Photo assignment: street photography

Brief

You will investigate the different areas in downtown Abilene. Observe architectural elements, structural lines, pedestrians, workers, farm market, etc. Use your camera to tell a story. Think about what your statement is and make intelligent decisions about the composition.

Criteria

Your photographs must represent an intellectual process, a visual message. Therefore, you will turn in a 1-page essay explaining your decisions and thoughts for this assignment. Explain the reasons why you captured those elements and what they meant to you. What are you trying to say with your photographs?

•  Use any available camera (cellphone, SLR, DSLR, point-and-shoot, etc.)
•  After finishing the assignment, you will need to download your photos and select 4 final images to be emailed to: nil.santana@acu.edu (subject line: HCOLL/your last name)
• The images will be compiled for an online display in our blog. For any reason, if you fail to have your images sent by 5:00pm Saturday afternoon, you will not be graded for this assignment.

To think about…

Is every photograph documentary?

Can documentary photography be art?

 

Project Results

 

“…“Man” was taken at the prior advice of my professor to just “go for it!” I saw a subject, one of my only subjects of the day, and tried to get him in a good shot using the rule of thirds. I like that I happened to photograph him in motion, on the move with suitcases in hand. He is clearly a “wanderer”, and I think that adds meaning to his image in still.”

by Sara Shoultz

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“It seems fairly reasonable to assume that the documentary photographer has a strict obligation to document the subject in a manner that is truthful, respecting the occasion and the disposition of the world caught by the lens.  However, as I tried to implement in my shots today, I think cultivating an aesthetic for a particular shot is a large part of exhibiting a moment before the camera with integrity.”

by Jordan Havens

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“…I was attempting to be inconspicuous as I snapped shots, but mostly I would ask permission. I placed him on the left side of the photo to include his kiosk, which helps describe and locate him. It appears as if he is selling make-up, which humors me because he does not appear to be an expert of the subject.”

by Mary Delaughter

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“…the two pictures of the run-down computer store and Henderson Grain Co. represent what Abilene once was. I took the Henderson building picture because I wanted to capture the essence of Abilene’s past. When I saw the computer store, however, I wondered what it might have been like 20 or 30 years ago? It’s amazing how much we have advanced since then. The world changes right before our very eyes, yet we often don’t see how far we’ve come until we step back and look at where we once stood.”

by Austin Anderson

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“After having heard about the relationship of photographs and society and wanted to try take some accurate documentation of Abilene on a Saturday. This proved harder then originally anticipated. Snapping pictures of strangers required quick snapping or direct permission. I focused on taking pictures that would align geometrically (thereby being pleasing to the eye) or images that capture human emotion.”

by Jeremy Foo

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“While photographing, I also began paying attention to the empty spaces where people should have been and, presumably, sometimes are: the parking spaces reserved for bank customers, the empty slides on the playground at a church, the stop signs at intersections, the beer bottle lying beside the tire of a school bus, the bumper stickers on parked cars. Although I had encountered some actual people during the day, I was beginning to find evidences of where people have been. The absence of life became as compelling as the presence of it, and I started to train my camera on the empty fire-escapes and parking garages with only one car in them. By the end of my photographic narrative, what I most wanted to capture were the unexpected, vacant places that still suggest human presence.”

by Juliana Kocsis

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“…it was my goal to display special focus on the ordinary scenes of the neighborhood in an attempt to highlight the quiet simplicity and small town beauty that makes Downtown Abilene special.”

by Michelle Cornell

 

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“Downtown Abilene is the heart of the city, where Abilene began. It contains many of the city’s oldest buildings, and yet, also, some of the most modern. It shows the transition of life and growth: from nature to man, from old to new, and the tension between transience and permanence. The images taken during this assignment try to capture this tension by presenting the viewer with iconic aspects of each conflicting element, side by side. They are a representation of the world, both beautiful and tense, a paradox of adjacent parts.”

by Nicholas Hill

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“I love to watch people’s faces light up when you smile at them or take genuine interest in them. The picture of the man smiling in the blue hat would be that exact moment when his face broke into a smile when we started talking. People react differently each time.”

by Kaitlyn Wilkins

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“But he’s outside in the morning, blowing leaves on the sidewalk. There’s such a juxtaposition between his appearance and his activity. And again, there’s the slight square element with the windows behind him.”

by Becca Fullerton

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“Overall, I found each of these people to be relatable, and now they do not feel so much like strangers anymore. After getting a glimpse into their lives, I have a greater sense of who makes up this city where I live, who keeps it running, who repairs roofs and clothes. I guess the word community kept ringing in my ears because this project made me interact with my community, which is something I forget to do when I am in the ACU bubble.”

by Leah Rama

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“Abilene’s roots, and not-so-modernized downtown provides insight to how the people treat, appreciate and value the historical surroundings. For this reason I did not change images any more than simple black and white switches or highlighting of a main hue in order to preserve the same feel.”

by Jess Weeden