Proposal

My idea for the midterm was an idea that I've had with me since last semester.  I was planning on making it my final project for this class, but I figured making it my midterm project would be just as good.  I got the idea from Photo 1.  My teacher had given us an assignment entitled "Out on the Street".  For this assignment we had to go around and take pictures of people on the street, but in order to get these pictures we had to make sure to approach them and ask them if they wouldn't mind their picture being taken or not.  It was an assignment that would get us to be comfortable in our art and get used to approaching people and stepping out of the comfort zone that beginning photographers usually put themselves in.  It was probably one of my favorite assignments in that class and one of the ones I did the best on.  My prints were good and everyone seemed to like them since I got lots of positive and enthusiastic feedback on them.

My teacher brought it up to me after the class critique of that assignment and told me how I am a really good street photographer and how I showed that I really moved away from what I was comfortable with and broadened my horizons.  This was my first stab at street photography and because of that project I really grew to like it. She saw this and suggested I make it either my final or midterm in color photo.  She said that maybe it would translate even better and have more meaning with color added to the picture because with color you get so much more information, so that's what I plan on doing for the midterm.  I want to take another shot at street portraiture photography and see how big of a difference it really is from when I did it in black and white.

Strategies for this project is close to none.  I plan to just go out and shoot, asking people if I can take their picture and have them either look at the camera or look off into the distance, maybe even ask them to go back and do whatever they were doing before I approached them.  There isn't too much technicality that will go into taking my pictures.  Though it sounds kind of simple, I'll make sure that it won't just be point and shoot.  I will line the person up in the frame a certain way and try my best to make sure that each picture I take is consistent throughout.  I hope to achieve repetition in how my pictures look.  Either they will all be off-centered a certain way, they will all be from the chest up, or they will be centered perfectly. I hope to shoot each picture in a way that would make the prints look visually appealing when presented.

I will be using available light when photographing.  Whether it be daylight when shooting outside or fluorescent light when I am shooting in a building, I won't toy too much with my lighting situations.  I will just use whatever is given to me.

I have made the decision to shoot in the Wicker Park area which is where I shot this assignment before in black and white.  I found many, many people dressed in quirky, odd colors.  I think it is because that area is filled with many artsy people.  And now I hope to find those same bright, vibrant color combinations when I go to photograph this time around.  I will take pictures of people whoever I find interesting or whoever intrigue me by what they are wearing.  People that pop out because of bright colors or maybe even dull color combinations are what I will be showing in my pictures.