Closure Final ~ Alma Hurd

Alma L. Hurd Jr. is in his third year at Snow College. He has been centered around in the Outdoor Leadership and Entrepreneurship program at Snow where his love for the outdoors truly started to blossom. Alma grew up in a small town just outside of Aspen, Colorado.  Ever since he was young, he would  be playing outdoors and getting lost in the trees... Once, Alma was camping with his family and he made a fort in a jungle of aspen trees. His mom called him “Monkey boy,” because he was always hanging on trees and edges around the house. This is where the inspiration for his project came from. He wanted others to see more than a tree, but to be truly  lost in wonder, similarly to how he was as a little child. Aspen trees are a single-family unit. For miles their roots are connected together, which makes them strong for when the storms come, much like a family.

Alma took these images laying on the ground looking upwards at the sky. His hope was to capture a different viewpoint that would allow those observing his work to gain a new perspective on Aspen trees. He used a shutter speed of 1/160, a depth of field was 10, and ISO was at 400. This gave his pictures the angle needed to display the branches and make them pop against the sky. The black and white is to keep it simple and yet, make the trees mysteries.

When looking at the sky, the branches of the Aspen trees look like part of the nervous system inside the human body. The branches are always stretching outwards – such as a hand reaching for a loved one. Alma wanted to have others think deeply and dive into each individual picture, coming away with a new experience from each piece. With each photo there is a new and fun adventure around the corner.

Final Project- Emma Moyle

 (the glasses one is the cover...)

Emma Moyle is excited to show the world what she can do when she has access to a camera and cereal. This book is filled with a plethora of Froot Loops photos. The artist hopes these pictures will open your mind to the many ways you can see common things in your everyday life. She is hoping that as you turn through the pages, your inner artist will show itself and consider unique ways that you could capture images and objects. Emma’s excitement and enthusiasm for her work is inspiring not only because it portrays the practiced focus of a college freshman, but also because she never considered herself an artist. She struggled through her first photography class trying in vain to grasp the seemingly simple concepts her instructor was teaching her. Although she was ready to throw in the towel, the idea from her professor to do cereal art for her final project was mind blowing. Emma didn’t think it would be possible to manipulate something as common as cereal into images and scenes that her eyes would be drawn to. Little did she know the satisfaction she would discover from breaking down the cereal and organizing it into different shapes and structures. A great deal of time was spent here as she stacked the froot loops and fixed the venue. Finding new angles to capture the likeness of the cereal and experimenting with different lights was quite a task, but eventually she found her rhythm and the overall flow of work that was born was an exciting experience. Emma realized that cereal was not a very common medium for artistic structures and picture destinations, but she had a few ideas and the ability to see them through to action.  The sheer amount of possibilities that came to mind when she imagined “cereal landscapes and structures” was astounding. Emma hopes that, as you peruse her book, you will be inspired to follow in her footsteps and try something new with a skill you have recently developed. You may even be inspired to crush up your own cereal. The possibilities are limitless, and so is your mind.

Final Project - Kenzie Perfili

This is my first published photography book. As a first groundbreaking statement, I’m taking
faerie lights, an overlooked object, and putting my own spin on it. I first got the idea for this
book through my friend Jamie, who told me to look within myself to find what I am most
passionate about. I have been to many places, most of them residing in the city. I wanted to
do a project based on nature, away from anything that resembled civilization. I want to appeal
to all ages and have them be able to really connect with each individual photograph. 

This design speaks to everyone in a different and unique way. I hope you will take a moment
to reflect on what you want this project to mean to you. My main intention was to convey hope,
the idea of giving warmth and to show you there is a path of hope in every situation. I myself
have been through a lot of hard times and wanted to put something into the world that would
help other people understand that they are not alone, that you can always find the light when
everything around you is crumbling. I wanted to bring to life and light up spaces and situations
that would otherwise be invisible without the string of lights. Let the lights lead you to your new
insight into hope. I wanted to use hands to represent holding your own fate and caring for
yourself.

I intend to motivate you, to spark the flame of determination that has been buried inside you
and needs to be let out. This book has unlocked a hopeful streak within me and I hope I can
share the same, strong intensity with you. Here is a challenge, if you are currently going
through something, to take a moment and think about a time that brings you joy,
something that is your light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you will feel inspired and willing to
create joy for yourself.

Final Project - Ari Meek

My intention for this work was to show the beauty of simple forms. We can be so distracted by what is going on in our lives that we often forget to take a step back and breathe, observing the small and special moments. As we become more aware of the simple things in life, we will begin to notice how each of them builds on another, creating a picture larger than we could have initially thought possible.

 My work shows this by combining the simple, everyday objects of ice and light to create the larger image of an icy crevasse, or an underground ice cave. This combination of light and ice brings about an almost otherworldly beauty. My methods for this project were uncomplicated. I used only a black flannel backdrop, ice, and an LED cellphone light. I cracked the sheet of ice using warm water, then artfully arranged the broken pieces to hide the light. I then turned off all other lights in the room and began shooting. I found that a low aperture and slow shutter speed resulted in the images that I wanted. The ice began melting, creating pools of water around the ice. These pools proved to be a beautiful metaphor for the fruits that come from stopping to admire common objects.

This work is also a reflection on the concepts of light and form. The ice naturally creates rigid forms with stark edges, which gradually soften as they melt. The shapes are then brought to life by the LED light. The ice sheet refracts the light, bringing a sense of smoothness to the images. The brightness of the light also creates strong value contrasts within the form, bringing in another dimension within the ice. This work shows how light and form can work together: light creating form and form diffusing the light.