Emily's Statement

As a photographer I strive to tell a narrative in a physically compelling way. As a

video artist I use my foundation of photography and give the concept a new platform. I

am working this double-edged sword so that I may be able to choose the most

appropriate medium and create resonating art. With these two mediums, I can either

create a documented narrative or present a staged scene to achieve the appropriate

concept.

In my most current video art project, I use still photography to create a stop action

narrative in a staged environment. As my art grows within video, I would like to

experiment more by using a documentary approach to tell the narrative of an individual.

In both documentary and staged approaches, I enjoy using humans as my main

subject. Whether it is a model or a person off the street, I like to capture my human

subjects within their environments to create an evoking imagery. I believe that my work

in both photography and video ban be linked by my use of human subjects, the telling of

a narrative, and the formal characteristics I chose to emphasize, like composition,

consideration of color, and the use of space and depth.

My practice first requires a concept. Then I chose which approach, documentary

or staged, would be most beneficial to portraying that concept. From there I search for

the right human subject. If I am searching for a person to document, I research and talk to

people groups in order to find a person with a relative story to share. If I am looking for a

model to use I take into consideration whether I want them to look natural or staged, the

gender, and their personality in front of a camera.

I enjoy the relationship between photographer/videographer and subject,

especially the opportunity to get to know their life story, or in a staged situation, it is

intriguing to create the subject’s story. This is important to me because I believe that

the value of life is found in relationships. I would love to harness this value of life to

influence and inspire others. We are shaped by the relationships, big or small, positive or negative, in our lives. My practice with both mediums allows me to personally grow

through my relationship with the subject. It also enables the viewer to be influenced

by their relationship with the subject and concept. I am continually attempting to

successfully display one’s story or reveal one’s personality within a single image or

a small series of images, which will then enable me to better display it with video. It

excites me to join together what I love to practice and what I value most in life.

Through this connection between my subjects and I, I hope to create photography

and videography that evokes a response and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.

This can be a difficult task, but when executed properly, it can result physically and

emotionally as something beautiful. This deep beauty captured within art is what drives

my practice.

Amany's Statement

I like expressing myself and my opinions using art because it allows me to use very attractive and interesting ways to prove and perform my point of view. I like to let people see the world through my eyes and think the same way my mind does. Art has a huge impact on kids and adults. I also like how much fun people gain when they enjoy a piece of art. Thus entertaining others and enlightening them is very important issues to me. Moreover, art allows my to use abnormal ways and helps me achieving the impossible that cannot be achieved in the real life.

Joshua's Statement

As an artist who takes pictures, I feel obligated to document experiences that
describe our temporal nature, known more commonly as life. As humanity reaches
new heights of exploration, of discovery, creation and invention—some may argue
that today humans are better than the day before. Like the prescribed recipe for
evolution, we are designed to operate within social norms, to produce a better,
smarter, and stronger generation—for the betterment of mankind. I am interested
in illustrating this cycle of preservation, our attempts to remain fossilized in an
environment which will always prevail in our erasure.

I am jealous of those who believe in the afterlife. For those who do not
believe, we recognize that the true reality is consciously unbearable. A trip to
blissful heaven is a clever disguise for an eternity of nothingness, but better yet
proves to be an elegant example of checks and balances derived by those in power.
It is this idea that gives me anxiety; it is this idea that keeps me awake at night. My
art serves as a catharsis—freeing me from my fear of the inevitable.

Through contemporary photographic processes, the photograph operates as
a document to the performances that are shown before the camera. Viewers are
perceived as unaware voyeuristic participants of the bizarre rituals shown. My
performances, often including the manipulation of the body surface, become the art
itself. The fear of suffocation, the tangibility of the material, or the feeling of the
execution of an unknown action is what I find most interesting. Through the
photographic window, viewers are invited into these intimate illustrations of the
sublime.

Molly's statement

When I make things, my first thought isn't whether or not it's artistic. My main goal is to make something I'm proud of and something that people will enjoy watching. I truly believe that the chief purpose of art is for people to enjoy it. When I make anything I tend to make it silly or funny and I actually have difficulty writing, drawing, or filming anything serious. There are enough serious things in life. Art should be fun. So I guess that's my statement: art should be fun and enjoyable, and that's always what I try to do.

Cory's Statement

 I create art because I enjoy the challenge.  I enjoy the challenge of finding an idea, and even if I don't particularly like or enjoy the ideas I develop, I enjoy molding and building these ideas into a final product that I can look at with satisfaction.  Art, for me, is the struggle to find satisfaction in your ideas.

Chris' Statement

I guess I like to 'see' things and therefore have always been a visual learner as they say. I think this is what drew me into photography as my medium of the art world. I don't think everything I create is art, but I’m not sure if it's what you create that is always art, maybe the art is in how you create it. Art is the ultimate problem-solving tool. When I look at how to photograph something. When i see photos that lack vision i wish that the photographer just asked what else they could have done to put some life in it. I think that is the art. Recognizing the life in something and what it took to create that life.