Dexterity: Final Photography Portfolio Alicia Beale 2013

Untitled

8"x11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Untitled

8"x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Untitled

8"x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Botanical

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Botanical 2

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Botanicals

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Cactus

8" x 11"

Black and White Photography

2013

Artist Statement: Irises

Plants have always been a subject matter that I was interested in because I love the organic beauty of them. Constantly photographing plants became redundant and more like I’m making a record for myself. I decided to incorporate one of my favorite flowers, Irises, and try a more experimental approach to achieve a unique botanical image.

I personally chose Irises because it is my mom and I’s favorite flower. It is something we share together and that she has grown in her garden since I was young. They are delicate in their structure and the ruffled petals are an image of femininity. Irises also come in a range of types and colors making them vary in tones. In my mom’s garden she only had purple and dark burgundy flowers for me to use, so the variety of tones do not appear in my black and white photos, however, the dark colored Irises created better contrast in my photographs.

By putting the delicate plant in clear and opaque liquids, it emphasized the physical attributes of the flower. The liquid seeped into the folds and sat on top of the blossoms giving movement to the black and white photographs. The milk, glue, and soap keep the images light in color and it contrasts with the darker tones in the Irises. I found it interesting to place the perennials in non-organic liquids subtly showing the idea of the effects of chemicals on nature or the contrast between the organic and non-organic. The idea was never meant to be shown out right but quiet and thoughtful. I was more interested in the graphics. The size of the photos are “5 x 7” to keep an intimacy and attention to the details. Since the flowers were delicate and small I thought a smaller scale would appeal more to those qualities.

My series Irises was to experiment in achieving a more interesting image of plant as well as use a planet that meant something personal to me. I wanted to achieve a contrast between the flower and the liquids that emphasized physical characteristics of the petals and create subtle themes. I can easily take this experimentation vastly further with a variety of other planets and liquids to create more of these series.