If Anything Could Ever Be This Good Again

It's hard to believe that its Spring Break after today. Although, in a few short days it'll even be harder to believe that there are pretty much only ten weeks left, when it only feels just like yesterday was the first week.

Shake It Board Assignment Self Portrait

Every now and then you look through your pictures. You see pictures without snow, and it all feels strangely like it was just yesterday, but also like it was so long ago. The past month the sun has been coming back out again, and all of us are incredibly excited. It has been a very gloomy winter.

Portraits are probably my favourite thing thus far.  Every person is so unique that each portrait is almost its own piece of art, its own statement. They can be challenging, but in the end the reward I find is much greater. I much prefer to interact with my subjects and be able to laugh and joke around with them. A wine glass doesn't smile at you.

Environmental Portrait of Ryan

One of our major assignments just before the Christmas break was quite the doozy. It was a two page typed "pick three of these" several topics. I chose People and Things, Zoom Bursts, and Contrasts. There were so many reasons this was a challenging project. It was one of the largest assignments we had received thus far, there were exams and other assignments and over all exhaustion setting in around the same time.

Song Interpretation Portrait. Inspired by the song "Drink Me" by Anna Nalick

This assignment however, has left me with some of my favourite random shots through out the year. I enjoyed planning for these shoots and being able to self direct myself to get the images I wanted. For the most part what we have been shooting for the year has been directed by our teachers. This assignment was very self directed on content with a main theme as the topic. We are currently preparing for a group show that is coming for the end of May. There is a lot on our plates right now, as we are preparing for the next ten weeks, finals, portfolios and still continuously learning as we go. However, it is slightly exciting to be self directing some of the work from this point on.

Rocking it old school on the vinyl, shot to be part of a contrast series with the new style of music 

Another major assignment we had over the break was to incorporate many of the design elements we had learned and creative processes into our shots. Two of my favourite pictures from that were capturing a moment of a sparkler on a birthday cake, and stumbling upon a random huge metal ball at the Forks and exploring the subject with my camera to make it my own. 

Capturing the Moment

A transformed subject 

Zoom Burst Technique of the Darkroom

The dark room is a place that I never expected to enjoy. Despite the stink of the dark room chemicals, I really enjoy the site of an image beginning to show on a piece of paper. From loading the film, to developing the film, to making the print. I have my hands on every aspect of this creative process. The dark room though is the place, where everyone has their days. Some days, some prints are harder to achieve than others. Sometimes, the amount of work it takes to get a print just right can be incredibly challenging and  frustrating. Other days, we develop our negatives in the weirdest possible things like coffee grinds. 

I thoroughly respect the veterans in the industry that used to do amazing things that now are done in photoshop, or those that still use the dark room on a regular basis in their art. 

Film exploration for my Song Inspiration Assignment 

Capturing the mask on film in the earlier days of school 

One of my first portraits of the year, done on film for an assignment. 

Pin Hole Photography, our latest analog technique

I can't really explain how fun this past year has been. Right now I feel lost with words. Some examples however are laughing so hard that you snort, or whistle, or perhaps fall to the ground. Surprise birthday parties where everyone wheres the same style of shirt. Improper age guesses that lead to a person running out of the room cause they are laughing so hard at the explanation Scaring people as they come out of the dark room door. Ridiculous photo shop techniques. Go karting with no voice trying to scream at the top of my lungs as I take the corners going a fast 15 km an hour. The endless you tube videos in group critiques. The list goes on...

Attending Prairieview is something that I have wanted to do for several years now. After considering the costs, the stress, the reduced hours at work, it was something I just had to do. 

Tacey Coggins

PV Diploma Student

2012-13