July 22, 2015 / Ginny Banks

Final Project: Narrative Photography.

black and white, digital, narrative, photography, series, story

These images were produced at the end of Spring Quarter. The project entailed finding a solid idea in which to take a body of photographs that relate on some level. Most students ended up with a different project than they started with. I enjoy their process and the extensive editing involved. For some, the project seemed very fluid while others struggled to find a topic that meant something to them. A written text accompanies the photographs. The first body of work was by Carissa Howland. It is called Platonic Love and is about Carissa and her friends. The caption for the first is as follows: Bailey Root — Bailey lives in a house by foxgloves, purple like the jacket we share that always smells like her dog. Sometimes, I carry her on my shoulders and sometimes I sleep on her floor while she talks about all the boys she dumped.

Thomas Crozier — Thomas sings in his low voice singing our names to the Jurassic Park theme song. He gets hungover falling asleep on my knees, he hasn’t brushed his hair since school started and it is much curlier than it used to be.

Daniella Roca —Daniella is loud; even though she is the smallest her voice fills the space. She will pick a fight with any one of us and win by default. We are all used to the yelling and comfortable with the noise chased with laughs.

Nawryn Emerson — Maybe she was in a softer light; I can’t help but to wonder if she sees me in shadows. We are always so milky tired, so stoned on forehead kisses.

Steve Chang — Steve likes to jump out behind doors always trying to scare me because he always can. He gets upset when I notice him subconsciously holding my waist; he is so warm and soft. He is tough but sensitive, can’t learn how to behave.

Sam Kramer — We all stopped letting Sam have the aux cord. We are collectively tired of his dubstep but fond of his extra sweaters. No one knows why we call him CC and if anyone did they keep it a secret not even he knows about.

Daniella and Nari — If we ever get bored we can always re-watch the X-files and call everyone up to get ice cream again. We have had good times born out of boredom and we can always have a few more.

Steve and Bailey — We are all in love with each other but at the same time, no one in particular. We know exactly what to do but in a much more real sense have no idea.

Daniella and Sam — When they fight they do so laughing and holding hands. Arguing about who gets to sleep on the couch and who drives in whose car. We never really get that mad nothing we can say can ever really hurt that bad.

Steve and Thomas — Steve teaches Thomas how to waltz, and when they watch Ocean’s Eleven they tangle their legs. Thomas is always out of it but never stopped calling Steve to play video games and inviting me to watch.

Thomas and Nari — We have been awake for days, me and the gang. No amount of sleep could ever be enough so we swim instead. Thomas will be the only one talking but we like his voice and his ideas about global warming so we nod along.

Steve and me — And they may not see me in the same light but who’s to say this isn’t how it is. Maybe just this once the sun really does rise for us and I’m not saying they put stars in the sky but if anyone could give them reason to shine they could.

The next series of photographs are by Colton White. The title of his work is Three Months of the Year. It is about the enjoyment of water for three summer months in the Pacific Northwest while the rest of the year is cold and rainy. His narrative is as follows: The most enjoyable part of this project was attempting to capture the different elements of the water. I wanted to use water as the main character in all of the photographs. My hope was to show the water above, at, and below the surface. Whether it was using the water to distort one half of my brother’s face, or utilizing it as filter for the two girls underwater, I wanted to showcase the full experience of it. Furthermore, I desired to show the different characteristics of water; the surface tension as my older brother surfaces through the water, the still, almost unearthly characteristic shown by the two girls under water in the deep, or the motion of the waves as they wash up on the beach and roll across the dock. Lastly, I wanted to freeze the constant motion of the water in my frame, so as to show the finest of details. The final “eye” photograph represents the excitement and realization of what is coming for our summer, those very important Three Months of the Year.

Kelea Browne is the next photographer. The topic of her work is yoga. Her words: Yoga is the practice where we unite the body, breath, mind and heart. This practice is very special to me for many reasons, but the main reason is because yoga is the only thing that cured my depression and anxiety as a teen. I first started to practice yoga in middle school. I remember feeling so relaxed and at ease after my first class. I felt a great connection to everything around me. It was mind blowing. I finally found peace in my crazy mind. After practicing yoga for around four years, I decided that I wanted to go to India to become a certified yoga instructor. The time I spent in India really made my connection to yoga a lot deeper and stronger. I learned so much more interesting things about the history of yoga and how it impacts the human body. The following images are yoga postures out in nature.

The next set of images is by Gabrielle Larsen. Her series was about portraying the undercurrent of fashion. We live in a dark and romantic and quite tragic world. — Karl Lagerfeld.

Gillian Peterson took a series of photographs documenting her father’s hospitalization. She managed to capture all the little details of being in a hospital room. The images speak for themselves.

The next body of work is by Jake Wong. Jake enjoys night photography and wanted his project to involve long exposures and light. His images are striking and no written narrative accompanies them.

The next project is by Kirin Kim. Kirin wanted her work to be about the union of light and dark, line work in architecture and reflection. The following images are hers.

The last series of photographs are by Kevin Pham. They are based on a true story yet with staged actors. His friend Ryan is like his brother because they share so much together. One day Ryan was walking downtown and he accidentally bumped a girl walking by and she dropped her wallet. He got down to help her pick up her wallet and apologize. Her name was Cindy and she was very pretty and he asked her for her telephone number. They got together and started to fall in love. One day Cindy went into a coffee shop to get several coffees for them both while Ryan waited outside. Inside the coffee shop, Cindy encountered her old boyfriend. She tried to avoid talking with him but he missed her and gave her a hug from the back. Ryan thought Cindy was taking too long and came into the shop to see about her. He saw them hugging and misunderstood. Cindy slapped her old boyfriend because she hadn’t given her permission to hug her. Abruptly, Ryan left the shop and Cindy followed him to try to explain. Ryan was angry and didn’t listen to her. She started crying and ran away from him. He tried to run and catch her. She crossed the street without looking and got hit by a car and died immediately.