I've Walked the Walk 1,000 Times

When I went to Portland State University last year, I often walked home from school. In order to get home, I had to walk up a big hill, and my backpack was always filled up completely (because really, I'm still an awkward middle schooler at heart and I am clueless on how to pack). So, I walked up this hill (and down it) several times per week, and though I already had a lot of things in my backpack, I'd always take my camera. Each time, I'd take photographs on that walk, and each day I'd notice a lot of the same things, but I'd also notice many different things. Or I'd notice the same things in a different way.

This morning I had to walk home from my boyfriend's apartment, which is located just blocks away from PSU. Again, I had a giant backpack, but instead of being filled with books and a packed lunch, this backpack had a dress, dirty clothes, makeup, my computer, and a camera in it (I carried the other camera in my hands). As I walked that same walk that I did so many times last year, I again noticed a lot of the same things and many different things, too. I also noticed the same things in a different way. Again. 

Before I got to my hill, when I was still on PSU grounds, I heard someone behind me call my name. I turned around, and it was my friend, Justin, sitting in the smoking shack, a place where people can smoke cigarettes in peace and communion. Though I don't smoke, I went to talk to Justin. He was alone at first, but after that, many people began to trickle in, and I stayed and talked and listened to them for over an hour. It was an unexpected and enjoyable experience, and I got to witness a guy smoke nearly a pack of cigarettes in one sitting, which I am speechless about! 

Extra Reading: Today I am not going to suggest photographers, but rather people who do cool lettering.

Nick Sherman: Sherman's Flickr account is filled with fonts and lettering. I was originally drawn by this poster. 

The Most Badass Grocery List You've Ever Seen: Self-explanatory. Art. If we all made grocery lists like this, we'd spend more time making the list than shopping for groceries!

The Moments of a Day

Each day gives you little moments of beauty that you couldn't have foreseen: light shines in a particular way and brightens a room, a clear glass casts a sparkling shadow, florescent lights mix with clouds on a window pane, and grass pokes aggressively out of metal on the sidewalk. I photograph for this very reason, to capture the unique or mundane beauties that take place around me everyday. There have been times when I wished I could've seen the future. However, it is truly a blessing that we can't because everyday we are given the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised by something beautiful we stumble across.

Extra Reading:

Anna Jaye: Jaye, who shoots primarily weddings and engagements, is also a Portland, Oregonian! Wedding photographers often get a bad rap, but their jobs are very important; they capture a day devoted to the bonding between two people. I don't know about you, but every time I look at wedding photography, I get a little bit happier. I also like Jaye's work because she has a documentary, rather than an overly posed, style of photographing. Go check out her work and give some wedding photographers some love! 

Days of Parties

Parties are interesting things to me; I love to plan them and execute them, but on the day of the party, the before and after always seem to turn out to be slow and mundane. Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! The morning was filled with organizing things, showering, and buying groceries to make a delicious meal. The steps it takes to fulfill the execution of a party are almost mechanical sometimes: eat minimal breakfast, clean living space, clean yourself, make food, prepare for guests, and then... the mood suddenly changes. Chattering, gossiping, joking, eating, laughing. Making a mess of the space you cleaned an hour beforehand. The high of having people around lasts for an hour or two, and then some begin to leave. You end up chatting with one person who lingers, the party dies. Some walking around the city. Then home and comatose from eating and having a lot of people around in a small space. Sitting, sleeping. The day afterward. 

 Minimal breakfast in the sheets:

Brown bananas to throw away (should have been done long ago):

Afterward, comatose in our phallic "sombreros:"

Extra Reading:

Ben Zank: Zank, who is only 23 (!!) hails from New York and is a surrealist, self-portrait photographer. Go check out his cool shots, and always support young photographers!!

A Portrait of Someone I Love

As some of you know, I still live at home, which means I hang out with my mom and my stepdad, Kirk, almost everyday. Kirk and my mom have been together for almost nine years, and throughout those years, Kirk hasn't failed me once. When I was in seventh grade, he funded, and help my best friend and I make a plexiglass guitar (that also had a pan flute on top). When I've watched too many scary television shows or movies, and haven't been able to fall asleep, Kirk has always been willing to talk me to sleep (even if it was four in the morning). Throughout high school, Kirk drove me to school almost everyday, even though many of my friends had to walk or take the bus. During my junior year of high school, when I went on a road trip with my best friend and got my jeep stuck in the sand, I called Kirk; he didn't freak out, even though he wanted to, and he told me what to do to get the jeep unstuck. Recently, when I was wondering what to say to a guy, Kirk talked me through it (and then we laughed together when he wrote an awkward text in my phone and accidentally sent it). My point is, no matter what I need, and no matter how difficult I am being, Kirk is there for me, and loves me through it.

This is Kirk in all his glory:

This is the "I just said something funny and I'm going to pretend like I don't know I'm funny" face:

Being a great model:

Stressful day:

Scaring my grandma:

Extra Reading:

Brett Walker: I like Walker's work because he has a sense of humor and a lot of his photographs are a little strange. His site is fun and playful, and it's definitely worth looking at. Also check out his Instagram, YouTube channel, and Tumblr. 

Filthy Feet

Usually I wear slippers around the house, but today I neglected them to be nude in my bare feet. The reason I wear house slippers most of the time is because I know my feet will get filthy otherwise, and I only like my feet to be dirty when I'm adventuring in the great outdoors (or at outdoor school, in a yurt, a lodge, a tent... you get the idea). On the rare instances that I do let go of my slippers for the day, my feet turn black as tar. They got especially dirty today. I made many trips from the linoleum in the kitchen to the dirty concrete in the garage, preparing paper mâché hats that I am making for Cinco de Mayo (woohoo, so excited!!!). The best part about having dirty feet is washing them at the end of the day, until they're squeaky clean, and then immersing them in warmth, under a thick blanket. Ahhh.

Before I washed, though, I took a few still lives:

Extra Reading:

Shlomi Nissim: Fascinated by the horrors of war and violence in today's culture, Nissim makes art that in contrast, suggests purity, and that alludes to ancient culture. Nissim also takes cues from cinema and painting, and his photographs have classical subject matter and a modern aesthetic. The colors and expression in Nissim's photographs are absolutely beautiful and incredible. Go poke around on his site! 

#highskoolnotes

Today I went to talk to my amazing, utterly fabulous, sweet, very helpful, beautiful college counselor, Julia, to ask her for some advice. (Can you tell I like her?) Anyway, when I got there, all the normal papers and coffee mug with tea was intact, but she was NOT THERE! As I wrote Julia a note telling her that I had come by, I noticed a few sticky notes had gotten stuck to my shoe...

Oh, high school. How I miss you, so. 

#jk

#iactuallydonotgotoskool

#bejelly

Extra Reading:

Bill Yates: The first camera Yates was ever given was right before a flight in his father's Cessna 195. Ever since, he has created images from above, capturing the world in its grid-like design. Yates flies and photographs; talk about multitasking! He is also the creator of a much older project, one that depicts youth in a truthful and nostalgic way. Everyone, young or old, can relate to this project, made in the years of 1972 and 1973. You can find more on that here. 

I hope you all are enjoying today (and that you've managed to graduate high school). Thanks for reading!

iPhoneography

This morning I went to Pacific Northwest College of Art to view Mei Ratz's thesis defense, entitled, "#detroitwithmei." Mei is another person who completed the Young Photographers Alliance mentorship with me last summer. Please go check out her work; she very is talented, both a photographer and a designer who creates stunning imagery.

Mei became interested in Detroit when she heard it is a dying city. She thought this negative notion couldn't be true. In response, she traveled to Detroit, interviewed multiple natives, and documented the city as thoroughly and humbly as she could. By the end of her thesis project, Mei debunked myths even she had thought were true, and she created a visual map of the city she grew to love.

Something that interested me about Mei's project was this: whenever she would pull out her DSLR to shoot, she felt out of place. To solve this, Mei ended up photographing the majority of her experience using her iPhone. The iPhone is quick, and it produces raw, humble images that are grittier and more relatable than the photographs a DSLR produces. Yes, there are times when an iPhone is not the appropriate tool to shoot an assignment. At the same time, there are subjects that a DSLR cannot truly capture, that only a smaller camera that is much more noninvasive, like the iPhone, can give justice to.

Mei's project reminded me of the magic of an iPhone photograph, and for the rest of the day, I have been inspired to use my iPhone to document. I shoot with both my DSLR and iPhone everyday, but for the past several months, I have mostly ignored my phone and traded it for its advanced counterpoint, the DSLR. However, today when I picked up my phone again, I was happy to play, happy with the grainy, and sometimes whimsical photos I was able to produce.

Here are some photos I took today with only my iPhone:

Extra Reading:

Greg Schmigel: Schmigel, who believes that most of what makes a great image is what an artist sees (and not the quality of the camera they use), uses only an iPhone to shoot. Most of his street photography looks like it is made with a DSLR, which gives evidence to Schmigel's claim: that photography is great when the artist who makes it has a dynamic vision and point of view. Another one of Schmigel's ongoing projects, titled "We're All Strangers," is composed of many black and white headshots of strangers Schmigel meets on the street. I like this project because it creates connection between the photographer, the strangers, and the audience. 

The iPhone Arts: This blog, which was created by the photographer, Egmont van Dyck, gives a glimpse into the images taken by many different iPhone/mobile camera photographers. It is very interesting to see the results they come up with. Go check it out, and maybe start taking more pictures on your own phone! Who says they cannot be great images, just because they are taken with a cell phone?