All the Beauty of this World...

I had this idea, that every little thing in the world is beautiful. I had this thought that even the dead possum on the side of the road and the rotten tomato in your garden and the gross looking organs in the anatomy class room are all a part of the beautiful existence of things on earth but simply because of a clouded view of the world we start to develop after day one of life, we view them as "gross," "disturbing," "nasty," etc... But even with all the gross things, the rotten vegetables and even war and death and sadness on this earth that happens in every moment, if you were to capture that in a photograph, in a painting, in a piece of art, would it not be beautiful? If the composition is pleasing, if the colors are complimentary, if the image is one of artistic merit, then wouldn't even a dead dog be as beautiful, as artistic, as lovely as a lily by the side of the pond? 

It's a hard concept to deal with and to accept after years and years of conditioning in a society where roadkill is not something you hang on your living room wall but the grossest things in life can sometimes be the ones of the most beauty... 

I think for Junior Seminar this semester, i would like to continue working on this project of work i started for the black and white class. I would like to continue this concept but expand to color photography as well and maybe try some video and art work to go along with the theme of ugly is beautiful! 

We Gotta Do Something Crazy...

http://glasstire.com/2012/07/27/dear-young-dfw-whippersnapper-artists/ 

Loved this article and the quote from the video clip "How soon will you become the people that you hated?" 

Vaughn told me one time to not be afraid to make people uncomfortable, which is a lot of what this article is suggesting we start to do. Now is the time when we can do something absolutely insane and people will look at us around the world for it. Time to make some people uncomfortable... Let me go get my roadkill, condoms and strobes! 

The First Assignment

Junior Photo Seminar 
Questionnaire 

When do you plan on graduating? 
   I plan on graduating within the next two years, not quite sure on which semester yet! I'm getting close to the  last stretch of all the good classes it seems like! 

Where have you, or will you be interning? 
    I would love to be interning with a fine art or commercial photographer in the metroplex soon. I gotta continue getting a good solid portfolio together and start showing off myself! 


What are your plans and goals for after graduation? Grad school? Starting a business? Getting a job? Being an artist/commercial shooter? Please be as specific as possible. How do you plan on making a living? 
   In a dream world where i could get scholarships and crazy award money, I would love to go to grad school in an amazing city like overseas or in New York or something like that. But in a world where everything isn't perfect and money is of a concern, I think jumping into making a living would be more applicable. Working in Dallas is always a possibility but after graduation I think I might take off to a bigger city to start finding clients. Greg mentioned in class one day that once you start making clients its hard to move and i've been thinking about that a lot lately. I do plan on shooting or making art whatever the case though, and whatever the location. This semester and year will be the time to really get my portfolio together so i can start hopefully getting my name into the world of art and photography. 

Establish a budget for yourself, post-graduation. What does it cost to live in a manner that you’d be comfortable? Again, be specific. Do you have school loans, credit card debt? Need insurance? A place to live? 
   Whatever budget i would be having after graduation, im sure it will be a fairly strict one. I am going to school on only loan money as of the past semester so a strict budget with a probably very bland living environment is very likely. I can paint and shoot out of a cardboard box in NYC right? haha


Do you require any special equipment to make your work or start your business (for example, a wood shop, studio, video equipment, cameras, computers, printers) that might be cost-prohibitive or difficult to access after you graduate? If so, what kind? 
   Of course. I just purchased a new Canon 7D so hopefully it will still be in good shape when I graduate. I won't have access to all of Checkout's awesome lenses and such but my basic set I hope to have after another Christmas and Birthday or two should be a good start. A large format printer would be lovely to have but it might be a cheaper idea to not invest in that and pay to have my stuff nicely printed at another location somehow. 


Are you planning to go to graduate school? If yes: right away, or later? Have you started researching graduate schools? Why do you want to go to graduate school? Tell me what five schools you'd like to go to, and how you plan on doing it.
   I've only thought a little bit about graduate school. For me and my family, paying for graduate school just doesn't seem like the best outlook or idea. But the possibility is always there and I think I'll do some research just to see what possibilities are out there.


Name five people that will write letters of recommendation for you?
   Vaughn (you, I would like to think! haha), Chad Smith, Hsiu Ching, Jamie Haid, and maybe Michael Winegarden. 


What kind of job would you most like to find? 
   I would most like to be working on my own eventually, being featured by a Gallery somewhere or working for another person making artwork or photography art work. Fine art stuff is definitely more my direction I believe. But if need be, I would love a job in a commercial studio or something. 


What kind of job do you expect to find? 
   A commercial studio job. 


Name either a dozen potential employers, clients, galleries or graduate schools, depending on your goals. 
   I'll be honest, i'm not that far ahead in my thinking yet. 


Do you plan to live off freelance work or commissions (perhaps in addition to a part-time job)? 
   Either or! It's money for making art! 


What did you do this summer to move you toward your goals? What art have you seen this summer? How much work did you make?  
   I was out of a camera for the first half of a summer so i did much more drawing and crafting, but a lot of landscape shooting the latter half which is a typical summer thing for me. 


Do you have a portfolio of your work? Website? Blog? Can you tell me in 30 seconds what your work is about? Do it. 
   Im not the best at keeping up with blogs so they usually start new for each class band I just haven't ever designed and purchased a website. I have a porftolio of work but i would like to purchase a nicer presentation portfolio this semester and get some more current work in there.


What artists, musicians, photographers, writers, movies, books have influenced you/your work? 
   Cindy Sherman is my idol. Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Joel Peter Witkin, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Andreas Gursky, House of Leaves (novel), The Power of Now, etc...


Please share any important websites that you are referencing for art/photo competitions and/or information. Name at least five of them. 
   I need to get into looking at many more websites for art and photography but most recently i have been enjoying a blog i found that features a ton of current artists called thejealouscurator.com...
What do you feel is lacking in your education to prepare you for your future? What is lacking in your portfolio? Please be specific.
   I feel like I could learn a lot more about the real world of photography and art. I feel like we are too sheltered in school, only doing what we need for classes. And im a really good example of that i think, i really have only done the minimum for classes the past few years, when we need to be going above and beyond and really getting our heads into the actual industry, not just the school level. 
Why does someone want to hire you? What makes you unique? 
   Me? I think everyone would say they are different, unique, separate from anyone else out there, but i guess i really think i am. I'm not just going to go take a picture because something looks nice or because the situation or scenery called for it. I'm the girl in the dress on the side of the road, lighting the roadkill from two weeks ago so that it looks like a Jackson Pollock on the wall of your living room...
What do you expect from me?
   Vaughn Wascovich... The first professor I met when i came here. I love you cus you're honest. you'll tell me if something doesnt work or if it does and WHY. Other professors leave out that really helpful why part. If what im doing is working I want to know how i can continue that and if it isnt then i wanna know what i did wrong and how i can work to get it fixed for next time. and youre just the teacher to do that. 
What do you expect from this seminar?
   I hope it'll go a lot how you talked about the class on the first day. Sort of like a discussion all the time. I hope to sit around with a lot of talented peers of mine and a talented professor and discuss what all we are thinking in these crazy artist heads of ours! My cat is a pretty good listener but theres nothing like carrying on a conversation about your work with other artists. you can give feedback and get it too. 
What do you expect from this degree? 
   With this degree, I want to be confident really. When I leave school, i dont want to be scared to walk up to the biggest name in photography and hand them my portfolio. I want to have a strong portfolio, a good base of knowledge and problem solving tools for the photo and art world and i want to be able to hand someone my work with a smile on my face and take the world head on. 
Design your ideal Junior Seminar course. 

   My ideal junior seminar course would be continuing my work and over the course of the semester designing a well-rounded and put together show of my most current project and work and discuss it with my peers on a weekly basis. To me, the ideal jsem class would be a discussion group for outside work being done on my own portfolio i guess.