Final - "Abandoned"

Abandoned

                I grew up mostly in rural Carroll County located in West Tennessee. There are not a whole lot of activities for younger people in the area, so I spent a lot of my time exploring the area with my family and finding little interesting locations that are not really main attractions. However, they certainly become main attractions to me as I explore and learn what I can from the site itself. Different areas can have different emotions as well. Was it something that was once so lovingly taken care of and now lays in ruin? Or was it something that is just tired and worn out? What’s even more special is that it then becomes a part of my history.

                One of my biggest interests has always been history. I enjoy learning the history, but I enjoy experiencing it and seeing it even more. I have always wanted to share that excitement with others, so I chose to do so for this series. My largest influence for this project has been Christopher Crawford, followed by Troy Paiva, and then John Thomas Grant for when it comes to cemeteries and other monuments.

                To create these photos, I traveled to different areas of rural Carroll County where there has been manmade structures abandoned, neglected, or forgotten. I created a series of 10 photos using the best material I have shot. I have desaturated the photos in black and white to help create the moods that I am feeling as I was taking the photos and exploring the area.

Influential Artists for Final Project

Chris Crawford Photography

Alright. Click the above link to see photos from Chris Crawford's Forgotten Indiana series from whom I take much of my influence from for the series for my final project. He traveled in some of his favorite areas of Indiana where he is from, and photographed forgotten/abandoned/neglected areas that he knew had never been photographed before.

Lost America - Travis Paiva

If you check this guy out, you'll find some of what I'm looking for but not quite the exact same thing. He focuses on the eventually demise of some communities and areas of the west that were created in the 20th century and abandoned.

John Thomas Grant Photography

And this guy. We're kinda close on this one too. While he takes photos of gravestones that are rather nice and taken care of, there are a some of there that are more decayed and that's what I'll be looking for when it comes to gravestones. Check "Cherub with Wreath" for the idea.

Final Project - part one

Alright. For my final project, I have decided to go with Plan B. Plan B is called Abandoned.

In my corner of the world, we have Bruceton, TN. I doubt anyone has really heard of this town, because the town itself was once a booming industry surrounding the railroad. Essentially, the railraod has almost been abandoned. While the main part is still operational, most of the counterparts have been dead for many many moons. So, that was sorta the subject of my very first series posted on this blog.  For the abandoned series, I'm going to be exploring and photographing a larger area, to include but not entirely limited to, the Carroll County, Benton County, and Henry County areas. Thus, bringing me to my artist's statement.  Here ya go!

Abandoned

                I grew up mostly in rural Carroll County located in West Tennessee. There are not a whole lot of activities for younger people in the area, so I spent a lot of my time exploring the area with my family and finding little interesting locations that are not really main attractions. However, they certainly become main attractions to me as I explore and learn what I can from the site itself. Different areas can have different emotions as well. Was it something that was once so lovingly taken care of and now lays in ruin? Or was it something that is just tired and worn out? What’s even more special is that it then becomes a part of my history.

                One of my biggest interests has always been history. I enjoy learning the history, but I enjoy experiencing it and seeing it even more. I have always wanted to share that excitement with others, so I chose to do so for this series. My largest influence for this project has Christopher Crawford, followed by Troy Paiva, and then John Thomas Grant when it comes to cemeteries and other monuments.

                To create these photos, I intend to travel to different areas of rural West Tennessee where there has been manmade structures abandoned, neglected, or forgotten. I will create a series of 10 photos using the best material I have shot. I will be doing the photos in black and white to help create the moods that I am feeling as I am taking the photos and exploring the area.

Check out my next post for sites regarding artists that I'm using as my influence.

If my goal were to make the world smile, then everyone needs to check this out!

Oh. My. Goodness. You have GOT to check this site out. Our professor posted it for educational purposes, but I have spent the last two hours going through 60 pages of these photos. Some of them will make you cringe, some will make you laugh, some will make you sad because you know that you had to take the exact same photo at some point. Some may even make you want to notify the local authorities. Please do not view this site at work or in any situation where spontaneous, peeyourpants laughter is inappropriate!

http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

These are a Few of Their Favorite Things

Ok. these are a little late. And not at all my proposal.

Anyway, I went with a different theme, the best I could do in my situation.

There are 2 different models. I decided to get them to pose with 4 of their favorite things. I played with the lighting, putting it in different places and heights.

Group Pics

Whoa! This should have been up a while ago.

This is the original!

This is the black and white edit!

 Color edit. Not really happy on the lighthing and colors for this.

Pre-photo photoshoot

Here are the beginnings of the photoshoot for the project.We worked on some lighint and trying to see what works. I was working in a small space for this one, so I think a lot of the light seems very displaced. Definately going to have to find a bigger space. Proposal is going to need some updating.