Mirza Ahbab
Oyoma Asinor
1 For my concentration, a collection of digital photographs was amassed which showcase the beauty of
simple, yet strong, geometric shapes and leading lines in seemingly commonplace architectural spaces.
To the untrained eye, abandoned factories and the backs of shopping centers often go unnoticed.
However, I aimed to explore these often neglected spaces by paying close attention to detail This
collection of photos serves to quantify simplicity and the principles of design through geometric shapes.
2 The central idea first came about while photographing typical outdoor and indoor scenes; I had
wanted to bring more variety to these seemingly uninteresting and bland photos that I was taking at the
time. In order to make things more interesting, I decided to add my own manipulations of the
photographs in post processing. Often times, these simple manipulations, as seen in photographs one
and two, altered the perspective of those works just enough to keep them fresh and new for me as a
visual artist. These simple changes to my works centered around one main geometric shape, and often
employed the use of flipping and mirroring the content within that geometric shape. Eventually
however, I found that this process and visual style became almost bland or “tacky” in of itself. To
progress further with my original concept, I chose to push away from adding my own geometric shapes
and set on finding naturally occurring shapes and lines in the spaces I was shooting. Images three and
nine center around my capturing of these lines. Images ten and twelve take that idea a step further by
combining the prevalence of both fortified lines and distinguished shapes in order to create a definitive
showcase of the seemingly boring and everyday spaces which the untrained eye would ignore.
Nabiha Chowdry
1. My concentration is a study of the interaction between nature and man made structures. I
explore the deterioration of buildings and other areas focusing on interesting or unusual details,
discovering the beauty in what is generally perceived to be damaged or worthless. In addition, I
include the element of nature making its reappearance in areas where human life had originally
taken over, showing the eternal and powerful qualities of nature and the fleeting quality of man
made structures.
2. My concentration includes shots of abandoned places and buildings, observing how they have
deteriorated over time. The element of nature makes its reappearance in these areas where
human interference has disappeared, but plants continue to survive and are on their way to
reclaiming the area. The idea evolved from longer, landscape style shots as in image 1, into
focusing more closely on details. Images such as 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 are closer cropped and
draw attention to details in those specific regions. These images capture the beauty that can be
found in ordinarily overlooked scenes. Further images such as 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10 go even closer to
specific areas exemplifying the variety of interest that can be found in even the smallest of
sections. The set of images work together in a way that they each function as individual pieces
of a puzzle that tell the story of a location when viewed together as a whole.
Shannon Drop
1. My images compare the human body with nature, showing the beauty in diversity. Many people are
uncomfortable or ashamed of their bodies, believing they are not perfect. Any person will always find
something trivial to criticize about themselves. If they looked at the world around them, they would
realize nothing is perfect. Nature, just like humans, is full of diversity. My images show how everyone
should be proud not only of their appearance, but how these defining traits make them unique.
2
The first two photos were the images that sparked my interest in this central theme. The first
photo reminded me of whiskers. The second photo reminded me of rough, dry skin. I continued
to take macro photos of flowers, cactuses, and other plants. I realized that some plants are short
and stubby, for example. Some flowers have unique colors or shapes. It made me think about
how no one thing or person is perfect. Then, I took photos of body parts on a range of different
people. I focused on similar shapes at first, like in image 3. I continued to look for more
similarities, such as textures as seen in images 5 and 9. I also focused on comparable
compositions, like in images 6 and 7 in order to create paired images for my concentration. My
pictures continued to get stronger as I reshot the body images with the nature photos in mind
and found that the more I focused on patterns and texture, the stronger my images became. My
last photo is my strongest image because it takes composition, pattern, texture, and shape to
pull the images together cohesively.
Andrew Collins
1 Honor: the memories in the whispers of a building where loves and losses wandered the halls and sang
in the recesses. Honor: the lives of those, no matter the walk of life or the paths chosen, create the
canvas I explore today. Is one more significant than the other? My concentration explores the caverns of
yesterday alongside my footsteps and stumbles of now.
2 My concentration was born out of my love for exploring the forbidden. An adrenaline filled day on my
skateboard, with me as subject, quickly became a reverse of the artist’s lenses, and I took hold of the
camera. My motivation became the challenge of capturing these metal civilizations, and honoring the
past lives of these now crumbling beauties. I look for repetition in the lines of the rails and shards of
light where darkness has swallowed its life. These images are reflections of my life. The generations
before me and the opportunities that lie ahead. Promises once thrived in these abandoned halls, they
weren’t always decrepit and quiet. I hope to share in my work the dreams these places once held. My
work is now traveling through a vortex where I am searching for a visual link between past and present,
man-made intertwined with man. With this body of work, I’m still climbing and racing through the same
concrete skeletons I did on my board. The difference now is the pause in my motion to capture the
glimpses of history in my efforts to communicate and honor their pasts.
Brooke McCoy
1 The central idea of my concentration is the movement and energy of shapes with water. As the dye
moves though the water, it creates abstract organic shapes resembling human actions, marine life and
flying animals. One of the pieces of inspiration for my central idea was lyrics from Bubble Toes by Jack
Johnson: “move like a jellyfish, rhythm don’t mean nothing, you go with the flow, you don’t stop.”
2 The rhythm of the shapes varies and become other organic matter. As my concentration shows my
progress over time showing how my idea has changed from the birth of the idea to the conclusion of my
project. Image 1 and 2 were the beginning stages of my project where I looked very close into the form
of the figures making them fill the positive space of the images. In Image 4, the figure is life-like and
looks like two ballet dancers flowing through a partner dance creating one soul figure. In Image 6, the
two side figures are similar to nature and resemble two trees, a large strong tree, and a small, thin tree.
In Image 8, the shape and its outer values brings to mind a flying animal like a bird or a butterfly from a
side view. In Image 10, the figure strongly represents a marine animal like a jellyfish swimming through
water with the tentacles flowing behind it. In Image 12, the dye coming front the top of the image looks
similar to a marine animal like a whale or large dolphin.
Jeff Morrison
1 The central idea of my concentration was to focus on the small things. Specifically I focused on
different parts of a car and different mechanical objects. The photos have a gritty and edgy feel to them.
There are many different parts that go into building something to make it a cohesive whole. It’s the little
things in your life that matter that come together as an unabridged version of your life. Each photo
represents the little things, that when put together, make a cohesive whole.
2 The overall theme of the photos are close ups of car engines and mechanical objects. In photos 2, 3
and 6 there are a lot of repeating lines that create movement and rhythm. Several of the photos have a
blue color scheme which gives them a cohesive feel. Blue, being a cool color, expresses the coldness of
engines. In photos 8, 10, 11 and 12, I explored the grittiness of an engine. They exude a rough quality yet
still create a beautiful photo.
Terae Moxey
1 My concentration focuses on distorting my images to emphasize the loss of identity. By using black
and white I created a dramatic and emotional tone. Through long exposures and image compositing in
Photoshop the photographs become unusual and surreal. The images feel as if you are looking into
someone's nightmare.
2 For the first few images in my concentration I knew that I wanted to distort my subject's identities
with lighting and camera angles that created a dramatic and surreal tone. I realized then that most of
my ideas ended up being odd and sort of demented so I ran with this idea. From image four I started
compositing different images together, combining nature images with my portraits. By the end I was
using harsh lighting, compositing and long exposure to create my nightmare.
Samantha Powers
1 My concentration focuses on street art and city life. I began taking pictures of graffiti, which then
expanded to people with the graffiti, and finally ended with city life. While exploring Philadelphia and
New York to look for graffiti, I took a note of all of the different people and their actions. The shapes
and patterns of the cities provide a backdrop for the lifestyle throughout the streets.
2 My original thought was to photograph graffiti in the city. The first couple of photos(#1-5) in my
concentration, my main focus was on structures and walls with art on them. I love how people express
themselves through art, it really inspired me. After taking successful photos of graffiti, I decided to
expand my concentration by adding people in with the graffiti; as in the next few pictures displayed in
my concentration(#6-8). A few weeks later, I decided to expand even more by taking photographs of
city life; which were the rest of my pictures in my concentration (#9-12). I find the way people act and
present themselves to be interesting and it was a fun experience to capture everyday life through a
camera.
Carlos Puentes
1 Long exposures have always fascinated me, and I've loved fireworks since I was a little kid. It is for this
reason that I have attempted to create a digital version of these graceful light shows. Through digital
photography, I use flying embers to paint with light and effectively create my own fireworks.
2 My concentration attempts to convey the process of a firework going off. Images 1 through 4 show a
technician setting off the sparkling show. Images 5 and 6 illustrate a streak of light left by a now soaring
rocket. Images 7-12 paint my version of fireworks. Together, my images show a progression; my own
fireworks.
Danielle Wilhelm
1 Inspired by Lewis Baltz's Industrial Park series, I photographed similar subjects. When taking pictures I
paid attention to surface texture and lifeless subject matter. I emphasized simplicity and repetition of
line in my photographs. Instead of focusing solely on flat two-dimensional spaces, I've also used depth
and perspective to create more three-dimensional scenes. I like capturing everyday life, while
emphasizing the simplicity of geometric forms found in these industrial settings.
2 There is something very intriguing about simplicity in everyday things. The simple geometric lines are
very eye-catching, as seen in images 1 and 2. After seeing Lewis Baltz's Industrial Park Series in a class
discussion, I was drawn to his pictures and quickly did more research. The flattened spaces in his images
were very inspiring and led to my own series. I shot in black and white to add to the simplicity of the
images. The challenge I faced after focusing on this idea for a while was redundancy. So I took my
pictures to the next level and brought in depth and perspective. I focused more on three-dimensional
scenes, as seen in images 5 and 11.