hello

I like to remember that superheroes aren’t just superheroes. The stories never show it, but there’s always the day after “happily ever after.”  As a kid, I never thought about the fact that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight meant that Sailor Moon never had time to save money for college. Kenshin Himura might be the greatest swordsman in the world, but eventually even he has to stop and wash dishes. I created this photo book to reinforce the idea that life isn’t always as glamorous as others might make it seem. Seeing iconic characters do menial everyday tasks is a refreshing sight, and it’s a nice reminder that everyone deserves to simply be happy.  Real life is harsh. Not everything can be fun and magical all the time--and that’s okay. There is beauty in simplicity and joy to be found in the mundane. I don’t have time to watch cartoons religiously like I did when I was young, but imagining my favorite characters going to the park posing for group selfies like I do with my friends remind me that heroes aren’t all heroic all the time. It’s okay for me to take a break. It’s okay for me to have an interlude from life, as it is for them, too.

It was a nice day, and I’m glad to have experienced this exhibit myself. 

A Korean-American artist, Paik became known as the father of video art by bringing to so-called “fool’s box” into the art gallery. He also coined the term “information superhighway”and was prophetic in his worldview of the internet, technology, and how things would progress in the future. He was a man ahead of his own time, and as most of his works are technology-based light installations, they naturally caught my eye. I appreciate his ability to turn something mundane into something beautiful, and never underestimating the potential of the things around him to be turned into something spectacular. 

Was a fun little process, and I feel the fact that the camera isn’t in the same place adds a sense of chaos to the image.  

So I’m deciding to change directions in my final project. I’m going to be taking location shots and editing in manga characters interacting with the world as if they existed in it as well. I really like the paper doll aesthetic, and I’m having a lot of fun working on this so far.

I want to make sure that my photo book works together both thematically, conceptually, and with color flow. Loretta Lux’s colors were the only thing that kept me going despite how uncomfortable I was with her actual subject matter. 

Went to visit San Francisco over Spring Break to spend some time with my cousins.  I shot this right before putting my cellphone on airplane mode during the flight. 

I’m inspired by her work and craftsmanship.

I like to make costumes and go to conventions, but I’ve never really had dedicated photos of any of my work, despite having cosplayed quite a few characters now.  For the final product I’d like to make something along the lines of a photo book with images I can be proud of. 

Our relationship with photography is evolving. We don’t have to carry around massive antique cameras anymore. Each generation of smartphone is incorporating increasingly better cameras with every new model. While photos are becoming more and more commonplace, Photography is still an artistic medium that requires skills and knowledge to master. Everyone might be able to take photos, but not everyone is a photographer.  

before and after photoshop

From a personal standpoint, working with cosplay photography, I understand part of what these photographers have to work with. To have to create insane angles and awkward situations and show that in a proper picture is difficult. Especially when it comes to cosplay photography, trying to emulate the ridiculous angles and proportions lots of fictional characters have is ridiculous.

link to original images used for this photomontage

*photos aren’t mine, just threw some together considering I registered for this class like 2 weeks late haha