The end, for now.

This will be my last post for quite a while as I continue with my thesis project. I will update as I begin the challenges of finding gallery spaces and selecting imagery- but for now it's all shooting time! Thanks for reading and staying with me this far, here is a final image that is also one of my favorites!

Again, feel free to look at my work at www.facebook.com/DeeRaePhotography ! Most of my new work (including but not limited to thesis work) will be posted there!

Single Elements

It was suggested to me by a professor that I leave little "easter eggs" in my photographs so that people will stay with the image longer, and to increase the confusion and tension. This photo is by far by new favorite with the editing style kept in mind- let me know what you think!

The First Photo

This is the image that has sparked a completely new love for photography for me. The image combines what we see and what we interpret, creating an optical illusion that almost makes it look like it could pass as one building but then confuses the viewer. All the images will continue to be in black and white to enhance, what seems like, the truth within the image. What comes next? I look forward to showing you!

Revised Artist Statement!

Hello all,

Here is yet another version for my artist statement to go along with my new thesis idea:

"Using architecture, this thesis merges the two worlds of what we see and what we interpret. My goal for these photographs is to give the viewer a chance to have a very quick second where they do not realize what they are looking at. In this moment, they can explore the movement and body of a structure as they are encompassed by the illusion."

Feel free to let me know what you think!

A Change in Direction...

Here is the new artist statement for my thesis:

Our eyes record things reversed and upside-down, and our brains interpret it for what it really is. My goal for these photographs is to give the viewer a chance to have a very quick second where they don’t realize what they are looking at. In this moment, hopefully, they will see a building briefly as an abstract piece of work, focusing on the movement and body of the building. Using architecture, this thesis merges two worlds: what we see and what we interpret.

I can hardly wait to show you all work, but I'm going to keep the suspense in place! Just try to image what it would be like if we did merge two worlds, the reversed and upside down with what is actually there....

What would it be? Photos to come!

Your Thoughts?

Here is another image I shot for my thesis... it is getting mixed reviews. The point of the thesis is to cause visual tension for the viewer, and to have them focus on the geometric shapes of buildings. Is the cloud too distracting in your opinion? I have had many reviews and they are all mixed- what do you think?

The first image!

This past week I went on my first shoot for my thesis. It was decently successful, but I definitely still have a lot of work ahead of me. (Which is good, since I will be working on this for the next year) Here is one of my personal favorites from the shoot so far:

I have decided to edit my photos into black and white for this project. The different colors that changed from building to building were too distracting, and they attracted the viewer more to the color instead of the shapes and geometry of the buildings as I had intended. I need to work on my black and whites, as they tend to turn more gray instead of brilliant whites and blacks. Hopefully with more exploring into this thesis, I will be able to create the look that I have imagined. Until then- stay tuned!

Thesis!

Thesis... Yikes!

I have been attending the Art Institute long enough now that I have been asked to come up with a thesis and explore it until I finish my degree. It has been an extremely frustrating, nerve-racking, emotional week trying to come up with an idea that I could explore for my last year at school; but alas- my idea has been approved! Here it is:

“Less is more”, said by German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. I would like to explore the details of architecture for my thesis, showing off the fact that sometimes the less people see, the more they will actually see and appreciate.

            All the time our brains are working to correct the images that we witness 24/7. Light enters into the eye, much like it does into a camera lens, and records a reversed image upside-down on our retinas. Our brain is remarkably fast enough to flip this image and record it in our minds correctly before we would ever have the chance to realize we saw something upside-down. My goal for these photographs is to challenge the viewer’s brain. To have a very quick second where the viewer doesn’t realize that they are looking at a building. In this moment, hopefully, they will see a building briefly as an abstract piece of work. I want them to move through an architect’s art piece much like they would with a painting or a sculpture.

            As photographers we have the ability to reinterpret things much like the brain. We can choose what we want the viewer to see. I want to limit them to certain sections of buildings so that they may appreciate them for what they really are- works of art. Many people look down upon buildings since we live in a time when we’re realizing our environment is decaying. What people don’t see is the craftsmanship and the thought that architects put into these buildings to make them stand out from the one that is right across the street.

            I will shoot all of the photos midday, from 12pm to 6pm, in order to allow deep, harsh shadows shape the building. I want to experiment with reflections and repeating shapes and patterns to make almost a “cubist” style of work. The details will be enough to show the movement of the building, but never the entire building as a whole. Ming Thein did a similar photo essay, and I would like to work closely to what he did. He shot his in Tokyo and was showing the fact that all of their buildings are only 6 inches apart, so it’s difficult sometimes to tell where one ends and one begins.

I'm really looking forward to shooting this, and I hope I can shoot it just like I have it imagined! I will make sure to share the entire process with you all as I close my last year here at AIS!

An Introduction

On the other side of the lens:

My name is Diandra Totten, and my company is DeeRae Photography. My passion to capture architecture and food. This blog will be a portal that I use to share what happens on my shoots, my experience, the problems and solutions that need to be solved, etc. Not to mention a lot of imagery that I work on! Most of my posts will focus on architecture and food, however I will share any other types of shoots I do as well considering those are usually the ones that are the most challenging for me- so they make for interesting experiences.

I hope you all enjoy, and welcome!


Also, if you would like to view my work, you can see it here:

https://www.facebook.com/DeeRaePhotography

Feel free to "like" and share my page if you enjoy my work! :)