Too Young: Hannah

               

Black and White 4x5 Film Scan + Digital Image

               I am more than happy with the choices I've made in my life. A lot of people are shocked to find out that I "settled down" and got married at the young age of 21, but it didn't seem like a crazy thing for me to do. The joys of marriage and now carrying a child far outweigh living a life of a single, "normal" college student for me. My choices have shaped me into the person I am, so although it's difficult at times living with the seemingly mature and huge, life-altering decisions I've made, I literally wouldn't trade the life I have for any other one.
                I do feel ridiculed by some for making the choice to become a wife and a mom at such a young age. Thankfully, the people in my family aren't the ones that question my choices. They are completely supportive and loving of every decision I make, and have been for as long as I can remember. The ones that judge us are those who don't know us. They just see two kids getting hitched and knocked up; They don't see the deep love and commitment to each other and to the Lord that we have, the love that is unconditional and real.

Instagram

Come home.. I need a cupcake :(

A photo posted by Ashley Duke (@adukephotography) on Oct 26, 2016 at 6:47pm PDT

Missing my baby sister.
I know she won't be here for Thanksgiving, and I'm dreading seeing one less person at the dinner table. Christmas will be better though, and I'm hoping time will go by quickly after Thanksgiving.
 Lately, I've been stressing out with work and school. I could really use one of Amity's cupcakes. I don't like Pumpkin Spice anything, except for Amity's cupcakes.

Okay, sad post over.

Too You

"I think I developed language skills to deal with threat. It's the girl thing to do-you know, instead of pulling out a gun." - Barbara Kruger.

As a young woman of 23 years, I am highly aware of the idea of feminism. To me, feminism is simply the belief that women should be treated as equals to males in society. Feminism is a worldwide concept that has been accepted for the most part. However, I still find myself in situations where I feel as though I should be acting a certain way because I am female. Society still has certain expectations for women. Even women have these expectations towards other women. With this project I would like to take photos of real women and showcase their personal experiences to spread awareness into the minds of people that societal pressures against women are real, and they must stop.

          These photos will begin with a photograph that was created using “old” methods, such as Van Dyke Brown, Lumen, Cyanotype, and film. These photos will consist of “pretty” subject matter such as flowers, a common symbol of a woman. I will then combine, or overlay these photos with modern digital photos of real women in an opposing position to the “old” photos. In this way, I hope to create a sense of confusion and struggle within the viewer so that they may understand the confusion and struggle that women feel every day.

          I would also like to include a statement from the woman in the photo about her feelings on a given societal pressure. In a gallery viewing atmosphere, I would like to include a short quote from the statement as part of the viewing experience. My hope is that these words will confirm the realness of this issue in the viewer’s mind.

Too Quiet: Audria

Van Dyke Brown Print Scan + Digital Image 

         I don't have a lot of friends for many reasons. As a homeschooler I didn't have a lot of practice at making friends before entering adulthood. I'm also an introvert, I enjoy spending time with other people but I rarely feel a need to be surrounded by others. In groups of larger than one on one I tend to sit back and listen, I'll join the conversation briefly, but I'm content with listening most of the time. The combination of these things can make me appear stand offish. It's not that I don't want to make friends, I just don't have a lot of skill at it, I don't have a great need for it, and I'm quiet. It makes me seem unapproachable so if I want friends I have to work to make them, they don't just come to me. 

          I am content with having few friends. I've always had one close friend and very few other friends. At the moment I have my boyfriend who is my closest friend, and my coworkers. I'm closer to some coworkers than others we spend time together outside of work but not very often. I hardly text anyone besides my boyfriend and that's necessary because he lives in another state. The friends I have I enjoy my time with and that's enough for me. 

           I have definitely felt pressure to make more friends and be more socially active. Especially as a teenager I really didn't have even one close friend, I didn't really have anything in common with the teenagers I was acquainted with and I didn't really have any opportunities to meet anyone who I did have common interests with. This was in the days of MySpace as well so there was the pressure to have a list of your "Top Friends." That pressure actually helped me to make a few friends, I found that it was easier for me to make friends through the Internet, although I still had very little in common with them so they were still barely more than acquaintances. I don't know if this counts as pressure but whenever I see a girl who walks into a room and knows half of the people in it already and has something to talk about with each one of them I don't understand why she would want that, like I don't want to walk into a room and have ten people expecting me to say hello and chit chat with them. I physically cannot do chit chat. Especially not with ten different people.

Faces

Fall 2016

I have always been interested in composting. The idea of meshing two photos together to create something new excites me. However the long detailed process of film is also something I enjoy. Film photography forces me to be patient and practice time management and planning. In this way I can create images that are so different than my digital images. 

However, one thing I have not tried is combining film or alternative processed images with digital images. I would like to try this technique this fall. 

I am not absolute on my theory behind this project yet. However the obvious idea is the combination of old versus new. Perhaps transformation and change will be the idea I wish to convey to others. I would like to do some psychological research and have a concrete idea behind each photo I create. 

My biggest hope for this class is to be able to verbalize my ideas. 

Project Statement

        My father was a pastor, and I was homeschooled until the age of 16. My mother was my teacher, and she was my mother. She wanted us to learn everything. She took us to museums, aquariums, zoos, farms, re-enactments, plays, musicals, national parks, rivers, and every library possible. I read a lot. I was particularly into fantasy and mysteries. As I read these books, I read my physical surroundings. My imagination was on fire.  

        I was born in Fresno California, but my father moved us around a few times. First we went to a small town called Willits, located in Northern California. My backyard was a forest. We moved from Willits to another small town called Mill Valley. We lived on top of a hill, so we could see the ocean from our window. There my siblings and I rode our bikes down to the San Francisco Bay. 

         By the time we left Mill Valley I was going on 12. This was when reality started creeping into my life, as it does to every preteen. My family and I moved back to the Central Valley, another small town called Firebaugh. Here, there were no forests or oceans, museums or interesting events. It was just homework and TV, all day every day. I began wanting to experience what "normal" kids experience. I wanted to go to public school. I got my wish when I was a junior in high school, and I began to blend in with everyone else. When I graduated from high school, I began to realize that I was starting to lose my imagination. That was something I longed to get back. However I found that I didn't have time or a need to be imaginative anymore. What happened? When did I lose my imagination?  

          Since that realization, my only goal is to get my imagination back—to get that little girl inside me to come out again, and play with the adult I have become.

           In this project I have combined photos of the human form, along with things that trigger my imagination. Windows and doors have an air of mystery to them. Flowers and feathers bring thoughts of freedom and growth to my mind. Roads and leading lines hold the narrative of hope and the future. Artists who have helped me connect to that lost creative child are Salvador Dali; with his themes of time and his landscapes that evoke a dreamlike feeling; Minor White’s use of texture and light is an inspiration for the overlays in my work. A more contemporary influence is Sara Lando, whose physical manipulations with film and print suggest emotion and narrative.

My photos bring me courage to fight against society and its pressures to immerse me. I hope that my photos will give a little shudder to the hearts of others, and that their imaginations will peek out from under their rocks. The fact is, you cannot advance as an individual or as a culture without expressing your creativity. This is my effort to enhance the growth of our humanity.