Sting

“Sting is another guy I admire. I don’t really listen to his music but…He’s still making it and I admire that.”

Shepard Fairey

Graphic designer
Shepard began in an innovator of the idea of branding and creating iconicle images. During art school he came up with a basic design of Andre the Giant’s face and underneath wrote OBEY. The image became a cultural phenomenon spreading from the east coast to the west to around the world. Since Shepard has stayed true to his principle art form, Graphic design and has changed his focus to more of a political one. Though his work appears a little simplistic it is very conceptual and easily recognizable. He is very inspirational.

Anne Leibovitz

Photographer
Anne has a wonderful knack and ability to capture and portray someone’s true self through photography. Anne is best known as a portrait photographer. She has worked for Rolling Stone mag. as chief photographer for ten years, she has also done work with Vanity fair, The Olympics in Atlanta, and countless other commissions. I had a chance to go to an exhibit of her work in Balboa Park a few years ago and am thoroughly impressed and inspired by her work.

James Nachtwey

Photographer
I remember seeing a documentary on James a few semesters back and he is the one photographer who has mad a large impression on me. James has a way of capturing images that truly captivate. You can tell when looking at his images that he has a way of developing trust with his subjects and through his images you get to see the truth of the situation. James began his career as a war photographer and hasn’t ever backed down form controversy or danger. James now tries to impact and promote education and change through his photography.

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are

my testimony. The events I have recorded should

not be forgotten and must not be repeated."

-James Nachtwey-

Ben Burgeson

Photographer

I have known Ben for Several years now, over the past years I have seen him mature to an amazingly accomplished photographer. Ben has traveled all over the world and shot events at the Olympics, X-games, Kentucky Derby, and so much more. What I like about bens work is that he has a way of capturing both artistically interesting images as well as an essence of his subjects. He has devoted his life to his art and has slowly begun reap the benefits.
www.burgesonphoto

Book

Working on the book was a unique experience in itself. I spent a lot of time working through the different ideas and settled on clean plain style with the emphasis on the individual photos rather than flashiness of the design. I did all of the design in In Design and then exported the whole thing as jpgs and then imported them to Book Smart.

Sunrise

I rose before the sun and rubbed my eyes thinking, "is this really worth it". I convinced myself that after a quick stop at Star Bucks to get my morning coffee it would. "Dam...I've never been here before it opens". I decide to continue my expedition without coffee instead of waisting the 20 min waiting for them to open. I arrived at Torrey Pines before the sun was up and found a place to park. as the sun rose so did my caffeine deprived spirits. It was a little overcast but I was able to get some amazing shots of the Pines as the sun was rising. The clouds added an interesting backdrop to some of the trees. After capturing some interesting images I took a hike one of the many trails and couldn't stop taking pictures. The further I walked the more I was inspired, Along the trail there was a bench so i had a chance to sit down, look over the Pacific Ocean, and ponder life, beauty, and where I fit in with nature. Finishing the hike I promised myself I would be back to enjoy waking up with nature again very soon. As I drove home I thought to myself, "Yes, it was worth it."

Camp Pendleton

Pendleton was a fun trip. It wasn't packed with wild flowers like I would have hoped but we did get to see some native plant life. The trip was more structurally focused, by this I mean it was more for the farm house than nature. there were still some interesting photos to be had though.

While out at the Indian reservation I was able to see a good deal of native plants in their natural habitat. It was was a wonderful experience to see portions of the river bed how it must have looked hundreds of years ago. it was also quite interesting to see how much growth had returned since the recent fires.

Indian Rock

The trip to Indian Rock was a very informative and interesting. While listening to the history of the rock and the peoples who utilized it in their rituals I tried to imagine how it must have been all those years ago and what the rock signified. I would have loved to have heard the history of the rock before it got dark, I think it would have influenced the way I captured my images of the rock.

James Nchtwey

James is an amazing artist who uses his lens and film to capture the extremes of reality which are commonplace all around the world. James doesn't make pictures to collect a check but rather to bring awareness and prompt action against the atrocities that are our reality. His belief that photos can change social action is what fuels him. The way he shoots he is literal saying the story is more important than my life. His photos capture the heart of the viewer and they inspire me.

A season of rust

While reviewing blurb.com I was immediately entranced by the plethora of books to view. After countless minutes I realized it was time to pick a book to write about. Though 50 Ways to Shoot Your Lover was near the top of the best sellers I decided to veer away from that one, fearing perhaps it was a wicked play on words.

A Season of Rust, is the book I finally decided to view and comment on. I chose this book because of its feel. The book didn't have extremely well shot photos or even a great layout, what it did have was poetry and to accompany the poetry was photography to give a visual scene to one aspect of the feel or meaning of the poem. I rather enjoyed the poems and images I was able to read in the fifteen page preview.

what?

The first blog is always the hardest, wondering what to write and if anyone is really going to read it. If someone posts a blog and no one reads it was it really written? ha ha

Ok. Well, after viewing the music video of the artist it is plain to see that she is very passionate about her heritage and bringing awareness to the plight of her ancestors. All of her images and moving components struck strong cord within me. I think the strongest is the plight of the bison being herded and taken advantage of. I see a direct correlation between the bison and Native American peoples.