BYFA

 BUILDING YOUR VISUAL NARRATIVE: THE ART OF THE PERSONAL PROJECT

Eman Atwain

Life can take unexpected turns in the presence of events and changes, and the possibility of change is always one hundred percent. Change can occur in many ways, which can lead to an extreme fear of change. We tend to fear encountering obstacles, failure, and losing our sense of self in the process. The changing colors and patterns in the sky are a metaphor for life events; they change quickly, but there is beauty in each stage of change. During the global pandemic, life shut down; many people lost loved ones, and others became isolated, leading to questions and self-reflection about what life truly means to each individual. I began this project with an existing passion for discovering what life truly means to me. With the capture of each change, it felt as if the sky was telling my own story. As someone who hates and fears change, I come to realize that despite changes in the patterns and colors, which are sometimes bright and sometimes not, the sky is still beautiful to me. As individuals, we tend to hold on to our mistakes and let them prevent us from moving forward, fearing that if we change our path, we will make mistakes, and completely fail to recognize that the mistakes are lessons that can help us achieve if we keep going. The search for treasure in the world is worthless because it begins with you. Your voice is the source of life, and the dreams you carry on your back have the power to create a future and an endless history. 

Elliot Brooks

Accepting Loneliness 

My approach was taking photos while sulking in sadness. I took photos which reminded me of my romantic life: the ring I wear to represent a future I do not have and the Floral Sacred Space to represent hope for love. I combined the two. I hope for love when I know I cannot love. 
While putting this series together, I was in an extremely sad mood. I wish I could have been consistent with my earlier project ideas (photography tarot and divinities in modernity). I wish a lot; I wish I was happy in romance. I hope this photo series shows that. 
    I chose to share this story because it chose me. My sadness has a habit of choosing how things will go. I just went with what I felt I needed to get out. 
    I believe romance is harsh, but sometimes beautiful. I seem to be a friend of romance.

Helena Chambers

My pictures are various things that I see on my walk home from school. I want to showcase all the pretty and wonderful things on my long journey home. I wanted to share the things that I see with everyone. I approached this project with just pictures of buildings but I wanted to expand. I then started taking pictures of objects too. My technique that I used was zooming in. A lot of the pictures I took are very zoomed in so that the objects can stand out and have a mystic vibe to them. I also took pics from different angles. When I was first given this assignment I was panicking about what to do my project on. I was thinking about it while walking home and I saw something that caught my eye and took a pic of it. I liked the picture and thought why not do my project on that. I usually take pics on my way home anyways. I want people to look at my work and realize how unique their surroundings are. I want people to notice the things around them and not just rush home.

Jasmine Ilyas

Holding closely to warmth as it takes your only sense of belonging. It makes it seem like it all comes from an illusion or a dream. For me, the warmth that fills and satisfies is that of an unchangeable setting. Although I could be there for several minutes, days, or even years, it is impossible to declare something unchangeable, at least something human-made. It has always been painful to watch something or someone change. But it is unavoidable, and from that I had to learn the true meaning of growing pains. I have always despised the word "change" only because it has happened in my life, either by losing someone, losing something, or losing a place I used to call “home.” But as time does its natural course of passage, I have consoled myself with the effects of the change that I was always afraid of. I have come to terms with my emotions about letting go and holding on. And from that I have gained two valuable reflections: it is okay to not like change, and that it is okay to hold on to something. Because what would we be if we had no sense of belonging or hope for a certain future? And that exactly is what I needed to experience: the sense of hopelessness and the sense of change which has nurtured me into becoming this person that at first I admired. That is why I focused my collection to be of a setting that I love, and that it is subject to change over the course of time.

Ramanpreet Johal

Effects of MY Pandemic

When your life suddenly changes how do you know everything will be ok? What can you do if the whole world is in panic and your life is revealing new secrets? When the 2020 pandemic came into my life my parents lost a lot of business. Having a corner store business meant we needed people in the open that would come in and buy items, but the lockdown meant we had nearly no customers. My cousin signed us up for an app called DoorDash and I began going on delivery trips with my dad. DoorDash was difficult because it involved a lot of speaking and oftentimes my dad sat in the car and I had to learn how to speak to merchants to get and give the food while facing technical difficulties when using the app. While doing these DoorDash runs, I saw a lot of places that created pollution in our atmosphere such as power plants. I realized over the pandemic lockdown our planet had time to heal without intervention and it was scary that we began to destroy it again. At the same time, I found out my brothers had autism. I had already had a feeling, but knowing officially meant we would have to take measures for their benefits. It was difficult because my parents were in denial, but we eventually found help the same time I began school again. School was hard. It took a few days to learn to wear a mask for hours, but eventually I adjusted. Over the pandemic I gained knowledge on how to be comfortable talking to new people because of DoorDash and I made friends that helped me navigate the new virtual and in person dynamic. The change was hard, but I am extremely grateful for the person I have become. For this photo series I photographed my everyday life and every element that had changed.  I highlighted the people that helped me in school and the elements of the environment that showed me our world would never be the same. The photos focus on the direct element of the art but they also highlight each part that leads to that final point. Taking these photos was hard because I don’t have much experience; however I knew my topic so all I had to do was apply the composition and technique I learned. Although I hope to improve over time, this is my realistic approach to the last 3 years.

Phoebe Martel

Chamber of Reflection 

“So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even one, that's the journey of the warrior.” —Pema Chodron 

Fomalhaut, in solitary splendor, is the most effulgent of them all,
Its star power is only possible through a blessed lonesomeness.

Josie, all iron, cobalt, and nickel,
By design, a vivacious vortex, always open to others
In this stands sentinel, 
Fancies herself in the verdant-and-lavender fullness of the Parisian jardin, 
A bard robed in gilded brocade, armed with her lilting melody.

Ms. Otenasek transposes the sonatas of her soul
Day in and day out, with a most sacrosanct monotony,
In communion with the eggshell-white cathedral of Blakehurst Assisted Living,
Her mind is in the crucible of dementia, the melting of years and dates and names,
But the residue in the dessicator is only the elements - her smile and her song. 

My brother, along the gray gush of the Bronx,
A budding starlet, trudging along, seeing the potentiality of a barren parking lot and a bereft beach.

Loneliness can be what you think it is: forcefields of celluloid dreams with a radioactive blueness that threatens to swallow us whole. But it can also be the clean lines and breathless nostalgia and liminal lushness of a Cockeysville truck depot - a suburban symphony, beautiful only by night, and the askance coolness of my friends, from one moment to the next, of neon empires and the aches of wanting more than what is in front of them. If this is the lonely feeling, then so be it.

Megane Mbapte

Life at a Glance

Over a one-month period, how monotone or diverse would your day-to-day life be? This year has felt like an emotional apocalypse. One that wiped slates clean, leaving some feeling formative once more. In this series, I acted as an omnipresent being in my dorm mates’ and other campus residents' lives over a month-long period, capturing their most beautiful, peculiar, and uncomfortable moments. Upon final analysis, I realized that our lives aren’t so monotonous after all; we are not background characters in each other’s lives. We are unique, multipotentialite beings with a desire to belong and feel accepted.

Jaleyhia Smith

Fever Dreams

What has been your wildest dream? Drowning? Fairies? A feeling of euphoria? A Fever Dream clings on to these desires, concepts, fears, or goals in our life and twists them out of reality. During a Fever Dream many experience lucid dreams, euphoric feelings, and high confusion. The best part of a Fever Dream is coming out of one; when the light becomes hazy and your mind warps, the feelings in your heart shift left to right. Nonstop! For this series, I wanted to take dreaming out of its comfort zone and reconstruct it as high anxiety and the fearful parts of dreams that brains try to repress. Each portrait was made to show a journey through graphic editing; designed to fit an ethereal and emotional touch while reaching that horrified bone in your body. Every portrait felt creatively different and I felt free from “default” dreams. This workshop was heavily therapeutic and showed me how to become my own motivation.

Shaydia Stephens

Behind Closed Doors: Within 

While growing into not being afraid of my creative thoughts, the way I perceive things now is different. When I look at the beauty the world holds, I feel warmth inside and envision myself in a dream-like fantasy. The beauty is heightened, colors are more saturated, and thoughts are blossoming. Whenever I feel that warmth inside while staring at an object, my camera comes out. Shooting was never a problem; I just felt the need to feel before shooting. I am a firm believer that colors and themes are everything. It can be super saturated colors, black and white, dull, pastel, whatever makes you happy. The question is: Why did you use those colors? I believe color changes perspectives; even different shades of one color can have polar opposite meanings. People can be pushed past the natural narrative we have of the world; stepping outside the box and exuding how they feel on the inside, making it shine through their eyes and truly visualizing the beauty on the outside. No thought is ever too outside the box, and if it is, create your own boxes.

Victor Tena

Choices

My project shows a character that is riddled with choices and ultimately will decide his destiny. Choices are what shape a person's future; while not knowing the outcome, he hopes to choose the “right” path. In this series, I asked my cousin to pose while deep in thought, pondering the character’s questions such as “Am I the master of my own destiny or was this planned all along?” and “Which path will I least regret?” I approached this topic by displaying the character in silhouettes, using roads and stairs to show the path the character must take but wonders if he will regret in the future. This project made me feel accomplished, particularly because this concept hits close to home and answered some questions that have been lingering for a long time, which in turn gave me a glimpse of what my future holds.

Ma’issa Wright-Kerr

Look through Myrrh’s Windows

What can happen, what are you able to view when you shift your perspective? In this series, I wanted to share the point of view of my cat, Myrrh, and show what he sees and encounters over a month of his life. His world is primarily experienced in one house, yet he seems to find joy. At first, I approached him as I usually do, from my height, but upon getting to his physical level I was able to get to know Myrrh in a new way. Broadening my view of him is important to me because though I have had Myrrh for seven years, there are still parts of his life that I miss on the day to day. There are always opportunities for our relationship to deepen, especially with such close and consistent quarters. I’m appreciative of the chance to get to pay more intentional attention. I want people to view their pets (and people) not as accessories to their lives but independent beings whose lives deserve to be noticed.