Art Portraiture

Artsy Portraits as a Gift and Thank You

Self-Portrait (as I See Myself)

Using a Large-Format View camera in a studio environment, I captured an image of myself. Setting up and positioning view cameras are a slow process, but of myself was even slower.

Goddess of Photography (Left) / Ophelia (Right)

Thea Owens graciously posed for me while I composed each image using a large format view camera. Goddess of Photography was a rather serendipitous moment. While patiently standing in a small creek as I was making adjustments to my camera, Thea stumbled across a strip of film discarded in the creek. Relishing the moment, I saw this as a sign and she utilized this film strip as part of her. Some 5insight; Thea and I shared the same studio for our senior year of college. As for Ophelia, I’ve always wanted to recreate that tragic scene. Through my travels around Eugene I found the location and vantage point early on, but never had someone to fill the role until Thea.

After the Marathon / Half-marathon

Eugene Oregon is known as track town USA, and Eugene also holds a marathon event in the spring. After three years of being postponed, Eugene finally held their marathon event for spring 2022. During the marathon, I walked through crowds of people carrying my large format camera. My intention was to capture photos of people after they ran their 26.2 mile run. (Top three ladies finished the marathon, and the lady below them completed the half-marathon.)

Portrait of Khalil

Khalil was at the Eugene marathon capturing his own photographs when he saw me and my large format camera. He was intrigued and I asked if I could take some artistic photos of him.

The Fragility of Film

This photograph of myself was taken by Ron Jude to demo large format studio lighting. After Ron took the photo, the film itself was given to me to process. As you can see, nothing is wrong with the image except for the film holder allowing light to leak in and muddle the image. No one knew the holder was damaged, but it shows how light sensitive film is. I still find this image beautiful even with light leakage.

After Tarot Cards: Justice , The Hermit

In my Constructed Image class, in winter 2022, I was creating a Zine and needed some of my own images to illustrate a point about knowledge seeking. Part of my knowledge seeking deals with practicing daily Tarot card readings to see what may lay ahead in my day. I pulled Justice the first day of the assignment and The Hermit the other. Now, as they exist on my website, in a new context, I see them as being more emblematic, strange, but beautiful.

Portrait of a Blind Dog

A Different Kind of Head

This image is a reenactment of Alia Ali’s “Under Thread.”

I Am What I Am

This image was inspired by much of Alia Ali’s work, but particularly her series I Am (Not). Here, I was using the tule material that both obscures the face yet is transparent to explore narrative. My own interpretation differs from my subject, but that response was what I was trying to achieve.

Portrait of the Artist’s Mind

This image was inspired by Todd Hido’s Portraits, who a professor suggested that my works seems very Todd Hidoesque. So with browsing through Hido’s work I found a sound image and wanted to see how it would feel to embody his style. Yet, I my own has a painterly expression to fit the trifecta of literacy, painting, and the performance of the photograph.

Matt’s First “Fancy” Portrait

With in minutes of meeting Matt formally for the first time, he was eager to have a portrait taken when he saw me with my camera and equipment. I had just arrive to my campsite for a weekend of play and relaxation. Matt was happy to have a “campmate,” as too was I. Matt surprised me when he said he knew nothing of photography besides taking shitty snap shots with his phone. I had a feeling I had to learn more about him, so I abstained from taking his photo til the last minute. This gave me a chance to see who he was minus all his excitement of being in around a camera. As the days went on his excitement for the camera drew distant, through he was a rather playful guy. After three days of camping in Shasta, I surprised him by asking for his photo before we departed each other. I asked him to be casual like he was around the campfire. After we departed and I told him he’d see himself soon, I pondered the creation of his portrait. I pondered only because his personality and appearance broke typical stereotypes, which I admired. And he got me thinking of our hometown Fairfield, California, where he still lives. So I created this portrait to emphasize various dimensions of this man and at the same time the subtly of his character.

Self-Potrait

Behind and in Front

Self Portrait: Iridescent Barrier

Exploring self-representation of identity through materials

Color Film Group Portrait

Real Life Sid From Toy Story

Sid grew up to become a freelance wedding photographer

Butterflies

Portrait of an Angry Cat

This cat didn’t want to be pet, minded it’s own business even in the house, and always stood/sat/laid stoically. I thought to myself hoping the cat couldn’t read my mind that I was going to take a photo of him. Then one day walking of the house with camera in hand, there he was. So as a spur of the moment, being as still as possible I pointed my camera at him, and this is how he appreciated it.

Portrait of a Wild Wildland Firefighter

While mopping up a forest fire for many long grueling days in the wild monotonous terrain of Alaska, this man found some animal bones. What does a rational person do with animal bones, probably leaves them on the ground. But no not this fiery man. With no guidance in presentation, he put the bone over his face. With a quick reaction I took his portrait. I also this he was expecting me to take it.

A Cosmic Surgery Version of Two Truths and a Lie

For this series, I visited this young lady for three days. Day one I asked her birth name, favorite color, and traditional zodiac, Chinese zodiac, and primal zodiac sign. Also told her to present me an item that reflects who she is. At the end of the interview of day one I told her I’d see her tomorrow asking more or less the same sort of questions with a twist. So I gave her a name I created and told her to embrace that name for the rest of the day in whatever way that meant to her. Day two I arrived and said hello with the name I gave her. She answered all my questions with all the pizzaz and spunk of this new lady. At the interview of day two, I told her to create her own name and act like that person throughout the day. Again, day three I show up for the interview and say hello to the name she text me before the interview. I asked the same questions and she answered a little artsier than previously. So with inspiration from Alma Haser I created these portraits for you to decide.