frustration I think is the word of the day

I am a sleep deprived girl right now. Going to bed at 3:30 or 4am twice this week is not a good thing. My shooting is just going okay. I need to find more of a focus for my project and figure out what I’m trying to say. This project is important to me, so I want to show that. I think trying to find one or two people or a relationship at each place I am shooting will be key to the doc and will make it work.

Hedges_short_042

Hedges_short_042, originally uploaded by kateslauren.

This was shot out at Last Chance Corral for my long term documentary on voluntarism. Last Chance is non-profit and is located in Athens, Ohio.

I’m sick, but I thought I’d post a picture

100 degree fever check. Want to stay in bed all day check. Sore throat check. Well it’s official I AM SICK. Unfortunately I have a presentation I have to do for another class and a meeting for my long-term documentary tomorrow, so no staying home. At least long term is progressing. I have contacts yeah! I have a direction yeah! Shooting last Saturday was fun, but frustrating at times. It was so contrasty(is that a word?) No clouds whatsoever. Zip. Nil. Zero. You get the idea. I also didn’t get to as many of the projects as I wanted and in the end decided it was best to stay with one group. I can’t wait to get going with some of my other contacts. I really want to show how people give back with their time and find out why they want to volunteer.

There are times I just really don’t understand this world

Today I’m not going to do field notes. I’m going to talk about yesterday, and how there are many times I don’t understand this world at all. As photojournalists we document. We tell stories. We observe. And for the most part I think we are able to make since of what we choose to photograph or document. I can’t understand this. I can’t wrap my head around someone waking up one morning and deciding that it’s a good idea to go and kill as many people as possible. I understand pain, but I don’t understand that the reasoning to to take your own pain away is to make as many people as possible feel pain in return. The only question we are left with in the end is why? Why did this happen? And I doubt if we will ever get a satisfactory answer.

short doc proposal

guess I should put this up:

The question I want to ask is can you tell someone’s personality by their shoes. People make a conscience choice about shoes when they buy them. I want to see if the person’s own self image that they believe they are projecting matches what other people think when they see them.

My hypothesis is that other people can gain an insight into someone else’s personality based on their shoes. That other people’s perceptions will line up with the wearer’s own self image.

Visual approach:

I would like to do two sets of pictures. The first set just of the person’s feet with shoes. The other set a portrait of them with them with their description of their personalities with that set. The pictures are the most important part because the determination needs to be based off of first visual impressions.

My selection will not be totally random. I don’t want five people all wearing tennis shoes. I want people with distinct styles to question and photograph. Since this will not be random I plan on visiting several different places to find my subjects.

My genre would sociology.

Method:

I will approach people and ask them a set of questions:

What is your age?
What is your current situation (job, student, other)?
What words would you use to describe yourself?
Are these your favorite pair of shoes?
Do you feel your shoes reflect your personality?
For what reasons did you buy the shoes?

Either I will record their answers with audio or I will write them down. If I do audio I would put the project together using sound slides. If the answers are written down I would like to put the project in a bound book.

Hedges_shoes_09

Hedges_shoes_09, originally uploaded by kateslauren.

I took this late yesterday afternoon for my short documentary project on shoes and personality. I thought the light, shadow and gesture worked nice together to make it more than just a picture of someone’s foot.

keep pushing

I felt a little weird going up to people asking if I can take pictures of their shoes, but everyone I’ve asked has been interested in my project. Now I’m working on replacement photos. Trying to make better photos than some of the ones I have so far. Ones with better light, shadows and shape. I am enjoying this project though and have an interesting idea of how to present it if I can just get the amount of shoe boxes that I need.

noise: none

mood: happy

Hedges_shoe_01

Hedges_shoe_01, originally uploaded by kateslauren.

I actually felt pretty good about his photo. It’s for my short term documentary project which is “Do people’s shoes reveal their personalities?” This was taken in Baker Center on Friday.

The water isn’t at my head…yet

Oh the joys of Easter weekend in Athens. I have nothing against Easter whatsoever except that it seems the entire campus went home this weekend. That doesn’t help when you are trying to shoot your documentary project. I have seven people so far. Seven. I want twenty. Seven is not twenty. Plus I have video to film as well and many things are closed tomorrow or again people went home. My ultimate backup is to do my five minute B-roll on pool. So right now I’m trying not to panic and start drowning. So yes the water isn’t at my head, yet and I’m trying to keep it from getting there.

Noise: Dixie Chicks~ Travelin’ Soldier

mood: tired and anxious