My Take

“Life Through The Lens”

Photo Seminar © 2013Produced in Philadelphia, PA

Table Of Contents

Cara Anderson 1-2

Kate McCann 3-4

Hua Zong 5-6

Dillon Mast 7-8

Andrew Thayer 9-10

Courtney Marabella 11-12

Michael Wojcik 13-14

Abi Reimold 15-16

Daniel Pellgrine 17-18

Patrick McPeak 19-20

Milena Corredor 21-22

Shanshan Xu 23-24

Kirsten Griffin 25-26

Cynthia Rau 27-28

Randi Fair 29-30

Rachel Del Sordo 31-32

Luis Rodriguez 33-34

Cara AndersonI hope that people will strive to define their ownscope. learning photography in a university setting has allowed me to grasp that what one deems as photoworthy can be dismissed by a viewer. People differ not only in the ways that they perceive color, but in the ways that they perceive human interaction. there is no absolute truth, but with a photograph and a story, i can qualify my opinions.

so, I want my photographs to be not only aesthetically pleasing but emotionally evoking. A photograph without a story is dry. I look for a story when I shoot.

Overall, I like to get close. I like detail. I like uncomfortable situations, asking questions, and gaining the trust of unlikely subjects. I want my photos to share my vision. in my eyes,Photography is not only a means of documentation. Photography is a vehicle for sharing knowledge and I find nothing to be more important than that.

I began making photographs nine years ago. It was instantaneous love. Since then, my skills have surely grown but my favorite subjects have stayed the same; insects and humans. These two subjects are difficult to capture in their own ways. Insects are often times evasive. Humans are often quite shy. Both can be weary of photographers. I want my work to speak for itself, tolend a hand at explaining who I am.I want to teach.

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Kate MCCANNSo sometimes you need to live in a moment without that strap weighing down your right shoulder. Sometimes you need to drunkenly stumble beneath the Eifel Tower or enjoy a sunset without the shutter sound clicking.

This isn’t to say my subconscious doesn’t constantly frame shots, or that I’ve never missed an irreplaceable photo opportunity, but I know I need to allow myself and this relationship the breathing room they need to grow.I hope that people will strive to define their ownscope. learning photography in a university setting has allowed me to grasp that what one deems as photoworthy can be dismissed by a viewer. People differ not only in the ways that they perceive color, but in the ways that they perceive human interaction. there is no absolute

truth, but with a photograph and a story, i can qualify my opinions.

so, I want my photographs to be not only aesthetically pleasing but emotionally evoking. A photograph without a story is dry. I look for a story when I shoot.

Overall, I like to get close. I like detail. I like uncomfortable situations, asking questions, and gaining the trust of unlikely subjects. I want my photos to share my vision. in my eyes,Photography is not only a means of documentation. Photography is a vehicle for sharing knowledge and I find nothing to be more important than that.

IMy relationship with photography started as an obsession. Every moment I had free was spent in the darkroom with enlargers and stop baths. I never wanted to miss a moment where I could be releasing the shutter. Everything had to be captured.

In retrospect, I’m glad that phase is gone. My relationship with photography now is enhanced by allowing other interests, passions and relationships to thrive in my life. Only knowing how expose an image correctly doesn’t allow for those other facets of life to contribute to the images we make.I don’t particularly like to set scenes up or pose people so they can look flawless. I don’t even know how to. I just like seeing what is in front of me and being able to make it last for as long as I need it to. As long as others want it to.

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Hua Zongeven though I had a photo class that semester. And actually, I took four photo classes before I transferred to Temple.

I started to take a lot of photos after I came to America. At first, I just took photos to kill the time, walking around with my camera. And it leads my journey to explore in Philadelphia. Right now, due to all kinds of assignments, I travel more in this city than before, always bringing my camera with me.

Also, I love sports photography.

Somebody might say sports photography is boring because it’s just about those key moments. But you would never meet the same moment a second time. And actually, I would say sports photography is not only about the moments, it is also about the reaction from the players, the coach, and the audience because they have the emotions during the game. Therefore, you should observe everywhere, not only on the floor or the field. Sports photography makes me excited.

Anyway, I am still on the way.

“You are not an artist student. You are a photo journalist student. Do not consider how beautiful the photo is. Instead, pay more attention to make your photos valuable.” By Yanhong Li.

These words are from a senior photographer back home. The conversation I had with him completely changes my eyes to take photos. Personally, I hate my shots before the summer 2011

I had my first DSLR in the fall 2010. But I did not take so many photos during the first year I had it,

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Dillon MastI don’t really like taking pictures. I derive no joy from it. There’s no excitement, no pleasure. It’s fine. It’s normal, for me anyway. I just don’t really enjoy much.

In that sense, I don’t really take pictures “for fun.” That’s not to say I wouldn’t want to take them as an occupation. Regardless of the context, I certainly don’t ever want to “make” pictures. Nobody who says that they “make” pictures produces anything worth looking at, and if they do it’s tainted by their pompous attitude.

I may be a critical, negative asshole, but I’m not pompous pretentious. It is for that reason that I think I may never “make it” as a photographer, which is fine. The world

of photography is flooded by mediocrity. Today, I believe that critique applies to any field that asks for creativity and creation, but it is especially true of photography. I have no desire to take pictures unless I become something more than mediocre. I don’t know what that means, and I don’t know what I’ll require of myself in order to keep doing this.

I don’t have a unique style or vision. I have no voice and nothing to say. I don’t use any unique techniques or equipment. When asked to take pictures of anything at all, I think my pictures are empty and intentionally ugly. Sometimes they’re dark and heavy. I like to obscure and obfuscate. I like strong like and stark contrast, or maybe I like diffuse light and low contrast. I’m on the fence about color, but I know that I like to remove it. If you tell me to take pictures of something, I like to be as close or as far as possible. I shoot about 90 percent less than most people, but that doesn’t mean that I like the few images that I take. I am perpetually unsatisfied.

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Andrew thayerareas are because I am a visual learner.

Things are easier to understand once you see them done out in front of you, things become clearer. Photography allows me to create something that is purely visual. I used to be pretty interested in graphic design and what I loved about that was how many different ways there is to create limitless outcomes. Photography is similar in the sense that there a million angles and outcomes of any given photograph, it all depends on who is holding the

camera. One of the most satisfying experiences I’ve known is looking at one of my photos and seeing exactly what I wanted to capture, through my own eyes. Then if another person sees my photo and enjoys it, I have given them a view or an outcome that they most likely have never seen otherwise. I am not sure if I will pursue taking photographs for a living but I do know that I will always take photographs because of that simple joy that it gives me.

I would say that I got into photography because I am a very visual person as well as pretty introverted. Hanging back and observing a situation or interaction is my natural reaction rather than jumping the middle and involving myself. This personality trait lends itself to the nature of photography. Words, writing, calculus, scientific theories, imaginary numbers; these are all things that I have struggled with at some point in time, some more than others. I have come to realize that my shortcomings in these

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Courtney Marabellait going on? What is the story behind the photo?

Story. That’s the key word. I think what makes a good photo is the story behind it. For example, if I see a picture of an old lady sitting on a bench and it’s lit and composed beautifully, but I know nothing about the woman, I’m not going to be that interested. If I see a photo of an old lady sitting on a bench and maybe the lighting and composition could be better, but I learn that this woman sitting on the bench sits in the same place everyday for however many hours because, let’s say, that’s where her dad used to take her to feed the birds as a child, I’m going to be very interested. I think there should always be more to a picture than, “Oh, that looks nice.”

See, I feel like when we take pictures, so much of the time it’s because we are trying to document moments in our own lives. But if we take a picture of a person, or an event, we’re also documenting moments in the lives of other people. We need to tell their stories too. I mean, something had to intrigue

you enough to take that picture, why wouldn’t you want to delve a little deeper?

One of the more important things I’ve had to ask myself after entering the photo track is, do I want to be a journalist first, or a photographer first? And what I realized is that I want to be a journalist first. Telling stories, relaying information, bringing relevant information to people’s attention- that’s what I want to do. Photography is just my outlet for doing that.

And that...is my relationship with photography.

My take.

What is my relationship with photography? Well...I guess it’s a little complicated.

Let me first say that my relationship with photography is still relatively new. My first photo class, ever, was Basic Photo, last spring. Before taking that class I had never used a camera before. In fact, my photo experience entailed merely taking awful Myspace profile pictures of myself. But I digress.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m still learning. I’ll admit, technically, there is so much I do not know about cameras and photography. However, I feel like a big part of my relationship with photography is all about how maybe that’s not the most important thing. I don’t feel like composition, lighting, what have you, are what makes a photo good. I think what matters most is the content. What are you taking a picture of? Who are you taking a picture of? What is going on? Why is

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MICHAEL Wojcikand leave yourself out of a situation, but one thing about photography is that what ever you decided to shoot, how you shoot it, and what you decide to do with a finish a product is what makes it yours. You can start to see how to make yourself better and learn to apply new skills to when you shoot again, again, and again. Eventually you can start to rely on your own intuition and that must be a comfortable feeling.

I started shooting photos in high school when I was 16. My cousin was going to school in New York and got me really into it. I would see the shots he’d take and decided that I wanted to give it a shot.At first I mainly shot skateboarding, which I still currently am doing regularly. But I realized that there’s so much out there to shoot and taking classes at Temple really helped me out as far as developing an “eye” for photography.The way I shoot has drastically changed over the years, which I had hoped for. In photojournalism, you learn to take on an observer’s role

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Abi Reimoldmany pictures, then. Photojournalism is awesome because you get an assignment: Go here at this time, meet this person, take a photo that tells something about what they do. Some assignments are super boring so it’s really satisfying and also really difficult to apply creativity to these situations, to walk away with a photo that says YOUR vision of what happened, not just a straight-on candid photo of someone doing something.I started out taking pictures of my friends. I was comfortable being creative because we were hanging out. there was nothing weird about it. A lot of my friends I hung out with also took pictures so it was cool to get in their face or whatever and take their picture. Now, I meet a lot of people for the first time and we spend about 15 minutes

together and I’m supposed to take a picture that tells their story in a creative way. If I go to meet up with the person or people I need to photograph, I try to treat it like we are hanging out together. It makes both of us a lot more comfortable so that I am free to be more creative and they are more relaxed in front of the camera.

I chose these three photos because the tackle one I took because I had to because there was nice light. The ones of my photo professor are there to show looking for moments in real life, how i usually miss them but still keep trying, and the one of my professor’s eye is because when people accept you as a creative person you can do more interesting things with photography

Photography is fun. I started only taking pictures of light that I found to be very beautiful. If the light wasn’t right, I wouldn’t bother. I would get things stuck in my head and think about them when I was going to sleep and then want to photograph them. Photojournalism is different, and I think is more fulfilling because it’s easier and harder in different senses. It’s easier because when you’re taking art photographs it’s really overwhelming. You could go anywhere in the world and see billions of things and look at them in hundreds of different ways, also light them dozens of other ways how do you choose what to photograph? I try to trust my instincts to know when I should take a picture but I don’t take very

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Daniel PelligrinePhotography for me is more of a desire than any feeling or experience. It is the desire for other people to be able to see the world as I see it. Egotistical, perhaps, but I have no doubt that this is only because I also desire to see the world the way others see it, to experience the world through another human’s lens. Since beginning my life of photography a scant six months ago in Dr. Trayes’ Basic Photography class, I have been to more places, have done more things, and have seen more faces than I thought I would in a life-time. I had no idea that life could be as

thrilling and fulfilling as it is with photography. Maybe I am just a romantic, hell-bent on casting myself as the dashing cavalier in my own terrible Tele Novella. But I believe the memories I create and worlds I preserve with every photograph is payment enough for this passion I have grown to love.

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Patrick McPeakit is only the way I tell stories since many times I find words do not do a scene justice. Camera work has always come easy to me. Just as a carpenter uses his hammer as an extension of his arm, the camera has become another extension of my eye. It rarely takes me long to find an angle to focus on but once I do, I hone my focus to take the best shot I always can. If there are things that keep me going, it definitely has to be my peers and my own obligation to tell stories of people that do not have a voice. If there was any reason to not continue, my life would feel strange. There are so many moments I have found myself forgetting that I am photographing something and have just felt myself living in those moments through my lens.

As for a future in photography, I am not one hundred percent sure where I am going to end up. Working at a newspaper has showed me the only future I have in that business is something to pay bills. Simply spending an hour with a subject only to take a few shots to run in a spread that will ultimately forgotten about is not the work I want to do. Spending weeks, months and even years working on a full project that shows people the intricate workings of this thing we call life is exactly what I want to be doing. Life is intricate and being able to document it is what I’ve found my purpose is here.

Ever since I was a child, I learned that a light tight box with a piece of glass on the front of it could somehow make magic. When it comes to photography, lately I can barely be bother to just take pictures. Without a motive or without some kind of story behind it, I seriously lose a lot of motivation when it comes to picking up my cameras and going out. For me, photography isn’t about just taking pictures, photography is about telling stories. Many people started this program to be photographers but I started this program to be a journalist. I am always going to be a journalist first and a photographer second. I may be a good photographer but

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Milena corredorWhat is my relationship with photography? Well, we’ve been together for a few years now. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect relationship, but I want to spend my life with Photography and I’m pretty sure it wants to spend its time with me. We’ve had our rough patches. Sometimes I need my space from Photography. Those moments usually happen when Photography demands my attention rather than lets things happen naturally. But really, that can get annoying no matter who’s demanding attention from you.We’re at our best when things

happen organically. I am fascinated with the world around me, and photography gives me a way to experience it in a way that makes me truly happy. I have a way to freeze time. I have a way to capture those little moments that make life interesting. I have a way to capture the beauty in this world, and that’s what keeps me coming back.

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SHANSHAN XUrelied on my eyes and I trusted my instinct. I’m not one of those who would carry a camera with them all the time, nor would I care what kind of lens is the best out there. And I think what most interests me about a photograph is what beneath it - the story, the emotion, even if it’s not technically perfect. For me, the images reflect your footprints, your thoughts, and even who you are, at least part of it. These also put me in a position that photography can only be a high-maintenance hobby.

I remember in last year’s basic

photography class, Dr. Trayes told us he had students that would have to choose between film and lunch. I thought to myself, who shoots in film anymore and I would most likely choose lunch. I guess I don’t like photography that much, and certainly I don’t develop my own philosophy. It’s a big word in the first place. I prefer a pleasant meal to photography, I prefer a pair of nice shoes to photography, I prefer watching a movie with loved ones to photography Life always comes first, but would I give up my camera? A thousand times NO.

To my best memory, my relationship with photography started on a backpack trip to the Northwest part of China back in the summer of 2008. I took my first DSLR with me and I remember I complained how much it weighted. An ideal love story would be I fell in love with photography. Well, truth is, I fell in love with traveling.

I didn’t really think about techniques, equipment, composition or whatever before I had Basics last semester, which was my first proper education in photography. Instead, I

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Kirsten griffinactivity I had to do. My waning love for photography may also be caused by the subject matter I’ve had to shoot the past few years. I, unlike most “photographers” do not enjoy photographing people, unless they are children. I get more joy out of images of places and things.

All of this is not to say I don’t still like photography and taking photos, because I do. My feelings towards it have definitely affected my aesthetic. I care less about if an image is in focus; I’m more interested in the composition. I don’t take my time

when shooting anymore either. I snap away, and move on. If I got the image, good, if not, then that’s just too bad. I hope, with the career path I am heading down, I will get joy out of photography again once it is not a “job” anymore. For all I know, I may just need a change of scenery to get the joy back.

Photography started out as a creative outlet for me, and a way to collect memories. I would carry my camera bag with me everywhere I went, and take pictures of anything and everything I saw. I would meticulously edit every image, and I would be proud of the outcome. These feelings are old new now. Over the past two years, it has become more of a pain than a joy to carry my camera with me, and I have difficulty finding joy from photography. This is partly because it went from an activity I did voluntarily, to an

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Cynthia rau

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Randi Fairnew shots for her website and will pay me. You want me to shoot your engagement photos and add fake lens flare? Sure. Just don’t ask me to do any black and white with spot color. I can’t even. Other than that, I’m down.I shoot to document my family and to make money. After all the terrible jobs I have had in my life, earning a living as a commercial photographer would be aces. Basically, I’m here to get a degree in a major that is still relatively marketable so I’m not resigned to be a lunch lady or a trucker like most people in my family are, when they are not unemployed. I don’t even photograph my friends anymore. I find that I tend to cycle through friends often and someone I love intensely for 3 years eventually drops off my radar and those photos just end up

hogging space on my harddrive.If there is one thing I enjoy about photography, it’s volunteering my services and documentingoccasions for my family and friends that would otherwise go unpreserved. I photographed my friend’s daughter’s first time in the ocean and she is eternally grateful. I shot my sister’s wedding which would have been captured on phones only were I not there. I plan on volunteering for Now I Lay Me Down

I don’t have a photography philosophy. I don’t feel that taking pictures is my “calling” or is something I feel in my soul. I don’t even believe in “souls”. I don’t claim to bring any new vision to photography and it would be fair to describe my work as superficial. That’s fine. It is. I don’t attempt to break barriers or change anything. I don’t identify as a journalist. The idea of shooting everyday is just not something I can get excited about. Documentary photography...the idea of shooting months and years-long projects? I don’t have the discipline.I usually don’t have my camera with me. It stays at home unless a tattooed burlesque dancer who is also a “furry” web cam girl wants

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Rachel Del SOrdowas that photography allows you to communicate with people past what can be expressed in words. Photographs don’t lie, you can capture the emotions someone is trying to hide, you can capture pure joy, and you can give a landscape a mood. The value of a photograph will always be priceless. I love the joy I can bring to people with photography. Snapping the perfect picture can be cherished forever.

I don’t carry my camera around everywhere. I feel like the world seen through the lens does not compare to

the one seen with out it. Photography is important but it’s distracting. There was a time when I would bring my camera around everywhere I would go. I would have hundreds of pictures of everything but I would also feel disconnected. I think one of the biggest challenges I find as a photographer is taking too many pictures and missing the moment.

My philosophy on photography is a short one. I see photography as a tool, a means of expression and a vessel to get where I want to go in life. Photography for me started when took a photo class my sophovmore year of high school, it was a dark room class and I was bad at it. I still loved it though; I looked forward to going to that class everyday so I stuck with it. I grew and got better. People started to tell me I had a “good eye”, whatever that means.

I think what really drew me to photography

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Luis Rodriguezprize winning journalist, a hipster with a smart phone or a mom with a point-and-shoot trying to awkwardly capture her child’s prom date. Photography has become so accessible and it’s beautiful that everyone can take a part in one the most accessible ways we document things.

One of my favorite things to capture is my friends, whether the photos be candid or posed. My friends have become my family and capturing them is like capturing a part of myself. There is a great joy in finding the people I love admiring the memories I capture.

Taking photos of live theater

performances is also something I enjoy because of the large collaborations they represent and seeing all of the components come together in a photograph really represent that collaborative effort.

Photography is something that everyone cherishes in one way or another, and while I think everyone can be a photographer, there’s something to be said about us who take the time to master the art and craft.

Growing up I always wanted to get into photography but I never had the opportunity to explore it beyond buying disposable cameras. When I got to high school and I was able to get a point-and-shoot digital camera I got to explore photography a little more and take more control of how my images looked.

Since delving more into the craft the last three years my philosophy is constantly changing and I’m not quite sure where I stand on certain things.

I know that one thing I really believe is that anyone can be a photographer, whether they be a Pulitzer

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Photo Seminar 2013Temple University

Philadelphia, PA