#fresno state

It's finally time to present what I've done for this final project. I chose the theme of collections, specifically going into the history of their owners and the meaning behind them. It took a lot of hard work but it was a lot of fun. Enjoy!

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For my final theme project, I wish to delve into themes personality and humanity. I intend to do this by examining how physical collections of objects reflect who the collector is as a person, focusing specifically on my family and friends. Many people collect things like figurines or retro merchandise. To be a collector is not as simple as it may seem; it requires commitment and passion. Several of my loved ones have collections of vastly different subjects, respectively reflecting their personal interests and values in life. By taking this specific concept and narrowing it down to my friends and family, I have better insight into who they are as people and can more effectively execute my theme.

As an individual with multiple collections, I am already invested in this topic. For instance, my room is decorated with vintage clown dolls and rabbit figurines. These collections reflect my interest in the uncanny and unconventional. Visitors have expressed to me the eerie nature of my collections, yet, I believe there is a charm in the aesthetics of vintage items. The strange caricatures of the clowns and the peculiar nature of the rabbits intrigues me with their creativity. Being an art major, I derive pleasure from the stylization and expressiveness. There is a love put into these older dolls that I admire. In this way, what I collect is an extension of myself. This is what I seek to examine: how collections are a physical manifestation of the owner.

To construct this visual narrative, I will capture shots of both the collector and the collected. There will be photographs of the objects as well as photographs of the owner interacting with their collection. The scenes will be indoors, given that most people keep their items at home. Since my subjects are going to be my loved ones, they are generally accessible. Once granted permission, the shots will be carefully composed to draw a visual connection between the live subject and their possessions. Cohesion will be established particularly through color and composition. Subject direction will be involved; I will have the individual dress in a manner that connects with the collection through color and style. I will guide the subject while encouraging them to interact naturally to include candid shots in this project. To capture the story properly, I must use a portrait lens and a flash.

Juan Rulfo, born 1918 and deceased 1986, was a modern artist from Acapulco, Mexico. He was a man of many talents and practices. He was not only a renowned writer of Mexican stories, but also a screenplay writer and a photographer. In the world of literature, he is best known for his 1955 novel Pedro Páramo. This book was very influential in the future of Latin-American fictional writing, even becoming the base inspiration for another very famous novel, Cien Años de Soledad, over a decade later in 1967. He was also well known for his shorter stories, such as Luvina. His interpretation and personal experiences with post-revolutionary Mexico translate strongly into his work, both in his writing and his photographs.

Most of Rulfo’s photography career took place in the mid-20th century. He took thousands of photographs. One of his photo collections titled Juan Rulfo’s Mexico was captured over the 1940s and 1950s. It is presented in monochrome 6x6 cm negative silver gelatin prints. The series of sixty-two photographs was shown in the BYU’s Museum of Art. It gives insight into the genuine, unfiltered life of common rural indigenous folk around the Mexican countryside. The manner in which the photos are composed and presented places emphasis on the connection between people and the natural world.

I deeply appreciate the honesty of the images Rulfo captured. In fact, I believe capturing candid photos of humanity are the most intriguing and exciting. His work may encourage me to delve more into that subject. I have often taken photos of my cats and flowers since they are more accessible to me, however, Rulfo’s photography makes me want to branch out more. I may be more inclined to bring my camera to social events. Also, researching Juan Rulfo’s Mexico has given me more ideas as to how to compose my shots for different effects. In the first photo shown below, Rulfo places a photo of an old indigenous sculpture next to a portrait of a similar looking man. Both of them being side by side and connected by posing creates an incredible story without words and therefore teaches me more about the importance of photo organization.

References:

Juan Rulfo's Mexico. Photographs by Juan Rulfo. Text by Carlos Fuentes, Margo Glanz, Jorge Alberto Lozoya, Eduardo Rivero, and Victor Jimenez. Smithsonian Institution Press, Herndon, 2002. numerous duotone illustrations, 11¾x11¾".

Powell, Megan. “Rural Mexico Through Juan Rulfo’s Lens.” Kennedy Center, Bridges Alumni Magazine, 2006.

This project was very interesting and quite challenging! I did my best to capture a variety of locations and subjects.

Learning something new is best fostered by an understanding of the basics. Photography at its simplest can be experienced through the use of a pinhole camera. It is easy to build! Fortunately, I had a completely black shoe box available to me, which I reinforced with black duct tape. The lens is a square of aluminum cut from a can of Arizona Iced Tea (my favorite!) The pinhole (that I poked with the finest needle I have) is the only point through which light enters the box. I covered it with black electrical tape when it was not in use.

The more technical aspects of this process starts with the dark room. Working with light sensitive film and learning how to develop it was tedious, but interesting and ultimately rewarding.

It took a lot of experimenting to get used to my new handmade camera. The aspects of a camera that we've been studying—ISO, shutter speed, F-stop—are no longer easy to control in this scenario. Though there are mathematical solutions that can calculate these, this assignment is less technical. Thus, it was a lot of trial and error. The weather changing from sunny to cloudy made it difficult at times, but it taught me about the correlation between exposure and the amount of light in a photo. All the photos came out inverted, so when I inverted them back to see the true light values, I was surprised with how much detail I captured!

After hours of trying, I finally worked out the best timing for my camera. The first photo is a low landscape shot of a parking lot; the second is taken along the ledge of the art building's second floor; the third and last is my personal favorite. I sat a small penguin plushie of mine on some smooth rocks to sunbathe and took a photo. For these photos, I timed them each around 1:30 mins.

Honorable mentions! The first shows two animal keychains of mine sat on a ledge. I love this one, but the exposure might be too low. The second photo is of the courtyard; it accidentally came out hazy because I did not close the box lid all the way and there was a light leak. Regardless, I thought these two photos were still charming and worth mentioning. Not all photography has to be technically proper to be interesting!