A Visual Diary

My main focus the past few weeks has been tying up loose ends....

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:29:04 -0400

My main focus the past few weeks has been tying up loose ends. I’ve been rushing to finish up a lot of projects that have been in the works lately, including the final issue of the magazine and my portfolio book. Finishing my portfolio book has required a surprising amount of photography, even though I don’t necessarily see a future for me in photojournalism. These are some shots I took last night during USC Fashion Week at the Student Designer Competition.

Before starting on our final documentary project, I’ve...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:10:12 -0400

Before starting on our final documentary project, I’ve been researching tips from documentarians and also common mistakes to avoid. The articles listed below were very helpful, but the documentary we are studying in my film class also gave me some interesting things to consider. I know last week I posted about my film class last week, but I feel like I have to do it again. Capturing the Friedmans incorporated a variety of audio visual formats to tell the story of a family falling apart as the father and youngest son face allegations of sexual assault on children they were teaching computer programming. Family photos, video diaries, home movies and audio recordings added another dimension to the story. I’m not sure if this is something I can incorporate in my documentary project, but I’d like to try.

PBS Mediashift

RainDance Festival Filmmaking Mistakes

Top 10 Interviewing Tips for Documentary Filmmaking

I have never really been a Michael Moore fan. The tactics that...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:20:52 -0400

I have never really been a Michael Moore fan. The tactics that he uses in his documentaries are incredibly biased and manipulative which have always bothered me before from a journalistic/ documentarian point of view. For example, claims that Moore allegedly wore the same clothes to the bank on different days have surfaced. Although he does not address this on his site, the staging the bank scene in Bowling For Columbine this way is certainly not an accepted amount of natural bias.

I think I’ve mentioned my film class in previous posts. Despite my personal opinions about the way he carries himself, watching Roger & Me, a documentary about the economic collapse of Moore’s hometown after GM began moving plants out of the country, was interesting to study in my film class. We also looked at an essay that examined the truth and if there can ever really be a singular truth.

Just like it is a documentary film maker’s job to search for the truth, we are viewers need to wade through their work to separate the bias from the truth. Not that there is an intentional bias, but everyone has some slight bias that just comes from their world view, station in life and past experience. Michael Moore is just a little more upfront about showing his bias than most.

I haven’t had much time lately to photograph, but last...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:06:17 -0400

I haven’t had much time lately to photograph, but last week was a nice break from the norm. I spent my time shuffling between Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Long Island, under a mountain of bagels and pizza and a handful of afternoons watching Netflix. This was the view from my friend’s cozy house in Philly on a cold, ugly afternoon

Creative output is difficult, maybe not in the curing cancer...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:27:35 -0500

Creative output is difficult, maybe not in the curing cancer sense or knowing the math necessary to build a robot sense, but in the creative field under a deadline, you are essentially asked to make magic.

For every hour I spend on a creative project these days, I find myself spending almost as much time trying to figure out why it was sucessful, how it defines me as a designer, and how to make myself stronger and more flexible as a designer. There are times when I feel my veins pulsing with creativity, like potential energy waiting to spring into action, but so often there is a self conscious obstacle holding me back.

As my college career comes to a close, it is hard not to get wrapped up in a state of self reflection, trying to determine if you are really on track or doing what you are meant to do. I thought this was something only I felt. (Hey maybe I’m crazy… who knows?) The fact that conversations like these are hard to articulate and even harder to initiate didn’t help, but a few months ago someone showed me this post from Linds Redding’s blog.

This post is extremely different from most of his blog posts, but somehow, it was exactly what I needed to hear. It’s still what I need to hear, and I refer back to it often to remind myself that self-doubt is universal. The things he writes about his experience as a designer ring so true, and while some of the points are disappointing, I somehow felt more optimistic when I was done. I just thought this would be an interesting article to share; I’m sure it’s filled with knowledge someone needs to hear now more than ever.

It felt amazing to see issues flying off the racks and people...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:11:13 -0500

It felt amazing to see issues flying off the racks and people tracking the link down to view it online, after all the hard work we put in to the third issue of Garnet & Black

My newest endeavor in the realm of photography has been film. I...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:35:47 -0500

My newest endeavor in the realm of photography has been film. I haven’t taken pictures in a while, but last week I began scanning in negatives from film photos I took over the summer. Rather than rifle through tiny 4x6 glossy-coated drugstore prints which leave me wishing I had the ability to edit in post-production, I was ecstatic when a friend showed me how to scan my film negatives to edit them digitally. The beautiful of film photography combined with the ease and efficiency of digital.

The above photo was taken last summer at sunset on the Aegean Sea somewhere between Europe and Asia.

To say that this week has been a challenge to every creative...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:49:15 -0500

To say that this week has been a challenge to every creative bone in my body is an understatement.

I’m not sure whether or not to be impressed or horrified at what my daily schedule has become. The photo posted above was uploaded to my Instagram at 11 a.m. Sunday morning. Since this photo was taken I’ve slept a grand total of 7 hours; it’s Tuesday.

There is no doubt in my mind that I was meant to be a visual communicator after weeks like this. After putting in roughly 40hr weeks in a cramped windowless Student Media office on top of being a full time students. Balancing these two very serious full time jobs has definitely taken its toll, but that’s what it takes to make the magazine happen. I can’t wait to see the final product…. you know, as long as I manage to design my entire portfolio book, 60 variations of three logos, write a philosophy paper and remember to breathe with the remainder of my week.

I love it when the things I’m learn in different classes...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:05:00 -0500

I love it when the things I’m learn in different classes all come together, especially when it ties into my personal interest. Between the film studies, videography and typography classes I’m taking this semester, it’s awesome when they can all come together. Last week I saw Rear Window for the first time at a film viewing for class. It reminded me how amazing Hitcock was, but he couldn’t create all of his work alone. He had an entire team working to create these iconic films; one of whom was Saul Bass. Saul Bass was an iconic designer whose influence extended far beyond title sequences in film.

He designed logos that are still in use today for companies like Minolta, United Way, Dixie, Quaker and the Girl Scouts. While his logo work shows a more traditional design aesthetic for the time, his animation for title sequences in films like Psycho, The Man with the Golden Arm (shown above), Anatomy of a Murder, and many more explored a more stylized distinctive aesthetic that Bass is iconic for to this day.

For my second class blog post, we were asked to show a piece of...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:09:20 -0500

For my second class blog post, we were asked to show a piece of photo or video work we have done recently.

My latest adventure in videography involved an afternoon of puzzle solving, a shiny new (loaned) Canon 5D Mark III, and the dreaded portfolio class. This was my first attempt at shooting and editing video in over a year, since the story on Drip I created for my Advanced Photovisual Communications class (see previous posts). Posted above is a video resume I created the first week of classes for Journalism 564. It is not particularly fancy, and it doesn’t show off any crazy photo or video skills, but it does make a definitive statement about who I am as a designer and visual communicator. Created very much through trial and error, this video explains my design philosophy, which extends far beyond the field of visual communication and speaks to my work ethic as a whole.

Song: “Oblivion” by Grimes

After over a year long hiatus, I am reviving my visual diary....

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:24:00 -0500

After over a year long hiatus, I am reviving my visual diary. Originally a catalog of inspiration and influences, as well as a platform to display my owner work, I can honestly say I am excited to rejoin the “blogosphere.”

Admittedly, my return to blogging is part of a class requirement. For the sake of my videography class and any new followers who may not know me personally, My name is Ashley McGarry, and come May, I’m ready to take the graphic design world by storm. As a Visual Communications major, I always trying to add other forms of media to my repertoire. (Anything to give me a creative edge!)

Although video maybe not my greatest area of strength, it was where I got my start so to speak and is something I’ve always enjoyed. I spent my last two years in high school immersed in scholastic journalism, working for both the school’s newsmagazine and weekly news show. I knew the news room wasn’t the best fit for me, but my time there gave me a greater understanding of how to creatively and effectively communicate a story. Video can add a truly unique dimension to the telling of virtually any story. Working for “The Silver Screen Report” taught me how to use Final Cut Pro and occasionally gave me the opportunity to make more creative video projects. In addition to my news stories, I worked on several informative videos and two mini documentaries (one 10 mins and the other 30).

In Journalism 463, I am excited to build on my previous experience and apply it to current projects I am working on!

**The above photograph of me was taken by the talented Claire O’Boyle last March in Columbia, SC

Photo

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:38:04 -0500

It’s been a week or two since I posted anything at all, let alone any original work, but...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:34:38 -0500

It’s been a week or two since I posted anything at all, let alone any original work, but I’ve been working hard on my final project for this class. It took me a long time to find a topic for our final multimedia project that really interested me and motivated me, but once I did, it really turned the whole project around. I am incorporating audio, video, and photos of a local coffee shop that opened a few months ago here in Columbia into my story. I still need to visit Drip Coffee one more time to fulfill the project requirements, but I already feel like I have too much material for my 2 min. story. I guess there are worse problems to have. My goal is to have it all done and turned in by Tuesday, so keep checking back for updates!

Days With My Father by Phillip Toledano This photo essay was...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:41:00 -0500

Days With My Father by Phillip Toledano

This photo essay was one of the first things I found upon making my personal tumblr account two years ago yesterday actually. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and can conveniently be purchased on Amazon for fans in need of a physical copy.

Kelly mentioned it in class recently in reference to the subject of photographing family members and also wound up posting about it on her blog. In her post she wrote:

“ I feel like when a photograph can extract any sort of strong emotion from a viewer, then the photographer has succeeded in taking a great picture.“

I have to agree with her, that while it is often frowned upon to rely on family as subjects, when it is done successfully it produces incredibly raw, emotional photographs. The proximity either has a way of clouding our creativity or grants us, as photographers, the ability to show a side few others would ever get access to. I have always appreciated the way Toledano captured the story of his aging father.

For some strange reason when I stumbled upon Timothy Archibald’s photo series “Echolilia,” “Days with my Father” came to mind. It may have had something to do with our recent class discussion of family as photo subjects, but I think it had more to do with the way in which the family members were portrayed.

The ultimate goal of photography, and photojournalism more specifically, is often referred to as the gift of uncommon vision. Both of the photo essays I have posted tonight definitely accomplish this goal. By photographing family members, Toledano and Archibald captured an unquestionably raw and beautiful view of both the young and the old grappling to cope in a world that leaves them feeling lost. As much as I love both of these stories and appreciate the way they are illustrated, I can’t help feeling a little uneasy.

Photojournalism often crosses a very thin and blurry line between illustrating a topic well enough to place any viewer in the moment and verging on exploiting a subject and their situation for the sake of the story. It is a line that is hard to define and something that both of these stories made me think about. Yes, the way the story told is gripping. Still I can’t help questioning if in photographing subjects so close to them, the photographers unintentionally crossed this line. Maybe the subjects of the photographs themselves weren’t exploited, but was their relationship to the photographer?

Just something to think about over the next week.

Echolilia All parents love their children. But what do you do...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:22:00 -0500

Echolilia

All parents love their children. But what do you do when you can’t connect with them? In my case, I started making photographs of, and with, my son Elijah, who has autism spectrum disorder. This series—the title is from “echolalia,” a clinical term for the mimicking aspect of his condition—shows the bridges we’ve built on our shared journey of wonder, discovery, and understanding.

We began this project when Eli was five. He was doing well at school but fixating on odd things, lashing out, speaking repetitively. My wife and I couldn’t figure him out. Then I started taking pictures of him around the house. It was an instinctive act for a photographer: Point your camera at something in order to make sense of it. But a curious thing happened. As I documented what Eli was doing and creating, he became interested in the images I was making. I was learning how he thinks; he was learning what I like and value.

We soon had a system. Eli would do something unusual, one of us would notice, and we’d make a photo of it together. The pictures we took over three years were more raw and feral than anything I’d done as an editorial or advertising photographer. And more personal. This is, after all, the story of a father and his son.

Timothy Archibald’s book, Echolilia: Sometimes I Wonder, was published last year by Echo Press. See more of his work at timothyarchibald.com.

Adventures in Pinhole Photography pt. 1-4

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:53:00 -0500

Adventures in Pinhole Photography pt. 1-4

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:52:00 -0500

Adventures in Pinhole Photography pt. 1-4

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:52:00 -0500

Adventures in Pinhole Photography pt. 1-4

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:51:00 -0500

Adventures in Pinhole Photography pt. 1-4

Photo

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:44:30 -0500