Sydney Nguyen: Final Portfolio (ready for grading)

  Final Portfolio 

I loved compiling my final portfolio and reflecting on the new skills I learned in this course. I titled and captioned my images in an effort to illuminate little worlds I tried to create in each photograph. I found it tedious to reshoot for previous assignments but this exercise forced me to apply my new compositional skills and camera knowledge to create my best possible work. Honestly, I had a blast throughout the process and I look forward to making images on my own in the coming weeks.

<3 Sydney N

EXPOSURE AS METAPHOR

Kitchen Dahlias - I picked up some dahlias for the kitchen table a few days ago and thought they had reached the perfect stage of witheredness to add a subtly sinister tone to this mostly black image.

To the Train - A couple times each day, I hear the train from my apartment since the tracks are close by. My partner loves trains so we sometimes walk a couple miles to watch it pass.

Rum & Coke - I wanted to photograph our cupboard rum corner because of the glasses' intricate cut. I enjoyed manipulating the light via the cupboard door in order to best capture its refraction off of the glass.

Summertime Christmas - I love the understated juxtaposition between our string of Christmas lights 

and the California sun shining through the blinds.

Yacht Club - Although this bayside pond appeared to only support small, motorless boats, it seemed like it would be the perfect place for a fancy boat club due to the adjacent horse racecourse.

Leaving My Heart in San Francisco - I captured the San Francisco skyline on a cloudy day and titled it as a tribute to Tony Bennet's 1962 hit to emphasize the photo's hazy, dreamy atmosphere.

PORTRAITS

King of Hearts - This portrait of my boyfriend reminded me of a playing card and how all of the figures on face cards look sideways. The harsh black and white contrast also reminded me of the distinct red, white, and black in a card deck.

I'm Like a Lawyer - I liked the authority that this image conveys through his facial features' extreme clarity and fine texture. Additionally, the brown-grey edit also reminded me of the faces on dollar bills. As a law student, Justin made a great fit for my vision of officiality. The title is a tribute to one of my favorite Fall Out Boy songs.

Stagnant - I titled this photo Stagnant because of the apparent blank white nothingness outside the window. I enjoyed toying with masking, cropping, and contrast in order to create a compositionally interesting photograph (hopefully).

Where's Coach? - This image illustrates the staged aftermath of a long day on the court for my tennis coach and player boyfriend, Justin.

ABSTRACTION

Hands Off - This title references the curtain's suggestively vaginal positioning as it relates to the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Plate Nouveau - The plates' uneven edges, curvature, and dramatic tonal contrast remind me of the whiplash curves, organic forms, and colorful dynamism throughout the Art Nouveau architectural movement.

Spiraling - I titled this image Spiraling after the spiral notebook depicted in the image, as well as the photo's dark, whimsical coloration. It reminds me of the moment in which one slips from consciousness into daydream.

Magnolia Blinds - The contrast between the beige and brown shades in this image of my blinds reminds me of the dual-tonality of magnolia leaves.

LIGHT

Jury Duty - As a tennis coach and upcoming lawyer, Justin spends a lot of time on/in the court! Fortunately this is a photography class, not a wordplay class.

Thinly Veiled - I recall being very tired shooting this image, just looking around the house for something interesting to shoot. I love how the light cascades down this sheer curtain and I was pleased that my camera could pick up some the details of the fabric's fibers.

Sunshine Riptide - I experimented with photographing my blinds a few times for the portfolio. I played with different times of day, different blinds settings, and different kinds of edits. I captured this image during sunset, which cast a brilliant purple on the blinds, between the stripes of bright, sunny yellow. I enhanced these colors while editing. The photo's close cropping and bright colors give it an abstract appearance, which I found interesting.

Night at the Motel - This image depicts the ceiling shadow cast by a phone flashlight placed under a motel lamp. I was dissatisfied by the light cast by the lamp itself but I still wanted to capture its form one way or another. I like that the shadow retains the thinness of the metal beams and the lampshade's circular outline.