Artist Lecture - Bugatti by Evan Ide

The artist lecture I attended was on the topic of Bugatti cars by Evan Ide. This lecture presented the history of Bugatti and his family as well as their involvement on the automotive world. Some notes that I took down during the lecture was that this automotive brand was started by a man named Carlo Bugatti, however, it was not him who was involved in cars, rather, his son- Atoré Bugatti who was. Carlo and his other son preferred more luxury interior designing. It was said that Atoré was naturally drifted to automotive aspect as this interested him and was gifted in the area of mechanics without prior training. Atoré's first design, which was the first of its kind- an enclosed car body and modified tires, failed on the race track. However, his first failure would be a template to design future cars that can be seen today. Further in his career, he designed many cars for racing. When Atoré got tired of it, his son- Jean would continue the Bugatti automotive business. However, when Jean started for the company, his vision would not match his fathers. He preferred luxury and high fashion, and wanted the Bugatti brand to look high class and sleek. His most famous model was the Bugatti Royale, the most exclusive street car at the time as well as the 57G- Bugatti Tank. 

After his lecture on the Bugatti history, Ide stated that he had a BA in Fine Arts. He focused on painting, which helped to evaluate cars to auction. His job is to network cars and set a price for the public. Through Bonham Car Auction, he needs to determine the worth of the design and also prove why cars such as the Bugatti are worth so much in the market.

I found this lecture to be very interesting. Although I had no choice but to go to this lecture, due to all other lectures colliding with another class of mine, I was still glad I went to it. I grew up with 2 of my own brothers and 4 cousin brothers. Being around 6 boys all the time, I always heard them talk about the fastest car, the most luxury car, the most expensive car, etc. Moreover, I used to live in Dubai- the most competitive city of all time and one of the most luxury cities. A place where police cars were all upgraded to "supercars", in which, one of them happened to be a Bugatti. Although I knew about the Bugatti brand, and how they make one of the fastest cars in the market, I was not aware of the history of the brand and how it came around. Next time I talk with my brothers, I have new things I can bring up in a conversation about cars. Overall, I enjoyed this lecture and thought that it was adding to my knowledge about cars.

Final Project

Final Project Contact Sheets

Narrative - Contact Sheets

Scan

The book I picked from the library is titled, "PARIS... Photographs from a time that was" by David Travis.  These are the 3 images I picked from the book- The images that made me look twice and captured most of my attention. I loved that these photographs were in black and white. It forced me to focus on the subject of the photograph, rather than other details. Also, the black and white made textures more prominent and center of focus. All the photographs work really well with shadows, highlights and silhouettes, something I've been wanting to practice and accomplish in my own photography.

Scan1: 

Scan2:

Scan3:

Contemporary Photographers

1. faz3

2. Johnny Lace

3. rabinranamagar

4. A. Thapaliya

5. lastsuspect

6. sciencee

7. Kishor Kayastha

8. Freddie Ardley

9. B. Silvera

10. Rachel Wolchin

Favorite Museums

1. George Eastman House. Rochester, New York


2. Nepal National Museum. Kathmandu, Nepal


3. Narayanhiti Palace/Museum. Kathmandu, Nepal


4.  Louvre. Paris, France


5. Egyptian Museum. Cairo, Egypt

Narrative Final Photographs

Final Project Write-Up

For my final project, I am going to challenge myself. Since we have the option to shoot to our liking, I will shoot with techniques I've always been hesitant to try, but interested in doing. The techniques I will attempt are: reflections- through water or glass, long exposures- to correctly expose the photograph with minimal shake, multiple exposure- to correctly expose two photographs by using in-camera techniques and no post-editing, and finally, shooting through glass- to distort the image but still be able to tell what is being photograph with minimal abstract ideas. Moreover, if I can obtain the right equipment and still am confident enough, I will try to photograph moving objects, but with a quick shutter speed so the subject is in maximum focus- such as someone jumping or a ball being dropped in water.

Experimenting/Observation

The top photograph is an original titled, "H. MATISSE 52". For homework, we were asked to take this piece and reconstruct it to make a new composition. The final image I chose to post on my blog was the photo from the second row, on the right. The title for this new composition was "Praying Man". I decided to make this post to compare and exhibit the two compositions I had trouble choosing as my final. The picture on the left is a man smoking. When I was working on these pieces, I thought of a picture I had seen a while back. It was of two brothers; one who was pictured smoking and dressed as a 'rebel', and the other in the attire of a monk. Just an observation while I was experimenting with this piece...

Tidying Up Art

Malevich's Suprematism

Lines (By S. Rana)

H. Mattise

Praying Man (By S. Rana)

Malevich's Wood Cutter

Blue Hue (By S. Rana)

Van Gogh's Bedroom & Margritte Golconde

Wallpaper (By S. Rana)

Light and Lens: Chapter 1

This chapter contained a lot of helpful information, not just in terms of vocabulary or processes, but as a reminder of why we take photographs and why it is important for us. I always thought of a photo as a memory of the moment. This chapter explains that we take photos to preserve an event that we think are important. However, this made me think about how taking photos has changed overtime. In older times, photographs used to be special and somewhat rare. Photographs would be taken at special occasions such as at an event or if the moment had meaning to it. Nowadays, I feel like photos are being taken mindlessly, especially with the aid of smartphones and digital cameras. Though these photographs still capture the moment, interestingly, I think this further creates memories for the person. For example, lunch on a normal day would rarely be remembered if nothing special happened, but since smartphones are being utilized to mindlessly take photographs, that one lunch can be looked back at and one is able to remember that day.

Street Exercise (Finals Contact Sheet)

- Follow a friend

Merged Class Photo

Reading Response - Still Life

I always thought still life was shots exclusively shot in a staged platform. This would include setting the subject to the photographers preference, have lighting and such. After reading the still life reading assignment, I knew that this was not the case. For my still life practice, this is exactly what I did. I had my subject placed as well as the lighting exactly how I wanted. For my final still life project, I will explore shooting more natural lighting and natural subject placements. For the in class still life practice, the objective was to chose our placement, however, I found that the room my group and I chose to shoot in had beautiful natural lighting and many interesting subjects. The reading assignment suggests that shots of still life, or photography in general, need time. Shots must not be rushed to conclude in a good result. I am taking this advice and practicing to be more patient while taking my shots so they turn out the way I'd like them to.

Paper Project - Final Picture

Paper Project - Contact Sheet

Still Life Homework - Finals

Still Life Homework - Contact Sheet