After being utterly infuriated with University after my "last" term ever, photography was a nice change. The course itself is only as difficult and time consuming as you want to make it. As soon as I started taking photos, I knew I was going to make everything quite difficult for myself. But that was ok, because I loved every minute of it.
My final project was titled My Friend, Playground. I wanted to do something technically difficult and rewarding; so I decided to try my hand at night photography. Serena suggested I take pictures of playgrounds (as a bit of a joke), but the idea resonated with me. Below are the final photos, along with my artist statement. (For the record, I really hate artist statements.)
Like many other North Americans, my childhood playtime centered around the local playground. I fondly remember the care-free days of scrambling around the various slides, bridges, poles and swings until I was completely tuckered out. The playground represented fun and excitement to me; a place to push my problems aside and be free.
Years later, I found myself looking at the same playground, which I used to be so familiar with, in a whole new light. Each playground has a very unique feeling and presence about it; especially when observed during it's time or rest, the dead of night.
In this series I attempt to explore my emotional response to several playgrounds throughout Saskatoon, the city which I grew up in. Each playground is unique and mysterious while observed during its nightly slumber; exuding so much character that I cannot simply imagine them as combinations of wood and metal, but as real living entities.
Sadly I don't think I'm very good at scanning prints / negatives. Though that may be due to my lack of decent equipment rather than skill. I don't think the blacks come out quite as well in these scans. Oh well, they will do for now.
Next post I plan to catch you up to speed with the rest of my summer thus far. Highlights include Math 116 success and my brand new job. Exciting.
My final project was titled My Friend, Playground. I wanted to do something technically difficult and rewarding; so I decided to try my hand at night photography. Serena suggested I take pictures of playgrounds (as a bit of a joke), but the idea resonated with me. Below are the final photos, along with my artist statement. (For the record, I really hate artist statements.)
Like many other North Americans, my childhood playtime centered around the local playground. I fondly remember the care-free days of scrambling around the various slides, bridges, poles and swings until I was completely tuckered out. The playground represented fun and excitement to me; a place to push my problems aside and be free.
Years later, I found myself looking at the same playground, which I used to be so familiar with, in a whole new light. Each playground has a very unique feeling and presence about it; especially when observed during it's time or rest, the dead of night.
In this series I attempt to explore my emotional response to several playgrounds throughout Saskatoon, the city which I grew up in. Each playground is unique and mysterious while observed during its nightly slumber; exuding so much character that I cannot simply imagine them as combinations of wood and metal, but as real living entities.
Sadly I don't think I'm very good at scanning prints / negatives. Though that may be due to my lack of decent equipment rather than skill. I don't think the blacks come out quite as well in these scans. Oh well, they will do for now.
Next post I plan to catch you up to speed with the rest of my summer thus far. Highlights include Math 116 success and my brand new job. Exciting.
- Mood:
mellow
Looking back upon my last post leaves me with mixed emotions. Dealing with failure is an extremely character-building experience. I could ramble on and elaborate on the difficulties I ran into, and the reasons I think I failed at achieving my goals; but I don't see it as being a constructive use of my time.
The short and sweet version is that I didn't spend enough time in one of my Philosophy courses (mostly due to panicking in Math) and bombed my Math final (oh the irony). But when you miss your mark, you can only learn so much from hindsight analysis; what's more important is pinpointing what needs to be done / fixed moving forward toward your next mark. At least that's what I keep telling myself!
All was not failure in the past few months though. I successfully completed my other classes and was asked to MC the Computer Science Graduation Banquet; which was a great honor. As well, I was presented with an Alumni Award for my contribution to the department over the past year. Huge thanks to those who nominated me.
This summer I have been busy with finishing up the last 6 credits of my University degree. The first 3 of these credits were obtained last month with Art 161 (Foundations in Photography I); I absolutely loved the class. The last 3 of these credits are being worked upon now... with dreaded Math 116 (Calculus II).
I will be making another post (eventually) highlighting my experience in Art 161 and hopefully gleaming about my successful completion of Math 116. Till then, I'll be integrating like a fool, locked in a room with many white-boards. Wish me luck, the final is on June 29th.
The short and sweet version is that I didn't spend enough time in one of my Philosophy courses (mostly due to panicking in Math) and bombed my Math final (oh the irony). But when you miss your mark, you can only learn so much from hindsight analysis; what's more important is pinpointing what needs to be done / fixed moving forward toward your next mark. At least that's what I keep telling myself!
All was not failure in the past few months though. I successfully completed my other classes and was asked to MC the Computer Science Graduation Banquet; which was a great honor. As well, I was presented with an Alumni Award for my contribution to the department over the past year. Huge thanks to those who nominated me.
This summer I have been busy with finishing up the last 6 credits of my University degree. The first 3 of these credits were obtained last month with Art 161 (Foundations in Photography I); I absolutely loved the class. The last 3 of these credits are being worked upon now... with dreaded Math 116 (Calculus II).
I will be making another post (eventually) highlighting my experience in Art 161 and hopefully gleaming about my successful completion of Math 116. Till then, I'll be integrating like a fool, locked in a room with many white-boards. Wish me luck, the final is on June 29th.
- Mood:
rushed
Arlin, I know this time of the year is tough; it always is. Don't forget to live by the words you so often preach. It is not important to simply stay on the wagon. It is more important to recognize when you have fallen off, and determine an action to get yourself back on.
Be careful not to overwhelm yourself with everything at once. Simply prioritize and focus on the task at hand. Remember, as one of your sister's friends put it recently, "It's not a thesis...just FINISH it! Done is better than perfect." You do not have time to fuss over things that are 1 pixel off. Get things done.
There are only 18 days of class left. Put your head down and push through.
Sincerely,
Your Conscience
Be careful not to overwhelm yourself with everything at once. Simply prioritize and focus on the task at hand. Remember, as one of your sister's friends put it recently, "It's not a thesis...just FINISH it! Done is better than perfect." You do not have time to fuss over things that are 1 pixel off. Get things done.
There are only 18 days of class left. Put your head down and push through.
- Math Midterm
- HCI Project
- Phil Essay x 3
- Phil Midterm (Take Home)
Sincerely,
Your Conscience
- Mood: calm
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fexd- Arlin Schaffel
- The FeXdPire
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