The art of becomING aware Have you ever driven somewhere only to arrive at the destination and wonder how you got there? Scary, isn’t it?
THE LAST SUPPER Through a short photographic story in the first person point of view, enjoy the last moment of an alcoholic.
ANDY X ADAM HUNG on how to make a man look like a man all dolled up like a woman.
Table of content
The art of becomING aware Have you ever driven somewhere only to arrive at the destination and wonder how you got there? Scary, isn’t it?
THE LAST SUPPER Through a short photographic story in the first person point of view, enjoy the last moment of an alcoholic.
ANDY X ADAM HUNG on how to make a man look like a man all dolled up like a woman.
the art of becoming aware PHOTOGRAPHIC SIGN
THE LAST SUPPER STORY TELLING
The overall story is quite simple but can bring out of the view such a strong reaction. From the beginning all the way through the end, the setting is very minimalistic: a bottle of wine in the foreground, glasses of wine accumulating on the wooden table as the story progresses and more alcoholic drinks in the background. The warm filter (red undertones, and dark orange) is used to represent the warmth that brings the wine to the drinker. The first picture is actually pleasant and looks like it could be in an ad for a wine bar. This was the goal: to make it look as appealing. As the story progresses, more and more glasses of wine are added on the table and the bottle is less and less full. In the fourth picture, the angle is slanted to represent instability and distortion. The fifth image is also taken in a slanted angle but is also blurry which represents to state of intoxication in which the drinker is. The last two photos represents the drinker passing out. The environment, although quite warm-looking due to the filter, is quite sterile if one pays close attention to it. The space is quite organized but also lacks decoration to show the absence of personal items: the viewer is clueless to who the drinker is. He seems to have no identity because he doesn’t have any. The only thing known is he drinks. It is his new identity. There wasn’t a specific inspiration behind this. I feel like anyone can relate as we all know someone who have or had a drinking people. If not, the fact that the photos were taken in a way where you become the drinker and you do not see his/her face put you in his shoes. You feel powerless over him just as the drinker feels powerless over his life/problems, which is the reason why he is drinking in the first place. The short story on alcohol poisoning is almost an interactive one as the viewer, willingly or not, participates to it as the drinker. For this specific project, the hardest thing for me was to figure out what angles to use considering the person becomes drunk. I initially wanted to blur with a filter the last couple of photos but I felt like blurring them while holding the camera would look more realistic and add a little bit of action to the store as the story is strictly composed of inanimate objects. Another challenge I’ve encountered was the lighting. I didn’t know if I wanted to shoot with flash, without flash, with neon lights, candles, lamps, during daytime or nighttime. I wanted a warm gloomy feel so I ended up take the pictures during nighttime with dimed lights and an already set-up chandeliered above of the table. This photographic story was inspired by still life. Overall, I truly enjoyed doing this project although the liberty of the theme made me change my mind a handful of times. This project made me more aware of the lighting but also the angles when it comes to take pictures.
ANDY X ADAM Contemporary rendtion of a classic
Warhol’s biography tells the story of his exciting and innovational life-his life and times have made him one of the most influential artists of the last century. Warhol’s impact on culture and society remains as strong today as it has for decades. Born in Pittsburg in 1928, Warhol was born Andrew Warhola. He studied pictorial design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Never heard of it? It’s now Carnegie Mellon University. Warhol wasted no time after graduation, moving to New York City and working as an illustrator for various magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and The New Yorker. In the 1949, the pop icon shortened his name to Warhol after a credit in Glamour magazine mistakenly read “Drawings by Warhol.” Warhol died Feb. 22, 1987 after a routine gall bladder surgery1. In 1994, the Andy Warhol Museum opened in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Photography was central to the work of Andy Warhol. Photographs dominated the massmediated American culture in which Warhol operated, and served as his image bank. While the artist most famously used found commercial photographs as source material for silkscreen paintings of celebrities, disasters, and other subjects, he also worked from his own images. From the 1970s until his death, Warhol made tens of thousands of Polaroid prints, a method that appealed to him because of its speed, ease, and flattening effects. Polaroids served as working studies for his commissioned society portraits; however, many were never adapted into silkscreens, but remained experimental, intimate prints that the artist preserved in his files. Among these was a series of self-portraits in drag, on which Warhol collaborated with photographer Christopher Makos in the early 1980s1. These cross-dressing performances for the camera recall Man Ray’s photographs of Duchamp disguised as his female alter ego, Rrose Sélavy. Warhol had a longstanding interest in drag queens, and more broadly, in artifice, role-playing, and the construction of identity. In his numerous self-portraits, he was less interested in revealing himself than in presenting a mask, just as he carefully cultivated a superficial, depthless celebrity persona in life. Nevertheless, in this image, his masculine features are barely disguised behind his wig and make-up, resulting in a poignant testament to vulnerability and exposure. This was by far the most challenging of the three projects as I am a perfectionist and I want every detail to be, perfect. I initially wanted to work with a Polaroid camera but the one I own is so old all existing Polaroid films are expired and those who aren’t are very expensive. I went with my backup plan which was a disposable camera to get that same 1980 feel. It was very tricky because unlike today’s digital camera, there is no way you can know what the photos look like until they are developed. My friend Adam and I had to do test shorts with a digital camera to make sure the lighting, his face angles and facial expression were impeccable. Before we shot with the disposable camera, I really wanted the wig the be identical to Andy’s, so we glued some piece of the hair on his cheek and chin jaw at the exact same spots they are in the original photo. Unfortunately, my friend’s eyes are very sensitive to camera flash so a lot after each shot we had to reapply foundation! Also, my friend’s eyes are brown, I photoshopped Andy’s eyes onto my friend’s face. I am very happy with the results as they are almost identical.
1.http://www.warhol.org/collection/aboutandy/biography/ 2. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/15490
ANDY
ADAM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. The Warhol website: http://www.warhol.org/collection/aboutandy/biography/ 2. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/15490