Rachel Verhaaren Photography

while i am specifically a photography major at the Maryland Institute College of Art, all students at the college are required to take a few studio courses outside of their major. i participated in two theatrical productions for credit and my other two classes were taken within the fibers department. after the required introductory class, i chose to take ‘accumulation and metaphor’ taught by jessica braiterman; a class focused on the variety of ways we experience collecting and the meaning behind it.

because of the time needed to establish any sort of collection, we were given only three assignments during the course of the semester. we were kept very busy, however, with great field trips, short readings and informative in-class demonstrations that related to the coursework. the three assignments were as follows:

accumulation in response to the natural world

accumulation in response to the human condition

a collection of your choosing (the longest of the three- this project spanned the entire semester and was designed to be the most extensive and thoughtful)

i chose to focus on a certain material that i have worked with in the past and has certain significance to me. plaster gauze is an extremely versatile medium and i wanted to explore what is has to offer.

natural world

my response to the natural world began by looking at coral and sea life as well as the human body. while the human condition is another assignment, the human body itself is a natural entity that has evolved and adapted over time. i chose to cast my fingers in plaster gauze and stack them in an almost honeycomb formation. the structure they became speaks to the order that sometimes occurs within the chaos of nature. the plaster gauze was able to cast a general shape (a tapered tube) while also removing some of the evidence that it was my finger.

human condition

balloons have an important role within the human condition. we find them festive and use them on a multitude of occasions. again playing with plaster gauze i wanted to remove and almost negate the identity of the balloon. while i did hang the balloons on the wall to allude to their desired height, they are heavy. they droop and sag. this is not how we know balloons to act. the color and surface of the objects are cold and pock-marked, not bright, shiny and welcoming.

collection

these plaster gauze strips were created as a collection of anxieties. the gauze, used to mend broken bones acted as a band-aid-like coping mechanism for unfortunate occurrences, big and small, that happened within the span of a semester. the grid arrangement, covering a wall floor to ceiling, gives the viewer a glimpse into the overwhelming nature of the events, especially when complied and displayed.

** a de-installation shot. the last balloon was too high and much too artsy to take down. it begged to be photographed and left for the next people that entered the room**

recently, i’ve been trying to really look at fashion photography and i stumbled across these images shot by Richard Burbridge for Dazed and Confused magazine. i enjoy seeing that the concept of the shoot, the styling of the clothing and the make-up/hair really worked in sync. sometimes i see fashion shoots and i’m completely confused- garments that make no sense in relation to the space they’re in, punk hair with baby doll dresses (and not in an ironic way). every part of this shoot was done thoughtfully and i really admire that. i’m so completely obsessive with my own images; i’m happy to see other people working so hard to make sure all the details are in place.

i’ll admit i don’t get the doll pieces 100% but it works! i really love it!

while browsing the dazed and confused website i also saw an interview with Collier Schorr. i’ve only ever heard her mentioned in a fine art capacity so it was nice to see that her work was bridging the gap between fine art and fashion photography. i do enjoy her series You Are the Weather as well as some of her other fine art works but i didn’t love what i saw on the magazine website. anyway, if nothing else it was great seeing an artist capable of reaching both audiences.

i have been obsessing about this photo for months now. i think it is quiet and beautiful. i’m usually not the snap-shot type but this has so much more consideration than just a point and shoot that i can really enjoy its casual quality.

i feel guilty for being so horrible at keeping my blog going. i was never good at keeping a diary as a kid. anyway, since it is 100 degrees outside and i’m afraid to leave my bed, here goes.

recently i’ve been hitting a sort of road block, photographically. my current employer (or internship sponsor) asked me who my favorite photographer was. i couldn’t give him an answer. sure, i like a bunch of photographers- all the greats, of course. but i didn’t stumble across a photograph and decide that, because of this mind-blowing piece i was going to become a photographer. my decision was much more selfish than all of that.

i love doing it for me. for how it makes me feel. for how it allows me to express all the crazy stuff in my head. and how it lets people understand. ansel adams is great, but i’m my inspiration.

so anyway, all of this has definitely got me thinking. my boss also gave me a ton of photography/fashion books to read. they’ve been pretty interesting so far. so i’m really going to try and figure out who i like and why. maybe that will get me excited again.

let’s get started:

i found this picture while looking at the imdb page for little ashes, a movie about the young lives of salvador dali and frederico garcia lorca. (robert pattinson just also happens to be in it). i haven’t seen it yet but it didn’t get great reviews, so i bet it’s decent.

**do i give credit to the director of photography for the image? wish i knew who it was!

i adore this image of marina gatell. i love the tones of the out of focus background (blurry is my thing) the gorgeous dress and her crazy neck/collarbones! i have a tough time photographing people, i want to do stuff like this.

i hope to see more wonderful images when i eventually get around to watching the movie.

ta ta for now. hope to see you soon