Schmidt Anniversary 2008

Last summer I had the honor of photographing my best friend, Annika Schmidt (www.annikaschmidt.com)'s parents 40th wedding anniversary party! She used the photographs as her present to her parents.  It was a while ago, but it was a great, relaxed and fun afternoon with great family friends and my own family as well.  Wanted to put up some of my favorites from the day...

The beautiful wedding photo

Gunnel's friends' swedish toast - so cute!

The sparklers leading up to the cake!

Andd of course we had to have a kiss :)

And now, the new and improved...

Man, have I been a bad blogger or what! It's been nearly a year since I last posted and the things I have to show !  Now the only problem is where to begin...

Unfortunately I didn't end up receiving any grant money from the MCC http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/applications/fellowsapp.html, but with the growing numbers of amazing artists that apply each year, its not super heartbreaking.  I found out that I was even going up against my two amazingly talented photography teachers, Stephen DiRado (http://www.stephendirado.com/index.html) and Frank Armstrong (http://pitchertaker.blogspot.com/)! But I have no doubt that I'll be applying each year I can! Hopefully someday I'll get that 10,000 dollar prize, and be able to do my big US east->west roadtrip photo project!

Back to things that are of the more recent present... About a month ago, I reached my one year anniversary working with the super great Portrait Simple family, and am loving it more than ever! (www.PortraitSimple.com)  But as the busy christmas season begins (yes, we start our holiday season on August 31st! haha!), I'm busy with my own freelance work tying up loose ends and finishing projects/jobs before fireplaces, ornaments and photo cards take up most of my time.

To catch you all up to date, the next couple posts are going to be highlight shots from my shoots from the last year!  And eventually we will get to the two beautiful weddings I shot the weekend of August 14th and 15th! Hope you're excited!

Now, enough talking, lets see some photos. These first ones are from a sampling of dance performances and competitions that I was either watching or a part of. (I have a couple years of experience competing and performing in the latin ballroom and salsa world)

 

Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagorouitchenko @ BU, Boston, MA

Leon Turetsky & Ania Lukas @ Springstep Medford, MA

Leon Turetsky & Erin Kaya @ Springstep Medford, MA

Yulia Zagorouitchenko @ BU, Boston, MA

 

FitzGerald & partner @ Eastern Championships Cambridge, MA

 

Helle Rusholt Yi & Steve Yi @ Eastern Championships Cambridge, MA

Hope you enjoyed them!  The Ballroom world is a unique, firey one and is extremely challenging and fun to photograph! Before I go, here's one that I dad (Stewart Clements, also a photographer www.clementshowcroft.com) took of me during one of my own performances!

 

 

okay, so I said one and I end up with four, but hey, theyre fun! Enjoy!

-jess

Night Drive...

Only at night can the beauty of mystery, fear, and truth be fully captured. The snow falling on this tree shows how loud the quietest moment can be.  

Seemingly stagnant & unoccupied scenes are quickly transformed into a mystery of curiosity and wonder exploring all that surrounds us. 

Abandoned and shut down might be boring to the untrained eye, until given life once again by showing its unique, textural beauty. 

It is the essence of truth when water and sky meet man-made invention. Organic stillness is joined with structural harmony in this powerful moment. 

For once it is not darkness that brings fear; rather the streaming intensity of light provokes the anxiety that most shadows bring.

For a little explanation... My dad talked me into entering photos to the Massachusetts Cultural Council to apply for the 2009 Artist Fellowships.  Each year they give out artist grants 1,000 - 10,000 dollars in different art genres, and luckily this year they photography was one of the catagories !  It won't be until June that we find out, but hey, either way! Feels good to be in the race!

Keep those fingers and toes crossed! Until later!

-Jess

Instinctual Inspiration... Uncovering the Familiar Thesis Show 2007

Senior year of college, I took the thesis course for art majors which allowed me to be a part of the most fun and inspiring group of artists. Along with coming up with and executing our own concept for a final project, our other challenge was to plan, design, and curate our own thesis gallery show. Having little experience in the gallery setting, this was an amazing and terrifying job. The photos below are the results of many tears, allnighters and coffee/ciggarette breaks at 4am...


Instinctual Inspiration

My photographs are intimate insights into the personalities of the individuals pictured. Through countless visits to local zoos, farms, and animal shelters, I began to grasp a new understanding and appreciation of the animals I came in contact with. While photographing, it was very important that I concentrated on one animal at a time, allowing for the most intimate and intense interaction possible. Each photograph is unique to its subject, and how they react to their environment and as well as to me.
I began photographing animals with the intent of capturing a moment that expressed the individuality of each animal. Over time, I began to get so involved in this process that my drive quickly changed from documentation to awe. I began to follow individuals for hours as they went about their daily routines, trying to get as close as I could to entering their world. The animal world is one of vitality, intensity and passion. To live as intensely in each moment, as these individuals do, a human can hardly begin to understand. It is this innate gap between humans and animals that draws me to photographing these amazing individuals. This series of photographs is an attempt to fulfill my own primal need to gain a deeper understanding of the way in which these individuals live.

Mirror Through Lens

Coming from a psychology background, portraiture has always fascinated me... The funny thing is that it's so far beyond the intricate lighting set-ups and soft boxes (those clearly are important and fun to experiment with), rather, it is the unique way each individual reacts to being in front of a camera.

I have found that portrait shoots are not about directing, but creating the right atmosphere that allows the specific individual involved to feel as comfortable as possible. It is only then that the "model" will show something truly special and personal. And what makes portraits continually a challenge and a learning experience is the vast difference in what each unique individual needs for this "opening up" to happen...






Portraits were in the beginning, and still are, some of the most difficult shoots for me to do... I began shooting portraits by getting friends to pose for me with hardly adequate light kits to having a number of freelance portrait jobs for families and couples, and even a shoot with hired actors... And I used to think that sports action shots and wildlife photography were difficult - but trying to capture something as personal as I hope to seek in my portraits, is a continual challenge...

Who Would Have Guessed A Trip To The Zoo Would Be So Intense...

After my short summer of working on magnified eye shots and trying to figure out the world of digital photo, I had to quickly figure out what my thesis project was going to be... Feeling pretty strongly that if I continued with my sports photography, that it would be a cop-out, and wanting to be respected as more than just a jock photographer, I decided a trip to the zoo would give a refreshing change of subjects...

Turns out, this trip to Southwick's Zoo in Mendon, MA, would not only be a necessary escape from the stresses of senior year, but the home of the individuals that I would spend the next year shooting for my photography senior thesis...