Chosen Place: Provin Park Trails, a great park located off of 4 Mile Road of Northeast Grand Rapids. It's about 2 miles of trails, with a rolling sand dune and a plenty of trees.
Why It's Special To Me: Getting outdoors, hiking, and just being outside in general is something I have always deeply enjoyed. I grew up in a small town about 2 hours north of Grand Rapids where there was no shortage of trails to hike or rivers to kayak in. There are many parks in the Greater Grand Rapids Area, but none that felt the same to Ludington State Park, or Manistee National Forest where you truly felt like you were getting away from all of the stresses of daily life. Provin Park Trails has been the first park that truly had a taste of home to it, with it's rolling sand dune and large variation of trees and trails, it has quickly become my escape from the city.
The Statement: With nature being so important to me, its only natural that I also care about the environment and the impact that we have on it. My postcards will depict pictures from one of my favorite places where enjoy our planet combined with images that are to be a friendly reminder of what the world could be if we don't take care of it.
Postcard Number 1: Repetition
A repetition of a row of trees in the forest. On the outsides of the photo is what the original picture depicted, and as the photo progresses towards the middle, the forest floor becomes covered in trash. A row of trees typically depicts and implies a direction, with a light at the end of the tunnel. This "light" is juxtaposed against the idea that our places where nature is meant to be preserved are in danger of being ruined by how wasteful our society is. We repeat things to make a point, the repetition of these rows of trees is to get this point across.
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Postcard Number 2: Fantasy
When I think of the word toxic I imagine a color that is reminiscent of Mountain Dew: An unnatural yellow green. Although this image is under the "fantasy category," it is sadly a reality in some forests. Although a dump truck and the trees that turn into smokes stacks is a little far-fetched, the mistreatment of our planet is not. This "fantasy style" postcard demonstrates just that.
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Postcard Number 3: Text
This final postcard is a short, simple, and sweet statement that summarizes the overall theme of postcards: Take care of our home. Emphasis on the our. Home to not just us and animals, but also the trees and all of their nature friends. However the text is a little hypocritical, to state that we must take care of nature, one part of nature was "harmed" to digitally carve the text into. Maybe that hypocrisy helps deliver the point.
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The Thought Process:
I enjoy the third postcard the most. It's very simple, yet delivers the necessary tone and message. Ironically, it appears as though the message to conserve is seemingly delivered through vandalism of the natural form of the tree. I don't know if this was intended, but it's curious.
ReplyDeleteThey're all purposeful compositions. As a whole, you did a very good job.
I think that the third image was particularly effective. Very straight to the point and the fact that it’s even carved into the tree is very to-the-point. I enjoy that the tree is the focus here and the concept and idea is clear. The juxtaposition of the idea and that it’s ruining nature in the process of pointing out others ruining nature is also an interesting facet.
ReplyDeleteI think that a shift of focus could be useful to you, maybe more on the trash than a 50/50 of trees/trash, but its pretty nit-picky. I think the theme is strong and executed well.
We had very similar concepts with our projects and I really liked how you handled your images. The adding of trash was a good idea and making them a color that's often associated with hazardous material was smart. Your postcards convey your message very well. My favorite postcard was your third one. The way you applied your text makes the image look very realistic, like someone had really carved that phrase into the tree.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite image was the first image. Having the forest dark and almost never-ending gave me such an uneasy feeling. The idea that it’s going to be like that if we don’t treat nature with care very easily came across to the viewer. I can tell through all of the postcards that you really care about this subject and it meant something to you. Photoshop skills were excellent, all things very realistic, color/saturation on the images was chosen well. The concept of the whole project was tied together very well with the last picture.
ReplyDeleteYour second Postcard is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI can really sense the troubling nature of the image and the passion you feel for your cause
I like how bold everything is, I think there is a strong emotional impact to this photo and I feel that it is directly reflective of how you feel
The domain was really changed, I know these trails well (nice choice by the way!) and the placement of these objects and their color is striking. The change is very apparent.
The media skills are great, the clean edges of the imposed objects is very contrasting to the gentle lines of nature. The placement of the objects themselves are also very realistic and placed nicely.
Very nice, your skills are apparent, and your message is clear.
Emily
ReplyDeleteI really like the third postcard the most because it seems really funny to me how you created your work. I really liked your message and I think you approached each postcard with a new and fresh problem to approach to the work. I loved your creativity with all of your cards, I think your humor and your sarcasm came through real easily with the way you presented your thoughts. I think the simplistic lighthearted approach to this postcard helped get your point across.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your concept behind the third postcard using the text to reiterate your message of precautionary actions on pollution. I think that the irony behind the idea of damaging the tree through the conveying of the message, yet I think that it touches on the idea of taking drastic measures to make a change in the issue. The image focuses on the details of the tree and makes the message clear to the viewer and successfully shows your unique style of humor in your digital media.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteThe last photo was by far my favorite, You did an amazing job with making it look etched into the tree as you had hoped it turned out. It was ironic though that by doing so that is harming the tree if it were in life. over all I thought you did well and the second picture was neat to!!
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI liked your entire project very much. Your second image has to be my favorite. The piles of trash and the sickly green color, change the once beautiful scene into a place I think nobody would like to visit. It definitely shows how much of an impact we have on nature, and how it is our job to take care of it.