What are you Grateful for?
Artist Statement:
For my final, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people who I didn’t really know. I wanted my final to resemble the work of Humans of New York since I was taking photographs at home in NYC over Thanksgiving break. I decided to stick with the theme of black and white portraiture since that is my favorite kind of photography, but instead of taking photographs of people I was grateful for; I took pictures of acquaintances or people I didn’t know at all. Over the span of two days I took my camera around with me and after simple interactions with people such as at the grocery store or with people in my apartment building; I would ask them for a picture and what they were grateful for. I decided not to continue the theme of taking pictures of people with names from every letter of the alphabet because I felt that limited who I would be able to talk to or get photographs of and since I didn’t know the people I was taking pictures of; I didn’t know their names beforehand. This was an interesting final project for me because although I am outgoing; I don’t normally go up to strangers and ask them for photographs. Also, I decided to make the canvas size bigger and put the captions below the photographs instead of on them so that the captions were easier to see. I am grateful for this experience because it allowed me to expand my horizons and talk with people who I wouldn’t normally chat with as well as dip my toes into street photography, which is one of the most difficult types of photography. Many people were accepting of the idea of getting their photograph taken, but some people said no, which was a little discouraging but I had to keep going. I enjoyed this project overall because it allowed me to take photographs of people from a large variety of backgrounds and different walks of life.
For my final, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people who I didn’t really know. I wanted my final to resemble the work of Humans of New York since I was taking photographs at home in NYC over Thanksgiving break. I decided to stick with the theme of black and white portraiture since that is my favorite kind of photography, but instead of taking photographs of people I was grateful for; I took pictures of acquaintances or people I didn’t know at all. Over the span of two days I took my camera around with me and after simple interactions with people such as at the grocery store or with people in my apartment building; I would ask them for a picture and what they were grateful for. I decided not to continue the theme of taking pictures of people with names from every letter of the alphabet because I felt that limited who I would be able to talk to or get photographs of and since I didn’t know the people I was taking pictures of; I didn’t know their names beforehand. This was an interesting final project for me because although I am outgoing; I don’t normally go up to strangers and ask them for photographs. Also, I decided to make the canvas size bigger and put the captions below the photographs instead of on them so that the captions were easier to see. I am grateful for this experience because it allowed me to expand my horizons and talk with people who I wouldn’t normally chat with as well as dip my toes into street photography, which is one of the most difficult types of photography. Many people were accepting of the idea of getting their photograph taken, but some people said no, which was a little discouraging but I had to keep going. I enjoyed this project overall because it allowed me to take photographs of people from a large variety of backgrounds and different walks of life.