CHROMA
Magazine
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CHROMA
Magazine
A publication celebrating young & talented creatives from the VSAA photographycommunity and beyond. Volume 6 issue 3 January 2021 Editor: Brandon Nerat Advisor: Abby Davis Staff: 12 issue.com/chromamagazine chromamag2015@gmail.com All photographs belong to the artists and have been published with the permision. 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.
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EDITORS With the pandemic social unrest and dropping tempatures, home has become more important than ever. Affinity is a collection of images the chroma staff has created that will serve to remind us of this unpredented time. For this Chroma, the staff shared ideas surrounding comfort and the idea of being cozy. As you veiw this issue we hope that you find parts of yourself reflected in the imagery. Sincerely, Brandon Nerat
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CONTENTS ANNA SALTZBERG / / 6 BRIA AUSTIN / / 12 ABBY HARRIS / / 23 LILY JONAS / / 34 WILL BRAATEN / / 43 IAN McCUEN / / 53 VICTORIA MOFFETT / / 61 ETHAN WADDLE / / 69
COVER / / IAN McCUEN / / 58
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FAUNA
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ANNA
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FAUNA For my series I wanted to embrace connections in my own way. I went the way of having connections with siblings and flowers or the earth. So I took photos of my brother and sister posing with pink and white flowers. I wanted the photos to have a soft look so we kept the expressions to a minimum. I took photos of them together and separately to show how they both interact with nature in their own way. I've always loved nature and felt a strong connection with it, so i wanted to show that others can too. I didn't go the traditional route of showing it but I feel the closeness and personal nature of a portrait really show it. I also have a really strong bond and connections with my siblings, we are all very close for being many years apart but I wanted to show their connection with each other. When taking my photos I had my models, siblings sit and stand in front of a white background whether together or alone. I also put flower petals around one of their eyes and had them pose holding the flowers to really show depth. I then edited on bridge and lightroom to get a warm, soft yet dramatic look to the photos.
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GRATITUDE
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I took photos of things that bring me joy or gratitude like my pets, family, plants, or the light in my home. I did this because I wanted to show the things that help me feel connected to myself and my home. I used a Nikon camera and prime lens and I just took my camera with me everywhere even if it was just around my house, so that I could capture real moments that bring me joy instead of trying to recreate them.This series was really important for me as a person because it has helped me slow down and appreciate the things around me. This series also helped me as an artist be able to learn to use the prime lens in a more smooth way and helped me get to know my camera better and understand the different styles of taking photographs that I enjoy.
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SELF
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SELF
Throughout our lives there are a few truths that we can count on: • Everything changes • You will be the person who is there for every one of these changes In this series I attempted to create a visual representation of this idea. The solitary experience of living through the pandemic of 2020 makes me consider the relationship I have with myself. How do I speak to myself? Am I treating myself like I would treat my best friend? Am I being mean to myself? Or am I standing confidently next to myself serving as my own best friend, knowing that I will always be there? There are times when I speak to myself with incredible confidence and other times when I bully myself with nasty thoughts. In this self portrait photo series I wanted to create a visual representation of the two truths described above with the hope that I can continue to move forward with self compassion rather than self bullying. I am my own best friend. I have always been here for myself, and I will continue to be there for myself. I used a tripod along with the self timer mode on my Nikon. Most of the photos were taken with an fstop of 2.8, ISO 100, and shutter speed at 1/2000. I took nearly 100 photos of myself in the side yard and field next to my house, all the while imagining how strange my behavior may appear to passerbys. I chose to wear the purple cloak and turmeric hat to allow for movement and color to serve as a leading roles in my attempt to process and share my thinking regarding self, self talk, and being my own best friend.
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The world we live in today holds an endless amount of connections. From the living souls of the earth, to the breathing foliage relying on the light of day to strive. Everywhere you look there are connections. Everything you touch has an impact on you, triggering a connection. Sometimes the connection is obvious and other times it’s not. Through my photo series, I aim to reveal what is normally unseen, showcasing the connection between what people see with their everyday eye and what lies underneath the surface. All elements of life hold a deeper connection than what we see; whether it’s a person's identity or the trunk of a tree. With my series, I captured what lies underneath the natural beauty around me. I investigated the intricacies of the soil, branches, leaves, swamps, and outer space. There is depth below us, in front of us and above us. I stretched my series to shed light on all three perspectives and highlight their connection from what we normally see everyday. Shooting the natural photographs first, I then pulled them into Photoshop and drew the details of what couldn’t be captured on camera; the details that lie below the subject. For example, the outer space photo with the tree started with the image of the tree with the sky placed almost halfway down the frame to allow for an area to draw outer space. In Photoshop, I used the brush tool to draw in first the galaxy background and then layered in the planets. Lastly, I used the color mixer tool to blend the dark galaxy sky with the natural blue sky. Constructing a similar process for the remaining photos, I allowed the drawings to illustrate the parts of the world we cannot see but hold a connection to what is visible.
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BONDED
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This photo series is entitled “Bonded�. The models in the pictures are my mother Shawn and my youngest sister Winter. Her being the youngest she has a strong relationship with my mother and they ground one another. I used my nikon camera with my zoom lens to capture these images. I had my mom and sister just talk and carry a conversation so I could get very raw emotions from each other. Their bond is so clear in every picture and it was wonderful to capture it through a lens. I did this series because when I think of a connection I think about it between two people. Whether that connection is shown through touch, eye contact, ect. People hold a lot of value in their relationships and all they give you. It's extremely valuable to reflect on that.
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COZY
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The reason I created this photo series was to show the theme “connection,” but not show any faces. I did this so you can imagine just about any family in this cozy family home setting I presented in the photos. What I did was take my phone camera and go around my house trying to find places that looked especially “lived in.” Then I asked my mother and sister if they would put on fuzzy socks and make a cup of coffee. Throughout this I am constantly taking pictures so that I can have lots of photos to choose from. In the editing process I chose which photos to use and decided that turning them all black and white would enhance the “lived in” feeling of the photos. Putting some vignette in the editing process added a lot to the photos as well. I did this series with my home computer, a camera phone, and a phone tripod.
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VICTORIA
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My name is Victoria Moffett, I am a junior, and for this chroma for the holiday season, I created a 5 photo series based on my experiences with the holidays. Growing up I had some good holiday memories and experiences with my mother and her side of the family, but when we moved away from them, the holidays got pretty rough. There was always a sort of anger and passive-aggressiveness during the holiday season no matter how happy we all tried to make it. To represent that in my photos, I show the once nice, clean, and unshattered mirror, then I show the broken mirror and my model trying to reach that other side once again. I did this by using a close friend of mine who knew how I grew up and how things were for me to model because it helped show the sort of emotional range I was going for in the shoot. I got the mirror originally from goodwill and broke it using just a plain old rock while I was taking photos in a park near my house.
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PATCHWORK
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ETHAN
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For this series, I took photos of my grandma sewing her current quilting project. I gave her no special instructions; just to do what she would naturally. I chose to shoot close-ups of her hands because she uses her hands for her craft. Additionally, the act of joining pieces of fabric to create a quilt is a literal form of creating connections, while gifting them to loved ones creates interpersonal connections. Furthermore, hands are what connect us to the world as a whole. We can manipulate objects with them however we see fit, which, while of course trivial, also is quite profound, considering that we are the only beings we know of that have such an ability in the universe. 78
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CHROMA
Magazine
Due to covid-19 we cant be together. As photographers we will work to create the Chroma Magazine you know and love, no matter how far away we are.Be safe, stay home, wear a mask. Thank you for veiwing Chroma Magazine.
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CHROMA