CHROMA magazine
renewal JANUARY 2017
CHROMA magazine
A publication celebrating young & talented creatives from the VSAA photography community & beyond. Volume 2 Issue 4 January 2017 Based in Vancouver, Washington
Editor: Kastine Cook Advisor: Abby Harris Staff: 11 issuu.com/chromamagazine chromamag2015@gmail.com All photgraphs belong to the artist and have been published with their permission. DO NOT copy or share any images without explicit permission from Chroma Magazine. Thank you for respecting the photographers featured and the integrity of their work.
editor’s letter
As the new year begins, we continue to reevaluate our current bodies of work. Consistently looking to push boundaries and create current artwork. The Chroma Magazine team has challenged our staff to focus on the idea of Renewal. With the possibilities limited to their own aspirations. We found artists often work best when trying the undeveloped, unincorporated, and thought-provoking.
renewal STAFF GALLERY
makena wilcox // 08-13 madeleaine newton // 14-19 collin macdonald // 20-25 devon macgregor // 26-31 betsy hanrahan // 32-37 tegan estell // 38-43
P. 55
ellie josephson // 44-49 sara wheatley // 50-55 jane greene // 56-61 kastine cook // 62-67 abby davis harris // 68-73
ON THE COVER: kastine cook P. 67
P. 10
P. 73
P. 56
P. 48
P. 25
P. 28
P. 36
P. 18
LIGHT TALKS makena wilcox
chroma // 09
revitalize
madeleine newton WHAT DID YOU DO? I looked through photographs that I’ve taken throughout the past 3+ years and picked five that I thought I could re-edit, to experiment more with editing and give a new life to some old photos.
chroma // 17
memories
collin macdonald
WHAT DID YOU DO? For my January photo series, titled Memories, I took “portraits” of stuffed animals from my childhood. While these photos were not “portraits” in the traditional sense, I still wanted the photos to have the feel of portraits, by using proper lighting and composition to make the photos feel portrait like. HOW DID YOU DO IT? I used a DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G lens to achieve a very shallow depth of field in the photos. I used three lights to light the stuffed animals. A high angle light served as the main lighting for the portraits. Two light bulbs with a piece of paper in front of each (to diffuse the light) served as fill lights from the left and right sides of the stuffed animals.
chroma // 25
@wyld _ guze devon macgregor
flushed away 2 betsy hanrahan
WHY DID YOU DO IT? For my series, “Flushed Away 2,” I took pictures of bathrooms. These pictures depict close ups and new angles of the bathrooms I see everyday. I created this series by using a Canon T3i with a 50 mm lens in three different bathrooms that I frequent: two in my house and one at school. When thinking about this series, I couldn’t help but think of a pivotal place in my life: the bathroom. We don’t often think about the time we spend in the bathroom. We center ourselves, clean ourselves, hide away from classes, change into our theatre costumes, and reflect on our lives. Bathrooms have been our homes all along and we never even knew it. I’ve always had a strong connection to bathrooms, for I feel they provide a haven. They are a place I can always find solace and alone time. There is something comforting about the damp grounds and cool air. I chose bathrooms for my series because for me, they recenter me. Bathrooms allow me to ground myself and to remember that I am human to the most base and simple extent.
chroma // 33
ice
TEAGAN ESTELL WHAT DID YOU DO? I took photos of a rain collector when it froze over with ice. I went out to a different times of the day because of the lighting to find the best version of the same photograph.
chroma // 41
refresh
ellie josephson
WHAT DID YOU DO? I collaged a series using old and recently taken images. HOW DID YOU DO IT? Next I went through old files of my photographs, selected the ones I needed to create my collages. Then cropped, cut, and pasted the images to my liking. WHY DID YOU DO IT? A new year is a perfect time to recreate/improve your image. For this series I wanted to reinforce my style as a photographer, but in order to grow in anyway, reflection on past work is necessary. I wanted to incorporate new skills I have recently gained, while still recognizing where I have come/grown from. Hence, using past photographs, and giving them a new purpose.
chroma // 49 chroma // 49
obscurity
sara wheatley
WHY DID YOU DO IT? While combing through all of my photos I realized I go through phases. The highs make me feel proud and like a real artist. The lows are disappointing and never well executed. When Kastine announced the theme for this issue was renewal I thought “will there ever be a better time then now to renew my cycle of photography?�. Starting with this series I want to break the receptive cycle and push myself as a photographer to create art that makes me proud every series. I want to continue to chase the crazy photoshoot ideas I dream of and produce beautiful works of art.
Women’s March: Portland
jane greene WHAT DID YOU DO? I participated in the women’s march in Portland, on January 21st, 2017. While marching along side 100,000 outraged, and passionate people, I documented the variety of signs and humans I encountered. HOW DID YOU DO IT? I brought my camera with me to the march, and tried to document what I was seeing, all the while attempting to shield my camera from the rain. I asked to take strangers’ photos, which was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I also took pictures of the mass of people, and the terrific signs they came up with. WHY DID YOU DO IT? For many, this is a dark time. The next four years don’t look too promising, and there is not a lot of hope to hold on to. I happen to be one of those people feeling dismayed, and quite frankly scared as to what’s to come from this new president and his administration. However, on the day after Trump’s inauguration, millions of people around the world, came together to spread peace, love, and acceptance. Despite all the feelings of worry, sadness, and terror, we came together to make it known that we won’t be giving in to hate, and exclusion. We won’t be giving in to bigotry, and bullying, and disrespect. I thought the Women’s march was a rather fitting event for the theme of renewal. We may be entering into a rather difficult era, however, we are able to resist. We are able to renew ourselves, and our love for humanity, diversity, and all people. chroma // 57
kastine cook sea of green
What did you do? I created a series based off of Pantone’s Color of the Year, Greenery. I shot this series on a Pentax Asahi Spotmatic SLR Camera using Fujifilm Superia X-TRA color film. How did you do it? I first brainstormed the idea when Pantone announced its Color of the Year. From here I began sketching out preliminary shots and ideas of how I wanted to show my immense love for the color green. I borrowed studio lighting from VSAA’s Photo Department and bought sheets of green paper to use as the backdrop. I refreshed myself on how to use a film camera and shot a 36 exposure roll of color film for this series. I embellished the fern leafs using multiple colored washi tapes. The film was then processed and printed at Blue Moon Camera. Why did you do it? This series was inspired not only by Pantone’s Color of the Year but also a quote from the miniseries Fargo. The quote, “How can the human eye see more shades of green than any other color?” struck a chord with me since the answer to the riddle is that as humans we have incredible similarities to the predator category. This one particular similarity being, seeing more shades of green than any other color. This dark realization is something I wanted to keep in mind while creating this series. As the series is supposed to be relatively lovely to look at. I wanted to portray that although as a human race we have covered up this natural predator capability, it is still deeply rooted inside us.
chroma // 65
wax lips in snow abby harris WHAT DID YOU DO? I, like many Vancouver residents, took photos of the snow during the snow storm in January. HOW DID YOU DO IT? I took several long walks during the golden hour, camera in hand, wax lips ready to be photographed. WHY DID YOU DO IT? The snow was so shockingly beautiful, but I knew that the photos might not be memorable as simple snow photos, so I played with personification of the wintry landscape by placing wax lips in the snow. These photos were really fun for me to take and they gave me a reason to stomp through the snow. I loved the strange looks that I received from drivers as they slowly moved past me in the icy streets. I pretended that the wax lip photos were really important, as if my photography would change people’s minds about the meaning of art, or snow, or their future. Ha! Location(s)
chroma // 73
CHROMA magazine
issue.com/chromamagzine