During the MoMA exhibit, I felt that the experience has redefined studio photography for me because it has showed me how to take advantage of what I have and how I can use it. As my own experience as a studio photographer, I learned how light and composition can really make a difference in a photograph.

At the beginning of the semester, I knew about using tungsten light and natural light. What I didn’t know about each type of light was that you could do so much with it. You can definitely see the difference in my photos, before and after I was introduced to the concept of the egg and how light can transform the shape of the object and the shadow. It’s great to learn so much about what you can do with light and how it can really change the mood of a photograph. I relate the example of the egg to this concept to the MoMA: A World of It’s Own exhibit because of how many photographs I saw that changed the mood and/or created an amazing effect to picture. Harold Edgerton’s four photographs are a great example of that explanation. The way he uses his strobe light to capture the movement of the human form and everyday objects is completely amazing. Another great photograph, named Laboratory of the Future by photographer Man Ray, is truly amazing because how he photographs the mirrored sphere-shape perfectly so that we actually see his studio in the sphere, because photographing glass is hard. I’m sure when it is a mirrored object, it become so much more complex. But if he can execute it, its possible. I feel that these are a few of the many pieces from the exhibit that has inspired me to go above and beyond while photographing a subject. It also shows how much freedom you have when it comes to photography and what you can do in your own studio.

From Roberta Smith’s review from the New York Times about “A World of its Own” exhibit at MoMA, I agree that exploring the medium filled with “professional portraitists, commercial photographers, darkroom lovers” and more, presents a new way of looking at photography “not for a lack of a good idea”. I do share a sense of agreement and disagreement in the following statement, “ This exhibition uses a great collection to tell what should have been a fascinating statement, but it dwells too much in the past…” I personally love seeing old photographs and making a comparison to what has changed and coincidently, what has not.  I actually like the effect of the then and now sequence, just like Smith mentions that takes us two steps forward and one step back. I think it is suppose to remind us how much photographs are similar with a certain theme, even photographs from years past. I also think it’s interesting that she mentions how the show feels ahistorical. But I question if that is the atmosphere the curators wanted to create or not. I not sure if I would call the show ahistorical either but I do think it brings a certain comforting mood to the exhibit by bringing photos by studio portraitists together in one show. I’m not sure if I completely agree with that statement but I do understand what she is trying to explain. 

In this assignment, I believe the light helped a lot to communicate the mood. I tried using a small mirror as the reflector to give emphasis on the eyes or one of the stuffed animals  but its hard to tell in my photos. I also had an issue with removing the yellow from some of the photos because my camera doesn’t have the setting of tungsten light. But I did move the light around a couple of times to help communicate the mood between good and bad. I definitely will shoot again to get more photos without the yellow coloring.

The light help create the mood by creating shadows on the rose that gave the photo a sad, dark feel when the light is positioned in a certain position. When I used two lights, I gave the photo a bright, happy mood, as in these photos, there is less of a shadow.

For my shoe, I chose my high heels I wore for my prom in my senior year of high school. As I changed the position of the light of my shoe, the shadow made the most changes throughout my shoot. My light sources are not that bright, but there are some pictures where the light shines directly on a certain spot which makes the shoe sparkle even more in that certain spot.

For my do-it-yourself studio, I was able to use a small low table. I put a white board on the edge of the table to use for the surface. I found that the clamps where ruining my table. I didn’t want to use the clamps to ruin the table because it isn’t personally my own. Until I get a different table that will be easier to use the clamps on for the studio, I used two items to use to hold up another board instead that is used as an example for how the background will be display while I use my do-it-yourself studio. I will also use another board where I will cut out a square opening in the middle and then replace the space with parchment paper. I have a stand alone lamp that I used for the use of light. The light that is used is Tungsent light. I also have a florescent light stand as well that I can use if I’m interested in playing with the light. The lamp can be positioned in any way possible because the stem of the lamp is flexible I am able to walk around the table and move the lamp around the table and use my do-it-yourself studio. It is not displayed in the picture but I also have a small mirror for reflecting light and black foam core for blocking light. I also can use a tripod for my camera to take the photos. I am still working on it to make the studio look better to my liking but this is so far what I’ve got.