Creativity is not limited to artists.
ASTR documents creativity in the fields of
ASTR*
Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational and Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Statistics, Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, Art History, Center for Critical and Cultural Theory, Center for Languages & Intercultural Communication, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Chao Center for Asian Studies, Classical and European Studies, English, History, Humanities Research Center, Jewish Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Social Thought, Poverty, Justice and Human Capabilities, Religion, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies, Visual and Dramatic Arts, Music, Brass, Composition & Theory, Conducting, Musicology, Opera Studies, Organ, Percussion & Harp, Piano, String, Voice, Woodwind, BioSciences, Chemistry, Earth Science, Kinesiology, Mathematics, Architecture, Physics and Astronomy, Anthropology, Cognitive Sciences, Economics, Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Linguistics, Managerial Studies, Policy Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Shell Center for Sustainability, Social Science Research Institute, Sociology, Sport Management, Air Force Science, Applied Physics Program, Beyond Traditional Borders Initiative, Cognitive Sciences, Education Certification, Environmental Programs, Leadership Rice, Military Science, Naval Science, Neuroscience Program, Professional Science Master’s Program, Professional Engineering Master’s Programs, Entrepreneurship, Rice Theatre Program
#MFW#MFW#MFW#MFW
quando in italia a mood board
Emma Brown, Dutch Vase, Digital Painting
Vase With Water, Digital Painting
I like excess. I like miniatures but I like to have a lot of them so that it feels busy. I want the space itself to have a story so that its not just me living in a space.
When I don’t like something I don’t get rid of it, I turn it somethingintoelse.
I like to be surrounded by things and I consider the things to have a life of their own. Especially if you have objects like my abuelita’s manta--that’s not just mine, it has its own story
The people who make up today’s thriving photographic community are our eyes to the world. Whether established artists and journalists or passionate emerging voices, they inform us, they inspire us, they amaze us, they put our world in the broader context of history. This community also faces great challenges — dwindling sales, increased competition and a fragile trust in photographers’ mission to inform. Too often, those factors can make those of us in that community, photographers and photo editors alike, lose sight of what drives us. Daniel Davis, a freshman at Wiess College, is re-defining photography at Rice, inspiring other photographers and students at the same time. When I asked him what he liked most about photography, he responded with one word: “Flexibility.”
Daniel Davis Wiess Freshman
eggs—. While most students would have seen this as a daunting task, Daniel produced stunning pictures, especially the one of the egg nestled in the vines at Wiess during the January freeze (shown below). His hyper lapse video of the sunset along the Medical Center quickly went viral on his Instagram. “I spent like 3 hours on that thing,” he recalls. “I took hundreds of pictures as the light changed, just to get the perfect transition.” His radiant personality shines through, creating beautiful photographs. By contrast, however, he has taken some more comical ones, such as the one shown below of his friends. Although this picture makes many people laugh, there’s still a clear understanding of point of view as well as focus, highlighting his underlying attention to detail.
His creative process “isn’t too defined.”
At least not yet. As a photographer, he is still relatively new. “To be honest, I haven’t given it too much thought.” As it stands, he begins by setting a goal for what he needs to shoot, which “could be anything,” and tries to make sure that he can accurately represent the light in the scene. After shooting, he takes all the images into Adobe Lightroom, remove poor images (of which there are little), and then does batch color correction/light adjustment for all of them. Finally, he picks a few images to put extra work into. How do they usually
Davis, who only recently discovered this passion, has brought the Rice community to life through his photographs. We met in economics, only to quickly discover we had this passion for photography in common. After registering for a photography class, taught by another Rice legend, Paul Hester, I quickly got to know Daniel as a creative genius, always trying new forms of editing and shooting. We spent many days testing long exposure shots with our phone flashlights as makeshift backlights, fiddling with tripods, searching for the perfect shoot location. One of our first assignments in class was to photograph eggs—yes,
As an example of this process, more recently, his beer bike pictures took the Rice community by storm. The day after beer bike, I saw him editing, having to post the pictures onto Facebook in 300-picture increments to avoid overloading the system. “I have like 4,000 pictures left to post RIP,” he said. Despite this, the pictures came out beautifully; Wiess really lucked out with him as one of the historians. His sense of humor and laugh are infectious, bringing happiness to everyone: friends, peers or strangers. Although we have different styles of shooting and editing, I respect and intensely admire his work. As to what he is looking for ward to in the future, he responded, laughing, “I’m TERRIBLE at nighttime imagery. Its some thing I need to work on.” He wants to take up cinematography in the future as well, but is working on developing his photography skills for the moment.
turn out? “Pretty freaking amazing.” “Lol, but actually,” he says, “how they turn out is usually dependent on my mood, but I usually tend to wards creating vibrant images.”
“Photography is an art form”, Daniel pointed out as we wrapped up. “It allows a person to showcase the world in any way they wish.” Photographs are the universal language of our era. Everyone has hundreds, maybe thousands in their pocket (shoutout to the new 1 terabyte SD cards out there). Weightless, photographs, especially have turned the tides. A great photographer’s strings never go out of tune; it’s for this exact reason that we need more of them. “The modern camera as a tool is extremely powerful, and in the hands of ca pable photographers, a myriad of things can be created.” Photographers are the ones who sort all the mayhem of the world into images that bring clarity to the free-for-all that is life. As shown with Daniel, they are the witnesses and artists who can distill the beauty and chaos that surrounds us. He has called our attention
to the things we miss in our everyday lives and called our attention to events and people at a great distance. He directs our eyes and hearts with precision and honesty, we know what we know differently and better. Photographers like Daniel teach us to look again, look harder. Look through their eyes.
Check out Daniel’s hyperlapse on his @daniel_doubledinsta!
@6100MAIN
6100 MAIN
6100 Main is a fashion club headed by freshmen Vy Pham (left) and Mai Ton (right) whose mission is to bring attention to fashion as a means of expression on campus. The club has existed since 2013, but Pham and Ton took the reins in 2017 when they decided to take the club in a new direction. In the 2017-18 academic year, 6100 Main has organized a fashion show, two clothing swaps, and has continuously featured the style of undegraduates on their Instagram, @6100main. The photos on these pages are from the Lunar New Year Fashion Show, which 6100 Main organized and styled. Pham and Ton are currently working on a promotional video, set to be released by the end of the semester.
UNIVERSITYRICEOFFASHION
How did you get into this whole process of album cover design?
At that time i guess i was listening to more music, and I had always appreciated album art because whenever I’d listen to a song, I’d always think about my first impres sion on it, which was the album art.
Toprak Eraslan Sid Sophomore
you can see there’s movement happening inside the cover art, and there’s a transition from deep purple (which I think kind of conveys confusion and profusion of a lot of emotions) fading into black. That made me think of the unknown, and it kind of opened up my eyes. Whenever I listen to the songs, I always think of like a deep purple mood, just kind of confused and anxious. I think there are other aspects to it, like romance and con fusion in day-to-day life. For me, that album art resonated with me, something about that color purple. I realized that regardless how many times I make an album cover, even if I try to start with turquoise or teal, it always ended up coming out purple or pink and sort of those hues and shades.
Senior year, it was more of a joke, I would just photoshop people’s faces onto things. Then, I learned how to use the program gimp, and I learned my way around it, and freshman year at rice I realized I could apply this to something else. It didn’t have to be a joke.
#PURPLE MOOD #PURPLE MOOD #PURPLE MOOD
The biggest example was Tame Impala’s Currents, there’s something about the purple in it. The album is titled currents, and
Cover Art for Deepu Karri’s, Naughty Boi
That’s why I have a playlist on spotify called purple mood, and I want to start a new hashtag for my insta called #purplemood just because it’s something I always feel when I’m working on the art.
Dreamin’ of you when I’m alone Baby don’t trip, I’m comin’ home Kick it with me I don’t care if the sun is gone
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