Art Night Artist Statement

(One of my proposed, un-edited, art night images)

Earlier in the year one of my classmates remarked to me that I always seem to take pictures and seek out scenes that involve mankind, the human populace, making some sort of impact upon nature. I never truly realized until I heard this how true it really was. I have taken pictures of a ladder placed against a tree in the middle of a forest, a sign placed on a tree riddled with shotgun pellets, a large and ornate well surrounded by wilderness and an entire set of pictures devoted to how fences separate people and nature. For Art Night I decided to go against my newly discovered style and take pictures that show nature taking back what once belonged to it. I wanted to show that you can discover something new anywhere and at anytime, that there is beauty in the old as well as the new, the shiny and the gritty.

Art Night Proposal

For Art Night, I would like to take pictures of the inside/outside of dilapidated buildings. I currently plan to take pictures of three almost completely destroyed cabins that I discovered while trying to find pictures for the Photomontage assignment. What struck me about what remained of these buildings was the relative peace that surrounded them while you could easily envision the violence that had left them the way that they now are. One or two of the cabins are missing entire walls, while others are missing bathroom tiles or floorboards. Just by peering through what remained of a window you could see that it was not simply neglect and nature (although nature had done an excellent job regaining what the buildings had taken from it) that had destroyed these buildings, man, or rather more likely teenagers, had.

I am not yet entirely sure what new Photoshop technique I plan to use. This is because until I know which picture(s) will be my final(s) I will not know which technique will best fit. I do, however, plan to use either dynamic lighting effect, vintage effect, fog and mist effect, dramatic gritty effect or possibly, though unlikely, horror film effect. It is also possible that if I have the time I will attempt to put two of them together. I am currently leaning towards using the vintage effect.

I will attempt to shoot sometime this week, but if I cannot take my pictures before Friday, I will use Saturday afternoon before the Gala.