Analyze your creative process by answering the following questions.
- How do you ensure that your work is relevant to you? My work is relevant to me because I am somewhat obsessed with order and symmetry. I like for things to be chaotic, but in an orderly fashion. I believe my images reflect this idea in that they subject matter is random but the overall image is orderly and symmetrical. I also like the idea of abstraction in the sense that you cannot tell right away what the materials are in the image. I like the idea of the viewer wondering what is going on in the image, and I feel like this will occur when viewers look at these.
- How do you ensure that your work is relevant to the contemporary world? My work is relevant to the contemporary world because I am trying new things in my process and I am exploring new options. I think my idea is a little bit out of the ordinary, so maybe that will apply to the idea of what is contemporary.
- How do you brainstorm? Do you sketch? Do you use the camera as a brainstorming tool so that you “look” at the world through the frame of the camera and capture bits and pieces of your environment? I brainstorm by writing down my thoughts and ideas of what I think my photos might reflect. I also take pictures in two different ways: I either go in with a vague idea and just shoot and then find the image within the image later, or I decide what I want to shoot then I go shoot it with somewhat of an idea of what I want it to look like. I "sketch" on photoshop by taking pictures and playing with them until I find something that I like. I take careful consideration to frame and composition when I already know what I want to shoot. I like to use the camera as a brainstorming tool sometimes; I like to look through the lens and see what there is around me.
- Do you combine elements of various media? How do you do this? Do you do it physically with printed images or objects? Do you combine elements virtually in the computer? In the past, I have combined scanned images with images taken with my SLR. I combined these particular images in photoshop. I would like to try this again, or maybe combine film photographs with scans...
- How does your process relate to your ideas/concept? How does your process relate to your outcome/final pieces? Why are you using digital technology (if you are)? Why are you using analog technology (if you are)? I think my process relates to my idea because I am creating chaotic yet symmetrical and orderly images, and my idea relates to order and self-reflective images. Hmmm...if I am making images that self-reflect, maybe that can relate to me...maybe I can reflect myself more within my images? Maybe the idea that there are multiple sides to everything reflects the idea of why I am reflecting the images four times...I definitely have more than one side to me, and through these images I can prove that there are many sides to everything that can make up a new part of the same thing. Since I have made four different four-piece images out of one single image, I show that different things can come from one thing. Sorry I just had that thought...I am using digital technology, mainly SLR but also the scanner. I think I am using these because it is easier to edit in photoshop with these types of images; I want to try more manipulation with photoshop this semester so I think using digital is a better idea.
- How do you judge your work? When do you think it “works”? When do you think it is “not working yet”? What criteria do you use to make these decisions? My imagery works, in some ways. I think it is pleasing to the eye, though it is a bit bizarre looking. Some of the images are creepy, and I want to steer away from that. I think the more creepy images are not working and I need to tone them down a bit (maybe with one of the options in photoshop). I don't know if my original idea is working...I believe the self-reflection of the images is working, but the idea behind it isn't. Maybe the idea I just blurted out (above) is a bit better...I will think about it a bit more tonight and see if it becomes more clear.
- How do ensure that your work is new, unique, ground-breaking, and/or you are breaking the mold/thinking outside the box/pushing the limits? I am not sure if my work is ground-breaking, but I think it is somewhat unique in that it is different from anything that I have ever seen. I am sure people have made reflective images before, but I think the idea I am developing is different from most things that others have done. I believe I am thinking outside the box in my development of the way I am shooting and the way I am putting images together...I recently stumbled upon an idea for the content of my images, and I think it could be successful...:)
