As I was putting my portfolio together for graduate school applications I realized a couple things. First, I'm a terrible self critic. I kept saying, "Amber, what the hell were you thinking when you shot this?", "What is this garbage?", and "Ok, this one isn't SO bad." But once I got over the rhetoric the devil on my shoulder was spouting, I finally saw the common thread that weaves through all my work: Vulnerability. Be it my self portraits in a previous post, the crying portraits or even the portraits I took in my friends' bedrooms, they all seem so vulnerable and almost mentally broken.
Spencer Spring 2011
Stephanie Spring 2011
Samantha Spring 2011
Our bedrooms are such private areas. They offer us solace for anything that really brings us down. One can shut the door and effectively shut out the real world. It's a place where we can just let pretenses down. I decided to shoot my friends in their bedrooms. I was shocked at how vulnerable they all came across in the photos. I kept looking through them and noticed that each person is holding something in front of them; almost as if to protect themselves from my lens. Some held objects like teddybears and pillows, while others positioned their legs in front of their body.
The frame behind each person has that picture superimposed into it. It symbolizes the on going personal struggle that each of us goes through. A true self in a sense, an emotion that we keep to ourselves.
Ryan Spring 2011
Amy Spring 2011
Katelyn Spring 2011
I used a mix of color and black and white because logistically some looked better one way or the other. Some criticism I've received was to use a wider range of ages but for me I feel like as college students, so much is changing so quickly. As a college student myself, it's a scary time. You're unsure of yourself and the world around you. Maybe it's because I can't relate to someone who is older than me, though I think this would be interesting with young children. Maybe I'll pursue that idea soon.
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