Last week presenter Samantha gave extensive knowledge on the business side of photography and as a fine art major, it was helpful. Showing us her own personal work and how she produces it during her assignments. One of the big surprises I was notified with is the fact that she was a full-time photographer after graduation even through the hardship of making ends meet which really shows her dedication as a photographer.

This week I gained some influence from a photographer named Frank Machalowski. In one of his series, "Monster" he uses the long exposure to capture the masses and motions of crowded places. This unique technique allows us a different perspective, something we do not relate to in our ordinary life with no faces just masses of blurrs in motion. So this week I also began experimenting with long exposure as well as a different type of reflection. Every day we see reflections whether it be the glass of a building or a car we do not really pay attention to these details unless it is the reflection of ourselves. So I also began to photograph reflections of material we do not really see like the smooth granite of the Chicago Library. This material is not as reflective as metal or glass but it gives off a reflection with its own uniqueness like the patterns and the different types of colours which also bears the different perspectives I try to exhibit in my images.

I began my photographic journey during high school. The work I produced differed from others which discouraged me, only showing images that were similar to my peers. Caged inside this dilemma, I was bored with mirroring the basic techniques of others and began to wonder why we are taught to be different yet we tend to shy away from becoming a black sheep. I was finally able to break out of the cage with the encouragement of my teacher. My work became distinct from others, experimenting and expressing my emotions and strangeness. As I began embracing this contrast, my interest in perspective, this illusionary expectation of life and the way we mimic one another became a prompt for my images. This exploration granted
a journey to seek diverse perspectives. Similar to a chemical synthesis that forms a complex
compound from simpler elements, I transform ordinary things into unique images utilizing 
various compositions, techniques, manipulations and linking them with opaque transparent layers. Like my work which tends to be sporadic, my influences are also sporadic from artists like Minor White to Maxo Kream and Yung Leandoer who are at the opposite ends of the 
spectrum. Which is acceptable in relation to colour and the different perspectives I see in 
something but not so much as a series.