Week 4 Event Assignment

 With sugar skulls neatly organized onto a wax sheet for the upcoming Day of the Dead festival at Linn Benton Community College Korina Rayburn prepares by creating another sugar skull mold.

 Korina Rayburn (left) and Catherine Stevens (right) team up to create more sugar skulls using granulated sugar, meringue powder, and water in order to prepare for the Day of the Dead festival in building F220 from October 1st to November 1st

Rayburn displays the sugar skull mold after pressing the mixture down with a piece of cardboard to obtain the shape of a skull often found in Mexican traditions relating to Day of the Dead. 

WEEK 4 MEDIA BLOG FORUM

I have chosen to challenge my abilities with the camera by selecting an LBCC athlete. I am in the process of gettin in contact with Hayley Harlan or Gabriella Chedster. They are both members of  LBCC's Equestrian Team. Their practices are Monday for western riding and Thursday and Friday for hunt seat. My plan is go get then in the arena or in front of the arena with their horse at their prop, maybe a bale of hay, some feed buckets, ect. As for the lighting, I know the inside of the arena is too dark. The Western practices are in the morning at 8 am so the lighting will be easier then than the lightning at 3:30 for the hunt seat practice. I will want them standing in front of the arenas walls to draw attention to the subject in the mug shot.

My second subject for this assignment would be Catherine Stevens who is helping set up the Day of the Dead event in the first week of November. She emailed The Commuter with the events that are taking place and I intend to shoot her ( or other willing subjects) with whatever they're using to set up the day of the dead festival. I will interview them as well with the intention of also using this as an article for The Commuter in the next two weeks.

I intend to get to the scene early to decide where the best lighting is as well where the best place is to draw the mugshot forward. I also want to get my subject comfortable by chatting with them before the shoot (or interview) so the shoot ends up being more authentic which are both things I learned from the "Shooting Star" video we watched in class.

WEEK 3 BLOG FORUM QUESTIONS

For this event, I had the opportunity to talk and shoot Miriam Edell and M'Liss Runyon who are both active members in the Veteran's Gardening Club. I found the meetup information off the bulletin board right outside of this exact photojournalism class as I was running into, late once again. While caught up in college life, I thought it'd be refreshing to visit one of my old hobbies I used to pass the time as a child. To revisit my roots of playing in the dirt, digging up the innocent earthworms, and admiring my mother's delicate flowers while also seeing a whole imaginary and unexplored jungle. 

The smell of the freshly watered dirt was exactly the same and dragged me through a wormhole back to my childhood of vivid memories before meeting up with Edell and Runyon on LBCC campus in the community garden. I made a single phone call confirming the interview and the club dates. Edell was ecstatic to have me out there in hopes of spreading the word of the unfortunately withering club. I had gone out intending to discuss the club itself, who participates, and what happens within the club. I later come to find out the heartbreaking news that the club is on the line to be cut along with the horticulture program and the on-campus greenhouse. These cuttings have been in movement for a year now and is still a threat. I shifted the focus of my interview to why the club is being shut down, the efforts that should be made in order to keep it open, and the benefits of having the club. I hope to draw attention to the club through my upcoming article and spread the word about the unknown gardening club. 

I knew the shots I was going for walking into the interview for The Commuter, and I knew the shots I wanted for my photojournalism class. Unfortunately, there were only two people that were out gardening until two more volunteers showed up just as I had wrapped up the interview. I shot a few photos of the director of the club working with those volunteers, but I wish I had gotten more. I told Edell and Runyon to do what they normally do and pretend I'm not even here. Those photos turned out how I wanted them. The green vegetation with a mix of the vibrant colors of the flowers and blue skies causes for a beautiful set-up. I do wish that I had gotten more photos of Edell's eyes as in most the photos she is, in fact, looking down at her garden "pretending I'm not even there." Other than my two regrets of not capturing a full face photo of my subjects, and getting more photos of the club leaders working with the volunteers, I think this has been my favorite and most successful photoshoot. 

My favorite photo that I've shot has to be one of the few close-ups I took of Maruim Edell working in the garden. I am drawn to the detail in Edells features and the lighting of her hair that the black and white bring forward. I also admire her genuine emotion in the image as she looks down at her garden. I took this image to photoshop and played around with the coloring and the black and white features. To my surprise, the photo developed into a shot I'm very proud of. My worst photo, on the other hand, you could probably shuffle randomly in my camera roll, pause on a photo, and there's a high probability that it is my worst photo. I have taken over 300 photos at this point and have only touched and expanded my interest in about 20 of them. Out of focus, out of frame, too much blank space, irrelevant, too busy, not enough, bad lighting, awkward faces, horrible angles are all things I found through trial and error though each of my photoshoots. I have gotten over my discomfort with the camera and am more comfortable getting in there for the shots I want, but I need to get more action shots and should consider my surroundings in the frame. I also need to pay attention to the subject more rather than how the photo will look. I have to remind myself that I am taking these photos for a photoJOURNALISM class, not for a photography class. While I like the aesthetic of many of my photos, they won't suffice for the weekly assignment. 

Event Assignment

Miriam Edell and M'Liss Runyon welcome a few regular volunteers at the front of the garden at the open acres of LBCC  as they show off the new and fresh harvests through the Veteran's Gardening Club. "It promotes mental health." Runyon quotes while discussing the importance of the garden. 

 "The goal is for mental health. For the people to work outside, to grow healthy food, get exercise, and fresh air" Edell offers while she stops to inspect her crops. While the garden is open to everyone at any time, Edell and Runyon both encourage anyone to come outside of club hours which are Tuesday from 12:00-12:50, and experience getting a little dirt under their nails.

After three years of the Veteran's Gardening Club growing produce for its members and donating to the Parenting Program though LBCC,  Edell hand waters each plant to assure healthy vegetation and a successful harvest.  

Photographer of the Week

“I have been poor and I wanted to photograph poverty; I had lost a child and I was obsessed with birth; I was interested in politics and I wanted to know how it affected our lives; I am a woman and I wanted to know about women." -Eve Arnolds 

Eve Arnold, a pioneer photographer who captures the moments before the beauty, candid photos of models before they put on their wigs, and political influencers in the flame of pure fury. 

Born in Philadelphia in 1913, Arnold was just one of 9 children descending from her Russian and Jewish immigrant parents. Dropping her ambitions to become a doctor, Arnold starting photographing after she received a camera from her boyfriend who, at the time, worked in film processing in 1946 (Montano). She then continued to study photography at New School for Social Research (Sparks). She then quickly ran up the ranks and became the first woman ever to work at the Magnum cooperation as a photographer. Arnold's claim to fame began after she started shooting with Marilyn Monroe as they both were just starting out their careers in the late 1940's.“At photo sessions, she was in total control, she manipulated everything-me, the camera and I never met anyone who could make them respond the way she did” Monroe comments after a shoot with Arnolds. 

Arnold then reaches outside the Hollywood glamour to photograph political rallies and historical events such as the civil rights movement in 1950 and the Nation of Islam rally where there she captured George Lincon Rockwell, who at the time was the head chair for the American Nazi Party giving a passionately hateful speech. By raising her camera up to snap a blind shot at the "hail mary" angle in the face of the head Nazi sympathizer "I'll make a bar of soap out of you" Rockwell responds to Arnold's fearless ambition.  Arnold was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government in 2003, names master photographer by the International center of photography (Montano) after working for Life, Look, and Picture Post.

While also capturing the critical relevance of world events to the people, Arnold also stepped out of the traditional beauty standards by recognizing the natural beauty of overlooked African American women. White women with beehive hairstyles and a petite physique, Arnold's feminist attitude recognized there is more to beauty than just the boxed stereotype of the "elegant housewife" look. Refusing to confide in traditional American beauty standards Arnold captured Cicely Tyson with a bold natural afro which stepped far out of the clean and neat updo most women strived for. She allowed the public to recognize that self-acceptance is true beauty. 

My favorite photo of Eve Arnolds is of a series of photos she shot with Joan Crawford. Crawford was considered a "dame of the 20th century" (Sparks). Other than the impeccable lighting, Arnold once again sees beauty past the stereotype that is portrayed as beautiful. People will always to reluctantly looking to create a certain appearance despite how old they are. An exhausting journey in the relentless world of how others perceive us will never be out of style. From the early Egyptians making the first eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip color, to modern-day Jenner lip kit, beauty will never be saught after. This is shown in these melancholy but slightly empowering photos captured by Arnold. 

Humans of LBCC week 2

Yanci Hernandez is hard at work at her first year here at Linn Benton Community College as a college student. Working towards an education and social services major at LBCC since she was in high school, she sits in the forum building welcoming wide-eyed students, planning events such as the upcoming Dia De Los Muertos event, and offering help to those that ask. Hernandez has big plans for herself and the impact she hopes to bring. Her drive runs in the bloodline as she and her family moved to America from El Salvador when she was just nine years old for a better education and future. However, her ambition doesn't stop there. Hernandez’s confesses that her dream job is to be president of El Salvador despite the county’s law of forbidding women in a president's chair. “We had papers that were an opportunity a lot of people want,” Hernandez explains “kids don't have a dream of ‘What do you want to study when you're older?’ In my country, some people don't have the resources or the money to go to school to be able to afford that dream.” She then further goes on to say that gangs will often target young teens to recruit for a life of drugs, murder, and violence so many children do not have their mind set on education or a future, but rather surviving. A dream or a personal ambition is something that is a privilege many first world countries take for granted. However, it is a personal responsibility to pursue those ambitions and fight for the change you want to see. Hernandez is already taking those steps at LBCC for herself and pushing forward with an inspiring persistence.

Elegantly focusing on the details of her hand made pottery, Robin Evans of 64 years old stands at the edge of the table and glides her hands over the wet clay perfecting her design. Generously volunteering her time as a part-time instructor's assistant for three years after attending Linn Benton Community College for six years. After working in the bookstore at LBCC, Evans would watch the students walk out of the ceramics class with hand made glazed artwork from her bookstore window and thought “that would be fun, Id love to try that,” and she did. Inspiration can come from anywhere, from places or people you may never expect. Nine years later, Evans is still at it in the ceramics open lab designing and creating useful pieces for friends and family. Pushing her artistic abilities Evans claims to have saved a “gauge” of where she came from as a reminder of her progress in her ceramic journey to prove by putting in the hours and overcoming self-doubt, personal skills and knowledge you to success. “Just do it. Just come in, have fun. Don't have big expectations, just enjoy it.” is Evans advise to anyone who is starting a foreign pass time or hobby. No one is going to be a professional when they start out, and people will make mistakes. Progress is not made if you refuse to start. Fear is a waste of time, and discomfort is just an excuse. Take the opportunity you are given and expect to mess up, expect to miss the mark, embrace being out of your comfort zone because that discomfort means personal growth. Evans proves that as she finely crafts her elegantly made artwork.

BLOG FORUM QUESTIONS

--Tell what you think of the book.

--What has impressed you?

--What do you think of Addario's work?

--What lessons can you apply in Photojournalism?

--What's your favorite quote (copy and paste it!) and why?

--What's your favorite photo, describe it, and explain why?

After hearing that a photojournalism class was assigned to read a book written by a photojournalist, my first expectation was that It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario was going to be a cliche, feel-good, enlightening story on her fame to be a photographer. To an extent, my original suspicions had been proved correct. However, the book goes into detail about the discomfort Adderio puts herself into by the career she chooses. She shares doubtful thoughts and signs of concern that she might be missing out on a part of her life by focusing on her career rather than finding a partner, building a family, and settling down with comfort and stability much like her friends and sisters. Sharing the same ambition and clear vision for my future with little interest in the traditional American lifestyle, I also share the same thoughts of concerns. I, like Addario am worried I might be putting my life on hold to pursue a career. Those thoughts are quickly washed away by remembering I'm ultimately not putting my life on hold for a future, but just pursuing a future that is my own and not the future I am expected to have. My future just looks a little different than other peoples. I don't expect myself to settle down or raise children because thats just not what is pushing me to pursue life further, and thats okay.

Another aspect of the book that I took particular interest in the photo tips she learned from her teacher. How to use the frame, the best kind of sunlight and how to use it to your advantage, wait for your subject to feel comfortable in front of a lense. As someone who is completely aware of how to use a camera, I also took these notes and hope to apply them to my skills.

"I was was fascinated by the science of the camera, the way the light and the shutter could freeze a moment in time." (Addario pg.__) This quote made me physically look up from the chapter and consider it's words. To me, time is an eternal ray of never-ending and an unforgiving forward motion. It never stops, speeds up, slows down, rewinds, or fast forwards. People will be hopelessly stuck in the past they forget how to be in the present, or so focused on the future they forget to enjoy the moments they are given. I believe what makes a person is heartbreak, is trauma, is love, is dedication, is passion, is failure, are relationships. I believe that more than anything people just want to be still in the moments in time that make them feel good inside. It is important to remember the good and the bad. To remember failures and how you pushed through them. It is important to have the ability to look back on something and rethink "Hm. Maybe that wasn't such a good time," or "That was actually a really good time in my life." However, no matter how much we refuse to believe it, the human memory is an incredibly unreliable tool to do so. Memories get fuzzy, and people shape their memories to romanticize (in a positive or negative manner) each significant time in their life. Taking a photo by this man-made object or "freezing a moment in time" cannot stop the inevitable persistence of time, but it can encapsulate a memory, thought, feeling, or expression to share with history. It takes that ONE SECOND in the eternity of time to feed the human thirst for remembrance. That quote shifted my outlook on photography and photojournalism and gave me a new outlook altogether.

My favorite photo of hers that I looked through was the "Indian men bathing on the streets of Calcutta". There is no posing, no false smiles, its all brutally authentic. The people in the photo completely disregard Addario as she is not even there. I also think she flawlessly captured the water and the lighting through the water. It exposes a lifestyle the majority of America is unfamiliar with and hopefully addresses the privilege we do have in our own home.

Humans of LBCC

Alyssa Wood waits patiently between periods in the outside courtyard with a messy sandwich in hand for her fellow classmate to attend the party. After her third year of attending Linn Benton Community College, Wood has got the campus down ready to obtain her degree in psychology. What she can't predict, however, is a nosy and quite peculiar set of rapid “yes or no” questions from a certain nosy journalist. Unable to enjoy her lunch, Wood reveals she in fact does rehearse how she will announce “here” before the teacher calls her name in rollcall, the toilet paper should always go over instead of under, and she has the confidence to take a lie detector test with a loved one on the other end. Good answers Wood! Now go enjoy your sandwich in peace. 

 

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. On the prowl to ruin the lunchtimes for more students, Adam Stantos, transferred from Bend, Oregon to study pre-elementary education for at his first term at LBCC. With what to seemed to be a long one rigorous minute of painful questions, I was shocked to discover that Santos had never played Club Penguin, finished a whole pizza by himself, or has ever lied to his roommate about eating their food. Stantos then left for his afternoon math class but not before tolerating a pesky series of headshots. If Stantos can suffer through this chaotic series of questions, he will shine in a classroom full of young and curious students.