Reflection on Vivian Maier

After watching John Maloof's "Finding Vivian Maier" I still felt as though Vivian was a mystery. Yet the more I look at her mesmerizing pictures, the closer I do feel to getting to know her. Vivian possessed a lot of qualities that I, and a lot of photographers I'm sure, wish they possess. 

One of these qualities is definitely bravery. Although Vivian was described as being soft-spoken by the people that knew her, she was also described as being outspoken at times. Many of her pictures are of people and things that make you wonder what happened after she shot her photo. A lot of these images suggest that Vivian was drawn to danger and dramatic situations. This draw mixed with her courage made for spectacular images. 

Most of Vivian's images are filled with the human subject. Vivian had a knack for capturing the spirit of humanity and normal everyday life. This is something that takes most photographers years to figure out how to capture correctly. Yet all of Vivian's portraits make one feel so connected to the person in the photo. 

Vivian had a lot of photos of children in particular. In the movie, it was explained that Vivian was a Nanny. It is absolutely magical how Vivian depicts the children in her photos. She shows the depth of a child's emotions. She shows multiple emotions. 

Vivian was obviously a very political person. She was known for storing newspapers in her living quarters as a nanny. She also interviewed people on the street and asked them what their political views were. This is a quality that is almost essential for a street photographer to have. Vivian captures the era of time, and freezes it perfectly and poetically. 

Although the majority of Vivian's images are portraits, and street photography, a lot of her images are strictly compositional. They are filled with lines, and patterns. Vivian had a strong eye for geometry.

              

Of course Vivian's most prominent quality was her eye for the extraordinary. This is what really makes Vivian stand out. It is what makes Vivian a mystery. 

Project Two: Characteristics

Continuing with the self-reflection theme, I chose to look at some of the characteristics I am developing as I grow. I used myself as a subject in order to have a more personal expression. Through doing this project I faced some characteristics that I did not particularly want to face. For example, I tend to be tenacious. At first I viewed this as a bad thing, and my goal when photographing was to make it have a negative connotation. Yet, as I looked at the final print more and more, I realized that being tenacious can be good thing, and perhaps if I work on it, I can make that a positive characteristic for myself.
Not all of the images I produced were exactly my plan. However, I have decided that as long as I am choosing to shoot my chosen subjects, the ideas I have will still be conveyed.
I hope that others will look at these photos, and learn a little about me, and especially about themselves.

Project One: Emotions

Humans are constantly learning, growing, and evolving. I believe it's good to take time to reflect on how you have changed as a human. I believe it is beneficial to one's further growth to look inward. I have been going through a season of change in my life. With this first project, my goal was to use two photos to convey an emotion that I have been feeling lately. For me, creating these photos helped me learn about myself. I was forced to face how I feel. Normally I am tend to hide my emotions from myself. I would rather not think about the reality of my life. However, after doing this first project, I found I held a sense of relief after I showed them to my class. I felt that it was okay to feel these emotions and to have these thoughts. My hope is that the viewers are able to connect with these images, and perhaps admit, and release some of their own feelings that they may be hiding within themselves.

Technical things: some of these images did not come out the way that I initially intended them to. However, I do find meaning in all of them.

Project 2 Proposal

For project 2 I would like to continue to sandwich negatives in creating double exposures. However, instead of only focusing on nature for textures, I would like to expand this and include man-made things as well. Architecture such as Windows, doors, and walls are things I have considered using. I would also like to shift my focus of the portraits. I would like to include different parts of the human body such as the back, and hands. I would also like to add more detail into the human shots.

Project 1 Statement

During project one I focused on using textures in nature paired with a portrait. I started off by doing in-camera double exposures. I did not particularly like how these images came out because I had less control over the positioning of the second image over the first. This is why I did another set of single images, and in the dark room I sandwiched the negatives together to create a double exposure. I liked how these images came out much better. I will continue to use this method.

Large Format Project

I have always been interested in the correlation between human emotions and nature. I would love to be able to combine these two aspects to create some strong conceptual images. I believe I can achieve this by first shooting a portrait of a person, and creating a double exposure by also shooting some sort of textural nature aspect such as water, fire, tree bark, grass, clouds, dirt, or even animals. I could also achieve this by doing "darkroom photoshop" and combine the images together as I create a print using dodging and burning methods with two negatives.

Prices

No Studio Available

Portraits:

Individual Portraits: $150

·       1 hour shooting time

·       5 digital retouched photos on a disc/drive

·       Prints (optional): $20 for (8) wallets

$40 for (2) 8x10’s

$50 and up for larger sizes

Group Portraits (3-6 people): $250

·       2 hours shooting time

·       5 digital retouched photos on a disc/drive

·       Prints (optional): $20 for (8) wallets

$40 for (2) 8x10s

$50 and up for larger sizes

Sports (individual): $250

·       Shooting time during entire length of sporting event

·       5 digital retouched photos on a disc/drive

·       Prints (optional): $20 for (8) wallets

$40 for (2) 8x10’s

$50 and up for larger sizes

Events (parties, baby showers, baptisms etc.): $500

·       Up to 3 hours of shooting time

·       $50/each extra hour

·       5 digital retouched photos on a disc/drive

·       Up to 30 unretouched event photos on disc/drive

·       Prints (optional): $20 for (8) wallets

$40 for (2) 8x10’s

$50 and up for larger sizes

Weddings: $1,000 ($500 deposit on -or before- wedding day)

·       Pre-wedding meeting

·       4 hours of shooting time

·       $50/each extra hour

During the pre-wedding meeting a package that fits your needs and wants will be created. This consists of making a list of “shots” you would like, making a decision on when the portraits will be taken, and choosing how many retouched photos you would like, if you would like some black and white/sepia tone copies, how many prints and what sizes you would like. This is simply done to make things run smoother on your wedding day, and so the photographer can be sure to not waste any time getting your photos to you.

Additional wedding services:

·       Video Slideshow (made on Lightroom): A beautiful display of your wedding day photos set to the song or songs of your choice. Formatted to share on your phone or to be shown on your TV. $70

·       Photo Book (made with Blurb): A physical hardback or paperback book of your choice of photos from your wedding day. Various options on paper quality, font styles, text (quotes, verses, etc.). $70-$100 (price varies based on desired size etc.)

Fine Art Prints:

·       Window Matted 8x10s: $100

·       Framed 11x14s: $250

·       Framed 16x20+: $300+

Feel free to email me for more information! ashleymduke18@gmail.com