dinosaur butts.

i can't help but to post my assignment for my photography class up here. mostly because i think it's hilarious and because i've fallen off the wagon in posting and something is better than nothing eh?

Statement of Intent

(Intent) Adventure abounds on the central coast. We’re fortunate to have palm trees, plazas and piers sprinkled about for a carefree rendezvous no matter the season. This is the feeling I want my audience transported to when viewing my Dinosaur Adventures on a SLO Winter Day. I want there to be acceptance that life is too short to take any certain day too seriously and the knowledge that anyone- plastic or flesh- can live it up on a winter’s day in San Luis Obispo.

(Content/Subject) As a fifth year student, currently immersed in my senior project, two jobs and a career search, I didn’t want to focus on anything too serious in front of my lens. My hunt for a suitable subject ended with two plastic dinosaurs, which have been pals on my car dashboard since high school. I wanted to photograph these old friends in the full plastic majesty they deserved and sought out my favorite locations on the central coast. The theme I wish to convey is one of adventure, sought out by two friends, as well as the childlike question that if dinosaurs really did roam the earth, where would they hang out on the weekend?

(Technique/Process) While shooting, I wanted my two prehistoric companions to take center stage in the locations they found themselves in. This led me to use a large aperture, mostly f/4, to bring my subjects into focus while blurring the background. Exceptions occurred in low lighting situations, such as the sunrise shots from my roof, taken at f/5.6, and at Avila Beach where the muted colors of the early morning persuaded me to include a sharper background to preserve location detail, shot at f/16.

I incorporated different angles, either directly level or angled upward, when shooting my subjects to achieve a majestic, empowered look. The effect of these choices gives the viewer a distorted sense of size for these small plastic toys and a sense that these dinosaurs are very much a part of the larger environment around them.

Another technique I used in some of my shots was what I like to call the “dinosaur butt frame”. A solitary blue backend and reptilian tail leave the viewer wondering where this creature could be headed on her journey and hopefully achieves the desired effect of a snort or giggle.

(Social/Cultural Concerns) This specific work was not meant to make a comment on greater society. If anything it’s meant to beg a lack of seriousness and a call to adventure for all, which is transmitted most widely and quickly by image in our current technology based world. The role of the artist is two-fold, both personal and professional. In this specific work, I considered it my personal role to shoot something that made me smile and provided a welcome escape from long work hours, cumbersome textbook reading and research article reviews. My professional role for this work is parallel to my personal role in that I hope to make my audience smile, perhaps not for the same reasons I have but to bring an escape for whatever any specific viewer might be stressed about upon viewing my work. In my opinion, an artist’s work should bring feeling and passion into the mind of whatever viewer stumbles upon their work. I hope that any audience looking at my photos of dinosaurs enjoying the sunrise can feel just a twinge of a grin no matter their current status.

(Rules) I can’t say any rules prevented me from creating my dinosaur adventures other than the unspoken social rule that it’s a little strange to be arranging plastic dinosaurs in various public places. Once I ignored those, my creative vision flourished.

(Function) I believe photography to be the right medium to transmit my message because it leaves the viewer to create the rest of the story. There are a variety of situations that could have led my dinosaurs to their various locations, all of which include adventure, the specifics I leave to the viewer. Imagination is a powerful aid to photos and what better catalyst for the imagination than photos of dinosaurs?

(Accessibility) I do understand the importance of limiting the accessibility of one’s work for a greater self-expressed good. This however is not such a personal work. Other than the judgment that might fall down on me for being a little too involved and joyful on the weekend with my molded comrades, my self-expression feels protected enough to share this work with the larger population. To put more value on self-expression work versus work that can be understood by the greater public feels introverted and devastating to the artistic community as a whole. However to demand that all work be understood by the masses seems just as detrimental. Luckily, on the whole, artists seem a rather proud, open bunch so this question can be put off for another day.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy with the same hilarity I have these wrinkled blue behinds.

quick footnote to throw in here if you made it all the way down. these dinosaurs were actually a dearly cherished gift from sadie mae, the true owner and keeper of these dinosaurs through our own high school adventures. it just felt a little wordy to throw at my professor for the assignment. he's already canceled class three times from his flu struggles and i don't want to be the one to tip him over the edge again.

here's the rest of my shots from the assignment. enjoy and happy sunday!