Kyle Kopta Digital Imaging

   Chapter 5, 'Intimate Life', showcases contemporary photography that acts as a diary of personal relationships and emotional intimacy. While some of these photographs seem casual and amateur, the theory and thoughts behind them are anything but an accident. The majority of these photos double as character studies and they perfectly encapsulate the Decisive Moment as Henri Cartier-Bresson would describe it.    Somehow, it is through the intimate and imperfect moments captured that intimate life photography is able to tell a raw and vulnerable story. I was really happy to see Nan Goldin's work explored in the text, especially her series that explored drag queens and the underground culture of the time. These photographs, especially at the time, were a window into the lives of those who were marginalized and most likely not common to those living in suburbia. In the same vein, Yang Yong is a photographer that is able to convey emotions and attitudes by photographing his f

   Virtually anything can become the subject of a great photograph, and the artists in Chapter 4, 'Something and Nothing', make a point to prove that. Through presenting seemingly mundane objects in a purposeful and unique way, contemporary photographers have been able to transform the objects and places we pay little attention to everyday into extraordinary subjects and conceptual art. Everything can be photographed, and most everything can be made interesting and engaging through shifts in scale, point of view, and composition.    Wolfgang Tillmans is one such photographer who is able to create a relationship between the ordinary subject and the artist. Specifically, Tilmmans' Suit, 1997 is a photograph of clothing draping against a plain background. The abandoned clothing becomes very reminiscent of a sculpture which still holds the imprint of the person wearing it before. Although we may see articles of clothing not being worn like this everyday, the subject of this p

   Chapter 3, 'Deadpan', explores a photographic aesthetic which is significantly less dramatic and much more literal than the photography present in the previous chapters. Deadpan, as a style of photography, is more concerned with the subject itself rather than a photographer's subjective vision of said subject. The majority of these photographs are printed very large in order to highlight the clarity of the images and make an impact on the viewer.    One deadpan photographer that stood out to me in this chapter was Dan Holdsworth, who specializes in photographing "liminal spaces", or areas that exist in a limbo between the ambiguous and familiarity. Holdworth accomplishes this by setting up his camera for long exposures at night so that he can capture the lights of cars and streetlights as a luminescent landscape. His photograph Untitled (A machine for living) in particular captures something that could not be seen by a human, but still incorporates enough fam

   Constructed narrative is interesting in that I am not short of ideas in my head, but the ability to translate these visions into something tangible is where the difficulty lies. This week, I feel the nicest-looking shots were the ones that had the least amount of planning behind them, which seems a bit contradictory to the project. However, my final image is one that was planned out and had been in my head for quite a while. It is a narrative that I feel the need to share.    The photograph is of my friend Malynn, who I have wanted to photograph for a while because she is very photogenic. I have known her for so long that I also felt comfortable directing her. I wanted this photograph to exude angst and exhaustion through facial expression and light. The image has my signature bright colors, but the context of them tells a different story than that of photos of a carnival. It suggests a party setting that juxtaposes the feeling of anguish in the model's face, and it allowed

   Chapter 2, 'Once Upon a Time', is an examination of storytelling through tableau photography. In these photographs, a narrative has been injected into a single still image. Chapter 2 also builds upon the idea of staged photography that was introduced in the previous chapter. The photographers in this chapter are directing and choreographing the "stage" so that the viewer is able to recognize that a story is being told (even if it is not immediately obvious). This "stage" can be set up to reference well-known fairy tales, allude to figurative art, or draw upon cinematic elements.    One such photographer that makes use of cinematic lighting to enhance his story is Philip-Lorca diCorcia, especially in his Hollywood series. In this series, diCorcia gives money to men he meets in Hollywood in order to pose for a photograph. The name, age, and sum of money given are the titles of each photograph. One such part of this series , titled Eddie Anderson; 21 year

   I found this assignment much more difficult than the previous one. I was also a bit disheartened about finding a story worth telling around me. I spent the entirety of Saturday driving around the Tri-Cities searching for the perfect story to tell, and I came short. My quest ultimately took me to the Walla Walla fair, as I had really enjoyed the photos that I had taken at our fair. This time, I went with a new pair of eyes. Not only did I bring a different lens, I brought a new mission statement: capture a nostalgic moment of childhood wonder. The image below is the result of that mission, and although it is definitely not the best photo I took this weekend from a technical standpoint, it has the most evident story.    What I have realized is that there is a story in the most seemingly mundane. I spent an entire day searching for a spectacular situation to come my way, but these stories exist everywhere in everything. As a photographer, I was not actively seeking out these stories