John Cameron 09-06-09. Idea/Concept blog.

For my Senior Portfolio, I intend to create a series of photographs relating around athletes and sports. I do not intend to photograph athletes playing sports, rather to photograph on the athlete thinking about the sport and how they are effected by it. I want to photograph an athlete thinking about how they are upset about a loss, nervous before a game, and tired during a break. I also may even photograph athletes off the field. Focusing on how student athletes schedule practices and games around a job and classes.

The first artist that really helped me out with my decision was Collier Schorr. She is a photographer who did a photo series on high school wrestlers. She would focus on the athletes outside of the sporting action. This really caught my eye, and I was keen to do something similar. She would mention how there is a lot to tell about a person after they have lost a game. She would say how you can really look into the person, and really question what was going through their mind. Schorr stated, "I basically want to make a book that documents every facet of the experience. Victory, defeat, blood, battered egos, humiliation". (http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/schorr/clip2.html) Here is one of Collier Schorr's images.

Collier Schorr

When you look at this image, you can really see the pain in the athlete's face. Something that I also want to capture. I watched a documentary on Schorr, and saw her lighting style when taking photographs of the wrestlers. She had an on camera flash, with bubble wrap covering the flash. I assume that she did this to give the light a soft outcome. When I take my photographs of the athletes, I will most likely use a on camera flash too. I'm a fan of bouncing the light off from the side (with a white board or reflector). However, if I was to have an assistant help me out, it may ruin the feeling and emotions in the photographs. The athlete may get shy and look away from the camera. I want to photograph athletes when they are acting as though I'm not even there.

I went golfing on Thursday with my room-mate Ryan (09-03-09) and I brought my camera along. I didn't use my flash. I intended to focus on taking a few photographs where I would focus on thoughts. It was pretty hard to do this with golf, however I managed to get a few shots. I know I can do better, but I wanted to get in a little bit of practice.

Where Should I Hit the Ball? 2009 Digital Photograph. 13"x19" by John Cameron

In this image, Ryan is teeing up, and getting ready to have his first shot on the 7th hole. From this image, I can imagine what he is thinking by the expression on his face. Although he knew that I was in front of him, he thought that I was going to be taking photographs of his swing, but I secretly wanted to capture the thoughts he had before the swing.

Next Shot, Digital Photograph. 13"x19" 2009 - By John Cameron

Although this image is from behind, I still feel a lot of thoughts are going through this image. With Ryan's head tilted down, I feel as though he is focusing on what he needs to do for the next shot.