Photojournalism

 This photograph taken at the chapel that is in the camp that I grew up at is important to me because it represents my faith and my childhood. I went to this camp as a child and the chapel there is the center of worship there. Also I worked for a sister ministry of this camp for the past two summers and this is the chapel where we are commissioned into working for God for the summer. This photo is a prime example of framing which is a photojournalism tool used by photographers to draw the eye to what it is important in the photo which in this case is the cross. Also in this photo I used the compositional technique of the golden triangle in this photograph because of all the angles the eye is drawn to following the lines of the photograph.

 This log was found at the camp I used to live in as well it is weathered over time because it has been at this camp for almost ten years as I remember the day I came tumbling over the waterfall below. It is also weathered through nature like my family has in the camping world, my family has worked for camping and retreat ministries for over 20 years and while it has been difficult with all the snakes I would not want it any other way. For this reason I chose to photograph this log using the photojournalism technique of proximity and the compositional technique of rule of thirds.

 This is the aforementioned waterfall. I grew up with this waterfall in my back yard almost literally and it has been a symbol for the camp where I worked and lived and also for the gathering of Christians all over the north Georgia conference. I used the the photojournalism technique of place. People may not know that this is more than an ordinary waterfall, they may think that it is just beautiful but it also has meaning to me. I also used the compositional technique of the golden triangle to make the eye follow the line of the waterfall up to the line of the viewing deck and trail and back down.

Ceramics is one of my favorite mediums as an artist and it is something I find pride and enjoyment in. This is one of the projects I have been working on, lidded jars. The photojournalism technique I used was vantage point, I leaned back and was sitting down to take this photograph and I used the compositional technique of the golden spiral to make the eye focus on the small lidded jar I was working on.

Photography is very important to teach students as it shows them new ways of expressing themselves if the school has the resources to have a large photography class that is great but if not almost all students have phones in this day and age and therefore can usually participate in class. If a student does not have a phone then they can borrow a camera that I personally have or one of the school's camera, if the school has a few cameras. The things that I would teach would definitely be centered on the importance of composition. Then I would have students focus on what it is important to them, more specifically not selfies or pictures of their friends but pictures of more meaningful things such as what has influenced the person that they have become. I would also have them work on a project that would specifically look for a topic that is important or ongoing in the media.

Here is a link to an artist I admire.
http://www.jacksonfineart.com/Walker-Evans-356.html