Mini Adults

Joshua ponders his mental grocery list...

For my photography class, we had an assignment due where we had to photograph people at an event.  This past Saturday, I went to Bank of America’s “Museums on Us” Day at the local children’s museum, Edventure, in order to take some shots for the assignment.  The photo above is one of my favorites from the day.  Joshua, age 3, was one of the most intense little boys I’ve ever seen.  He was completely intent on his “shopping” even when I was clicking a camera in his face.  The photo above illustrates this.  I love how he looks like such a little adult in this photo.  He seems to be thinking, “What do I need for that recipe?  Is it cumin or coriander? Are we out of milk?”

Photographing the children at the museum was more challenging than I expected.  They run around like they’re wearing turbo jets and I hardly had enough time to get a couple shots, let alone figure out who their parents were in order to get their names and ages.  It was a wonderful learning experience and it forced me to get comfortable photographing strangers, something I still struggle with.  I such fun at the museum on Saturday, I got to be a kid again for a little while and I wanted to share some of that experience with you.  Enjoy!

Ansel Adams Masterworks Exhibit

Yesterday, I went to see the Ansel Adams Masterworks exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art.  The Masterworks collection is one that Adams chose himself to represent his best work.  I was blown away by his photography.  The detail and striking contrast in his images is stunning.  Accompanying many of his images were quotations from Adams about taking and developing each image.  Reading his descriptions made me miss working in the darkroom.  Adams wrote about the hours he spent developing and redeveloping each photograph until it was perfect.  Today’s digital photography provides instant gratification.  In journalism, this is a huge advantage, but it also takes away the feeling of surprise and gratification you get when working in the darkroom.  I remember how exciting it was to watch your image appear on the paper. Adams’ photography reminded me of that.

One of the photos that stood out to me was Oak Tree, Snowstorm (above).  I thought this photograph was so different than Adams’ other work.  The large amount of white in this photo makes it very unique.  The snow in this photo must have made it an extremely difficult photo to take.   Another photo of Adams’ that surprised me was Trailer Camp Children (below).  I was unaware that Adams had many images of people.  The exhibit also described Adams’ work photographing the Japanese internment camps during WWII.  It was a side of Ansel Adams that I was surprise to discover.

I was so pleased with the exhibit and was thrilled that I managed to see it before it left Columbia.  If this exhibit ever comes to a town near you, I would highly recommend it.