This is a very rough draft of my artist’s statement for our final project.
When I think about what my favorite thing to photograph is, I immediately land on portraiture. I love people, so it is only natural that this would be so. I love taking pictures of my friends, of my family, and of strangers (when they let me). So, for the final project I know for sure that I want the subject matter to focus on portraits. I find myself interested in a number of different types of portraiture. I like taking portraits of people tiny in comparison to their surroundings (like a landscape shot, only with a person in it). The subject of the photo seems disoriented, lost, and lonely at times, but can also seem entirely free, all depending on how the photo is shot. I also like taking very staged portraits with lots of bright lights, dream-like and surreal. The photos can be taken anywhere, but made to look not quite right or somehow fantastical. Another type of portrait I like to take are ones that are close, personal. Maybe the subject is being photographed up close, or doing something only he or she would do based off of their personalities. Another idea I had for this type of personal photo is different body parts, not attached to the rest of the body, all doing different things but all shot of the same person at the same location. These types of portraits would have to be of a close friend of mine, which I’m fine with for an exhibit like the one we’re having. I also like taking portraits of myself, which are extremely personal.
It’s hard for me to decide what type of portrait I want to take for the final exhibit. Part of me wants to do all four types and only include a few photos from each type, but I think a bigger part of me wants to focus in on one. I think I’ve narrowed it down to three of the four choices, excluding self-portraits. That still leaves a lot of options, so I’m going to think some more about it tonight as well as do a lot of shooting over the weekend of all three types of portraits and see how it goes and then decide for sure.
