This is my Yellow contact sheet. In this category of my contact sheet, I tried to select the photos that show an aspect of nature in our daily lives. As you can see, most of the photos were taken in natural settings such as a park, and the subjects involved in them are natural elements such as trees, flowers, etc. The thing that I like about this group of photos is that the elements in the photos themselves convey a sense of abstraction. For example, the images of the long trees in the park are taken in such a way that the trees are lined up, creating a pattern, and a sense of repetition. I feel like if I were able to change the tone and lighting of these photos so that the subject and the background convey a strong sense of contrast along with a sense of repetition could convey a sense of abstraction to the audience. Another important element in most of the tree related photos are the people. These people were not planned to come into the background, they were here when I arrived. For instance, I saw an individual meditating in the park next to a set of trees. The way that the trees were aligned and the way that the woman was juxtaposed next to those elements conveyed a sense of randomness and abstraction to me, so I decided to take a photo of it. I think the photos that I took of the woman and the trees reflects the beauty and the randomness of street photography, of all the techniques and different elements of photography coming together just by pure chance. Another set of photos that I took in this section was a picture of the road in the park interposed to two set of trees in the park. Not only do the juxtaposition of the different trees convey a sense of repetition, but you can also see that the photo can clearly be divided into three different parts, which follows the rule of thirds. Personally, I really enjoy these set of photos because the photo of the road laid out so unwaveringly in the photo. The third set of photos that I took were the photos of the flowers in the photo. The yellow color of the flowers and the way that they are spread out so neatly in the photo conveys a sense of abstraction. In retrospect, although these are not photos related to my statement of intent,  they are another aspect of daily life, something that we see everyday and admire. I selected these photos as my sets to show just how much variety of techniques and elements you can capture in street photography, where you have to work the scene. I am deciding whether or not to selecting some photos from these set of images for the final evaluation. (there was an error in Lightroom Classic that did not put a photo into the sheet)

(There was a bug in Light Room Classic that did not feature some of the photos)

The title of this project will be “The World” because I will be taking pictures of various places that I can think of and make the best of each and every one of them by applying different concepts and formal elements that I have learned in class. The concept/story that I want to tell with my photograph is to spread creativity around the world, and show people viewing my photos the diversity that our world has to offer. The artist that I took inspiration from is Wynn Bullock. He takes pictures of various places/objects around the world, and alters the tone and lighting of the photo, often using greyscale to convey a strong contrast in the photo. His purpose when I first started to enjoy photography was to spread creativity around the world. There is no pattern to the subjects that he likes to take photos of, and I like his style of photography a lot. This is primarily because his style of photography fits in with our focus of the unit, street photography, or making the scene. My intent or goal for my style of photography is to have that same amount of diversity as Wynn Bullock has in the selection of the subjects of my photos, but edit the tone and lighting to convey a deeper message in each of the photos, instead of only using greyscale to convey a strong contrast. Another important detail that I should mention is that I want to focus on a concise topic: everyday life, specifically, the places that an individual is likely to visit in everyday life. I think that I will have different tone and lighting for each of the photos that I take, because the subjects of my photos will vary, and I will have to make the best of each of them by adjusting tone and lighting, and focus on adding different formal elements to my project as well. I want my audience to feel a deep connection to the photograph; I want them to feel that each photo resonates with their own personal experiences in life. So my other goal is to make the photos that I take as relatable as possible, or take a photo that immediately demands a strong emotional response from my viewer. As for the photographers that I want to take additional inspiration from, I would like to take inspiration from photographers that really focus on tone and lighting in their photographs. Some examples are: Sara Latif, Dean Chamberlin, Fan Ho, and etc.

The artist of influence that I chose for this unit was Wynn Bullock. His style of photography suits my interest and my own style of photography, which is why I chose him as my photographer. Born in Chicago Illinois, Wynn Bullock developed his interest in photography during the late 1920s while living in Paris. Originally pursuing a career as a concert singer, Bullock became fascinated with the works of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, which led him to discover the photography of Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy. This exposure sparked an immediate affinity for photography as an art form uniquely based on light and as a creative means to engage with the world. He bought his first camera and began taking pictures, marking the beginning of his photographic journey. Taking a look at his photos, it is clear that tone and lighting is his forte, as he alters the tone and lighting to convey a sense of abstraction and creativity in almost all of his photos. We can see he also finds creative ways to engage the world with the setting or subject of the photograph. The settings of his photo aren’t just a specific genre or field, it is rather anything that comes to his mind. An apple, mountain, dinosaur skull, you name it! He has taken photos various places around the world, which is a method/technique that I admire and want to pursue in my trip. I want to take photos of various settings to pursue my own interest in photography, and communicate a sense of creativity with the people viewing my photo. Another technique that I admire in his style of photography is that he likes to work out the scene. He tries to find the formal elements of photography or any specific technique that he can use that will best enhance the quality of the photograph. His way of inputting various techniques into his photographs without a clear pattern whatsoever really inspires me to think outside the box as well when looking at the techniques that I could use in street photography. In conclusion, I really like the way that Wynn Bullock takes photos and uses techniques, so he is my artist of influence for this unit. Here are some of the photos that Wynn Bullock took for further reference:

Image of inspiration: Del Monte Forest (1969)

 This photograph, “Del Monte Forest” by Wynn Bullock, was taken in 1969 and exemplifies Bullock’s mastery of black-and-white landscape photography. Using large-format cameras, Bullock captured the intricate textures of tree bark, ferns, and mist with remarkable clarity, relying on natural light and atmospheric conditions to create a sense of mystery and depth. His careful composition centers a weathered tree stump, framed by vertical trunks and enveloped in fog, drawing the viewer into a contemplative exploration of the forest. While not street photography in the traditional sense—since it lacks urban life and candid human moments—Bullock’s approach shares the street photographer’s intent to reveal the extraordinary within the ordinary. Both genres demand acute observation, patience, and an ability to find meaning in the everyday environment, whether on a bustling city street or in the quiet depths of a forest. I feel like this image in particular shows just how Wynn Bullock’s style of photography aligns with the ideas of street photography that we are learning.

Work Cited

I mentioned in my mind map that I wanted to use the techniques and methods that Wynn Bullock uses, and apply it to my interests, and my style of photography. In this assignment, I chose everyday life. This was actually a photo that I took a while ago on my trip to Taipei during the spring break. It was a photo of an organic object. In his photographs, Wynn Bullock likes to take photos of different scenes around the world, often focusing on natural scenes. and often uses greyscale adjusting the tone, lighting, and strengthening the contrast of color to convey a sense of abstraction and deliver his own message. I did choose an organic object, and adjusted the tone and lighting from what I found in everyday life, but there are some key differences to the style that Wynn Bullock photographs, and the method that I did in this photo. Unlike a certain scene in our world, my main subject is an organic object. It is a luxury item, made and crafted only for pure enjoyment and entertainment to the few amount of people that come across it. Unlike a piece of paper, an onion, or a toilet this is a rare organic object that few people can see, and my visual interpretation of this object further emphasizes this message. This object seems to be the embodiment of luxury. The jagged points on this object seems to symbolize the sharp disparity between the people who are able to see this object, and the people who can’t, the sharp disparity of the people who get to enjoy the beauty and benefits of luxury and those who cannot. The shadow that is juxtaposed with the organic object seems to symbolize, that while many people think that they live luxurious lives, it is only a shadow, a mere illusion to the true beauty and glamour of luxury that only a few people can experience. There is another aspect of my photo that uses a different method compared to Wynn Bullock photography. As mentioned before, Wynn Bullock creates a strong contrast in the photo to convey a sense of abstraction. However, I wanted to use the tone and lighting to deliver my message and my interpretation of this object to the people that are viewing this photo. I altered the lighting to be cold, and rigid, again emphasizing the cold reality that luxury something that anybody can enjoy. (Note: I am not saying this in a negative way. I just wanted to deliver this message to the people that are viewing this photograph.) In this photo, I used the techniques and methods that my artist used and altered these techniques slightly to fit my perception, and my interests in photography, and this will be my vision for the rest of the unit.

The message that I want to deliver in this photo is that you should focus on yourself rather than thinking about others. My main subject in this photo is the man walking across the hallway. You can barely notice him right? The photo seems wrong! People are everywhere, and is “something” that anyone can see in everyday life. The person is walking past the corridor. I adjusted the exposure, turned on greyscale, decreased the warmth, using the techniques and methods that Wynn Bullock uses to make the feet and legs of the man barely noticable. I wanted the main subject to “blend in” to the photo. I wanted to deliver the message that the friends that you share your life with, the people that you meet, is like the morning mist. It comes and goes. As time goes on, people leave you and forget about who you were, and what you meant to them. As time goes on, you will have met so many people in your life that all of them will just become a blur, something that blends into your life. If they become like that, why spend so much time thinking about what others think of you and how they view you? The second subject that I incorporated into this photo is the painting on the wall with ducks, people, and a green pasture. They too have become blurry. I blurred them out as well to show that life is a blur. At one moment you’re young and healthy, and bam!, you get a cold. Life passes by quick like a sudden blur, so we should cherish every single moment that life offers to us.

This is a photo that I took using Wynn Bullock’s techniques, and showing my past love for football, and my current love for the sport of track and field. Analyzing Wynn Bullock’s photos, many of them are pictures from nature, and it is evident from these photos that that is what he values the most. To emanate the setting and the technique that he used, I tried to find a place with a natural feel, with different types of trees, plants, and etc. While I copied his techniques, there are some slight differences that I made in contrast to his techniques. Although I tried to imitate Wynn Bullock’s feel of setting in my photos, I chose the setting based on my interest and the message that I am trying to communicate with the audience. In the setting of the photo, you can see that the track is juxtaposed to a soccer field. Soccer was a sport that I enjoyed in the past, but is something that gave up on because my friends started getting better at it than me as time went on. Track and field was a sport that I picked up this year, and was something that I am prefer over soccer know which is why the majority of the photo (the bottom half) is a picture of the track. Like Wynn Bullock, I created a strong contrast in the photo with the use of greyscale, creating an especially strong contrast with the track and the soccer field to show that track is something that I like and want to pursue in contrast to soccer.

Here are 6 of the 20 concepts that I picked. Since I did not know much about them first, I did a bit of research. Here are my concepts, and short definitions of these concepts.

1. The Decisive movement-the “decisive movement” in street photography is closely related to the concept of the “decisive moment,” a term famously coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It refers to capturing a precise, fleeting instant when all elements in a scene—movement, composition, light, and subject—align perfectly to create a powerful and meaningful photograph.

2. Working the Scene-“Working the scene” in street photography means spending time at a particular location or spot to thoroughly explore and capture the photographic potential it offers, rather than just taking a quick snapshot and moving on. It involves observing, experimenting, and patiently waiting to find the best compositions, moments, and interactions within that scene.
3. Balance and Harmony-Balance and harmony in street photography refer to the visual and emotional equilibrium within an image that makes it aesthetically pleasing and engaging. They involve how different elements in a frame relate to each other to create a sense of order, stability, and flow that guides the viewer’s eye and enhances storytelling.
4. Getting really close- In simple terms, “Getting really close” in street photography refers to physically approaching your subject to capture intimate, detailed, and engaging images that reveal emotions, expressions, and interactions more vividly. It means reducing the distance between the photographer and the subject to fill the frame with the subject or scene, creating a stronger connection and impact in the photograph.
5. Strong diagonals-Strong diagonals in photography refer to prominent slanted lines within a composition that create a dynamic sense of movement, depth, and visual interest. They guide the viewer’s eye through the image, often connecting the foreground, middle ground, and background, effectively leading the viewer on a visual journey across the scene.
6. Tension-Tension in photography, often called visual tension, is a compositional technique where elements within the frame are arranged to create a sense of unease, anticipation, or emotional intensity that challenges the viewer’s expectations and makes the image more engaging and impactful. Unlike traditional composition methods that aim for balance and harmony, tension deliberately disrupts these to provoke curiosity and emotional response.

These are the concepts that I am interested in, and want to pursue throughout the rest of the unit.

Street photography is a distinctive photographic genre dedicated to capturing candid moments of everyday life within public spaces. The inherent public nature of this genre allows photographers to document spontaneous interactions and scenes involving strangers, often without their awareness or consent. Unlike documentary or photojournalistic practices with explicit social or political agendas, street photographers typically approach their subjects without a predetermined narrative, instead striving to reveal subtle, often overlooked details that encapsulate the essence of urban life. While street photography is now recognized as a vital and autonomous genre within the photographic arts, its emergence as a defined practice is relatively recent. Early practitioners such as Alfred Stieglitz and William Eggleston, though prolific in capturing urban environments and street scenes, did not explicitly identify as street photographers. Their work was often driven by personal artistic visions or explorations of formal aesthetics rather than a focused engagement with the human condition or the sociocultural dynamics of the street. The term and concept of street photography began to coalesce in the mid-19th century, notably through the pioneering work of Charles Nègre. In the 1850s, Nègre utilized his camera not only to document architectural elements but also to chronicle the vibrant tapestry of street life—capturing laborers, itinerant musicians, peddlers, and other distinctive urban characters. These images represent some of the earliest examples of street photography as a genre concerned with both the environment and the diverse human presence within it. Since its inception, street photography has continually evolved, expanding in scope and stylistic diversity. Contemporary practitioners employ a range of compositional strategies, from decisive moment capture to experimental abstraction, to explore themes of anonymity, social interaction, and urban rhythm. The genre remains a dynamic field that reflects the complexities and nuances of public life, inviting viewers to engage with the spontaneous poetry of the streets.