The whirlwind of this year’s fall semester is officially over! It included some awesome experiences like singing in an opera, and several choir concerts (both of which were firsts for me). Although I’m sad it’s all over, I’m looking forward to vacation, Christmas, and the new year with all of the new experiences it will bring!
I’ve decided to celebrate all of this by posting the 10 images that made up my final portfolio for my digital photography class.
Artist Statement: “This series is about not overlooking the common things we see every day, but stopping to take a closer look once in a while. It’s about finding the beauty and intrigue in the ordinary. Things are not always how they appear at first glance, or at the 100th glance.”
The rest of the artist statement I wrote for this body of work:
“The content of this series was inspired by an ongoing idea that I have been considering for several months. Earlier this year I told myself I wanted to travel and photograph beautiful landscapes and famous locations, but then decided that would be taking the easy way out and instead, I should first photograph the things that I’m already surrounded by.
Essentially, the idea that grass is not always greener on the other side, and that I should be finding the beauty that’s already in my life, however dull it may initially appear. This is how I became inspired by the idea of using photography to make everyday “dull” objects seem interesting by portraying them in a way in which they’re rarely seen, or have never been seen before. In this, I found a challenge for myself since this project is far from the typical “pretty landscapes” that I had been used to shooting, and had come to rely on for photographic inspiration. At the time, I felt that if the subject wasn’t “pretty” it wasn’t worth as much of my time. However, through this body of work I have come to realize that sometimes the subject itself doesn’t seem particularly appealing or attractive, but it can still create an appealing photograph, if captured correctly.
The images in this series are black and white to add to the abstract nature of the photographs. I wanted to make the subject of each image as abstracted as possible while still keeping it recognizable. I believe that if the subjects were in color, it would be easier for the viewer to see what they were and that would take away from the ability of the viewer to overlook the common subject and not allow them to inspect it in a new light.”
I hope you enjoyed this series and that it inspired you to take a good look at those things and people you interact with or see on a regular basis and appreciate them just a little bit more… especially during this time of the year.
Merry Christmas!
(And congratulations to anyone else who is finished with classes!)
Jacqueline Ashford Photography 