Katie's Digital Design Blog

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2010-01-05T14:33:00.001-08:00

2010-01-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

2009-12-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of my own photographs that was taken with the White Stripes designed Holga camera. I also used a fisheye lens attachment for this photo. I primarily use black and white film as I have mentioned various times before. I find it rather helpful in plastic camera photography as it can keep down the cheesey expectations that many photographers attach to the Holga. Although nearly all of my plastic camera work has a serious tone to it I have found that it is still a struggle for other artists to accept the unique qualities of a holga's photos as something that qualifies as art.

2009-12-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here is an image of the White Stripes preforming. It was taken with a Holga camera, which is an all plastic camera often referred to as a "toy camera". The White Stripes teamed up with the Lomographic International Society and re-designed the outer appearance of two plastic cameras, the Diana and the Holga. There is a lot of history behind these plastic cameras and the White Stripes involvement is the most recent chapter. This image shows the stylistic tendencies of the Holga, there are light leaks, vivid color, and almost a dream like quality.

Cubee Craft Finished

2009-12-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Cubee Craft design

2009-11-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

ABC- E & i

2009-11-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

ABC- M & C

2009-11-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

ABC- P & O

2009-11-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

Other Project- Self

2009-11-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of being the photographic subject, I much prefer to be the one behind the camera. Self portraits have been assigned to me numerous times throughout high school. Sometimes I would just take pictures of my possessions and once I photographed myself with a timer. For this project I included three photographs, the first showing my favorite place on earth to stand, the second a portrait taken by mentor Kevin Focht in the studio, and the third my rendition of the best way for a photographer to capture themselves.

Other Project- Friend

2009-11-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have known Alexa since the 5th grade. I decided to photograph her for this portion of the project because of how people tend misjudge her based on appearance only. She dresses in muted colors and doesn't smile unless you work for it. One thing I've noticed is how she is always fidgeting with her hands, when she is silent in a crowd of people I can see the she is quietly engaged when others may not.

Other Project- Stranger

2009-11-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

Rebecca is a girl from my dorm that I never really met until this assignment came up. I photographed her in a way that reminded me of the classic and overdone senior portrait. I think of that style as being how someone who doesn't really know the subject individual sees that person. Just looking at a facade and not knowing what is really underneath the outer layer.

2009-11-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is a great example of how the simple nature of black and white photography can transform everyday objects into pieces of art. Edward Weston is a photographer that works with fragments and extreme close ups of his subject matter. The clean and sharp edges in his work make the abstractness of them work well with our sense of aesthetics. Weston is most famous for his depiction of bell peppers, something so average that he was able to transform into his masterpiece.

2009-11-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

These are endangered ice burg flower blooms. They exist on a cliff side at the very tip of the Southern Oregon coastline. I'm not sure what it is about this cliff next to my family's beach house but I find myself visiting it even more than the two beaches we have access to. It is one of my favorite photographic locations. This is simply a pretty picture, I also photographed these flowers in black and white film. I'm torn over which one turned out better.

2009-11-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

The power of black and white film portraits always keeps me staring. When photographed and printed correctly I believe that these portraits are more distinct and have a better narrative than most color images. This particular photograph was taken by Hiroshi Watanabe, a photographer that I have found inspiration from many times over. The world of film photography has seemingly been chipped away to a village and it is harder than ever to make a living through this medium. Still, many artists stick to it and produce more than beautiful art.

2009-11-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Another sample of my black and white film work. This photograph was taken in a loading zone ally that I found in the Pearl District of downtown Portland. It was a response to an assignment my photo class was given to take pictures of glass in the Pearl District. If our images were chosen they would be featured in a local magazine. I actually misplaced the role of film that this image was on and turned in three other photos from another role. I was published in the magazine and about a year later I printed from the misplaced negatives. I think I like the images from these negatives better than the ones that were chosen to be published.

Scratch Two

2009-11-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Scratch One

2009-11-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

2009-11-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a portrait of a bulldog done by the photographer Elliot Erwitt. The dog is given almost a human personality and appears to be the master of the house in this image. I have grown up with dogs my entire life and also love to photograph them. I like that the definition of a portrait can be stretched to encompass animals along with humans. The geometric patterns that dominate the picture also add a eccentric feeling to the image.

2009-11-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a self portrait that I did over this summer. I was positioned on top of a cliff, looking down into what used to be a pond during the winter months. The sun was about to set and the orange color of the dirt was highlighted by the yellow sunbeams. It is one of my favorite color photographs that I have taken so far. There have been many photographers working with both color and black and white mediums that take shadow portraits, which helped to inspire this photograph.

2009-11-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

Johannes Burge produced this photograph that obviously uses color in an effective way. It is unknown if photoshop was utilized to enhance this image or not. Either way it is a successful representation of color values, warm and cold, contrast, and complimenting. Composition is another factor in this photograph that makes it a strong image. It would seemingly work in black and white too although the color version points to a more modern time.

2009-11-15T17:05:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my mom's wine glass during a sunset at the family's beach house near Gold Beach. I started off using mostly black and white film and very little color film, or digital. Using color effectively is a very tricky thing and many times the color ends up not contributing to the photograph as a whole. This image is one of the best examples of color working to create a better picture that I have created myself. It is not photoshopped in anyway, but I understand that most digital photographers use photoshop as a tool to enhance the colors of an image and I plan to start experimenting with the options that digital manipulation offers an artist.

Poster # 2

2009-10-22T17:10:00.001-07:00

Poster # 1

2009-10-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

Collage # 2

2009-10-21T22:14:00.001-07:00

2009-10-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

Chris Burden is a world famous performance artist originally from Boston. This image was taken during his piece titled "Trans-Fixed", where Burden had a friend nail his hands to the roof of a Volkswagen Beetle in an effort to imitate the crucifixion of Christ. I find this picture to be very intriguing and at some level disturbing. The photographer didn't have to do much to make this picture famous, it was Burden's commitment to his art that accomplished that. Design and composition is used well in this image with his body drawing the eyes at first to the top of the picture and then down as they follow past the legs and to the feet.

2009-10-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Trent Reznor and Robin Finck are center stage in this photograph. I took it at a Nine Inch Nail's show in Seattle a few summers ago. It was literally like photographing another person's image. The technical team for this tour was amazing and no matter how someone was to take a picture during certain moments it would have turned out to be pretty impressive. I enjoyed the concert and the photography opportunity of the experience, but I'm glad everyday life allows me to find my own perspective.

Collage # 1

2009-10-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Type Project Big Bs

2009-10-14T11:29:00.001-07:00

Type Project Big Cs

2009-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

2009-10-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

The photographer Hiroshi Watanabe is responsible for this image. I find it to be a good example of how modern design and old school black and white film process can thrive together. Sometimes it is hard to create photographs in a traditional darkroom setting and have them translate well to modern society. But Watanabe accomplished this with the image above combining another artist's mural work and the medium of film. Many things tie this photograph to the darkroom, its square format and black outlines around the edges of the image. It is reassuring to me to see a photographer who still stands by film doing so well and creating images with modern context.

2009-10-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

I used some photoshop techniques on this image to enhance the shadows and the golden sunlit walls. Using photoshop to edit my photographs is a very foreign concept to me. When working in black and white film photoshop only comes into use after the prints have been scanned in and need dust cleaning for example. Recently I have begun to explore the digital side of photography and this is one of my earlier photos. I relate well to this image because of the reflection on the glass that makes it seem dream like. I was staying inside my comfort zone of plastic camera photography while venturing out into the digital world.

2009-10-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

This image was taken by Kevin Focht. He is a fashion photographer in Portland and mainly deals with bridal magazine spreads. His photography is vastly different than my own. He works 100% digitally and commercially, where as I tend to gravitate towards film and more of a fine art approach. I was lucky enough to intern with him all of last year. This photo incorporates the unusual landscapes I find so photographically interesting and gives it color. The composition uses the thirds rule of photography and places the main subject in the foreground. It definitely does its job of displaying the garment, but it also has a slight edge to it that makes it interesting to view.

2009-10-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is a black and white silver gelatin print that I made a few years ago. It was taken with a holga, which is a plastic camera originally created in China. My family owns a house on 9 acres of property in between the Oregon coastal towns of Gold Beach and Brookings. We were there on vacation when I climbed a cliff to get this shot. I really enjoy the dream like qualities that holgas can give to a photograph. And I believe that the landscape around this part of Oregon works very well with a holga's style.