Final Project

1. The first idea I have had for my final project is taking pictures that are inspired by a moment, images that nag me to be taken, rather than images for which I search. Often, when photographing, my best pictures are those which are instinctual: I see something and I will not stop thinking about it until its on film. Recently, I have had two situations where I needed to shoot: one of the light on my body in bed and one of some family on thanksgiving. If this is the idea I choose, I would approach it by keeping my camera on me for the next week and a half in order to get the best image out of the moments I need to shoot.

2. The second idea for the final is to take seated portraits of female seniors at St. Mary's in the apparel I recently received from my aunt. When in our senior year of highschool, we are forced to take our final yearbook photo in strange black velvet that is passed down to every class and every person who has their photo taken in the schools. The photo means the world because it is our final mark. Now in college, realizing that high school is really nothing but a short flashback, I want to commemorate the final year of college for a few girls I know. Instead of dressing them in the traditional velvet, I think it would be appropriate to let them choose. The clothes are from the past 30 years of my aunts life. Always known for her style, my aunt has saved all of her most valued and favorite clothing since she was my current age. Much of the items I received were not just her clothes, but her most favored items from her youth, selected specifically to give to me. These clothes have become a right of passage in my own mind, picking up where she left off with them. By allowing the girls to choose their style and have someone not just quickly shoot them, but take the time to photograph them, I believe that it will give them, and the image, a sense of accomplishment and grace, as a souvenir of their final years.