ITS ALMOST MIDTERMS!?

.....I cannot believe that it is almost midterm time.
It's a weird adjustment to go from 16 week semesters to 10 week quarters.

The pressure is definitely on to develop create and produce a well worked and complete body of work.

I went to the dollar general this weekend to find new props and inspiration for inventive ways to shoot the mouth.

Playing with different things such as powdered doughnuts, honey, and shaving creme have introduced new possibilities into my series.

But as i continue to play with props i realise that i still would love to incorporate different dynamics into the series.

I need to find a way to work with children in this series without parents freaking out.
I need to find a way to work with the elder in this series without being rude and awkward.

Now awkward isn't a bad trait exactly... but rude... i never want to be... unless I'm dealing with Ervin.


The series is coming slowly but surely. Hopefully not to slowly.
I feel that this may be a series that ever after the "grade" i continue to develop.
As I am introduced to new and interesting people in the area.

Speaking of dynamics....

I went to the Buckhead rich people art show with my classmates.
That was QUITE the adventure....

Viewing the two shows introduced me to two very different bodies of works
and two very different dynamics of people.

While the artist that photographs dolls (downstairs) -John Oetgen
had vibrant colors, and vibrant people
The artist that photographed the snooty (upstairs)- Martin Parr
had very boughe clientele.
and not to mention the price list!!!
$6,000 for a picture of cake.. um pass.

Any ways...
I found it very interesting and appropriate that the two shows had a different audience.
The works seemed to corrospond to the viewers.

p.s.---I'm glad I roll with a well dressed crew or we would have really stood out----

Oetgen's atmosphere was very pleasant.
Filled with laughter and joy
Drinks flowing and colorfully dressed people
Everyone was having a good time
Enjoying food, drink, and one another

While upstairs was a completely differnt story.
As soon as you reached the top of the stairs
A deathly silence greets you.
The room was scarcely scattered with men and women in dressed in black.
Quiet stares of judgement pierced us as we viewed the works.
WHAT?! Am I not good enough to be here? I thought a few times... not that I particularly cared...
I noticed the works captured a certain upper class group of people.
Gambling at horse races, watching a casual game of polo, and judging small girls beauty pageants.
There was a certain persona about those pictures.
And in the center of the room that evening
A very particular couple sat atop one another..
Judging, drinking,snooting, and looking extremely bored about the event...

How very appropriate and clear Parr's choice of gallery space became.

Anyways... just food for thought....

see ya monday..

-S

Alright let's blog!

Soooo.... I went to the Dr Thursday morning at 6 am.
Planning to beat the morning ER traffic
from your local college kids over drinking
and the reoccurring visitors that hope for a new sickness....

I still managed to sit in an isolated patient room for 3 hours.
This was my first time to the Dr out here in Atl
With out MOMMY AND DADDY i had to put my big girl pants on.

blah blah blah
 point is .. im still alive
No fatal illnesses
...that they could tell..

maybe for Ock ... he caught what ever i had.

They told me that i had a really bad reaction to Ragweed.
A raggedy ass weed that has been in abundance of pollination along the coast.

So they gave me 4 different pills to take to suppress my new formed allergies.
But i call bullshit.

Um 1st of all who gave you a PHD?!
Last time i checked seasonal allergies were not contagious.

2nd of all..... I'M SICK! END OF STORY
u literally gave me medication for no reason.

Thats the problem with doctors now days... NO STREET SMARTS!

anyways....


Today I edited some preliminary images from my first Oral Fixation shoot.

Here is a sneak peak of the shoot:


I realised a few thing when shooting this project.

1. i have to have a camera set up where i can take a photograph at any given moment

         i.e. stranger on the street.
     So i took notes of which camera settings were working best

Manual 1/60
580 flash +0% flash
with the lowest aperture available
Flash pointed up toward ceiling or bouncing off white wall (in doors)

This setup has allowed me to create images that resemble the work of a macro lens.
Played with my telescopic lens, but found i was not able to create the intimacy and angles i hoped for in this manner.

So i am still shooting with the basic 18-55mm kit lens.
Dont listen to people when they say you need a better lens.
This is doing just fine for my current works.
 played with different form compositions including:

tight on the lip
inside the mouth
the nose to chin region
and differnt angles.

I have comprised this short list as a must per each shoot:
- no smile
-smile
-nose to chin
-open mouth
-kiss face
-tongue

Then after i and my model becomes comfortable i am able to release a bit of creativity and fun with the shoot.

 Introducing images  ideas such as
-spit
-yawns
-natural laughs


I am excited to start shooting with new faces on Monday to introduce an abundance of textures and personalities to this series.

I also have come up with an idea for griding the digital side of my series.

Because some shots look better in the portrait format versus landscape i do not want to be limited as i have done to myself in the past.

I am thinking that the grid will have 1 vertical per 2 horizontal images
the horizontal images equaling to the size of the 1 vertical.
With this my mind opened to the possibility of per 3 images within the grid being one person presenting 3 different mouth gestures.

I believe doing so will introduce :

Synecdoche: 

"a part of a whole"

similar to Byron Kim's 8x10 painting of skin tones around the world.

 I think this will help me to address US (PEOPLE) as individuals, who are also apart of a whole in one place (Earth)
as a way of communicating cultural diversity to my audience.

Happy first day of Fall.
Stay warm and watch out for that raggedy ass weed.

-S

Image List -The Possibilites

Oral Fixation: A study on the scientific function and need of the mouth, versus one’s recreational use and desire of the human feature.

This is a list of images and thoughts that I would like to depict through my series in a number of different ways. Keeping my possibilities open to exploration. They will be presented in a grid like format as a final project.

A majority of these images will be taken of other people...

but i plan for a majority of these images to also be taken with the pin hole 

allowing the viewer to see from the inside out of the mouth.

Want/ Recreational use/ Fascination:

·      Commercial make up

o    sell products (lipstick different colors that pop)

·      Attraction agent

o   Red lips

o   Glossy lips

o   Chiseled jaw

o   Facial hair

o   White teeth

o   Big lips

o   Soft

o   Hygiene- manicured

o   Moist

o   Delicate

o   Strong

·      Identify with sexuality

o   Kissing

o   Receiving of oral pleasure

o   Masculine

o   Feminine

·      Voluntary functions

o   Laugh

o   Yell

o   Cry

o   Sing

o   Smile

o   Frown

·      Leisure activities

o   Drugs

§  Cigarettes

§  Weed

o   Alcohol

§  Wine

§  beer

Need/ Scientific purposes/ Bodily functions:

·      Germ protecting against body

·      Bodily functions

o   Spit

o   Swallow

o   Chew

o   Yawn

o   Cough

o   Sneezing

o   Breathing

o   Teeth grinding

·      Internal aspects

o   Tonsils

o   Teeth

o   Tongue

o   Taste buds

o   Gums

o   Throat

·      Eat

o   Banana

o   Ice-cream

o   Sushi

o    

·      Drink

o   Water

o   Coffee

·      Reactions

o   Sweat

o   Cold (Blue lips)

Surrounding Aspects/ Accessories/ Interferences

·      Nose

·      Facial hair

o   Different colors

o   Different textures

o   Mustache

§  Girl

§  Guy

o   Beard

o   Goatee

·      Skin tone

·      Acne

·      Piercings

o   In mouth

o   On lips

·      Braces

·      Chapped lips

·      Filling for cavities

·      Make up

·      Thumb sucking

·      Nail biting

Dynamics of the Mouth

·      Age

o   Infant

§  Fresh shik

§  Big cheeks

§  gums

o   Senior citizen

§  Wrinkles

§  Dentures

§  Gums

·      Gender

o   Male

o   Female

o   Cross dress

·      Ethnicity

·      Mouth size

o   Thin

o   Thick

o   Dark

o   Light

o   Wide mouth

o   Small mouth

o   Clef lip

o   Deformities from birth

·      Teeth quality

o   Good teeth (straight)

o   Bad teeth (rotten)

o   Gaps

o   Missing teeth (any age)

o   Yellow teeth

o   Extra teeth

o   Small teeth

o   Big teeth

-S 

Project Proposal

Project Proposal for Oral Fixation

          This semester I am interested in further exploring my previous interests. This includes close up shots of the human form, specifically focusing on the mouth, and exploring different perspectives of it. I’m interested how the mouth functions as scientific necessity to life, as well as an arousing and pleasurable characteristic of the human form. I’m interested in exploring different options of composition with this series. I foresee this being presented in a grid format similar to my previous series “Structure”. The size of these individual images could be any where from 4X5 to larger depending on how many shots make the final cut. The grid will either consist of a combination of compositional images or in a uniform fashion of tight frontal documentary shots.

            I want these images to include as many different features as possible. Including different ages, genders, nationalities, foods, liquids, facial features, and emotions. I expect this series to be in saturated color ultimately presented to have a certain type of vibrant consistency flowing through the final piece. Technically I think this series will have studio time, including make up and other props. I hope to use a combination of shooting with a macro lens and an 18-55 mm lens. Lighting will consist of external flashes mixed with natural light. I believe this series will not only become visually stimulating but mentally fascinating as a study between an individuals need (scientific) and want (recreational) of the mouths role. I was inspired to do this series by the works of Marylin Minters Pink and Green Caviar, and De Kooning’s abstract painting “Woman 1” who speaks of the “T-zone”.

-S

Here I am on a Thursday.
The past few days have been mind numbing.
Eagerly and emotionally throwing around ideas of what is good.
What projects would be the one to approach.
What is bad and what I dare not touch.

A step further back. What sparks my interest...
My father asked me today as I vented over the phone.

I have found myself in this almost white space of...
thinking too much, and not thinking at all.

Limit your selection I've been told.
But how do you limit a selection when there is everything and nothing...
I'm lost in my own head.

Fantastic. the first project assigned at the school of my dreams
with full range of freedom and i cannot produce the slightest idea.

Here I am on a Thursday.

Man my class is going to think I am crazy
Look at the provocative works I presented
Now a drone blog.

I don't blog.
I don't journal.
I love to talk.
I love to laugh.

Why am I finding myself in this weird state?
I know my boyfriend hates me today.
What a bitch she's being.
Figure it out.
That's a stupid reason to act this way all day.

I shouldn't take my anger out on him...ever.

But I cannot take my mind off the idea of failing and not producing once i start.
How about this... or that... Oh here's a great idea!
That's HORSESHIT.
what the FUCK is that.
I cannot believe I even muttered that idea out loud.

Stop 1/2 making up a series... just because.

What is my fixation.

Peoples phobias.
Clowns phobias
Sex.
Drugs.
ROCK AND ROLL?!

no... yes...

well.

Here i am on a Thursday 
Challenged. and now.. writing a narrative?!

My mind is bouncing.
My reader is annoyed.
If I were you I'd probably "Unsubscribe"from this blog.

But what I have come to decide.
Is I like the idea of oral fixation.

Maybe that's what my series will be titled.
"Oral Fixation"

A series on the mouth.
How it is a necessity
and a fascination to many.
Provocative
Scientific.

how it is sexy and a tool of living.
How the mouth is used in common
and in so many different ways.

What a mouth consists of:

Teeth
Tonsils
Tongue
Taste buds
Braces
Food
Piercings
Disease
Saliva
Flem
Breathing mechanism
other scientific shit i should look up.

What is a mouths appeal:

Lips
DRESS THEM UP
White teeth
makeup
botox
piercings
tattoos even

Whats a mouths surroundings:
Mustache
..Male and female
other facial hair
achene
Disease
close friend the nose.

What a mouth looks like:
wet with bodily fluids
Wet with foreign fluids
dry from a cold winter
cracked from lack of attention
deformed from a birth defect
Large
Small
Messed up teeth
Missing teeth

And further more,

What do we put into our mouths-  food, drink, drugs, body parts, toothbrush
How active is the mouth-  does it stop functioning at night, its still doing some kind of scientific mess.
What do we put out of the mouth- sighs, whistling, yawns, yelling,whispering, A VOICE

All questions to be answered
And photographed.
Who knows.
 but i think i found what I want to explore.
So it could get pretty ... it could get dirty.

Maybe tomorrow will give me a new list of 1/2 ass thoughts and ideas
that may be the one i look further into....

But i think you will see this non-blogging- photographer develop
through means of organization of thoughts. Rants. Hatred. Love. Master minded breakthroughs.
And maybe some disturbing images.

...ahh all in the day of a blogger i guess.... I could get use to this.

-S

9-10-12

Today was my first day of Graduate classes at SCAD Atlanta.
And I'm  LOVING IT!
More to tell soon!
-SEë