Documentary Review

The documentary film entitled “Bill Cunningham New York” follows sweet and eccentric street-photographer Bill Cunningham and his career as a photographer for the New York Times.  Bill has an extreme passion for photography, and is even more passionate about fashion and photographing those who wear it.  His love for fashion and people is eminent in his work.

Bill is fully committed to his work and not much of anything else.  At eighty years of age he has never been in a “romantic” relationship.  Bill said that there was no time for romance with his work.  He is extremely dedicated to what he does.  Every day Bill rides his bicycle around the streets of New York photographing what people are wearing.  He is always smiling and laughing.  He is truly happy with what he does.  He loves what he does and doesn’t want anyone to “control” him or his work.  Bill has never accepted payment for his work as a photographer for the New York Times.  He even ripped up the first check he ever received in front of his boss, and hasn’t accepted any since then.  He says “…If you don’t take the money, they can’t tell you what to do, kid.”

Bill is very modest about his work.  Once, when he attended a banquet in his honor, he told everyone that he didn’t feel he should be the honored one.  He went up to other well-known photographers that attended the event and said that it should be them and not himself being honored.

For being a famous photographer and being devoted to fashion, Bill lives very minimally.  He only buys cheap clothing that is functional for his everyday life.  He lives in a small apartment where nearly every inch is covered in boxes and filing cabinets filled with negatives and prints of his photographs.  Bill doesn’t even own a proper bed, he just puts a thin mattress on top of some of his filing cabinets.

Bill Cunningham’s dedication and happy-go-lucky attitude is truly inspiring.  For someone to love what they do so greatly is a rare thing.  Bill is such a character, I found myself laughing through the entire film.  Seeing someone like Bill really makes you want to pursue what you love, and do it to the best of your abilities.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching this documentary and recommend that others watch it too.

Project 4.1: Flower Pressing

Project 4

4.1 – Blog post of pressing flowers

4.2 – Make several collages using pressed flowers

4.3 – Photograph 3 of the best collages and put them into portfolio

Project 4 ideas

3 Ideas:

4.1 – Take a photograph of an arrangement of flowers.  Posterize the image, then create an ink wash version.

4.2 – Make a collage using pressed flowers. Photograph the completed work and create a painted version using gauche.

4.3 – Create a bridal bouquet and take a photograph that incorporates the human element.

 

Artists:

Bella Dos Santos – Bella comes from a family of artists. She is inspired by the beauty found in nature. She creates images of flowers in a lot of her artwork.

 

Martina Theodosiou – Martina’s work borders between photography and painting. She incorporates natural floral elements into her pieces.

 

Christi Birchfield – Christi uses a giant press to flatten flowers and other plants to create art.

Outside Interest

     I have always been very artistic. Nearly all of my interests include art in some way. I love being able to  use my creativity to benefit others.  One of my interests is making bridal floral arrangements.  I have been making bridal bouquets and boutonnieres for eight years now.  I first got into making bridal floral arrangements because a friend of the family was getting married.  She knew that I was artsy and asked me if I would be able to make the floral arrangements for their wedding.  Of course I couldn’t pass up a chance to try something new!  Right away I looked at tutorials and researched what supplies I would need.  I began experimenting with different techniques and various types of silk flowers.  I had a lot of fun shopping at different craft stores and figuring out what flowers and colors looked well together.  The bride-to-be was thrilled with the outcome!  After seeing the smile on her face I knew that I wanted to be able to bring that same joy to someone else on their “special day”.  Since then I have been hired to do floral arrangements for several weddings.  I have had the pleasure of creating bridal floral arrangements for some of my dearest friends and family members for their “special days”.  I will continue to use my talents to create beautiful bridal floral arrangements in the future. 

Project 3: Summary and Review

  I had a lot of fun working on project 3.  It was nice to see some color after a bunch of black and white projects.  I never realized the importance of color in a composition.  I think that it was really helpful to learn about different color schemes.  I think that it will improve my work immensely.  Before starting project 3 I always thought of colors as simply that, colors.  I categorized them as light and dark.  Project 3 has taught me that color consists of hue, saturation, value, tint, and shade.  It also taught me how important it is to know the difference.  Overall I think that I learned a lot from project 3. I learned how to see colors in a whole new way. I have learned how to carefully consider color schemes when creating a composition.  I have also learned that when color is used properly it can set an overall tone and feeling of a composition.  I believe that I was able to understand and apply what I learned about color in my project.  I particularly enjoyed working on 3.3.  I liked being able to work with new mediums.  I think that what I have learned from this project has helped me improve as an artist.  I know that what I have learned will help me to make more cohesive compositions in the future. I really enjoyed this project and I can’t wait to start on project 4!

Transparency

Solidity

Complementary