Thoughts of Egypt

Considering what’s going on these days in Egypt, I thought of an album I saw on the BBC website, showing Cairo 10 years ago (by the way, BBC has the best news photo albums). My favorite photograph is the following:

This photograph demonstrates the many layers of Cairo very well.

The pyramids in the background,  and the rooftops of the city, as they unfold up to the front, the unfinished buildings, the satellite dishes, the clothes hanging to dry in the balcony. The photograph combines many elements of Egypt’s identity and a gradient of its history into one frame.

It almost looks like the pyramids form a mountainous fort behind the city. I always loved mountains, I think they give a city power, protection, and a sense of permanence. Likewise, the 4000 years of history that the pyramids carry with them have most of the same effects that natural peaks convey.

The mountain-like posture of the pyramids also has a sort of “everything-will-be-all-right” aura about it, a fatherly reassurance that good times are ahead.

This photograph carries a lot of things. Most importantly it is doused with hope, and in its timeline of rooftops, leaves a great deal of good things for the future.

 

Peace.

Day or Night?

I absolutely fell in love with the shot above when I saw it online last week. What I love most about this photo is that it was taken at midnight despite the fact that it looks as if it were taken at sunrise/sunset by the light to dark layout of the frame. The shot was done in an effort to win a contest done by Gizmodo that asked users to take frames at night and make them look like they were taken at different times of the day. Although this picture didn’t win, it definitely won my attention and awe. It was shot by a photographer named Jeff Levensailor using a Canon EOS Rebel T2i. Another fun fact about this photo, is that it was taken on January 19th, 2011 (my birthday). This technique has become a personal goal of mine for this class and I hope that by May I am able to take beautiful shots like this where the time of day isn’t a constraint on my photos.

-Sierra

A Boat in Sunset of Porto Belo.

This photo was taken by Rodrigo Emanuel Philipps for a daily travel photography contest. I thought this picture was so beautiful when I first saw it because the clouds look so real, almost as if you can touch them. Something interesting in this photo is the main points would usually be the boats that are seen in the picture, but the sky is so big and colorful, the boats look like mere background. The coloring in the photo is so vivid from the sun reflecting off the water appearing to be pure orange to the different color blues in the sky and clouds. The texture of the photo is also magnificent, especially because of ripples in the water. This picture was taken so well it makes you feel like you are standing right on the dock watching the boats go by in Porto Belo.

Giraffes in love

The photographer Nick Brandt takes amazing photos of wild animals. The photo I choose from his amazing collection is an image of two giraffes.  I was happy to see this great photograph because giraffes are my favorite animals.  Not only is Brandt a talented photographer, but he is also brave because he is not afraid to get close upon wild animals to take photos.  In this photo, I like the way the giraffes are standing near each other and leaning on each other for comfort.  It looks as if the giraffes are making a heart with their body by showing the love they have for each other.  Love and warmth is seen through their eyes.  One of the giraffes is male and the other is female.  The male is on the right because of his posture; he seems more aggressive with the way he is leaning on the female giraffe.  In addition, the female giraffe on the right seems so gentle, caring and happy; I figured this with the way she is standing with her head tilted.  I made these assumptions by the way the giraffes are pose.  Furthermore, the background, such as the clouds, grass, and trees looks so astonishing; it almost looks as if it was painted. The black and bright white colors are great choices for this photo because the photo is more appealing. Overall, the picture is perfect.  The picture is alive to me, and I feel as if I’m lying on the grass nearby these giraffes on this beautiful day. 

http://visboo.com/amazing-photographs-by-nick-brandt.html

A New Beginning

This semester is a new start for me. This is the third college I’ve attended thus far. I previously went to Mizzou immediately after high school because I was impressed by the student life and atmosphere, then discovered those don’t make for a good education or necessarily healthy environment. I voluntarily transferred to St. Louis Community College-Meramec and moved home to save money. The education there seemed even better and was affordable. Having received my Associate’s Degree in General Transfer I chose SLU for alot of different reasons. Enough about that though. Upon making my responsible decision to transfer home, my parents thought they would surprise me for my 20th birthday. Right before my senior year of high school ended, my West Highland Terrier named Rosie had died of old age, she had grown up with me since I had received her at 4. Most of my friends had moved or dispersed during my college years, leaving maybe one or two around when I moved back. On my birthday, I received Lily, who is pictured above. I got her when she was 3 months old and she is about a year and a few months old now. She started a new beginning for me and helped me transition.I was accepted to SLU one week before classes began, leaving me with a rather limited choice of classes in which to enroll. I chose Photojournalism because I thought some of my graphic and spatial talents needed improving and it fit my schedule well. Commuting from an hour away is a bit hard, and as of now only having classes twice a week is very convenient.

-Josh

A picture worth a thousand words…

I really liked this picture because I thought it was neat how the photographer, Arcius- Azrael, zoomed in on the elephant and made the picture black and white. When I looked at the picture I got a sense of what the elephant’s personality might be. I also noticed certain characteristics on the elephant, that I have never noticed before. Such as, the kindest in his eyes and the millions of wrinkles throughout his body. I also like how its a profile of the elephants face. Normally, you never see an elephants mouth in person because they are far away or moving around, leaving it hard to catch they details of their body. Overall, I think Arcius -Azrael did a wonderful job capturing unique parts of such an amazing animal.

http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/60-inspiring-examples-of-black-and-white-photography/