Project 3 Proposal

For this revisiting and revised project I want to create "postcard" images of landmarks in Milwaukee. I'm taking inspiration from Thomas Kellner and David Hockney because of the way they took quintessential images and broke them up and rearranged them to challenge their perfection. I want to I want to take photos of Milwaukee landmarks from all different angles and during different times/lighting conditions and combine them into one photograph. I'm considering creating them at postcard size or possibly larger to better see the detail.

Project 2 Final Images

Milwaukee County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy

Wisconsin has a huge history of agriculture, and now we see it predominately in rural areas. This was a high school in Milwaukee that began operating for the 1912-13 school year until 1928 when enrollment had continually decreased to the point where they could no longer afford to run the school. The students were given hands on technical training, like for example, learning how to build a farm shed. In 1978 the buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More recently the history and the buildings themselves have been severely neglected. Some people believe that the buildings have been purposely neglected in hopes to have them condemned and something more commercial built in their place. In 2007 Scott Walker authorized SWAT officers to host a training conference in these buildings which caused damage to the interiors. In 2010 UWM proposed a plan and purchased the land to develop the location as Innovation Park and engineering and research campus. There have also been proposals to renovate these buildings into apartments and building more apartments around them. Currently these buildings still sit in a state of neglect with nothing being done to renovate them. The buildings are so contrary how Milwaukee is now seen as an industrial city. There are very few people alive now that were alive while this school was running. Urban gardening is up and coming in the city of Milwaukee and is often viewed as something brand new without acknowledging Milwaukee’s past roots in agriculture. These buildings are a glimpse at what is left of Milwaukee’s agricultural past which is dissipating and being returned to nature at this very moment.

Project 2 In Progress

Project 2 Proposal

For this project I plan to shoot the Milwaukee County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy. Wisconsin has a huge history of agriculture, and now we see it predominately in rural areas. This was a high school in Milwaukee that began operating for the 1912-13 school year until 1928 when enrollment had continually decreased to the point where they could no longer afford to run the school. The buildings have since been used as a tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1978 the buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More recently the history and the buildings themselves have been severely neglected. Some people believe that the buildings have been purposely neglected in hopes to have them condemned and something more commercial built in their place. In 2007 Scott Walker authorized SWAT officers to host a training conference in these buildings which caused damage to the interiors. In 2010 UWM proposed a plan to develop the location as Innovation Park and engineering and research campus. There have also been proposals to renovate these buildings into apartments and building more apartments around them. Currently these buildings still sit in a state of neglect with nothing being done to renovate them.

For this project I want to show the neglect of these historical buildings. The buildings are so contrary how Milwaukee is now an industrial city. I want to show what remains of the counties agricultural past. There are very few people alive now that were alive when this school was running. No one thinks of Milwaukee as being an agricultural area or remember a time when it was. Its sad that these nationally recognized historic buildings are not being actively protected and are already being forgotten. I will show the little bit thats left of Milwaukee's agricultural past.

I'm not sure if I want to produce color or black and white images. The buildings are made of brick and I think some of the decay could get lost if I did black and white. At the same time the buildings are in an obvious state of decay and black and white could add more drama.

Project 1 Final Images

An intimate relationship is formed by spending time in close proximity to another person. The more time you spend the better you get to know them and the habits, mannerisms, and quirks that make them who they are. You not only see the bright moments in their lives, but the vast expanses in between. Our understanding of a person can only be gathered from what we experience with them, or second hand experiences we hear about. I chose to photograph myself for this project. Who else do I spend more time with and know more about? I am a very busy person and for the majority of the week I have consecutive time commitments leaving little, if any, down time. This means I am with other people the vast majority of the time. For this project I chose to focus on the expanses in between, the moments when I am by myself, the moments no one else sees. I feel black and white images accurately convey this. They aren’t bright moments in my life, they are moments that go unnoticed to outsiders. When I have down time, it’s almost as if I don’t know what to do, but at the same time I don’t feel as if I can accomplish anything. I want to be able to relax, but this is so contrary to what I’m used to that I am unable to just be still whether its to relax, or accomplish something like homework. I feel conflicted and unsatisfied with how I’m spending my time. There are also other factors that come into feeling unsatisfied. Being a college student often means barely having enough money for rent, bills, food, and especially for fun. I try to fill this time, but am I really doing anything?

Project 1 In Progress

Assignment One Proposal

I plan to have between 5-8 final images somewhere in the range of 8 x 10 for this project. While shooting I will be using the continuous mode in order to have many images to choose from with slight variations to insure I get the best possible image. I will be using myself as the subject matter, which I haven’t done before, so I can imagine I will shoot lots of images in order to make sure they are more natural looking and not over posed. I’ll be shooting exclusively in situations where I’m alone, this could be in my apartment, in my car, outside, anywhere really, I don’t want to limit myself at this point. At this time I don’t think there will be a main emotion the work is supposed to elicit. I was intrigued by the statement in the project description that said “Instead of the bright occasions, focus on the expanses in-between”, which can cover a vast amount of emotions.  Being a photographer and enjoying taking pictures I already take pictures of the “bright occasions” and lots of the in between moments so that really only leaves taking pictures of situations where I’m alone. I also liked the word expanses, implying spending a significant amount of time. I plan to analyze the way I spend my time when I don’t have anything scheduled and just the times when I’m alone. I’m anticipating that many of these activities will be mundane things and unnecessary things that I spend time on. For this reason I think I will work with black and white images to create the feeling that these are the exciting/”bright” times, and are the moments in between the “bright” moments. Also, the only other digital photo class I’ve taken has been Color Photography so I haven’t worked exclusively in black and white with digital images and thats a skill I’d like to improve. My main influence so far is Brenda Beban because she took photos of herself when she was alone. There were many other photographers whose photos I enjoyed artistically and conceptually, but I think there is a huge difference between photographing your close friends and family and photographing yourself.