Photography Work
Marge Mason Album Cover Shoot
Driving through Rehoboth Beach, DE I spotted a series of abandoned watchtowers jutting out of the sand which I thought would be perfect for an alternative rap album cover I was shooting. To reflect the experimental nature of the album I decided not to use filters but to take a more natural approach. I shot the image through a piece of amber sea glass I found washed up on the beach which created a hazy orange glow adding to the mysterious feeling of the watchtower and matched the heavily distorted samples used in the music. For the photo on the right, I wanted to capture the emptiness and loneliness of the ocean, which is why I focused on the weathered rusty boat and the artist and the ocean fades into the misty sky. The photo on the left was used as the album cover, the photo on the right was used for promotional materials.
Generational History
This photo was awarded First Prize by the National Park Service and was exhibited at the White House Visitor’s Center. I wanted to capture the feeling of generational history, the idea of passing the rich legacy of this country down to your children. The photo portrays a mood of hopefulness, as the mother and daughter are looking at the building with optimism for the future. Looking at these monuments with hope is a feeling my parents passed down to me; they taught me I had the power to use the systems embodied by these buildings to shape my future. To take the photo I placed myself at a lower angle in the WW2 Memorial to mimic the framing of photos taken of activists and leaders to emphasize their power.
Friends
I juxtaposed two of my friends to create a mood based on the manipulation of light. On the left, I was interested in how the subject’s hair frames the light shining downward onto the features in the center of his face and how the texture of his hair, illuminated by the focused light source, adds depth to the overall photo. On the right, I played with how different features of the face could be highlighted by different colored light sources - his face is almost split right down the middle; the bright-red side of his face emphasizes tension when contrasted against the dark side, where you can just barely see the blue in his eye. The composition of this diptych, combined with the dark background, fuses the two faces into one piece to create a relationship between friends.
Oma
My Oma has suffered from a severe case of early onset Alzheimer's for more than ten years. As her condition worsened, memory loss became disorientation and she would often get very angry, yelling, banging things, or storming off. Now, her body is present, but her mind is gone and we can no longer interact. In this photo I wanted to convey the feeling of hope that although she is unable to communicate, the real Oma is somewhere still there, full of life.
Drive
In this piece I wanted to dip my toes into digital collage work. These were different photos I had taken while exploring a parking garage, snapping shots of anything that interested me like graffiti, speeding cars, or the rusting gates. I combined this with very closeup photos of my eyes, showing emphasis on the red veins, and collaged them all together. I wanted to portray the dangers and stress of reckless drivers and to achieve the harsh feeling of the cold cement walls and metal railings that I felt walking around the parking garage.
Rush
In this photograph I wanted to capture a chilling, ghostly figure rushing toward the screen in a distorted classroom. The image is blurred and edited, emphasizing the figure's dash towards the camera. I wanted to make the image look surreal and exaggerate the speed at which the figure was lunging towards the camera. Senior year can feel tiring and draining for students. I hoped to achieve that exhausted feeling in this photograph—reminiscent of the feeling of dozing off, in and out of consciousness, and suddenly waking up in shock.
Skate
I photographed a variety of National Parks for a National Park Service program. I chose to focus on the citizens who enjoyed the park spaces, each in their own unique way. Here I captured a skateboarder with elaborate tattoos rounding the corner to cross a bridge adjacent to the train tracks at Harper's Ferry.
Woman In White
On an August afternoon while photographing visitors on the National Mall, I met a wonderful woman resting on a bench. Her smile reminded me of my grandmother. I manipulated the image to create an aged, soft, patchwork look to further convey the warmth and nostalgia I felt from her gaze.