Photography Studio Field Trip

1. How does the process of platinum printing affect the way that Guider's photos look?

The platinum prints look metallic and shiny (but not reflective), with very vivid shades of gray. They show much more detail than traditional black and white prints. Because platinum is a very stable element, the metal is immune to chemical reactions that damage silver prints; the platinum will not break down or fade in the way that traditional prints do.

2. Explain the values (scale from white to black) in Guider's photos.

According to Guider, film negatives record 1,000 values of gray between solid black and solid white. The human eye can see 15,000. Traditional black and white film development using silver prints has a range of only 10 grays. Platinum printing has 100 gray values - still not as varied as the negatives are capable of, but ten times the values that silver prints offer.

3. How have Stacey Irvin's travels affected her work?

When I Googled Stacey to read more about her, I found an article on Vanderbilt's website where she is quoted as saying: “Photographers can be peacemakers. People learn about each other through photographs. I want people to take away a sense of our shared humanity.”

Stacey's sees an innate dignity in all people, and it's obvious in her photos. The more she travels, the more she finds ways to connect with people, even despite language barriers. Through her camera lens, she seems to find a shared humanity in people all over the world. Her photos show that the basics of the human experience is the same no matter where you are.

4. Choose a photo by Guider or Irvin and do an analysis of its values/colors/form/content. Describe your response to this work.

I noticed this picture of Stacey's website, and she had it hanging in her studio, also. I was initially drawn to the purple the girl is wearing, simply because purple is my favorite color.

Then I noticed how she framed the shot and where the girl is lined up - many photographers (as well as painters and other visual artists) use the "rule of thirds" in composition. The image is divided into nine imaginary parts with both the horizontal field and the vertical field divided with two lines, to create equal-sized thirds. Placing a subject along these lines or at their intersection creates visual interest. The vertical line of the girl's nose is almost exactly where the left vertical line would be on the photo.

Additionally I like how she uses a shallow focus depth of field - so the girl is in sharp focus, while the background is a bit out of focus. This way the girl is the most important part of the picture, while her surroundings are more implied. Stacey obviously used a fast shutter speed since the dandilion seeds are caught mid-air as the girl blows the flower.

The main colors in this picture are purple, green, and shades of black/white/brown. Because of this the subject of the picture is more noticable, since she doesn't have to compete for our visual attention. The colors are all on the cool side of the color wheel, so they are calming

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Both Stacey and John were extremely interestng, and I'm glad we had the chance to meet them and hear about their work!