The project is still a work in progress, so the title(s) and artist statement may change, but this is a little bit about what I was working at:

When I first moved to Halifax one of the first things I noticed in the city were these wooden telephone poles covered in staples (as well as metal poles covered in old packaging tape and fliers). A lot of these poles were so completely covered in staples that the actual pole can no longer even be seen. They appear instead as old rusty pillars of metal, their actual wooden bodies sometimes only apparent high out of reach of staplers — and they’ve managed to get pretty high!

The poles intrigue me in their placement in a modern pristine setting, a reminder of old traditional methods of communication juxtaposed with our sleek cell phones and laptops. Our current ability to send information at what seems like the speed of light throws our older communications into a rather unflattering light. Yet I find that these unique, chaotic, ragged bulletin boards speak more to being human. What I also find interesting about the poles is that, in their settings, they appear ugly and small. Oftentimes, students volunteering go around town removing the staples in these poles. These interesting entities from the past are, like many old buildings or artifacts, removed because they interfere with a skyline of hard lines and shiny glass.

Summer 2009 Digital Photo Final Project

My interest in architecture is very much based on lines, geometry, and perspective. However, there is also the alternate definition of perspective that I am interested in. Buildings represent a major part of any society’s history and place in the world. It is representative of people’s perspective on things and whether their history has affected them in positive or negative ways. It can also be an insight as to how a particular group of people feel about themselves or their way of life. In this way, there is a huge amount of personality in buildings and architecture type. However, it is additionally interesting to notice similarities between architecture in completely different parts of the world. Where ever I’ve traveled in the world, I’ve noticed similarities and differences with the place I’m in with where I come from and other trips I’ve taken. I’ve noted the differences of space, space between buildings and how it is often related to the space between people, both personal and psychological; how the people of different societies with different traditions react with their architecture, whether the streets are crowded or bare. Architecture reveals how much people have in common, and how little others do: and how those with the most in common could live the farthest away while those with the least in common could live under the same roof. It can also measure how much or how little a person has. How interesting that wealth is measured both in how new or how old buildings are and how perspectives in buildings change throughout the world just as the direction that the sun sets and settles on these buildings. Our perspectives are always different, perhaps even seen as warped in other cultures. That a person might have what we think is nothing and live in a shack but feel as though they’ve been blessed. Whereas another person who we think has everything and lives in a huge mansion may feel like a prisoner is his/her own home.

Lastly, architecture is also a huge indication of how supportive an area is in the arts. It cannot be especially indicative of whether a place has artists, but simply how much input they are able to give and how much they are able to affect their society. After all, a place that stifles creativity does not and cannot survive in a world that becomes more reliant upon using the creative process in problem solving and in considering the world at large as well as our future in it.

The theme of my portfolio is “leave no trace”. The images I’ve focused on in this set are all images pertaining to people and the traces, footsteps, influences, etc that they leave in the places they’ve been. I focused mainly on natural settings with the intent of depicting some of how humans interact with nature. In most parks and public gardens there are signs that tell us to clean up after ourselves and generally make it appear as though we have not been there; in other words, to leave these places the same as they were when we entered them. The fact is, however, the ability to control what mark you leave on any place is very difficult. From the tallest building to the smallest footprint, humans will always leave some trace of their presence.

The body of work I generated in my Photo 3: Alternative Processes class where we discussed and experimented with different photographic techniques. I found that my favorite technique was applying developer with a paintbrush which allows you to create truly unique photographs.