Personal/Body Project

In my personal/body photography project, I wanted to explore the theme in a less obvious way. I was intrigued by the way the body is represented in shadows and the ambiguity of them, in the way that the image became a silhouette, and simplified. I began by exploring my most salient identities at this point in my life and tried to find connections between those identities and how I use my body, or how my body is represented through those identities. I chose the four identities of: student, runner, girlfriend, and friend.

In this project I explored how my body can, and does, portray those identities. I feel as though the way people view each other is directly correlated to the way their body is represented. For example, if I were walking on University Blvd with a backpack and a t-shirt with a University of Arizona Wildcat on it, it would be easy for strangers to determine that I am indeed a student at the University of Arizona. Or if I was holding hands with a male, people would logically assume we were both straight, and he was my boyfriend. It is obvious that people set a lot of value in their bodies and the way their bodies represent themselves, which is why so many photography projects are done to battle body image as relating to physical appearance.

As I began to develop this idea further I became interested in the possibility of still having an idea represented with essentially only the negative of an image. Artists like Kara Walker and Ellis Gallagher, who use the silhouettes or shadows of objects in order to represent those objects, inspired me. I decided to try taking photographs of the shadow my body creates, and was intrigued by the shape and ambiguity of it. I tied in my identities by acting them out in a way, then photographing the shadow of that. For example, as a student I am always wearing a backpack and carrying my MacBook around campus, so I included those things in the image. The rest of the images are rather straightforward.

I was initially unhappy with the way the shadows appeared very cold and stark, because those are two words I would never associate with my identity. I decided to edit the photos, and played with the contrast and coloring until I felt as though the photographs effectively exuded a sense of the emotion that I feel in relation to my identities that I chose to portray.  

Documenting Life with Ovarian Cancer

  

 

These photographs were taken over a two week period, documenting the life of a cancer patient currently undergoing treatment for Ovarian Cancer. Ovarian Cancer is one of the most obscure cancers, as there are very few prevention, detection, and treatment options. A "cure" has yet to be found. When I heard about this documentary photography assignment, I knew immediately that I wanted to document my mothers experience with Ovarian Cancer. One difficult thing to deal with was realizing how little information and awareness  there is regarding cancer, in particular ovarian. I know that before my own life was touched by cancer I never considered for a moment that it would ever effect me or my family. September was Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, in which friends and family wore teal (the color associated with Ovarian Cancer, like pink for Breast Cancer) and painted their toes teal in support of loved ones. I wanted to document the things that cancer patients deal with on a day by day basis; the constant doctors visits, medications, chemotherapy, side effects, and the outpouring of love and support. I took this assignment as an opportunity to allow others to educate themselves, and give a small peek into an experience that they will hopefully not have to experience firsthand.