The "Something Is Happening" Photography Project

Looking back, working on the Something Is Happening project is one of the most unforgettable experiences I've ever had here at Lawrence.

It was my first time ever, trying to make prints and photobooks.

I was absolutely amazed by the difference "the medium" makes -- when I printed out my first 8x10 Epson Inkjet work print, it almost felt like the picture came alive!! Literally... I never noticed the huge difference between looking at a picture through a display and looking at a picture printed. I was blown away.

 

8x10 Epson Inkjet "work prints"

 

I was really fortunate to have the theme "Things that 8-yr-old me would stare at" somehow came up to me. It gave me an opportunity to try to get myself back into that 8-yr-old mindset for hours (to look for things I'd stare at and take pictures of them), which is not something I'd normally get to do as a 23-year-old. Felt really good -- I really enjoyed it, and I appreciate the opportunity.

What also amazed me is the discussion we had as a class, on everyone's prints -- I was not at all expecting the different perspectives to be so inspiring. By that I mean how different people seeing things differently can inspire the artist to discover new meanings of their work. I really felt it with music, but I never thought I'd feel the same about photography, that is, until I take FIST240 and did Something Is Happening. I was amazed by how my classmates see things in my photographs that I've never noticed before! For example, I saw the "root beer bottle" picture as just some yellow -- brown-ish liquid in a translucent bottle, but my classmates saw it as an angry bug that is upside down. (wow)

 

"Angry Bug"

I also loved working on the photobook... It was almost like having a little exhibition of my own pictures.