Middle Ground. //Walkthrough

I often find myself in a position where I maintain a tight grip on my creative practice. This is because I adopt a meticulous work ethic that prioritizes ensuring that most, if not every element of the piece, contributes to making the overall product look great.

I exercise a detail-oriented approach in almost every aspect of my life, but it is especially prominent in the arts due to my background in film editing. Editing involves replaying content repeatedly and scrutinizing every detail — allowing one to develop a style that employs a strong level of attention to the nitty-gritty of the piece. I believe that this meticulous approach has been a significant factor in my development as an artist.

Although the rewards of producing high-quality work are very fulfilling and worth the effort, the process of constant revision and refinement down to the nth degree does require significant mental exertion — which can be challenging to sustain over long periods.

While looking through a collection of an estimated 1700~ photographs, I immediately noticed a lack of images that are not deliberately centered on a specific theme. It is to my delight then that I have images taken in the F2F class just for the sake of capturing a moment and consequently, taking a good photo. This taught me what I presently lack in my photography — more captured moments instead of just purely thematic shots.

With the exception of the last image, 9 of the images used in the final project are from the recent Face-to-Face class/Photowalk of the MMS 173 Pilot Group. The last image is taken during the shooting of the Bucketlist assignment (specifically at the field where the "Animal" prompt was shot), I was approached by teenagers wanting to get their picture taken. 

This is the very first instance that something like this happened to me. I strongly remember the feeling of being recognized as a photographer as incredibly validating. Being able to capture the beauty of people's characters through my camera is something that I find fulfilling, and seeing their reactions to my images is just the cherry on top. 

Most of the issues I encountered in this activity were on the images themselves, significant details regarding the editing process are listed in the Portfolio section of this activity.  I have also taken the liberty to sort the images into 5 simple themes for presentation:

• warm moments x warm feelings - a pair of captured moments centering around friendships that provide a sense of nostalgia and warmth.  

• analog x digital - a pair of images depicting the quintessential question for many creatives, a film camera or a digital camera? 

• dreamscapes. - a contrasting pair of red and green that showcase surrealistic environments.

• Elseworlds. - a visual presentation of the uncanny, inspired by vintage horror analog photographs.

• HARDCORE. - images inspired by the color palette and aesthetic of cinematic gritty crime films such as La Haine.

Overall, given the recent barrage of photography requirements and their corresponding time constraints, I found all the assignments to be both fun and physically exhausting. It only makes sense to come full circle from executing high-concept assignments to a minimalistic final project.

MMS 173 Final Project