Thesis Portfolio

With our final thesis presentations over, and our portfolios finished and turned in, it's a strange feeling to know that our photography studies have come to a close here at the University of Dayton. I'm sure the other seniors can agree with me when I say it's been an intense past four years - but it's been so worth it.

One of the major areas of my study this past year has been on the work of the painter Georges Seurat. Seurat used the expressive power of both color and line to expel an emotion from his artwork. Color is used to depict a specific emotion, and saturation, hue, and harmony play a conjoining role in the ability of a work of art to portray a particular feeling. With this, I have found that color plays a large role in my personal expression - and line and direction dominate the foreground.

Seurat achieved sadness by the use of dark and cold colors and lines directing the eye downward. A tranquil emotion was achieved through light and dark colors balanced equally, the combination of warm and cold colors, and horizontal lines. And the emotions of delight and vivacity were achieved by the domination of luminous hues, warm colors, and the use of directional lines pointed upward.

My thesis project revolved around sequences built from my stay here in the city of Dayton, OH. I have been building sequences in order to form a solid framework of the paths I explore. I aim to visually map my experiences and identity through these associating sequences so that I can redefine my surroundings according to my own preferences and standards.

Thesis Presentation

As a senior photography major I am required to compile a thesis describing my passion for and understanding of the work in which I create. Not only am I required to write a thesis paper, but even better I am to present this material during the Stander Symposium at the University of Dayton on April 14th. While preparing for the presentation I found and was able to use a number of photographs that I haven't seen in some time. These are a few of the images I stumbled upon - even before I figured out why it is that I do what I do, I was doing what I do :)

LeSourdesville Lake

A few months ago I went to Middletown, OH to visit an abandoned amusement park. While we were unable to explore the old tracks or rusted water rides, we wandered around the surrounding buildings that were also abandoned. I found that, like many other photographers, I have a strong attraction to buildings of age. I enjoy the leftovers that others find to be of little use. I prefer to pay attention to the building blocks of a scene, be it a corner of an abandoned space, or the surface quality of a building. Even though these subjects may be seen as an uninteresting part of the scene as a whole, once caught in a photograph they are able to be studied and appreciated for the qualities that they maintain. It is in my photographs that one is able to identify with the charm of a space thought charm-less.

Mendelsons

I find the world to be an intense and overwhelming place; yet it is with my photography that I am able to more acutely interpret my surroundings and explore where it is that I reside. As a whole I have a difficult time making sense of this immense environment; however, when I focus on certain singular aspects I am able to more clearly understand and appreciate the individual features of the whole. Once I capture and decipher my environment piece by piece I am able to appreciate my surroundings in a much more effective manner.

This week I went to Mendelsons Liquidation Outlet in Dayton. Talk about being overwhelmed! I wasn't so intrigued by the Dunkin Donut showcases or the soft drink dispensers on the first floor. Instead I headed to the third floor, which was labeled "electronics." There I saw rows and rows of bright wires, rooms filled to the brim with light bulbs, tubes and insulation and switches and filters and rope and countless items that still remain a mystery to me. I also thoroughly enjoyed the sweet disco ball and the box of bowling pins.

The Merc

In August I began working on my senior thesis project. I have chosen to photograph the paths I explore and I aim to visually map my identity and experiences through their associating sequences. I study a space so that I can resist others images of my past and instead redefine my surroundings; as a photographer I have control over what I respond to and thus cultivate.

While the bigger picture may be cluttered, uneven, and run-down, my collective images express the order that I find necessary in my story. I remain closely intact with visual organization, which includes an extensive use of line and direction. In my sequences I search for a flow that will keep my images united and unbroken. I present these images in sequences that are reminiscent of the means in which I have taken to arrive at my destination.

This is my first sequence - the images were taken at an abandoned building in downtown Dayton. I actually had to crawl through a broken window to get in - I felt like such a rebel!

Louvre

As communicative beings we create our own personal storylines in which we discover who we are and the lives in which we would like to lead. With this information we intend to transfer and enjoy the process of creating and interpreting messages. Being a photographer is a way of exerting control over what is to be documented and thus remembered in this process.