Image of God

Art Historical: The historical context behind my image is the God picture above. Using the intensity of the ranges in the photograph, it makes the image more alive and more eye opening. The art historical used in my picture was to represent God’s imprint on the world. The way his body laid on the cloth showed that his human existence showed a form. An imprint. The outline of a human in the leaves was to show how God created the world in his own image and that his sacrificial love will forever be imprinted in our hearts. 

Photograph: The image contains intense dark purples, lighter reds, oranges, and the intensity of the grass is exaggerated. The human like form on the ground creates an emphasis that brings the picture in unison and space around the form works essentially through giving an even weight distribution. In applying the dark shadows along in the leaves, it makes the image more superficial and more lively. The meaning behind this photograph is the representation of the earth and how God was once human. He imprinted himself within in the earth by walking with man in his human form. This exemplifies the aspect of how God has left his mark in this world.

Landscape

My landscape image has color mixes between the blues and yellow-greens that give the image a feel of calm and relaxing. Implied lines are seen through the small branches in the trees which gives the trees its shape and stance. The defined formation of the dark trees and the light tint off of the surface of the sidewalk brings more of a balanced figure ground that evenly distributed the weight in the photo. The point of view in where I was standing was my ideal purpose to capture space and movement of the sidewalk along with the cemented bricks beside it. With the flow of moving back in the photo, it brought rhythm through where the trees are positioned and how the dimensions of the wide sidewalk made the background seem so far away.

Claude Monet- Branch of the Seine near Giverny

Claude Monet was famous for his landscapes and creates beautiful imagery through small brush strokes and hazy coloration within his paintings. He was an impressionist painter who painted plein-air landscape painting which means that he painted outdoors that worked with natural lighting. Compared with my photo, they both have tints of white along the surfaces. Spatial dimensions, shady trees, and a central point that end on the left hand side. However, his painting had more of a hazy and luminescent feel with light strokes of purple and green. His picture gives the allusion of the landscape being real but close up it contains cloudy strokes. In my photo, it had distinct and harsher lines. There are hints of reds and oranges in the leaves on the ground and lighter greens in the grass. My picture also contains darker shadows and more revealing details in the trees, the cement, and in the leaves. 

Earthwork Image: The earthwork image we used capture how man was in nature and how human can be one with nature.  Nature in itself is a beauty that God created for us to take time and appreciate, however, He also wanted us to look at nature in a way that has not been seen before. That is, to understand its purpose and why it was meant to be there. Like our earthwork photograph, my image of the landscape is the same by the source of lighting that was used and the capturing moment of balance and a sense of control. 

Earthworks are more about participation with the landscape, working with nature, and working within a community of collaborators.

Landscape, just by the mechanics of a camera and the convention of one-point perspective, puts the viewer at the center of the universe, in a position of mastery and control. A place of the single individual, not a community; a place that once thought to be occupied by God. (The theme of the Renaissance: "Man is the Measure of All Things." The idea that we occupy the center of the universe, (at least in our imaginations) that we own land and resources ourselves without necessarily acknowledging the earth as a gift from God, that we have autonomy over the earth to do with it as we please, is a problem and is at the root of many of our issues in the world. Is that an inherent problem reflected in the way we view the landscape? 

1.) I agree on the differences between earthworks and landscapes. Earthworks is woven in with the landscape and portraying nature in its true form. To show the beauty that it contains and working with it as a whole to create something that should be appreciated more. With a landscape, it is about the angles and working with the angles to see nature in different perspectives. To have control and finding a balance within a certain location. 

We use and harvest the land to build and create what we are given for good use. In our minds, it is true that we believe that we own everything but in reality, we do not own anything at all. With the indians, they acknowledge the creation and worshipped the created instead of the creator Himself. We take advantage of the earth without realizing it which causes conflict and division with our brothers and sisters. 

2.) My landscape was supposed to be celebrating the earth because I wanted to capture what God created and show that something simple can be elegant and beautiful. I wanted to portray a new coming of the earth and the start of a new beginning. 

Getting Lost

Slideshow

Individual Pictures 

Media Quotes 

This slideshow incorporates colored photos mixed with black and white photos as well. Implied lines are presented within nature itself through the shadows casted and the figures that stand in the foreground have a defined form. Shapes are seen as well through the darkening of shadows and with the casting glimpses of light. The colored photos contain yellow tints and shadings of darker browns with exaggerated yellow-greens. The black and white photos contain shades of darker grays to lighter whites and highlighted white. Weight is distributed through asymmetrical balance yet has a central point that keeps it from looking out of place. Dimensionality is presented through a farther perspective of being away from the object and manipulating it into making the people in the photographs smaller compared to the trees and wildlife.

Media quotes within my images show how we should see things in different perspectives and to have a sense of adventure. The small people within the media quote show how we as people can be so vulnerable and helpless yet take risks in reaching the outside world. With this being said, I chose these images to show that by expanding our curiosity, we can show no fear in taking chances. This reflects my consciousness as a person in culture by revealing that it is alright to step outside the comfort zone and to show that a person willing to risk anything is far likely to go beyond any expectation.

Similarity in my photos show people exploring the forest and reveal that there is a sense of adventure. With proximity, there is space among the people and the road they stand on. There is clustered amounts of trees in some of the spaces but balances out with the open pathways and casting of light. Continuity is seen when the eye travels through each picture and moves the eye towards the focal point or emphasis which can be found in the people or in the bigger or smaller object present. Within the means of each photograph, I find closure in the in the people because of the figures they form in nature and how there is closure in the end of my slideshow where the person leaves the place they were in.

Within the slideshow, there is a sense of expansion and freedom in nature itself that there is still to be explored. What is working is how the slideshow ties each photograph together piece by piece and making the story behind it clear. However, what can be improved is the balance between the black and white photographs mixed in with the colored ones and maybe change the lighting within the colored ones to make the flow more coherent. I would have planned my slideshow differently by taking more variety of pictures or maybe change the storyline.

In "The Tree of Life" it has this sense of how nature is captured and how it incorporates people on how they go about their lives before death arrives. It is presented as a means of what people go through and what they have learned along the way; the morals they gained, the hardships they faced, the memories that are remembered, and close verge of how earthly lives must come to an end. In the movie, it also ties in how culture is incorporated in the film through what lifestyle the main character lived in, the environment they were exposed to, and what raised them to be the way that they are when they became adults. In a way, grace is tied into the film based on the forgiveness of the main characters father and the relationships that were being built along the way. The way of sympathy the main character had towards all the people he encountered in his life and through coming to realization that life is too short.

In my slideshow, I have edited some images out and brought in new images to make them have a coherent flow and balance. By putting in some black and white images in the slideshow, it was to reveal color contrast with the colored images as well. I played with space and dimension to show a little persons perspective of nature and what they see in there point of view. In getting lost, there is a sense of adventure in places you would least expect. Finding adventure in the most unexpected places.

Do you want to see the Body??

Lines used in this photo were expressed with harsh/dark pigmentation and were also a little exaggerated with the lines slanting in order to capture form. Value was established going from the lightness of her skin to the darkness of the shadows casted within the cloth and the fine detailing in her hair and skin. Her posture demonstrates her hidden shame and gives a sense of innocence being taken away. The even balance is shown in where the woman is placed in the picture which gives central focal point to look at and an even weight distribution. This body was used to represent innocence being exposed and the shame the woman was feeling when being stripped of her dignity.

Art Historical: My photo was inspired by the work "The Thinker". It was created by Auguste Rodin around 1902 and was formed using marble, bronze. Rodin thought of the statue as Dante who was a poet who wrote "The Inferno". The figure is actually part of an the entire piece was called, "The Gates of Hell". This statue was formed during the period of realism and is a representation of philosophy and learning. It expresses the way man has evolved in intellectual thinking. His facial expression and chin resting on his hand reveals a strong disposition of deep thought and forms a way a person analyzes ideas.

The angles of the chairs bring more emphasis on the girl posing in the photo. The way the textures are shown through on her sweater, on her pants, on the brick wall, and on the couch show great amounts of detailing. The black and white balances the picture and brings it into perspective through the castings of shadows. Her stance displays some sincerity and exhibits how a person shows interest in an idea or is having an idea at the time. The framing is to show space around her and the mirror in the back was to show other works she focuses on. Rhythm is revealed in the symmetry of chairs she is sitting on and along the bricks behind her.