Roles in Society
September 18, 2014
This particular series was created for duel purposes. First it was a graduate project based off of the theme “Identity.” Secondly, it worked for my teacher example of “The List. The List is a 3 month assignment in which my students pick their own shooting problems (off of a list) and turn in 2 final photographs per week. At the end of the 3 months, we create a hand bound book for display. Every few years, I decide to do it with the students. It is the only time that I shoot digitally. Below is the actual artist statement from the work that I turned in.
Who am I? Before this assignment, I never really asked myself this question. I know who I am, but I never thought about the idea of what defines me. Is it accomplishments? Is it the people that I’ve affected? Money? Is it friends? Family? I’ve always approached my life with the idea that I want to be happy. Happiness to me is about doing what I love. So for me, and who I am, I chose the idea of happiness. My artwork is based off of three roles that truly make me happy. A husband, a teacher and a coach.
I chose to showcase my three roles through the use of clothing. I chose clothing because it was a way of putting more emphasis on the role, rather than the person in the clothes. The artwork is personal to me, but I wanted it to appeal to a broader audience. In each work, I included details that are unique to me. For example, the Husband photograph is the suit that I wore when I was married and includes my hand written vowels tucked into the jacket. The Coach photograph includes my shoes that I have worn since I was a player in college. The shirt is dirty and wrinkled because I have believe that it is unlucky to wash my game clothes until we lose. The Teacher photograph showcases the clothes that I wore the day of the photo shoot. I always roll my sleeves up to be more comfortable. I chose to showcase my images in the same style of composition to emphasize that I am the same person in any role that I have. My mannerisms may change a bit, but I am the same person in and out of every role that I may have.
I was inspired for this assignment in an unique way. One evening, I was on Facebook and saw an ad for The Trunk Club. It is an online clothing store that sends you an entire outfit of clothes that fits your style. I immediately thought of clothing and personality. I thought it would be interesting to showcase the different roles through clothing. I combine the idea of clothing with the style of Emily Blincoe. She is a contemporary photographer who shoots individual objects from directly above.
These three roles are what define me, but more importantly make me happy. Overall, I am pleased with the artwork form a conceptual and aesthetic stance. I would love to have more experience in studio lights to prevent some of the soft shadows that occur. I would also like to shoot with a better tripod to get some more depth in the detailed images.
