a photo & a thousand words

Photography and the printed picture dates back to the 1800s when Nicéphore Niépce took a picture called View from the Window at Le Gras, also known as the oldest surviving camera photograph. Since this time there has been hundreds of millions of camera photographs taken, printed, and shared. A process that once took hours to complete, now only takes a few seconds and at most a minute to print out and enjoy. However, what was once a prized possession such as the product of a camera photograph, came to be a thing of the past with advanced digital technology of the 2000s. But are physical pictures really a thing of the past?

When I was younger, my Gema (a cool alternative name for grandma… duh) took so many pictures of myself and our whole family, mostly candids to commemorate special events and family gatherings. She stored all of her pictures in photo albums which were displayed on her grand book shelf with according year. I always thought these pictures were so special because they were the only ones of their kind, original and rare. We would spend hours flipping through old albums of when my dad and his bothers were children, and we even found some beautiful black and white photos of my Gema in her modeling days. This time we spent together reminiscing and sharing stories are still some of my favorite moments i've ever had.

More and more as i've grown up, moved out of my childhood home, and began a life of my own have I realized how pictures of loved ones can really make a new place feel more like home. I often find myself going back looking for old treasures to display in my little city apartment along side my ridiculous photo booth pictures of my friends and I. As I sifted and searched, I began to realize that there were big chunks, even years missing from my parents albums and then realized that the albums ran out entirely. Confused and concerned I ask my mom where they had all gone, to which she lead me to her laptop and clicked on a file that lead to many others titled with dates and event names. All the pictures were stored on her computer drive in numerous files, many of which were stored inside other folders and so on. I found this frustrating because you can't hold and appreciate a picture in this way, and more so they were only ever viewed by said laptop owner, no sharing.

Convenience had become a thing of the 2000s that we have yet to come out of. No more are the occasions where an eager photographer anxiously awaits their pictures to print to see how they turned out and to display them for all to see. No, now only the good ones made it to social media profiles, and some would end up in a picture frame if it was deemed worthy. No more were the full albums of photographs taken and all kept safely for anyone to see. This really made me sad, and I felt like I was losing a piece of my childhood.

Luckily my generation is that of creative artists and enthusiasts of all things considered vintage, and with that came the reemergence of the printed photo. A few years ago I began to see polaroid cameras make their comeback, and I was one of the first in line to get mine (and a stylish record player of course). Not only could I take pictures on the go, now I had them right away and could display them all over my home, really… they are everywhere. I made it a point to be able to have something to show my kids one day, and make a tradition with them as my Gema did with me.

My point here is, not to become too dependent on any new technology or fad, because what was once considered old-fashioned is reestablishing itself in our fast-paced world. I don't know how far technology will take us, but one thing I do know is that when I'm too old to figure all that jazzy stuff out, i'll be able to sit back in my rocker with my pictures and live in those moments.

Make memories, and treasure them.

from print to digital.

I have to admit there hasn't been many times in my college career where I have thought about what my personal portfolio would look like. I honestly thought that portfolios were more for artists, photographers, and graphic designers to display their visual work, so it never crossed my mind that I would need to display my written work in a similar fashion.

To my delight, I really enjoyed the process of creating a digital portfolio, not only to represent myself, but also my written work. Which I assume is one in the same. Previously, I have written about the taunting task of choosing which written piece to include in my portfolio. Much of my early written work was lost in the crash of my very first personal laptop, which as I have since learned via Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City to "back it up!" However, I was able to find some key pieces that would round out my writing samples, and display range of topics and content.

There are a few things that are different in a digital portfolio, rather than a print portfolio. Where one would typically look for a stylish portfolio book to take to interviews, online you must pick the perfect theme for your entire website, complete with font styles transitions between pages, graphics, and the list goes on. Where I would normally print my written work for said physical portfolio, I now have to find a way to display/attach/link my pieces in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and easily accessed. Also, text online displays much differently than on a word document, so there had to be editing of my actual written work to look like it belonged on the internet.

When choosing a place to create my digital portfolio, I was looking for a site that would allow me to pick a template and then completely change said template. I needed a good base to work with, without having to create a website from scratch. Insert "Ain't nobody got time for that" meme. I finally decided to use the website creator Wix. This site allowed me to choose a portfolio theme template, and there were so many, all customizable, which I found was remarkably easy.

Stylistically, I wanted my portfolio to be clean and simple with a little POP! I chose a basic template and made it my own with personal photos of myself and pictures I had taken specifically for this portfolio. I chose a feminine font for my titles, but remained fairly neutral when it got down to where a lot of my written content. I decided o attach my resume and blog, so that others could seek more information about me if they chose too, this kept the site looking simplistic, as it was not too wordy. My motto with personal information is not to over share, but to always allow others the opportunity to learn more about you if they wish. Generally, this means viewers are seeking more information because you have something that peaks their interests, very flattering, no?

Although I am traditional at heart, I have to say my digital portfolio put my theoretical print portfolio to shame, seriously… it's hiding somewhere in the theoretical print portfolio shadows. Though I do recommend always having something in a hard copy to show to interviewers, people like to hold stuff, it's a fact.

Check out my portfolio here, share with employers, give me recommendations, whatever you will.

let's make a film, it couldn't be that hard… right?

It only seems fitting that as my Book & Print Culture class comes to an end, that I post my final presentation iMovie. I made this little clip with my lovely friend Allie, and we thought it brought to life all the things we participated in and learned in this class. We had a lot of fun making this, so yes it's a little goofy, much like us.