Serafina Congeni

PART 1.

1. "Stop"

F-Stop: f/3.3

1/200s

This photo is one of my best because of the colors and the reflection. The bright yellow, blue and green make the photo pleasing to the eye. It is also very interesting to the viewer because the reflection may confuse him or her and cause him to to have to think.

2. "Desire to Learn"

f/3.2

Shutter Speed: N/A

This photo is one of my best because I capture my brother's emotion so well. The viewer can feel the intensity of my brother doing his homework through the motion in the pencil. This motion and the action of my brother pulling on his upper lip are common habits that show a person is intensely thinking. I captured the intensity at the right moment to make a successful photo.

3. "Raindrops on Lightbulbs"

F-Stop: f/2.8

Shutter Speed: 10/60s

The clarity and crispness of this photo are what make it so successful. It really shows the definition of the raindrops and also makes the viewer think, because the raindrops are the subject of the photo, not the lightbulb that the raindrops are on. Since the lightbulb is not part of the subject the viewer is able to concentrate on the raindrops, which was my goal.

4. "Revolving Rose"

Shutter Speed: 1.0s

F-Stop: f/6.3

This photo is so successful because I captured a difficult and new process. While the shutter was open I zoomed in on the rose, causing the dizzying and double effect. Also, the colors in this photo are bright and the depth of field makes it pleasing to the eye.

5. "Loneliness"

F-Stop: f/4.8

Shutter Speed: 1/500s

This photo is successful because of the emotion it portrays. While many people do not see much emotion in a goose, this photo causes them to feel it. The dreary colors and the reflection cause the viewer to feel as if the goose is lonely. Since the photo can cause the viewer to feel so much emotion, it is successful.

6. "Blossoms"

F-Stop: f/2.7

Shutter Speed: 1/540s

This photo is successful because it shows my growth as a photographer. It shows how I now take photos from new angles causing the viewer to get new perspectives of the subject. The blue sky in this photo is also pleasing to the eye as well as the blossoms which are a naturally uplifting subject.

7. "Magic"

F-Stop: f/2.7

Shutter Speed: 1/140s

There are many reasons why I feel this photo is so successful. For starters, I love the quote and I really feel like it goes with the mood of the photo. The reflection of the flea market window in the picture frame adds color to the photo that makes it feel somewhat "magical," which is very fitting since the word 'magic' is used in the quote on the photo. Also I juxtaposed this image by putting the reflection of a dirty, flea-market window in a photo of the relaxing, clean beach.

8. "Children"

F-Stop: f/2.7

Shutter Speed: 1/9s

This photo is successful because of its mood. I manipulated the colors of the photo to make it have a more antique feel. This mood goes with the subject of the photo because the subject is an old magazine. I also used the perspective technique well in this photo because of the angle as well as the word "Watergate," which is obviously a subject where many people have many different perspectives.

9. "Enjoy Your Own Company"

No File Info Available.

This photo is so successful because it is such a fun subject. Although the subject is wearing headphones in this photo, the viewer can feel the music because of the motion in the subject's hands. This photo was captured exactly at the right moment, causing it to be successful.

10. "Belt"

Shutter Speed: 1/20s

F-Stop: f/2.7

This photo is successful because it captures so many new techniques that we learned this semester. This photo captures perspective and depth of field successfully. The colors are also interesting to the viewer. It is not completely clear what the subject of the photo is, which allows the viewer's imagination to take over to some extent.

11. "Terrible Lizard"

Shutter Speed: 1/150s

F-Stop: f/2.7

I am so proud of this photo because it was difficult for me to conquer this technique and I feel I did it successfully here. The dinosaur is a tiny 4 inch toy, but it looks life-size. The fact that dinosaurs are extinct makes the photo even more fun. The simplicity of the photo other than the dinosaur also makes this photo successful because there is nothing distracting the viewer.

12. "Two is Company"

Shutter Speed: N/A

F-Stop: f/11.0

This photo is successful simply because it is so pleasing to the viewer. The beach is a naturally pleasing environment, which creates a positive feel in the viewer immediately. The subject of this photo, the birds, represent two friends or lovers who are happy and blissful while enjoying the beauty of the sunset and of each other's company; therefore, the subject is also pleasing to the viewer and makes him or her feel good.

PART 2.

1. "In the preface to the second edition (1843) of The Essence of Christianity, Feuerbach observes about 'our era' that it 'prefers the image to the thing, the copy to the original, the representation to the reality, appearance to being'. For the images that have virtually unlimited authority in a modern society are mainly photographic images..."
Feuerbach suggests in this quote that, because of photography, people of our time prefer the representation of something to the actual thing. I agree with this statement, and I feel because of this general preference people's faith has been both enhanced as well as let down. Imagery enhances faith because it allows people to experience beauty and creation that they normally would not be able to see due to monetary or physical limitations. Many people see photos of this beauty and automatically attribute it to a God. Photography also can test faith because if we are able to capture photographs of all different parts of the universe, how are we unable to photographically prove the existence of God? Since people are so dependent on their five senses, particularly sight because of photography, and they are unable to see God, they often lose faith. Personally, I have not questioned my beliefs because of photography, and if anything, it has made my beliefs stronger. Whenever I see a photo of the Northern Lights or colorful birds in the jungle, I am so confident that there is a God who created that beauty. So, I may not be seeing God, but I am seeing the result of Him. Since I obviously am unable to travel to all of the places that contain this beauty, photography makes me able to experience it. Without photography I would never see these beautiful images and therefore my faith my not be as strong.

3."What is written about a person or an event is frankly an interpretation, as are handmade visual statements, like paintings and drawings. Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire."

I love this quote because it explains why I love photography so much. Photography, unlike painting or drawing, is not just an idea put on paper. It is an image of a tangible part of the world that does not lie. For instance, if a painter wants to create a scene of Cleveland and he or she wants it to look nice he can eliminate the homeless man on the corner or the smokestacks polluting the air. Without photoshop a photographer cannot do that. Therefore, photography is a more honest form of art then painting or drawing. However, like painting and drawing, photography can still be creative. A photographer can take a picture with particular objects in particular positions to make them seem more or less important to the viewer. Also, in photography lighting can be adjusted to set a mood for the photograph, just like painters can set a mood by deciding what colors to use. Then, after a photo is taken and developed, it is a tangible object of a tangible subject. It too becomes part of the world that could possibly be the subject of a photograph. In fact, one of my favorite photographs that I took this semester was of a picture in a picture frame. In this way photographs become objects themselves.

5. "There is an aggression implicit in every use of the camera. This is as evident in the 1840's and 1850's, photography's glorious first two decades, as in all the succeeding decades, during which technology made possible an ever increasing spread of that mentality which looks at the world as a set of potential photographs."

Because of this class, I have really fallen into the mindset of viewing the world as “a set of potential photographs.” Whenever I go to a beautiful place I automatically start looking for photo opportunities. While this results in many beautiful photos a lot of the time, it also causes me to lose that moment in time with my family or friends. For instance, my family went to Lake Erie a few weekends ago. While all of my siblings and cousins were enjoying each other’s company, I was excluding myself by searching for good photos. There comes a point when a person needs to put the camera down and not view the world as “a set of potential photographs,” but a moment in life that he or she will not get back if it is wasted. While viewing the world as a “set of potential photographs” has its downfalls, it is also can be beneficial. Because of this mindset, I have seen photo opportunities and taken awesome photos that without this mindset I would have missed, because the subjects are not initially beautiful to the eye.

PART 3.

1. I take photographs because I think they are an awesome form of art and because I want to share my experiences with others. I am not always good with words, so when describing an experience I had, photographs are often helpful. I also enjoy taking photos because it causes me to look at the world in a different way. Something that is not normally beautiful to an average person is often beautiful to a photographer, because it can become an awesome picture. I also take photos because I love "bringing out the good" in objects, people, and things. I love making average or "ugly" things seem beautiful by photographing them in a certain way. For instance, I took a photo of a belt. Most people would think, "How could a belt possibly make a good photo?" but by photographing it from a weird angle and by using depth of field I made an awesome photo out of it.

2. This semester my photography has become a form of art rather than just the result of a pass time. I used to take photographs whenever I saw something I thought was worth photographing. This semester I have been forced to take photos even when something does not automatically strike me as "beautiful." As a result, I have adjusted the way I photograph things in order to make them beautiful. Therefore, it is not always my subjects that make my photos beautiful now, but it is the way I take the picture. Because of this, I am now an artist creating art, not just an ordinary person pressing a shutter button.

3. The aspects of my photography that I need to improve include photographing people, taking photos of a variety of subjects, and taking urban decay type photos. I am not very good at photographing people in a way that compliments them. I need to practice taking photos of people, but since people are not something I normally enjoy photographing, it is a struggle for me to make myself take these types of photos. I also tend to take most of my photos of nature and more recently text. While these photos sometimes turn out beautiful, they are not very artsy. I need to expand my horizon and start photographing new things, which brings me to my last point that needs improvement, which is photographing urban life. My urban decay project I feel was one of my most disappointing projects and I still am unable to capture interesting urban photos. I need to practice taking these type of photos but since I do not live in the city and I am uncomfortable taking pictures in front of strangers it is a struggle for me to practice taking these photos.

4. I will remain active as a photographer by keeping a camera with me wherever I go. There is nothing more disappointing then seeing a beautiful photo and not having a camera to photograph it. If I get out of the habit of carrying a camera with me I will get out of the habit of taking photos. Other than carrying my camera with me constantly, another habit I need to cultivate is the willingness to take photos in front of strangers, regardless of what they may think of me. I am uneasy to take pictures in unfamiliar settings. I need to get into the habit of ignoring the opinions of those around me while I am taking pictures because often the best photos are taken in public with all types of strangers around. If I get over this struggle I will also be able to expand my photo subjects significantly.

5. The point this semester when my photography really reached a level of art was during my perspective project. For my perspective project I went to my Grandpa’s flea market not with the intention of photographing, but so many things caught my eye as beautiful subjects to be photographed. This is when I really began to see that I have started to develop the eye of an artist. Also, the photos I took here were successful because I framed them in an interesting way. I took the photos from weird angles making them interesting to the viewer’s eye. While these photos were of books, records, crates, signs, etc., which are normally not interesting things to photograph or view, I composed the photos in a way that made the colors and fonts seem interesting and thus I created interesting photos that reached a level of art. I can continue to create these types of works by keeping my eyes open for subjects that may not seem interesting at first, but that become interesting by taking the picture a certain way.