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First Six Pages

Patrick's Benifit Concert, Event #1

On Thursday, January 31st, I went to Patrick's Irish Pub to view an acoustic concert. It was a benefit show to raise money for a new concert venue in Poway. My friend was the one to organize this fundraiser because he feels that the San Diego music scene is not as strong as it use to be. Each band that played was recorded. All of the proceeds from the album sales will go toward this new venue as well.

One of the bands was called Arm the Angels. Their sound, I would say, is a mixture of AC/DC meets The Police. I have seen them live, which is amazing, but acoustically, it was a completely different experience. The quality of the instruments together and the gentleness of the performance really made me like them even more. They played a song that I had never heard before. It was a very romantic song, and compared to their other songs which is all about heartbreak, I would have to say that it was a wonderful breath of fresh air. Overall, I really enjoyed the show.

Also, to help out my friend who is trying to get this venue opened, I was able to help him out and take photographs of the show. Many of these images will be printed on the album and will be posted on the website my friend built to keep people informed about the upcoming shows.

It truly was a great experience.

Practice Spread

Oliver Herring

Out of all of the artists' that we viewed today, I like him the best. I like how he wants to make this personal connection with complete strangers.

His combination of painting and photography is very unique. I would never think to ask someone, especially someone I don't know, to spit food dye out of their mouths, get it all over their bodied, then photograph them afterwards.

I think that this concept is very clever and creative. His images are beautiful and amazing. I especially like the eyes in the images of the men with paint all over them. He seems to pick the colors that really compliment their eyes and make them pop!

Saed Menshki

Well, I cannot really get a sense of what he is about just through the images that I see. He really likes to use bold colors in certain books and in other books, it is just about black and white. I can say that, like Reza Abedini, he also has a really wonderful design aesthetic that is very pleasing to the eye. His images draw you in to take a closer look.

Reza Abedini

I am impressed with the design in many of Reza's pieces. Although, I cannot read what his images are about, due to the language, I am forced to look at his pieces just on design. I really enjoy his use of color and space. I am the type of person, like Deborah, that uses every last space on the page. I hate white. With his images, it works as a good element of design. It gives a sense of organization and calmness and it really forces the viewer to look at each element in the piece. In other works, I like the color combinations are amazing. He really understands how to create certain moods just with color. Which is a good thing because if you are not from his country, you will not understand the words on his pieces, and his pieces are mainly composed of words.

Overall, I really am inspired by his unique design elements. It makes me think outside of my box.

Arturo Herrera

Artists' are weird creatures. Every artist has their own way of working, no matter how weird it may be. Herrera seems to be very passionate about his type of work, and although I found him to be a bit strange, I find his work very inspiring. I like how he takes the most simple image, photographs it, then soaks it in water, develops it, and then to top it all off, he connects all the images to make a huge wall piece. Each image, separately is unique, but as a whole, comes together and makes this amazing image.

The water damage adds unique texture to each individual image, which is cool. But standing far back to view his piece as a whole, you wouldn't be able to see all of those imperfections. Thats another reason why I like his style because it works not only individually, but as a whole.

Tom Scott

I have always been in love with the beach. I really enjoy his photographs. I like how each image has a distinct and unique pattern. Although, compared to the black and white images of the sand and rocks, I enjoy the colored images better. I like the contrast between the dark colors of the sand and the bright shinny colors of the rocks. He has a very creative eye. Scott's images make me want to go back to the beach and look at it in a completely different way.

It is funny, every time I go to the beach, I notice the unique patterns in the sand that the water makes on the shore, but I have never thought of photographing the sand that close up. His images are truly beautiful.

The Past Nine Years.

Just recently I have been going through all of my old photos and letters. I have so many boxes in my room of photos and negatives. I started to think back on all of these amazing times I have had with my friends and family. After signing up for this class, I thought that it would be a really fun idea to take many of the old pictures I have, along with new ones and create a book of all the people in my life.

Nine years ago I met my boyfriend. I was sixteen. At sixteen, you really have no sense of what you want to do when you are older or really have any sort of strong direction, except for the one pointing out of high school. My boyfriend was in a band at the time, and still is, but after meeting him, I met so many talented, artistic people who expressed themselves through their passion, which is art, musically and visually. All of these people inspired me to follow my passion, which is visual art. They have guided me, inspired me and been the best prayer I could ever have answered.

My younger years were tough, but I got through them. My family always meant so much to me. After I met my boyfriend, they saw such a positive change in me. They were so supportive of the changes I had made in my life. They were there for me through the good, the bad and the ugly. They stuck by my side and believed in me.

My book will be a document of the last nine years of my life and I want to dedicate it to all of the people that helped get me where I am today. I want to portray all of my friends and family in a way that lets them know how much I appreciate them and I want to glorify all of their amazing talents and passions. I want to show and express how much of an influence they have been on my life.