Final Portfolio

Panorama Project

BOOOOOOOM! Review

(John Stortz)

I love this image, not only am I a big cat lover but also enjoy nature shots. I think I like this photo so much because its house cat meet nature. Not only does the domesticated cat have traits of wild cats but in this photo Stortz does a great job of mixing "tame" with "wild". This might sound stupid, but all tame house cats have a bit of wild in them, I believe that a cat never loses all its wild side. As far as the picture quality, all the colors pop. This photo is perfectly symmetrical. Cats have a mind of their own and I could only imagine how tough it could have been to keep the kitty in the middle of the board walk. John Stortz has great work and im looking forward to seeing more of his work. 

Collage

Hockney

Triangle Triangle Picture Review

(Xavier Encinas)

Due to the blog no longer existing, we have been asked to critique one of the pictures that had been posted to the site. And after looking at all the images that were posted this one spoke to me, I preceded to continue to look through more but found myself going back to this particular photo. I love this photo. Im not quite sure where this picture is taken or even if this isn't abstract but I do know that i love it. At first glance this image looks to be like a scene from a desert. As you look closer one begins to notice that the plants and shrubs are on the side of a building. Im intrigued by the colors in this image. The greens pop against the gray of the sky. The photographer let nature do all the hard work while he simply captured the image. 

Multiple Me

Levitation (out class)

Levitation (in class)

Urbanautica Review

Erick Rowe and Vermeer's Floor

By: Rachel Wolfe

Erick Rowe

(Erick Rowe)

This article is a question and answer form. The article went in depth and asked some key questions that really opened my eyes. Erick Rowe grew up in Indiana. He was interested in photography since a child. The blog is specifically about his work called Vermeer's Floor. The work consists of his photographs for an office building. 

The blog "Urbanautica" is a bit complicated to work around. Its very busy and just simply isn't very user friendly. 

Aperture Review

"Chris Boot on Paul Trevor"

By: Chris Boot

Chris Boot on Paul Trevor

       (Paul Trevor) 

The blog "Aperture" is a very simple and user friendly blog to use. I found that when looking for articles I had no trouble at all finding one i'd be interested in. The creators used images to show the viewer and use them to catch the viewers attention. I was intrigued  to review this article mainly due to its photo. The article starts out by describing two business men that dropped their accounting business. One was Mr.Chris Perkins and the other was Mr. Nicholas Battye. They came together to form a photography group called, EXIT. 

In all the article was pretty compelling and caught my attention. My interest in the article did justice because I enjoyed reading about it. 

Triptych Photos

Portraits

NYC Art & Design Review

Collectors of Keith Haring Works File Lawsuit

Artist: Keith Haring

Article by: Benjamin Weiser

         Collectors of Keith Haring Works File Lawsuit   

This picture is titled "unknown" it is by Keith Haring. This is one of the pieces of art that is being called "fake". Haring was primarily a graffiti artist supposedly, what people say. 

This article was mainly about the struggles Haring has faced with these trials, what it was mainly about the charges and the lawsuits. There wasnt much about his work in the article just a lot about what he is going through. 

In all the blog was extremely difficult to follow and read. The layout was poor and something that really bugged me was that it only allowed you to view 10 free articles before you were forced to subscribe. I feel like the blog could have been more user friendly and for sure could have been designed better. 

I really like graffiti art, I hoped the article had gone on more about his artwork rather than the accusations and trial at hand. In all I didn't enjoy it. 

Portrait Photography

This photograph was taken by Thomas Leuthard. This photo was grouped with 15 other photos from the same album. This picture really stuck out to me first and foremost because it is black and white. Second, the photo is not only unique but has a sharpness that the eye is attracted to. I like that the picture is open to many possibilities, no one is sure what is exactly going on, what is the boy running from, where is he going? The image allows the viewer to wonder. 

This picture by Cody William Smith depicts a shadowed man standing in the middle of a set of railroad tracks. It must be a cold evening since the man in the picture is leaning back and exhaling creating the illusion of steam coming out of a smoke stack of an engine. I like this picture because again, its in black and white, also the image has the "shadow"effect. 

In this photograph by Tracy Tomsickova two boys are playing in a park. The reason this photo stuck out to me is the reason that this is a portrait of these two children, but also, one kid is painting a portrait of the kid sitting on the ground. It is a portrait inside of a portrait. COOL STUFF.

Here are two other children, standing in the middle of a pretty big city. This photo was taken by Andrew Brooks. I like this picture because it has truth in it. Its scary growing up not knowing whats expected. This picture conveys the sense that that is true. Little kids in a big city is dangerous and scary. The picture does a great job of showing the contrast between the small children and the skyscrapers in the distance. 

In this picture titled "Land Surveyors" photographer Erik Almås uses pure nature as the back drop. The distant mountains keeps my eyes on the horizon. Almås uses all neutral colors in this photo that keeps it calm. I like all of these pictures because they are all relatable, I can see myself in each of these pictures therefore it opens up the picture to be personable. 

Lenscratch Review

Lenscratch

555 Gallery: Barbarous Coast

Article By: Aline Smithson

Photography By: Neal Rantoul
555 Gallery: Barbarous Coasts

The blog Lenscratch is formatted with all the articles on the side of the page. The layout is very easy to understand and to read. The blog is very plain and helps keep everything simplistic. The article 555 Gallery: Barbarous Coast caught my eye due to the picture that was used for the preview. The article itself is about an art gallery that is opening up in south Boston. The gallery is to feature the art of selected upcoming artists. The article specifically points out two very different photographers. The one I was intrigued by was the work of Neal Rantoul. He is a prize winning Boston photographer and was also the head of photography at Southeastern University and has been there for 30 years. His latest work shows the abstracts of rock and formations of the cliffs in Iceland. The other photographer which I didnt feature is David Mattox, he is an Alaskan native whose work is mainly of fishing. Many of his pictures incorporate scenes found in everyday life from the Upper Cook Inlet of Alaska. He does nothing special, but because his picture are of his life, something he views everyday they are very personable. Im interested in Rantoul's work because nature is interesting to me. It is always something i've been around and will continue to be around. 

Hard Drive

Glasstire Review

Glasstire

Bill Davenport

Michael Mazurek: House Plants

Taken by: Michael Mazurek

The Glasstire is set up and constructed differently than our "Blogger" blogs. Rather than the page flowing horizontally, the eye tends to move down the page laterally. The blog itself is set up in a row and column format and has posts to be viewed much like a newspaper article. Many of the blog posts  in fact seem such as a regular newspaper. The blog homepage has links for events, news, videos etc. Thats not the only cool feature, the blog also allows the viewer to see other stories from all over the state of texas, categorized like "East Texas", "DFW", "San Antonio", "Austin", "The Valley", "Houston", and "West Texas".

Bill Davenports article is structured around photographer and artist Michael Mazurek. The article is called House Plants. In the article Davenport writes about how Mazureks work brings plants that are on photographs or on paper to life. He talks about how the positions and colors used make the art stand out like none other he has ever seen. He mentions how Mazurek uses a bright background to make the color of the plants pop, also the color of the plants pots have much to do with how it meets the eye. There was not much that factored into my decision to pick this article, I honestly just chose one at random. I think that the article ended up opening my eyes to the necessity of color and the power of contrast that is contributed to the picture. I found it interesting that when placed in galleries the art is usually larger and higher on the wall than other work that is present. The thing that stuck with me the most when finishing the article up was that Davenport was so struck by the photos he never even noticed the live plant that was next to him the entire time. That just shows how truly life like Mazurek's work really is. 

My World

My World

My World

My World

My World

Questions

1. Name and your URL address for your class blog. My name is Patrick Sweeney, I go by Mason. My URL is http://imsoexcitedaboutthis.blogspot.com

2. What’s your major? What year will you graduate?  I am a music education major. I hope to  graduate by 2016.

3. Why did you choose a photography class (or photography as a major), and what do you hope to learn from school in general and this class specifically?  I really enjoy photography and look forward to learning more about it in general. 
4. What are your goals after graduation? Please list your goals in reverse order, starting five years out, then three, two, one, and six months. In 5 years id love to be married and starting  my family. In 3 years id like to be completely independent and living in a nice house with my wife. in 2 years id like to be a Middle School band director someplace...
5. What artists, musicians, photographers, writers, movies, books have influenced you/your work? I love classical and jazz music. I think that music is the art that has influenced my life in more of a direct way than anything else. 
6. Where do you get information about current national and international events? I normally get my information from the nightly news and television.
7. Are there any important websites that you are referencing for art/photo competitions and/or information? There are no websites that i've been referencing for art. I see art everywhere I look and art is just a part of my life.
8. What museums and/or galleries have you been to in the past year? None
9. Have you had any photo projects and/ or training in the past? No
10. What is the value of art for the artist? For an artist a work is priceless. I cant expect anyone to want to put a value on something they put their heart and time into. 
11. What is the value of art for the audience? As a musician the value of art could be as simple as seeing the smiles on my audiences faces, the way I see their faces light up with joy. In my opinion the value of art for the audience is just that of what the audience makes of it.
12. Is photography a vocation or an avocation? Avocation
13. What is your passion? My passion and heart lies within the arts. That being music, or photography. I sometimes struggle seeing the grand picture or small detail in a picture or photograph.
14.What are you afraid of? What makes you uncomfortable? In all honesty, i'm a bit scared of the unknown. That is something many struggle with and it just depends how unknown the situation is to weather of not I am frightened by it. I am most uncomfortable when I am not prepared for something.
15. Do you have a passport? What traveling have you done or would like to do? I do have a passport. I have been lucky enough to travel at a young age. I've been to many South American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Brazil, the two highlights of my South American trips were visiting the Galagapos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Last but not least I have traveled to the ancient Inca capital of Machu Picchu in Peru. I would love to travel to Australia, as well as Europe. 
16. Why did you sign up for this class? What do you hope to learn from it? Photography is FUN! I look forward to improving my skills and general knowledge.