Josef Albers Background

•  In 1963 he published Interaction of Color which presented his theory that colors were governed by an internal and deceptive logic.
• Most famous of all are the hundreds of paintings and prints that make up the series Homage to the Square. In this rigorous series, begun in 1949, Albers explored chromatic interactions with flat colored squares arranged concentrically.
• Painting usually on Masonite, he used a palette knife with oil colors and often recorded colors used on the back of his works.
• Albers's work represents a transition between traditional European art and the new American art. It incorporated European influences from the constructivists and the Bauhaus movement, and its intensity and smallness of scale were typically European.
• Here are some examples from Interaction of Color



Photographic Color Theory

I have finally come to the realization that I won't waste anymore of my time and energy on looking for internships and focus on an independent project. I've thought about several conceptual ideas that I could do as my project, but the main two that I thought were the strongest was a "copy the masters" idea and a color theory idea. For my "copy the masters", I wanted to visually interpret master paintings using photography as my media, but I know that this idea has been done before and I wanted to do something more original. So my second idea concerns color theory, which I have been studying in Drawing and Painting. I want to base my photographs on Josef Albers's idea of color theory and the relationship between certain colors, but instead using simple blocks of color, I want to incorporate people to make my project unique and individualize it to my aesthetic. I talked to Ms. Sheehy, my mentor, about this idea and she thought it was a very strong, conceptual idea but a big challenge is lighting because colors are so dependant on lighting. Here is a list of things I have to focus on:

• Study Josef Albers and color theory
• Learn how to use appropriate lighting
• Decide ideas for each photo and which colors to use
• Find models
• Conceptualize each photograph
• Decide on what color relationships to use
• Practice make up/ buy body paint
• Find a place to shoot
• Construct sets and decide on which props to use
• Find appropriate lighting/where to borrow lighting equipment
• Shoot the photographs in studio (potentially in basement)
• Edit/Photoshop each individual photograph
• Make sure the color relationships are completely accurate (warm,cold tones)
• Find place where I can print my photographs
• Decide on how I want them framed/matted
• Ask local restaurants/galleries if they would exhibit my color theory series
• Plan WISE presentation

This is a basic to-do list of what I need to focus on, and I'm sure there are a lot of other things to, but this is my main goals.

Frustration

So, unfortunately I STILL haven't found someone to intern with. I can't believe how difficult it is to get an internship for a photographer. I sent out my cover letter/resume/sampels of my work to 10 different photographers/studios and NONE of them replied back! I'm going to call the Katonah art center today and see if they are looking for interns. I think it's time to seriously consider/conceptualize a project that I can work on and do if no one else replies back with a "Yes! We'd love for you to intern!". Welcome to the real world, I guess.

Game Time

Ms. Sheehy gave me a resource magazine yesterday and I'm going to go on the photographers' websites mentioned in the magazines and start sending me resume/cover letter to them with images of mine and see if I can get any response at all. Hopefully someone will be interested in an intern! Wish me luck

These are two of the photographs from the Anglefly Preserves with Marina that Inspired my film idea.



Epiphany

So, I am a little frustrated because I haven't found anyone to internship with! None of the people I've contacted  have replied to me and Rachel Brenner mentioned that she knew a photographer and she contacted him but he declined the offer. So I guess I'll just keep sending out my cover letter and resume and portfolio. But, last week during break, I did a photo shoot with Marina Castiglione at Anglefly Preserves and I had an artistic epiphany; while I was photographing her, I realized  that I was focusing a lot on the angle of the shots and trying to capture a cinematographic/ film feel to create a strong narrative. That inspired me to think of pursuing to make an actual small film for WISE, but the only problem is that I have absolutely no knowledge on how to create or edit movies. The only advantage I have is being a photographer, thus I have a strong perspective. But I would have to learn how to use the movie editing software and how to weave it all together, along with incorporating music and sound. If I really am not able to find an internship, this would definitely be a project I would pursue. I have several perspectives and ideas concerning a movie, but even before that I need to learn how to work the program, which I luckily already have because I have a Macbook Pro! I'm going to ask my boyfriend to help me because he was a film major in college, so I'm sure he has a lot of valuable input, and he is now studying music and audio engineering so he would be a great help. BUT! This is only an alternative if I honestly cannot find ANYONE how would take me under their wing. I'll definitely keep looking!