combining textures

Gordon B imitation

          Gordon B took pictures of so many things around the world. His specialty was abstract photos. He loved to show places and things in a new way and telling a story from a less common view.

He went to the Philippines and took pictures to describe the society and poverty there. He also went under water and took pictures of little critters in the Indian Ocean while he was there. He LOVES bright colors. He feels as though the colors in his photographs really have a dramatic effect on how he wants people to portray his work. He uses the colors to describe the emotion. Gordon B also went to Indonesia in 2012 and did a similar story line of how life is really like in Indonesia. 

              Another type of photography Gordon loves to play around with is Motion Studies. Some of his pictures  almost look like a water color or some sort of abstract painting. He uses a slight movement with a slow shutter speed to capture a smooth stretch of an image. I love how Gordon is such an established artist but still loves all kinds of different photography. He is adventurous. I hope to someday capture similar abstract photos around the world. 

These photos are inspired by Gordon B's flower photos. 

http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=749009

These motion pictures are inspired by some of Gordon's pictures in his motion portfolio. 

Photo Journalism- Animal Shelter

           I chose to do this photo journalism project on the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society because I have a very strong opinion of people mistreating animals and I had heard many great things about how they treat their animals. They rescue and take in strays and animals who need medical attention on a daily basis and they nurse them back to health. Some animals spend their whole lives there because no families are willing to take care of them the way the humane society does. 

Cats in the cage.

grumpy cat

Desperate to get adopted.

 A cute little child looking for a pet to call her own.

 Young animals experiencing the world, taking in all the love that's given to them.

Will you adopt me? Please?

Cats that want to be left alone

         In my few visits at the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society I got to meet and care for new born kittens along with puppies and dogs and older cats. I met many that were ill or dying of old age and a puppy that was blind.


         In my research on this place, I have come to the conclusion that the animals here have experienced hard lives and are now in a good place. They appreciate any love and affection they can get. They also know that their job there is to look cute and try to get adopted. Other dogs around also can tell when other dogs are about to get adopted. Animals can tell when they are sick and not healthy enough for families to want them. This brings on a very emotional and touching atmosphere for visitors and those that work there.

One puppy I personally got to bond with was blind. He was incredibly smart and only about 6 months old. He barked a lot when people move fast past him because he can sense commotion which isn't comforting to him. He enjoys when people stand calmly close to him so that he had tend to use his other senses to see if you were nice. He is very calm and loving once he gets used to you. He likes to play and give lots of kisses. He rolls around and runs and pants and loves his tummy rubbed. He is only sometimes timid when a lot of things are going on around him because he relies on his hearing and smell to evaluate what's going on around him and if he hears and feels a lot of things going on around him he gets scared that he won't hear or sense someone getting near him and if they touch him or get too close without him realizing, he gets very scared.

Another animal I got to encounter was a dark brown lab mixed with a pit-bull. She is a very sweet and calm dog. She has a very rare illness that she has to take special steroids everyday in order to live. The problem is that no matter how much food she eats, she always pukes and gets sick with an upset stomach due to the medication. This makes it hard to keep food and the medication in her. She is about 7 months old and they aren't sure how much longer she will live. 

As I was about to leave my last visit at the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society, I saw a woman holding a super cute little dog. I couldn't see her face so I went up to her and asked if I could take a picture of her holding her dog. She turned around and her face was all red and she had been crying. She smiles at me and says, "yes just don't get my face." I took the picture very quickly and said thank you and walked away. I felt so bad. I didn't know what was going on. A little later I walk outside with her and she tells me she had to give him up for adoption. I didn't bother to ask why because I didn't want her to cry more. I simply said that he will be well taken care of at that place because I have witnessed their caring ways. She replied, "Yes I know he will find a great home. It's just so hard to say goodbye." She continued to say goodbye and thanked me. I got into my car and held my tears in as much as I could. It was such a tough things to watch.

My experience at this shelter was very moving and I have decided to volunteer as much as I can there this summer.