Final Selection

Book response

                                                              Crusade For yourArt

Wow this book is truly amazing. This book pretty much covers everything that I feel alot of struggle and deal with as being photographers. A lot of the information that she provided was really straight to the point, she didnt try and make it to confusing to the point where you didnt understand what you were reading. She made the content understandable to where any artist even if you arent a photographer you would be able to relate to the information.

Like I said I enjoyed everything about the book from beginning to end. The beginning parts stood out to me the most, because I think they are the things that I struggle with the most as a photographer. The point that she made when she said that a strong body of work is usually 20 good images is something that I always have to keep in mind. Also when she was talking about how those 20 images usually aren't shot during one shoot. Which is true because I know for my series i've been shooting since early last year, and I feel like I have everything that I want out the series but there is so much more that I think I can put into it, and so many different ways I can display them, or tell a different story with them. Another thing that I enjoyed her talking about was the fact that sometimes we aren't our best critics. I can go out and take 30 pictures, and think all 30 of them are amazing, and then have fresh eyes look at them, or as she said an art critic, or even sit down with a curator at an art gallery, and he or she only think 3 of them work. When I graduate I think thats going to be the scariest thing for me to continue working on series, is the fact that I wont have anyone but myself telling me which pictures would work, and which ones wont. I like how she said as a photographer you have to find yourself and theres 3 different levels that we go through we we are trying to find out what we want to say through our work.

With that being said I enjoy how she mentioned that as a photographer you have to figure out your audience, and you have to figure out at the end of the day what it truly is that you want from your work. You have to figure out does your work fit into a gallery setting? Can you make work that can fit into a gallery setting? Not everyones work is meant to be put into a gallery, and not everyone wants their work to be in a gallery. This comes with what she was talking about how we all define our success differently, and success is different for all of us. For example, I would love to be in more galleries in the future, but I know with the work that I truly want to do, I rather have my work published in magazines, and online where I know a wider audience will see more of my work rather than people who have to go to the gallery specifically to see my work.

All in all the book was truly amazing and something that I would recommend for any artist, and something that I would hold onto forever. The blogs at the end were really helpful to because we all need inspiration, and I enjoyed the part where she said we can all get inspiration for our work not just from photography but from all aspects of art.

Book Response

Overall I found this book very insightful and informative.

I really enjoy how each chapter appeals to something about the reader, weather that be branding/marketing, setting goals, creating ideas, and writing about your work. Weather you’re a beginner or already knee deep in the photography world, this book has so much information that everyone could use. 

The exert on creating an artist statement because thats one of the struggles that I have throughout the who process of my work. I have so many ideas and concepts and thoughts that never shut off, so trying to take a project that took x amounts of months to complete into one paragraph is a bit challenging, but the book breaks it down so its not as intense. One section that really caught my eye was how Jennifer was telling you what to avoid instead of what to seek when writing your statement. The acronym is GRASP. So you want to avoid generalizations, reticence, artspeak, self-importance, and past tense. Its so funny because I do the exact opposite, so this section helped a lot. 

Sizing, editioning, and pricing are the next steps, if not already, in our life as Photographers. This is insightful because you want the viewer to see what you’ve produced. She gives you two generic options and then builds you up on different platforms, because different work calls for different sizes, but you never want to undermine the size of your print, because that takes away the quality. She touches on prices for the prints as well, but I feel like she could of given the reader an over view of photoshoot prices to push self-branding even more, but I guess its such a  broad topic that it wouldn't work.  

She breaks down commercial work vs fine art which is highly important because when you start out as an artist very young you create fine art because you don’t know what is considered commercial work. I really enjoy this section because she gives you insight on both backgrounds and how they can help you if you happen to be skilled in both. I enjoy commercial work but I also enjoy fine art so this section really gave me a better insight in both fields and how I can showcase both and still reeceive an income. She also talks about putting work on social media which is something this generation is doing because we have such an advancement in technology. We're already on there for other things, why not put yourself out there as well. 

The last couple things that resignated with me was that she talked about exhibitions / contests, selling work online, and portfolio reviews. These are are things that should be experienced as an artist and things that I want to achieve within my life as I grow into my career. There are so many contest, and for whatever reason I never enter, which bums me out. But even if I don’t get in it still creates character for the next contest and exhibitions to come, and to put myself out there. Im always baffled on what to sell because I feel that someone may not actually want to by this, so I just create a blog so people can admire. And thats why I dabble between commercial work and fine are because both make a profit, somehow, someway, weather they be shown in homes, hospital, offices or whatever.

In conclusion, this book has it all. It touches on every step a photographer should take into account. It’d easy to read, as if she talking to you that whole time and the chapters, or sections aren’t that long so its a breeze to read. I kind of wish I purchased this book earlier in life but I wasn’t doing big projects until this past year so its kind of perfect timing. I will probably read this book again for senior show because I do plan on blowing the viewers socks off, although I want to have an installation piece too. But overall, this book is super helpful and it gets you back on track if you stray away from your work or just need ideas or information. I really appreciate how she gives you a whole section dedicated to online blogs, magazines , and even review programs, very beneficial for up and coming artists. This book gives you all the tools you need to get started, all you have to do is want it just as bad. 

Final work

Final Selection

Here are the final images that I selected:

Christian Moll Book Response

Crusade For Your Art

I really enjoyed reading this book, especially since it was blunt and to the point fluently throughout the book. Even though the book is geared more towards fine art photographers, I still found it very helpful in some areas.

For instant the section on sizing, editioning, and pricing work was really helpful for me. Because even though Photography isn't my major I plan to do a lot  of side work after gradation to get my feet off the ground running. This part in the book really opened my eyes exactly how to price and put any work I make into editions and only make a certain amount of prints. This way it makes the work more of a rare commodity and will help build your reputation as an artist. The best advice I got out that was to make my edition small, because fewer prints will exist in the marketplace, making the image more valuable. I myself have the problem of wanting to make to many prints of just one photo cause i know it will sell. But this has helped me steer away from that to make limited prints of my photos and to keep pushing the envelope to make newer, even better photos than before.

The Website section  of the book really helped me out with my creating my website. Especially since this is where most people will first learn about you and your work is online, so i should focus my efforts to impress viewers with my website. The hardest thing for my website was choosing the right prints to put up without having to few or to many. Schwartz stats that you should showcase the work you want to be known for and that best highlights the purpose and direction of your photography. This really made it easier for me to choose that photo i wanted to put up on my website. You should only put work up that you would want exhibited and that you feel is an accurate representation of me as a photographer.

Overall i really liked this book, it was helpful and am happy i bought it,instead of just renting it, as i will go back to reference it from time to time when in need of an answer or guidence. Especially the list of online photography blogs. I have already used some to find more inspiration for future things i would like to work on. I learned quite a bit from reading this book and will be applying most of what i read into creating a name for myself in the photography world. As long as you make art like you mean it, create something you want to sell and have a business plan you will go far. I plan to be thoughtful and deliberate with my work in hopes of one day making an impact in this world through my photography. 

Christian Moll Final Selection Teaser

Here are a few photos that I have put in with my final series. Though I'm just posting a few, the rest will be printed and up for everyones viewing tomorrow. ENJOY!

Response to book

First of all I want to say that I really like the color choice and texture of this book. I was also really happy when I got it in the mail that it was not huge. I am really glad that this book was not long and boring. Every section was to the point and did not ramble on about the same thing for pages and pages. It covers a lot of information in a small, easy to read book. It is also really similar to the book we had to read for Senior Show. 

I think that this book is great for fine art photographers. Even though I do not want to pursue fine art photography there was a lot of information that was helpful and that I could use. I needed the reassurance with my name being used as a logo. For a long time I have been going back and forth with the thought of needing to create an image as a logo instead of just using my name. I have also been unsure if I needed to change my email address to match my website and this book helped me make that decision. I think that it definitely sounds more professional to have your first and last name for your website as well as you email address. It's also a lot easier for clients to remember. I still can't decide if I should have a separate business card for cosmetology and photography. It would be easier to just have one. I also combine both professions into one job. I think that since I can do the hair, makeup and be the photographer for a photo shoot it would be ok to just have one business card. 

One thing that I thought was kind of funny was that in the marketing section Schwartz says to have your twitter handle on your business card. She doesn't say, "it would be a good idea to have your twitter handle" she says, "to" have your twitter handle. I guess she assumes that everyone has a twitter account. She does mention later about Facebook and how it is, "the baseline social media platform" and how so many people have it. I'm not a fan of social media for personal use but I think that Facebook would be the best way to get information out to almost everyone about your business. I also like instagram because it is photo based which fits right into the industry we are entering. 

Something that I learned from this book was about editions. I know that an edition is only a certain number of a particular image but I did not realize that a different size started a new set of editions. I always thought that if the image was the same that it was a part of the same edition. I felt like the book read my mind because as soon as I was thinking, "well what if I want to make more prints!?" Then I read about making AP editions. I don't think that making editions would be a good idea for me. I'm too indecisive. 

Did anyone else notice the horrible type setting in this book? They must not of had a good graphic designer. They also put a space before and after an m dash which David Shields always said was not allowed. 

Overall this book was helpful. Even though it was geared towards fine art photography there was a lot of useful information for me. It will be good to have to refer back to if I have questions or to pass on to another new photographer in the future. 

Book Review

I thought the book was an easy read and I appreciate that it is catered specifically to photographers.

The section called "Set the Stage" was helpful for me.  The author talks about how difficult it is for a photographer to edit their own work.  I always find it to be difficult to narrow down images or decide on a sequence.  The book mentions that local gallerists and curators will usually take out time to look at your work and give constructive feedback if you ask right.  I think that's a good idea because they are constantly surrounded by art and have an experienced eye.

The section on artist statements was helpful.  I like how there is a breakdown of what to include and what not to include.  I also like that there are examples of good and bad artist statements.  The information on gallery representation and exhibition proposals has some good information.  I appreciated the questions to ask before you sign with a gallery so you know what you are getting into.

I like that the book provides a list of online magazines, photo blogs, and portfolio review programs.  I had heard of a few of the websites but it's nice to know other prominent ones out there.  It's also great to know what portfolio reviews are out there.  I have never been to one but I imagine that it would be a great experience to have professional look at your portfolio and a good way to network.  


Overall, I think this book covers a lot of information and keeps things in the simplest terms so it's easy to digest.  It can be overwhelming to lean all these new things like residency programs, artist statements, gallery representation, and coming up with goals for your art.  This book makes everything seem doable and less daunting. 

Book Response

I thought this book was very similar to the book we are reading for senior show, Art/Work. I do appreciate this book because it is focused on photographers, unlike Art/Work, which is very generalized. A lot of the other book's content is not relevant to what I am trying to do so this book was a good break from the other.

I also find pricing my work difficult. Art/Work suggests that you price your work according to how much it cost you to make it. I feel that photography is harder to price. I could estimate  the cost of the frame and print; however, how would I go about figuring out how much "equipment" I used. For instance, I buy a $500 lens.. am I supposed to figure out some sort of equation to add in the cost of my equipment + the cost of the frame and the print? Crusade for your Art advises you to price your work based on how much money would would like to receive for it. I feel like I am not experienced enough in prices to know how much I would like to receive for a print.

When reading the "Branding" section, I found it interesting that the author advises us to create our business cards first. I personally disagree with this. I feel that you should make your website prior to this because you are most likely going to put a link to your website on your card. If you give someone your card and your website isn't ready then what will happen? Someone will see your website looking incomplete. For me, I think it is important to create the website first because of this reason.

I also thought that the section "Selling Your Work Online" was interesting. Before reading this book, I had not read many things regarding selling prints. I don't know how I feel about selling my prints online. I somewhat feel as though galleries and museums would be turned off from representing you since they do not know how much of your work has been sold online. I kind of lean more towards the argument that selling work online does decrease the value of your work, since the only work I've seen sold online seems very commercialized.

Overall, I found the book to be a quick, easy read. I didn't dose off, like I do when reading most other books. I thought it was straight-to-the-point and relevant to photography. I also appreciate the comments made by people in the art world, including photographers and publishers.

Updates

I have been busy editing and printing works for my senior show. It is to be hung salon style and incorporates vintage frames. I hope you all can see it!

Also, I've been working on my website. Link: marymorrisstudio.com
Let me know how it looks.

PHOTOS COMING SOON

Im uploading all the shoots that I've done so far, which have been 4 girls all of different competitions. I plan to show you some of  the final ones by the end of the weekend and would appreciate any feedback!

Super Update

So, I was having trouble in the beginning of the semester on what portraits to take, I was bouncing back ideas with outside shooting and a continuous light and studio lighting. They were ok, but weren't working the theme that I was going for. After weeks of contemplation I found a solution, Fem Fatal. This concept is pretty much about "fems" in the lesbian world who, for lack of better words, play the devils advocate in their appearance. Obviously as men, straight and some gay, "stud" women, we have this identify to be masculine. So the answer to who we like, or what we like is already on the outside. But for "fems" this isn't that straight forward. The idea sounded great, but unfortunately I couldn't get a hold of anyone. I kept trying but I came to a dead end. I though, we what else effects me in this world, and thats when Melanin Queen came to mind. Now as some of you know there is this "thing" going around about being Melanin, any insoluble pigment found that account for the dark color of skin. So I did some thinking and came to a conclusion of what I wanted to do. So I chose a couple girls that ranged from the lightest of the darkest of the dark. I wanted my project not only to be about Melanin itself, but about the richness of the skin and how each of these skin complexions makes that girl who she truly is, and to be proud of what color you are. Imagine if you were lighter or darker, it wouldn't be the same, so embrace what makes you, you. I will be posting pictures by the end of today. Ive shoot three girls so far, and I have another shoot tomorrow. Ill probably finish with 6 girls after all this is over with.

Christian Moll Blog Post

 Patrick Rochon

Patrick Rochon is well renowned light painting photographer. Rochon started light painting in Montreal in 1992. He has done many ad campaigns for major car companies, magazines and other big companies like Red Bull. Rochon also does multi-media light painting shows for festivals and other similar events. His collaboration with Red Bull and Snap!, mixing art-technology and wake boarding, is an excellent example of exploring new grounds of light painting and Rochon does a phenomenal job with his projects.
I was really inspired by Rochon work especially with how it relates to my final project. Light painting is an amazing art form. It really enhances your imagination, wakes up your intuition and mirrors who you are through the photos. I plan to use my final project to do just that. I really want to exploit the wonders of the abstract forms of everyday light you see with simplistic touches of light painting.