Chroma: Ominous

CHROMA

magazine

OMINOUS

october 2016

CHROMA magazine

A publication celebrating young & talented creatives from the VSAA photography community & beyond.

Volume 2 Issue 2 October 2016 Based in Vancouver, Washington

Editor: Kastine Cook Advisor: Abby Harris Staff: 11 issuu.com/chromamagazine chromamag2015@gmail.com All photgraphs belong to the artist and have been published with their permission.

DO NOT copy or share any images without explicit permission from Chroma Magazine.

Thank you for respecting the photographers featured and the integrity of their work.

EDITOR’S

LETTER

Editor's

Ominous: threateningly inauspicious; Giving the worrying impression that something bad is going to happen

LETTER

Dear Readers, This first issue of the second Volume of Chroma is For this month’s issue of Chroma, we’ve demeant to be an opportunity for our photographers cidedto to embrace the season. showcase their curated body ofInspired work from by the the truly elapsed over the summer past month. eerietime and mythical, our staffand hasthiscreated a body Throughout this issue, you’ll find incredibly diverse and of work inspired by the remarkably spooky. creative series from these talented individuals.

I hope findinspiration inspiration in the workwork of these I hope youyoufind in the ofvery these individuals & thank you for reading Chroma very talented talented individuals& thank you for reading Magazine.

Chroma Magazine.

Kastine Cook Editor

Kastine Cook Editor

OMINOUS

contents

STAFF GALLERY betsy hanrahan // 08 jane greene // 14 P. 10

madeleine newton // 20 collin macdonald // 26 sara wheatley // 32 ellie josephson // 38 aubrie wescom // 44 ellie farber // 50

P. 25

devon macgregor // 56 kastine cook // 62 abby davis harris // 68

P. 46

ON THE COVER: devon macgregor // 56

What’s the Difference?

BETSY HANRAHAN

WHAT DID YOU DO? I created a series “What’s the Difference?” These photos are a series of screengrabs from a film I am making with Aubrie Wescom, Devon MacGregor, and Sophia Hale. These photos are from the first scene in our film.

HOW DID YOU DO IT? In order to make the series, my group and I grafted a story to create our film entitled “Hamilton Hill.” We shot this scene of the movie at Aubrie’s house in Battleground. I used my Canon Rebel T3i with a 50mm prime lens, on a Manfrotto tripod. I then took screenshots of the footage and edited them using photoshop CS6. I changed the colours to be more blue and edited the contrast and brightness.

WHAT DID YOU DO?

I took portraits of a friend, and used Photoshop to alter her eyes, whether that be by replicating them, or turning them all white. I was focused on creating really strange photos, centered around eyes.

HOW DID YOU DO IT?

I began by shooting in the evening when the light was dim to achieve a sort of eerie effect. I chose locations that had blues, and purples to fit the “spooky� feel.

Once I had shot the photos, I used to Photoshop tools such as the clone stamp

Naiad

Aubrie Wescom

to duplicate her eyes, or color them white.

JANE GREENE

MADELEINE NEWTON magenta

WHAT DID YOU DO? I took photos of objects and people with the purpose of the pictures being creepy, but the viewer can’t really figure out why. I just wanted people to feel uncomfortable as they viewed these photos.

HOW DID YOU DO IT? I took pictures of obscure textures and items and then edited them all so they would be slightly oversaturated with green and magenta hues.

WHY DID YOU DO IT?

TRAPPED BY TECHNOLOGY Collin MacDonald WHAT DID YOU DO?

My main inspiration for this photo series was the idea of someone being trapped inside of, or by, technology. My primary focus for this series was portrait photography, specifically trying to invoke a sense of helplessness and despair though my photos.

HOW DID YOU DO IT?

This was a two part photo shoot. For the first part of the photoshoot, I took photos of the model in various positions while pressed up against a large pane of glass. After editing those photos in Camera Raw, I transferred the edited portraits onto a MacBook, an iPhone, and an iPad. From there, I took photos of the devices with the portraits showing on them, to make it appear like the model was “trapped� inside the various devices, and thus, trapped by technology. The pixilation outside of the computer screen in each photo was created via Smart Objects and Layer Masks in Adobe Photoshop CC. MODEL Aksel Davisson

sara wheatley

PREDATOR

WHAT DID YOU DO?

For this series, I really wanted to play with photoshop. Traditionally, I will not edit my photos a lot besides an occasional contrast or exposure change. I stretched myself to create art outside of my comfort zone this month. The intent of this series is to make you uncomfortable and leave feelings of being “hunted”. The “predators” or models are eyeless creatures that lack souls and have allowed darkness to seep into their lives and take control. To me, the creatures represent the negativity that is constantly trying to invade my happiness. Will you let them take your positivity?

NEUTRAL FEAR Ellie Josephson

WHAT DID YOU DO? I took images of a friend in a mask in a rainy and dark setting.

HOW DID YOU DO IT? I bought a mask, found a good night to take images to make it more erie. I chose to take these photographs in rain to make the light in the image more reflective and spooky.

Ellie Farber

Lashes and Lacerations AUBRIE WESCOM

WHAT DID YOU DO? I created a photo series of self portraits in the aftermath of spending the night screaming at strangers.

chroma // 49

RAW MEAT ELLIE FARBER WHAT DID YOU DO? I bought sushi from trader joes and made it look like it was bleeding HOW DID YOU DO IT? I created a mixture of red food dye, flour, and water to make fake blood. I then positioned the sushi in positions that looked as if the sushi had been shot

Dunkelheit DEVON MACGREGOR

CONCIEVED VANITY

Kastine Cook

WHAT DID YOU DO?

I created a photo series centered around the life and eventual murder of JonBenet Ramsey. JonBenet Ramsey was an incredibly young beauty queen native to Colorado. Despite only living to age six, her life has been on the front page of tabloids and has become one of the most wellknown conspiracies.

HOW DID YOU DO IT?

For this series I chose to rent lighting equipment and a camera lens from Profoto. I set up the shoot using a pink sheet as a backdrop, with a table in front of my model. I shot this series using my Nikon d3100 with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens. I also created multiple props such as pineapple and fake blood to enhance the photos.

WHY DID YOU DO IT?

I did this photo series because I wanted to look at something that is truly scary in the “real world.� For me the idea of being self-aware of your body image at a young age scares me. JonBenet is a relatively wellknown figure to portray my views. And since her life came to such a bleak end as a result of the pageant world; I thought it would make for an interesting interpretation. I chose to include pineapple since it was a key component of the investigation; since it was the last thing she ate before she died.

Collin MacDonald

Traveling Europe: 2016

ABBY DAVIS HARRIS Anatomical Abstraction WHAT IDID YOU DO?

My Photo 1 students were learning to use shutter speeds. I purchased several creative lights including a strobe light for my students to experiment with in the classroom. My students’ excitement and creativity was infectious and I decided to do my own version of shutter speed experimentation. I used slow shutters with anatomical teaching figures from the science department to create these anatomical abstractions.

HOW DID YOU DO IT?

I set up several still lives using anatomical figures. With a tripod and one second shutter I took a series photos using low light. I experimented with several light elements including gels, strobe lights, and even Halloween glow sticks.

In a few of the photos I used the clone stamp to create texture in various parts of the composition. I enjoyed this experimentation with the clone stamp. I felt like I was painting on my photo with my own photo.

LOCATION: Vancouver School of Arts and Academics

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