Project winners!

The students in FA382 worked on semester-long self-assigned projects. In December, they were fortunate to have their work juried by Alison Zavos, creater and editor of Feature Shoot. Alison is an important figure in the world of contemporary online photography. She viewed the work of each student on the class website, www.miadfa382.com.

As in previous years, the generosity of several companies made the competition that much more interesting. liveBooks donated a liveBooks.edu website, and Think Tank donated one of their Retrospective 30 bags.

Alison's pick for the overall winner was Kelly Peloza, for her series, rose-tinted. Her pick for a runner up was Briana Prudhomme, for her series, Ephemeral Appreciation. Thank you, Alison and congratulations, Kelly and Briana!






















© Kelly Peloza






















© Kelly Peloza






















© Briana Prudhomme






















© Briana Prudhomme

Interview: Elizabeth Chiles

The flower and the bloom, no.12 © Elizabeth Chiles

Briana Prudhomme: Tell me a little bit about your process when you work, creating your extended images, diptychs, and triptychs, etc.

Elizabeth Chiles: In the presentation of all of my work, the installation, size of each image and sequence is important. I think taking control of the images and giving the viewer a concrete way to view them helps the reading of the work. It seems especially important in my work since the images are often ephemeral or abstract in nature and therefore don't lead down a narrative path. That openness is important to me and yet I have an idea about how the images build on each other and create a space, physical and psychological, so I need to show those relationships clearly.

For my recent series 'The flower and the bloom' I felt that the tension or expansion between images was important so I ended up working with small prints, spending many, many hours looking at images in relation to other images. When the pairings and sequences finally came together I taped the small prints together and kept looking at them until I was sure. Recently I printed the work at its final size and most of the images are 16 x 20 or 20 x 16. They still have a relationship to the body and they allow for the detail and texture in the images to be seen.

The flower and the bloom, no. 3 © Elizabeth Chiles

Briana Prudhomme: Does it usually take a few tries to be able to find the perfect match?

Elizabeth Chiles: Yes, many of the images can communicate with each other in different ways. It's important for me to remember what I would like to communicate and then to be clear that the pairings do that the connections are not too obscure or too flatfooted.

Briana Prudhomme: Do you ask other people's opinions after pairing them, or try and keep it to your own instincts?

Elizabeth Chiles: I make all of the choices myself and then I usually show them to a few trusted friends to gauge their responses.

Briana Prudhomme: Do you find yourself trying to put images together while you are shooting?

Elizabeth Chiles: No, if I shoot enough I will have the material I need to bring the work together.

The flower and the bloom, no. 13 © Elizabeth Chiles

Briana Prudhomme: Are there any inspirations for your series ‘The flower and the bloom’?

Elizabeth Chiles: The project is concerned with a quote that I read in a Joseph Campbell book called Myths of Light in which he reveals an antidote about Goethe going to India and finding that it was possible there to see both the fruit and the flower at the same time because there are not distinct seasons. That antidote created a strong visual in my mind and I loved the metaphor that things can be both fully developed and at the same time be arriving - these beautiful cycles in living. The pairings in 'The flower and the bloom' are both visual and conceptual in that they reveal the 'is' and 'is becoming' at the same time.

The flower and the bloom, no. 14 © Elizabeth Chiles

Briana Prudhomme: I also noticed that nature is something that is always apart of your work. Can you tell me a little bit about your reasoning behind that?

Elizabeth Chiles: Nature is everything. We are energy as are the plants, animals, stars, and rocks. For me nature is a starting point to understanding life, what it means to be. I have also found light and the texture of plant life to be strong metaphors for the questions I have needed to explore as a human being.

Briana Prudhomme: Do you have a favorite place in nature to shoot?

Elizabeth Chiles: I enjoy shooting in neighborhoods, parks, gardens and wooded areas. ‘The flower and the bloom’ work was made in Maine and the majority on Monhegan Island though some pictures were made in the area around Rockland where we were staying. Since the work is largely close up I can make pictures that seem like they are in an abundant wilderness in my neighborhood or at a man made wilderness. Of course, shooting in a place that is naturally abundantly beautiful is a treat and gives me inspiration and context for the natural elements in my immediate environment.

The flower and the bloom, no. 7 © Elizabeth Chiles

 http://elizabethchiles.com/

Great Shot: David Hilliard

Jackie Immersed © David Hilliard

David Hilliard's work has been an inspiration to me for the past few years. The way he extends the image using different point of views is something that I am very interested in and strive to achieve. I enjoy much of his work, but my favorites are the ones that are out in the landscape. I believe that he pushes the standard photograph, and makes it something different, something more unexpected. I hope to keep working with my extended images to create something similar. 

I also enjoyed reading this interview posted here. He made a lot of good points in striving to become a successful artist. He stated, "Make fine art, commercial art, editorial art, teach, assist, etc, etc. Do it all. It keeps you going and in the end I truly believe that it can inform aspects of your work, (Werner.)" I believe that this statement is true. You never know what you are best at, or enjoy most until you have tried it all. David Hilliard makes amazing work, and I will continue to be inspired by it. 

More of David Hilliard's work can be found at davidhilliard.com

Untitled © Briana Prudhomme

I enjoy exploring the landscape for items such as this. It makes me think about the history of this item,  where it was before, how it got to this place, and how long it will be staying here. The answers to these questions depend upon the item that it being viewed. For this fallen tree, I walked by wondering how old it was before it fell to the ground. How long it had been standing in this very spot before something knocked it over pulling with it the earth. How long will it lay here before it rots into nothing? It is the questions like this that make me interested in the items I come across, while they lay peacefully at this specific second. Other items such as feathers, leaves, etc. last much shorter at the point where they are found, giving interest to the photographs that capture a second in time of the items history.

Nature has always been a big part of my life, growing up engulfed in it. I believe this may be the reason that I focus much of my work in nature. The mystery and complexity is something of interest along with the feeling of peace that it brings. Photographers that I relate my work to are Noah Beil, for his Trees series, Jennifer Ray for her close attention to detial of the landscape, David Hilliard, for his extended images in nature, Elizabeth Chiles for her point of view in nature, and many more. I plan to continue to explore the landscape and the impermanent puzzle pieces that make it whole.