Magnum

     Emulating a Magnum photographer was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I stewed for what felt like weeks as I flipped through galleries left and right. I finally decided on three I felt I could incorporate into my work. Micah Bar Am, Bieke Depoorter & Leonard Freed were the three I chose. What I love about Micah Bar Am is the way repetition is played out in his photographs and how there was always a constant. Bieke Depoorter & Lenard Freed spoke to me of the realism in everyday life. Both showed everyday scenes and people who were not living glamorous lives, but enjoyed what they had and were happy. There is a playfullness about Freed's photos that I just love. He captures the moments and their emotions beautifully.

. . .

   I am the oldest of 10 children. My mom is Wonder Woman. [I still don't know how she does it] I decided to go and photograph her "average day" with 8 of 10 kids still living at home. My mom had a hard time with me there photographing - she didn't want me to document her or the "messy" parts of the house. I ended up telling her that I was only taking pictures of the kids [which she bought] and I was able to sneakily document lunchtime. Editing down my images proved to be another challenge as I was there for hours. I decided to only show photos taken around noon when it was just my mom, sister and littlest brother - when the house is it's emptiest, to better show my mom and her love she has for us and all she does for our family. 

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Renaissance Reenactments

For this assignment, I originally started with Cosplayers, from there I went down to the next levels of LARPers. I posted on facebook, just on a whim, to see if anyone knew how I could get in contact with some [before I started driving around to all the comic book shops in the area] Then, as luck would have it, I got a text from someone who I "friended" that day saying she wasn't "exactly a LARPer," but she did do Renaissance Reenactments. I jumped on the opportunity and called her. She and a group of her friends all meet up dressed in their historically accurate Renaissance clothing. Some fence, others are merchants or noble woman - the point is they get to be whoever they want in this world that they have created. 

Most of them got started by friends or family or in Zach's case, his wife. One of the ladies even brought her daughter! She was so excited to have her picture taken in her "princess dress" Their costumes are all handmade, either by them or they have them made for trade. Some even have their swords custom made to fit their hold. 

These guys were so awesome and amazing to photograph! I loved it!

Michael Cranney

Zach Stoddard

Michelle Stoddard

Kristine Koncher

Sue Fullmer

Sue Fullmer

Tabitha Mounteer

Kristianna Mounteer