Jairo Cervantes

Jairo Cervantes
Section 001E
April 27, 2011
Artist Statement
For my photo project I chose to recreate a birthday party I had when I was younger. I chose this picture because it was one of my favorites that were taken of me when I was younger. How I was able to recreate this photo was by finding clothes similar to the ones I was wearing and putting frosting from a cake on my face because that’s how I had it on the picture. I also needed to recreate my facial expression and pose, which I felt I did good job at it. What I was not able to recreate was the background, exact clothing and the haircut. I tried to replicate it as much as I could and I tried my hardest. I enjoyed doing this assignment and I had a lot of fun doing it. It’s not every day you get to do something like this and when you do you realize how much you have grown and changed. It was a really cool thing to see and I know my mom will love seeing my replica when I go home for summer. After doing this assignment I influenced some of my friends to recreate a photo from the past also. It was a very fun assignment and I’m glad we did it. I would like to recommend this project to everyone I know because I enjoyed it so much and I’m sure they will also. In 10 years from now I plan on taking another replica photo to see how much I have changed from college to then. Hopefully it is a good change that will not bring my self esteem down haha.

Mike Hernandez

For the photo assignment, I decided to use an image that my mom has had hanging in her house for many years now. She claims that it is one of her favorite photos of me and so I thought this would be the perfect one to recreate in order for her to see it 16 years after it had been originally taken. This photograph was taken when I was five years old after it had just rained and I was playing outside.

At the time, for some odd reason, I had decided to bend down and take the picture with my hands on my chin while smiling. While looking through old pictures, and even in recreating this particular image, I realized that I had a similar style back then as I do nowadays…minus the awkward white sandals. My hair is somewhat close to the same length as it was in the picture, so I was able to comb it similarly. And instead of finding the sandals, I decided to wear a pair of white canvas shoes that I own instead.

I enjoyed being able to go through a big box of old family photos while trying to find one to recreate. I was sitting there looking through them for a long time forgetting what I was really looking for. And it was just as fun shooting them. I tried a few different photographs in order to see which would turn out the most awkward and funny. My friends were definitely having fun taking the pictures as well. This was a fun project and would definitely be cool recreating multiple images from your childhood. It would be funny to compare some of the poses you make as a child with how they would look at an older age.

Beth Gordon

Beth Gordon

Photo-Project

ARE 130- Section E

Jay Reyes

                                                Recreate the Smiles

            I chose a photo of me at a place called Discovery-Zone on my brother’s birthday. Discovery-Zone was an indoor children’s play gym with all the climbing equipment possible. I chose a photo of me in a moon-bounce ball pit at the gym. In this photo I am smiling from ear-to-ear and it is obvious that I am very happy. Oddly enough I remember this to be a very happy day for my brothers and I because we had all day to run around and just be kids. I wanted to use this photo because I feel that it depicts a rather happy time in my life, when I was carefree and the only thing that hurt me were “boo-boo’s.” I didn’t have any responsibilities to be on top of, and I didn’t have the normal worries that I do now. I wanted to depict this type of time in my life, because when we are this age we are not even aware what its like to have any responsibilities or even true emotions like love and sadness. I think this picture does a good job of capturing me as a happy carefree child; therefore, I wanted to recreate this picture and recreate the smile of just being a kid.           

I was able to recreate this photo by finding a similar shirt to the one I am wearing as a little girl, and tie my hair up into pigtails. Because I could not simply recreate the background I decided to crop and use the exact same background from my baby picture to my present day picture. I was able to recreate the emotion I am wearing on my face by thinking of childhood and adolescence, and how running around a gym like this was pure fun. Although I could not recreate the same background both images are of me at a child’s play place.

            I enjoyed this project very much because I feel as if I not only recreated the photograph, but I 

also recreated the emotions featured in the photograph. As young-adults we face lots of stress due to school mixed with social life, and this stress causes us to worry. When we worry we are not wearing smiles from ear-to-ear, we have a nervous look on our face. With finals coming up, and another semester of college ending, I am starting to face the “end of the year stress,” that arrives right before summer break. Because I am feeling this stress I wanted to recreate an extremely happy time when I did not even know what stress was. 

Emily Scharer: Photo Blog

The original photo was taken when I was playing dress up with things I found around the house. Most of the clothes were found in my Dad’s closet because growing up I always liked the idea of being a big time businessperson like my Dad. It was funny to look back at old photos that my Mom found because I guess I never used to smile with my teeth. Taking the updated photo felt a bit awkward because now I always show my teeth when I smile. I also think it’s funny that my heritage shows a lot more in the modern picture, when I smile now my eyes look like they are closed, as is common with Native American people. In the original, however, my eyes are big and bright. This picture was a bit hard to recreate because I couldn’t find all the business attire but more so because there are no pine trees in Tucson. In the first picture I am standing in the back yard of the house I grew up in which had many trees, grass, and flowers. I did the best I could to try to find a yard with trees and grass like color.

First Day of School

This photo was taken during my first day of school around sixth or seventh grade. My mom had a tradition of always taking my brothers and I's photos before the first day of school each year. I choose this photo because it made me think of all the awful morning i had trying to get up and go to school at 8am. Its makes me laugh to see the expressions on my face and my little brother Ben. We look like we hate the fact that we are up and we don't want to go to school. To recreate the photo, my brother and I went to the same spot where the original was taken. The landscape is a little different, but it is interesting to see the changes to my house/vegetation. We both tried to dress up in similar clothes that matched our old school uniforms at school. I also had him put a strap over his back and hold something that look liked his bad-ass Spiderman lunch box. It was hard to recreate the facial expression and hair, but i tried my best to make a sleepy/angry face and my little brother just stood there. The one funny difference is that my little brother is 18 years old and he is taller than me! This is the only part of the new picture i don't like, but it is cool to see how people change and grow.

Revisiting my Childhood

When assigned this project my first thought was to ask my mother to send pictures of me around age six. When she sent me 5 photographs, each unique in their own way, I found it hard to decide which to reenact. One of them was me jumping off a high dive, one was me and my sister with Santa Claus, but the particular one that caught my eye was one where I was jumping out of a tree. I suddenly remembered my passion for tree climbing that existed up until I was around 8. This memory brought along strong feeling of nostalgia that usually occur when viewing old pictures. I am still and outdoors person and love to excercise and get fresh air, but for some reason my desire to climb up anything with a ledge or a branch hadn't surfaced since I was a child. The other thing I loved about this picture was the fact that I am just jumping off the branch. I was fearless and brave as a kid. When I was reenacting this I found a similar outfit and substituted blue shoes and white socks for the photos blue socks and white shoes. The photo had the same colorful and whimsical effect with the mixture of all these colors into one outfit. I climbed up into a tree and almost jumped, but found my fear of heights was overpowering over my desire to jump. The contrast of the photos is interesting in the way that I am beyond ecstatic to jump as a child but as an adult I am very hesitant. Overall the comparison of these photos is very amusing and also brings a desire to reminisce and remember the fearless and brave attitude I had as a child.

Photo Project: Chase Gorham

For the photo project i chose an old photo from when i was four years old. In the photo I was wearing a sombrero at my old house where I was originally from before my parents got divorced. I had a couple other selection of photos i was choosing from but i felt that this was the best to do. Although it took several hours of mine and my mom's time to find the sombrero it was definitely worth our time after we found it. After several hours of looking I finally found the sombrero in my step brothers room way down deep in his closet. It was actually the same one as the original picture. I tried to tilt the sombrero the best I could to resemble the same picture of when I was younger. Overall I liked this project because I saw several old pictures of myself that I have not seen in years. Even though some pictures were embarrassing we all had a good laugh afterwards. In the most recent picture I just woke up from a long night before and my mom had to take several photos before we decided we had the right one. I would like to do a project like this again in the future, or maybe even draw myself as a self-portrait. This project is most definitely harder then it looks because making it look as if it was the same picture is hard enough on its own. In ending, my only wish for this project was to have the recent picture bigger then the picture of when i was a kid.

Rebecca Birch

ARE 130 Photo Project

For the photo project I chose a very old photo of me from when I was about three years old. The house the photo was my grandparents but has since been completely remodeled and sold to someone else. As best I could, I matched the food, plate, and silverware, but the aged wood cabinets in the background of the first one were impossible for me to come by. That being said, I put aside a large chunk of my dignity and took a “present-day” photo, which is not remotely flattering but pretty funny. My friend, who took the photo, pretty much never uses a camera and after over 20 shots of the photo I was incredibly satisfied with how close the final product came to the original. I think it turned out pretty neat that my hair was cut in the same style and it made recreating the photo a lot easier than if my hair had been long. My favorite part about the project was noting the differences and similarities in my facial features. I’m grateful my nose is different now, blessed that braces happened sometime along the way, and confident I have fully and completely graduated from napkin-bibs. I love that I am eating spaghetti because I adore all Italian food and eat it regularly.
One of the unfortunate aspects of this assignment is that in order to fully recreate a lot of my photos it would require a lot more time and money than I can afford in my feeble college student state. The concept is an awesome one. Who hasn’t sat down and wondered where they’ll be in 10-15 years. The photo project is just a literal application of that question and going about that kind of nostalgic recreation is replenishing to the soul. Looking back through hundreds of photos, perhaps with loved ones at your side, and remembering everything you’ve been through that’s gotten you to this point. It was a fun experience and something I’m going to try again in the future.

Growth and Development

Jose Velazquez
1E
Are 130
Photo Project

For my photo project, I did a picture of me when I was little. In the example, I saw the picture of the men that had a picture of him when he was small next to one where he was big. I thought that was really interesting to see how people have grown but still a very close resemblance to when they where little. Right away, I wanted to make something like that. The only problem was that I did not have any pictures of me when I was little. To solve that problem, I had to call my mom so she can mail me a picture. After waiting almost a week to get it, it turned out my mom had send me a small picture, one inch by one inch. However, it was still manageable to make the comparison. After getting it, it was all fun.
When I got the picture, I was really excited to start working, however, when I was about to start, I ran into some problems. My first problem was that I did not have a white shirt like the one in the picture. After looking in my closet and my roommate, I found a white one, with some blue on the shoulders. It was the best I could find. Second problem, my hair was not long enough to comb my hair. I did comb my hair similar but it was hard. My hair is not use to being to one side, I had to use a good amount of gel and comb it about three times. My third problem was that I could not get a background similar to the one in the picture. So my solution was to draw a similar background to it.
After finally getting a shirt, and fixing my hair, I was ready for the pictures. However, I ran into a last problem, I had to shave my beard. There was no way I would look even close to the picture with a beard. So I took a couple of minutes to shave. Finally, I am ready for the picture. I took about ten to fifteen pictures until I got the one that look close to almost alike. It was hard taking the picture because getting the angle of a picture is harder then it looks. The pose is something like this; the body is a little tilted to the left, and the face almost looking directly at the camera, or something like that. Eventually I got to a pose almost similar to it.
Doing this project was harder then it looks, however, it was really fun. Through this project, I saw how much I have change. Not only my physical appearance, but also my style. Before I use to have longer hair, now it is shorter. It was fun struggling trying make my hair like my mom did it when I was a little kid. Before, obviously, I had no facial hair, now I have to shave every three or so days. Through this project, I was able to see how much I have grown. This was a project that I enjoyed doing and that made me remember stories of when I was a little kid.

Edward Htoon

I chose to replicate this photograph for the simple reason that when I first saw it, I couldn't help but laugh. The photograph was taken when I was about seven or eight nad i think it was one of the first times I had been in snow. I can't really tell what I was thinking in the picture, but whatever it was ended up in a goofy expression. I couldnt find anything identical to the clothes I wore, so I just grabbed my snow jacket and a similar looking beanie, I was more intent on trying to accurately recreate the expression. Imagining what that expression means, is it bitter, pissed to be in the snow? or is it just someone about to sneeze? I honestly dont know, but I came up with the conclusion that it was the face of a dumbfounded kid. Deciding on that, I just tried to recapture a dumbfounded expression. Doing this assignment was pretty interesting and it was nice to look at some old photos. The project served as a reminder to look deeply into photographs and consider all aspects, both physical and emotional.

Danielle Grijalva

Danielle Grijalva
are130 section E

The picture I chose to recreate for this project is a school portrait from about 4th or 5th grade. This was the earliest picture of just me that I could find since my family has recently gone through a remodel and move and most of our pictures are packed away in unlabeled boxes. I would have rather used a picture from when I was younger than this, and still had short hair like I do now. Instead, here is a picture from the period of approximately eleven years when I kept my hair long.
The complexity of the photo made it difficult to recreate. A white shirt and tan pants were all I could find originally. I substituted a scarf for the rope, and used construction paper to add in a few more elements that I thought would help tie the pictures together. The green of the leaves in the background of the original draw a lot of attention so I tried to represent them in the redone version. Also, after trying a picture without any shirt decorations I realized that there is a substantial difference between a white shirt and one with even faint designs. Since my hair is too short to tie up in any sort of way I settled with using a band to pull my bangs out of the way, this way you can see my widow’s peak in both pictures. At least since the picture was taken inside I didn’t need to worry about time of day or location. Overall it was an interesting project and something I would like to try again later in life when I have more resources to devote to the recreation, but my roommate and I still had a laugh over it as it was.

Photo Project

Jorge A Flores
ARE130
Section E
04/26/2011

For my photo project I chose to do a replica of my childhood photo. The photo my mom decided to send me was of what seems to be a first grade or kindergarten picture. I cannot remember that far back but I don’t think I had much to worry about back then. I am wearing a bright red coat which was the uniform mandated by the school I went to and a little green placard on my left side. I don’t remember if I liked wearing the little red coat, but I don’t think is too bad now. There is no particular reason why I decided to replicate this photo, but I did have a hard time trying to do so. I first had a hard time finding the red coat, but I was able to get my hands on something similar. I also found it hard trying to replicate my expression, because I am still not sure why I look so serious and not smiling for the school picture. The background was just a black sheet, which was the easy part, as was the little green placard cut out from printing paper. After completing the replica picture and returning the red coat I realized that the new one was a mirror image to the right and not a full replica. Either way it was a fun project and also entertaining seeing how much I’ve changed.

Jordin Harrison

Over the weekend my mom and I went through tons of old photos for this project and it was incredibly fun. Looking back made me miss my childhood terribly. I think my mum misses me being a kid even more! All I kept saying was look how adorable I used to be. Let me just say, that kids of the 90's had the coolest clothes. I always has awesome neon jumpsuits or denim skirts with pastel, puffy sleeved shirts with huge bows for my hair. haha It was really but also really difficult because most of the photos of me over the age of 1 are all taken with my sisters. I couldn't recreate me hugging them or dressing them up if they were not there so I found this photo of just me.
Luckily, my parents still have that couch and afghan, even though now it just sits outside and smells. I tried to find a similar attire and put my hair in pigtails (which are not cute if you are over the age of seven!) It might be kinda hard to see in my now awkward pretend sleep face but I look exactly the same. My hair and size are the only things that have grown up. This was taken when I was probably four, and I was not even the length half of the couch but now I am longer than the whole thing. Which made posing for the picture really uncomfortable and awkward. However, this experience was really fun because my dad was taking the photo as my mom was crying. She was sad that I had to grow up. Haha. Me too mom, me too. But here they are..
little me...

and big me...

:)

Ilana Asserson- Past And Present

Ilana Asserson
Professor Elizabeth Garber
ARE 130-001 Section E –Jay Reyes
April 27, 2011
Artist’s Statement
The picture I selected for the Photo Project was one that is a favorite amongst my family and I. In it, I am five years old and have a huge grin on my face. My mother and father adore this photograph. They are particularly enamored with how my large dark brown eyes seem to pop out from the photograph. I am wearing the denim sleeveless shirt that I got as a birthday present from my parents. I liked wearing it on special occasions, such as holidays and birthday parties. The photograph also shows that I had a thick head of dark brown hair. I was fond of using bows and colorful elastic bands, called “scrunches” to hold my side ponytail in place.
I was able to recreate this photo because I borrowed a friend’s denim shirt to mimic the shirt I wore in the photograph. I also used a hair tie and put a small ponytail on the side of my head, just as in the original photograph. Thankfully, I still have my thick head of dark brown hair, olive skin tone, and large dark brown eyes. However, the background was the tricky part to recreate.
I thought the process was easy to implement and a good learning experience. It allowed me to go back in time some fifteen years and take a look at older family photographs. I still believe that I have a lot of the same facial features, just more mature! Since denim shirts are back in style, or perhaps they never really “went out of style,” it was easy to recreate that. I found it difficult to recreate the background since the photo was taken in our family room at my home in New Jersey, and I could not return home last week to use the same background. Overall, it was a fascinating project that allowed me to be resourceful, imaginative, creative, as well as sentimental.

Inspired by Frida

For my photoblog, I decided to share a self-portrait I painted inspired by a photograph of Frida Kahlo. In many of her photographs, like this one by Nikolas Muray, Frida is shown wearing these gorgeous floral head dresses. She did this as homage to her indigenous Mexican nationality as well as to emphasize her love of flowers and of nature. Frida Kahlo once said,"I paint flowers so they will not die." I took this to heart when I was painting my self-portrait but I always intended to incorporate the floral aspect using a collage, mix-media technique. Frida often painted depictions of elements in nature, from plants to various weather patterns. Kahlo believed in the concept of "mother nature" as this naturing and strong female figure. I have always loved this photograph of Frida Kahlo - the wall paper, the contrasting colors, her facial expression. So in a way, this is my recreation of her photograph.

(I could not figure out why this kept uploading side-ways, sorry!)
By: Darcy Ryan

Stripes and Pigtails

For my photo project I chose to be the subject and recreate my own childhood photo. The photo I selected was taken when I was almost 2 years old and I think it accurately represents my childhood. I was wide eyed and a very happy child. I asked my mom to put me in pigtails wherever we went. Somehow, my pigtails always ended up crooked. My younger sister, Monica is in the picture although I was not able to recreate it with her in it. It was more difficult than I had expected to recreate the photo. First, I had to find overalls, which was pretty difficult considering I have not worn overalls for about 15 years. Then, I had to find a striped long-sleeved shirt. I couldn’t find one anywhere so I chose to borrow my friend’s shirt. I had white sneakers and gladly put my hair into crooked pigtails. I must say I really felt like I kid again when I was all dressed up and ready to do take the recent photograph. I found myself skipping around and having way too much fun. I couldn’t exactly recreate the background but I did my best by having trees in the background and a somewhat plain foreground.  I think my expression, clothing, hairstyle, and pose were the most important aspects in recreating the photo. I enjoyed this assignment very much and had a fun time doing it. It was definitely a nice break from all the studying I’ve been doing. I think I am going to frame these photographs and give them to my Mom for a Mother’s Day gag gift J.

Polka Dots

The first picture of me is a picture taken by my father on Easter Sunday when I was about two years old. I am laughing, something my Dad is good at getting me to do, and I am squinting into the sun. As a little girl, I always wore hats. I loved them! I still love them to this day, my closet is proof of that. And I loved polka dots! Which I hate now, I only have one polka dot dress, which would lead me to the next picture...

I hate polka dots. But I needed a dress for Easter, so this is what I found. This picture was taken this Easter Sunday by my Dad. I am squinting into the sun this time, apparently my ability to take a picture near sunlight has not changed since I was two years old. This picture was taken in my backyard right before we left to go to my grandmother's house for Easter dinner. 

I enjoyed this project a lot. I love seeing the parallels between the younger me and me now, both physical and the presence I give off. I had a lot of fun and both of my parents loved the replication picture. 

I chose the picture of me when I was two because I feel as if it really captures Jocelyn. I was/am always laughing, I loved/love to get dressed up for special occasions, and my Dad, even though you can't see him, was present in both of these pictures, which is very special to me, he is my greatest friend. 

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