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A snapshot of photography as an art form; explore art museums and galleries devoted to photography, iconic photographers, the history of fine art photography and more.
Whisp
I took this picture a couple of months ago, around Christmas in my dormitory. I had done my makeup, dressed rather nicely for a weekday, and had actually tried to tame my wild afro but I had absolutely nowhere to go. I sat in my room, working on this and that until I stood up and looked out the window. It was a regular day, students milling to and fro, not yet the time for evening activities but too late in the day to have any more classes. I don’t exactly remember the song that I was listening to, but I remember feeling the acute sense of nothingness. Looking out the window, I didn’t feel peace or contentedness, happiness or even sadness. I remember feeling out of place, without context, like I was floating in an endless sea of space. My phone snapped me out of my weird reverie, and after finishing my homework, I returned to the same place I had been just moments ago. Even after standing in the same place, and staring at the same place, I couldn’t bring back the same feeling, and for whatever reason it saddened me. So, I decided I would take a picture, to help distract me, because I knew that today I looked good. I stood at the window for over five minutes, constantly changing positions and postures. I had the camera on a self -timer, and I remember counting the seconds until the shutter clicked. I had the pose just right, the perfect frame and lighting, but I couldn’t re-create the face that I knew I was feeling inside. I changed the self-timer from the standard three seconds to ten seconds, but as I clicked the camera button, I lost track of the time, and then all of a sudden, I was back to that space miles away. A mere second may have gone by but in my shoes, you would have felt what you can only imagine to be the weight of the world, transferred to your shoulders from mine. Click! The shutter went off, the speed of the sound pulling me faster than I could have imagined out of the state I was in. I blinked a few times, and then looked at my phone. My first instinct was to delete it, my fingers were mere centimeters from the screen, ready to hit the retake button, but something in me decided to wait. So instead, I saved it. I continued for another five or so minutes taking pictures, but I knew in my heart I knew that none of them would work because I had already found the one; I just didn’t want to believe it. I dutifully edited it, using the warm tones of the room and highlighted my skin to glowing perfection, but it didn’t change the face. I posted it to Instagram and received many compliments and words of affirmation, but I didn’t read anything that I wanted to see. I showed a few select people in my everyday life here at college, they all admired it and praised it but again, not what I wanted to hear. Still to this day, looking at this picture only serves to give me mixed emotions. As an artist, I am proud of what I accomplished, but as the model I am scared by what I pulled out of myself. Because of the position the photo was taken, I’m not really sure if I’m smiling. If taken as a regular point and shoot frame, would it have been a different look? One that show relaxed but non-smiling lips, or would it have reflected the same hint of happiness I vaguely detect? Is the arm crossed in the manner of nonchalant or one marked by years of self-defensiveness? Or even worse, is it a self-hug stemmed from years of loneliness caused only by the misfortunes of one’s past mistakes. Do the eyes shine like glass from unshed tears, or are they just reflections of her fears in the past coming to haunt her in the future? I call this look a whisp, because it is the most delicate look that has ever surfaced on my face from graves, I buried deep. If it was but a famous picture like the Mona Lisa, I would ponder upon these thoughts and search for a conclusion but since it is about me, I only run from them.
By Sofya Maxnide6 years ago in Photography
A Flight of Imagination
The series of fortunately unfortunate occurrences all began when I arrived back home after being out for the night. Completely unprepared for what I would find I entered my room to see that my bird cage had managed to go from hanging in the air from the ceiling to being on the ground no longer attached. A sense of panic went through me as I came to the realization that my bird was not in her cage. Completely devastated but mentally prepared as I was expecting to find her dead I frantically started searching. My cat whom I had been worried about wether she had escaped the night before was ,to my relief, sitting next to my bed pretending to be innocent.
By Ruby Estelle 6 years ago in Photography
The Real Truth About Golf
Earlier this week I travelled up the beautiful Northumberland coast for a game of golf, with three good pals, at Alnmouth Golf Club. The course, also known as Foxton, is located on cliffs above Alnmouth Village where there is another golf course by the same name.
By Richard Hannam6 years ago in Photography
Sunrise at Yellowstone National Park
There are a few rare places in the world where time as a linear construct just doesn’t seem to make much sense; places where the past, present and even the future seem to be all jumbled together, like pack ice piled up along a shoreline. For me, Yellowstone National Park is of those scarce spots. There is a magic about Yellowstone that comes from the mist of hot bubbling springs and steam-sprouting geysers. In the hills and valleys throughout the park, ghostly sulfur mist rises from soft rock outcroppings and thin, crusty salt surfaces. Boiling brooks below gurgle in the ground. The geysers hiss, whistle, give and moan before erupting.
By Mesutcan Ilhaner6 years ago in Photography
Golden Valley Amid The Storm
It’s September, 2019. A storm came upon us as we had driven through Ouray and Silverton, Colorado. We were on our way to Durango to find new lodging after a disappointing surprise for our original lodging. We did find a decent place and stayed for two days.
By Erin Pelicano6 years ago in Photography
Sun Kissed On A Work Day
The work day is always unique for me. I try to find some type of way to embrace the sunshine in that day. On this particular day the sun was shining bright. The warmth of the sun kissed my melanin in a way that sowed joy into my soul's field.
By Merlin Mystique6 years ago in Photography
How Photography Will Help You to Improve Yourself
Photographs are known as the reflection of one's inner self. A photographer is an artist who, with the help of the camera, can read the eyes and face expressions of a person and can capture the same emotions with the camera. This is an era of selfies and hashtags. Every individual who has a smartphone is eligible to click photographs. But do you know that photography can help you to improve your life?
By Dhaval6 years ago in Photography
Truth or Art: Integrity in the Portrayal of Culture Discussed in Katie Ives’s "Sharp End"
The works of authors depicting the first ascent of the tallest peak in the world in the early 1900s “reflect[ed] dreams of hidden other worlds or vertical wastelands." After all, these writers were storytellers, seeking a story that would captivate worldly audiences. They did not lie, nor transcribe the events in a malicious manner, but their search for the twist that would set their story apart from the rest left a hole in the truth. In the essay “Sharp End,” published in the magazine The Alpinist, Katie Ives follows Tibetan local and author of We Tibetans, Lhamo, and with the accompaniment of Ethan Welty’s photography, illustrates the tradeoff between an honest portrait of foreign culture for a more interesting story.
By Elias Delaca6 years ago in Photography
When You Want to Be Social but You're Not Even in the Game
When our photos have the ability to travel far and wide, and reach people in the middle of nowhere, we think of success, thanks to social media outlets like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram; the list goes on. We change people's hearts and minds in an instant, because of our worthy attempts to be an outstanding photographer, capturing beauty, innocence, peace, the laugh of a child.
By Casey Keller6 years ago in Photography
