown of firings. Yes, different screens in different lighting with different printers will translate an image different, and whose to say I see the same as you to begin with. But at the end of the day there is a comfort knowing that black and white will make grey. While in the ceramic studio, black powder (Manganese Dioxide) and white powder (Magnesium Carbonate) will make some sot of highly toxic bubbling mess of a surface and some indeterminate color, all of which can vary between firings and over time when materials age. There's a uniformity in photography in relation to color, which allows artists to speak the same language with known facts even if some think in CMYK verse RGB depending on their desired program. This universality is something that can allow photographers to hold a common and reliable ground throughout their practice.

Perception plays a big role in color theory. People have certain associations, shared or personal, that may be paired with certain colors and emotions. This can drastically affect an image created by a photographer. Manipulating these color associations and warmth or coolness of colors may be advantageous to making a viewer react a certain way. Knowing and experimenting with these associations can be very powerful.