Book by hannah pang

Hannah Pang 1

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DEDICATION I dedicate this book to my mom and Ms. Parkinson.

They both helped me so much during this project.

Also I’d like to thank Emil Jarfelt, Tommy Vermilion, and Jessica Hayes for being my interviewees and sharing their stories with me. They made this experience truly interesting and fascinating to learna about. Finally, I would like to thank Freestyle Academy for giving an amazing opportunity like this to create whatever I can dream of.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 09 . . . . . . . Introduction

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10 . . . . . . . Emil Jarfelt 12 . . . . . . . The Digital Age

18 . . . . . . . Tommy Vermilion

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20 . . . . . . . Simple Beginnings

24 . . . . . . . Jessica Hayes

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26 . . . . . . . Harmony

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PREFACE For my Documentary project I was drawn to Instagram photography because I am an artist myself and I have friends who are very active in the photography community. Living in the Bay Area, I see all the technological advancements around me and I was curious on how it aected the art world. I was excited to meet unique people and learn their story of how it all began.

However, I was concerned with how I was going to execute this. I didn’t want to throw the digitization of photography under the bus, neither did I want to praise it. This was my biggest challenge: to attempt to show both sides of the story and let my readers understand the harmony that must exist between the two. I had to research and read a lot in order to solve this problem. It was necessary for me to read what other photographers and artists had to say about this topic.

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I was able to see the side from a professional photographer and a beginner as well, making me understand that there is no one “correct� side for this issue.

Furthermore, I am so thankful that I spent the extra hours educating myself fully because I felt confident in writing about it later on. It helped me grow as a writer by pushing me into needing to develop my own ideas from researching what others believed. Also it aided me as a media producer in the development of how this book looks visually. It was my first real time doing graphic design and I realized it wasn’t just drawing boxes and placing text.

I grew in my illustration and photo editing abilities to make my pages all look aesthetically pleasing. I want you, my reader, to understand that there are several perspectives to every topic and that art will always exist, even with the development of new technologies.

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ONE

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A young French inventor, frustrated with his inability to draw like many of his colleagues, attempts a new approach to art: collecting real life images directly onto plates and prints (Biography.com). Nicéphore Niépce invented Heliography, a process where Bitumen of Judea (a natural asphalt) is used as a coating on metal or glass plate. He found that the dark shadows caused by the focus of the scene would cast over the plate and would harden the asphalt; once the plate was washed, the hardened areas remained, leaving a print of the photo (Getty). But this photo would fade with time and Niépce was not content with his first attempt. Spending sleepless nights trying to discover a way to capture an image, the young inventor finally created the first primitive camera and “produced the oldest surviving photograph of a real world scene” (Getty). Finally, real life could be captured in an instant and Niépce’s creation would impact the future of art and human preservation of memories forever.

Commercial film cameras emerged in 1885, and freed painters from painting portraits to being able to paint whatever they desired. Eliminating the restriction of realistic portraits for the wealthy, they grew in their abilities to paint abstract, contemporary, and surrealistic pieces. This is how with the creation of new art forms, a whole new world of art opens up. In Digilogue: How to win the digital mind and analogue hearts of tomorrow’s customer, Anders Sorman-Nilsson writes, “Book pages that used to be turned by hand are now turned by a swipe... and cash that used to live in a physical wallet now gets transacted via a digital wallet”(11). Everything in our lives has become digitized, including art with the emergence of digital drawing tablets, websites like Devianart, and mobile apps like Instagram. Growing from its small start as a photo sharing app to one with 600 million users and counting (Instagram: Active Users), Instagram has changed the game of photography. From one that originally was considered a fine art only for true film artists into one for anyone who has a camera or phone. But does this evolution ruin the authenticity of photography as an art? Or does this new accessibility create a whole new generation of photographers who will push and create new boundaries for the art form?

The answers to these questions lie in the stories of several photographers working today and paving a future for themselves.

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EMIL JARFELT

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n a small town at the edge of Copenhagen, Denmark, an emerging photographer steals his dad’s vintage video camera to go to the skate park. He and his friends have learned a new trick they want to include in their skate movie. Excited and nervous, he lifts the Lumix ďŹ lm camera up to his light blue eye and an entire new world unfolds before him. Through this lens he will discover new friends, places, and even his own future.

above are photos of Emil Jarfelt 10

The Dane Emil Jarfelt is an 18 year old who is aspiring to be a photographer and filmmaker.

His roots grow from European skater culture, where he began to take his father’s camera in order to capture the amazing moments that came with mastering a new skate trick.

He instantly fell in love and continued to pursue photography when he moved to the United States to begin high school.

Beginning with film and then moving on to digital, Emil feels that photography has to be built up in layers. As he grew older, he moved from the world of film to digital because his dad showed him how to use a DSLR. Currently, he has 1,449 followers on Instagram, but that number continues to grow. He began to post his photography back in 2014-2015 and continues to post because “it’s really easy and pretty much available to

everyone and you have a very large audience.

Anyone in the world can just log onto social media and be able to view your artwork”(Jarfelt). As a senior in high school, Emil spends a lot of his time in places like San Francisco and Pacifica shooting architecture, nature, and simply just the world. He strives to pursue photography in the future although he doesn’t want to become a photographer.

He tells me, “ I don’t want to limit myself to just one medium to express myself and share my perspective and take on things. I want to use my creative mindset to create a business and give me the ability to make a living of my passion which is design” .

Emil sees the world in multiple dimensions, he uses photography to push boundaries and present on social media how he views the life around him.

“there is always room to grow and challenge yourself by trying new things, concepts, and ideas”

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The Digital Age T

he digital world makes it simple and easy to promote art, photography, or even one’s personal life. But even posting your life has become an art form.

Now, taking photos of your food and bedroom will be a visual perfection one’s ‘aesthetic’ of their Instagram feed. Having matching tones in all of their photos, a flow to the layout, and nicely edited photos bring about the perfect aesthetic and people are living for it. Forbes states that you should always post only nicely edited photos and ones that will complement the rest of your photos in order to run a successful popular Instagram page (DeMers). Additionally, the ease of taking, editing, and posting your photos creates an environment that welcomes all aspiring artists. According to the Huffington

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Post, “Instagram has turned everyone with a smartphone into an artist. Opening up art to the general community is an incredibly groundbreaking aspect of this application” (D. Murphy). Now with the accessibility of being able to take a photo, edit, and share so instantly it brings back photography from the elite galleries into the lens of the public eye. Photography isn’t limited to any group anymore, the abundant amount of people who are participating in this art ‘movement’ draws more and more attention everyday.

The youth takes this to their advantage, as they use hashtags and post frequently in the hopes of being featured on a popular page.

Many aspire to become photographers or just expand their own horizons as artists (Hayes).

Emil shares that he met many of his close

photographer friends and connections at “meetups,” where local teens and young adults will come together and shoot photographs of volunteer models. These “meetups” are organized through Instagram and reach large audiences because of the popularity of the app. The digitization of the photography world allows aspiring photographers or artists to get together, create, and then review and give others their opinions. This is one of the main reasons why Emil enjoys using Instagram as platform for his art: “It’s a good way to get feedback from people... either constructive criticism or people saying ‘good job’”(Jarfelt). It motivates and inspires people by creating an atmosphere where they are free to share, communicate, and learn about photography. Walter Murch a film editor and

artist, proclaims that criticism is the best way for improvement, “since art is, in essence, process” (J. Murphy). Instagram creates a community for photographers to review and learn from each other instantaneously.

Jessica Hayes, a local photography teacher in Los Altos encourages her students to spend extra time looking at other people’s work online. She believes, “the more you look at what others are creating and making, it inspires you. For example, you know you might feel a certain emotion from one person’s photo or project and then go on to create something that may visually be unique but the feeling is still there”(Hayes).

Instagram presents a platform for everyone to try their hand at photography, meanwhile it builds a community through the social media aspect of it. Having these two additions onto photography

keeps the art alive in a world where photography could slowly dissipate with the advancements in technology. According to University of Oregon, “With each passing year, arts education funding is cut before mathematics, science, and athletic programs. The arts have been considered a complement to education rather than an essential” (Hagy). We need to keep art and photography alive, and Instagram does it beautifully by making it so accessible and entertaining for the youth.

With the rise of new technology and expansion in social media, there is a new generation of artists and photographers using their digital skills to their advantage. The accessibility, inspiration, and refreshing wave of new artists that emerge are influenced by the world and, in return, influence the world.

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“I LOOK AROUND, TRY TO CHANGE COMPOSITION OR ANGLES, YOU JUST EXPERIMENT”

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Emil felt moved to join this generation, and it has changed his life ever since. “Photography has changed my perspective on life... It showed me the importance of exploring and going out on adventures, and essentially just to doing more...Life isn’t about just sitting at home dreaming about what you want to see, it’s about getting out there and doing it”(Jarfelt).

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TWO

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FILM IS NOT DEAD 17

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above is a photo of Tommy Vermilion

an Francisco, the city of innovation and bread bowls, is where our second interviewee dwells inside four walls plastered with memories and film photographs. Each photograph encapsulates a certain joke, moment, or feeling. He grabs his bike helmet and Canon digital camera whenever his phone buzzes with a new adventure that awaits. Confidently riding through the busy streets of the city, he is feeling both exhilarated and at peace.

TOMMY VERMILION 18

Thomas Vermilion, age 18, was born and raised in San Francisco. He tells me that he prefers to go by ‘Tommy’ as it feels to him “less uptight and makes me sound like a real person, not a British celebrity” (Vermilion). Similar to Emil, he is a senior in high school and he uses photography as a way to make him go out into the world and explore everything that his unique city has to offer and the people in it. He believes that photography has “made me sort of look around for little details in everyday life.” Growing up, Tommy was never really drawn to any art forms, even though his mother tried multiple times. His father also attempted to open his eyes to photography by taking him on backpacking trips when he was 10. His own personal interest was never sparked until the emergence of a new wave of young photographers bombarded his own city.

Tommy hopped onto the fast moving train of San Francisco’s scene of young photographers and began to take photos for himself and his friends.

What is odd is that Tommy doesn’t aim to become a photographer, instead he interested in majoring in engineering. Tommy’s perspective on photography is that it helped him become “someone fearless of trying new things; however, it didn’t exactly make [him] fall in love with art.” He has other hobbies and works three jobs: an assistant, a demolition man, and at a local bike shop. There is without a doubt that he is very hardworking and this flows into his photography; waking up at 5am to shoot sunrise and climbing to (slightly illegal) heights in order for the perfect shot are some of the things he does weekly. He met many of his photography

friends, including Emil, through Instagram and meetups. The digitization of the photography world made it appeal to Tommy because it was no longer a weird hobby his dad had; instead, it became a movement of young people exploring, creating pictures and memories. With time, he strayed away from posting constantly online and moved to printing out photos for his friends. He has a wall of photos like a real life Instagram feed and says, “A lot of … photos on my wall are also shared on instagram but I do prefer them on my wall. Instagram leaves me space that I can delete stuff easily, however sometimes mistakes need to still be there and I don’t really strive for perfection” (Vermilion).

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Simple Beginnings Perfection. A perfect, clean peek into one’s life.

But do we, as people, need to see a impeccable form of life or do they need to see the genuine messiness of reality?

With the rise of the digital age humans have become accustomed to perfection, Photoshop and editing has made it ridiculously easy to transform your photo into a completely different one (Beaumont). Emil explains, “You don’t even need to have skill; if you have a nice camera and Adobe Lightroom, you can trick people into thinking you have a gift” (Jarfelt). A facade that developed as digital world of photography emerged, tarnished the simple, traditional form of film photography. Where you can’t preview the photo, you can only hope that whatever appears in the darkroom is what you imagined it to look like. The excitement and anticipation is being dissolved from this instant sense of gratification of being able to see your photo you just took. “Film gives [students] the process of slowing down and then the actual excitement of the printing room and actually seeing their photo develop something they’ve created … I don’t think my students get as much joy of seeing a photo on a screen 20

or printing out the photo. There’s something so unique about that one image, and you can’t duplicate it. You captured it in a film camera and that was it” (Hayes).

The digitization of photography has made obsolete the slow process where you must prepare for each photo, and has transformed it into a fast-paced world of immediate satisfaction and HD photographs (Miranda).

There is a constant demand for perfection, but teens like Tommy are challenging this demand by putting effort into taking film photography. He wants people to recognize his art and feel the same way that he does, whether it is through social media or through film prints (Vermilion). The original concept of photography may have disappeared with the rise of digital photography, but the soul of the art form stays with the youth as they

push boundaries for a diverse and unique future.

“I can’t just leave my house and not bring my camera”

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TH RE E

HAYES & HARMONY

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depicted below is Jessica Hayes

JESSICA HAYES 24

One autumn morning in northern Michigan, a large oak tree cascades over the shoulders of a young girl. She is painting and preparing for her internship in New York City as an interior designer assistant. As her brush moves throughout the page, her thoughts are swirled with the the endless possibilities that come with the Big Apple. A month later the young girl, Jessica Hayes, arrives at the John F. Kennedy airport, ready to explore the city and her artistic abilities. Here, inside of a deep red dark room, she will discover her passion and love for ďŹ lm photography.

Jessica, born in northern Michigan, took her love of fine arts and turned it into a love for photography. Growin up, her parents were both extremely supportive of her artistic endeavors and paid for endless art classes. From her youth she pursued drawing, painting, and sculpting which ultimately led to her admission and attendance at a small liberal arts college in Michigan.

Whilst getting her Bachelors in fine arts, Jessica stumbled upon photography: It wasn’t until my junior year when I got into photography, and it was because I was doing an internship in New York City for interior design.

It was a little off from my normal art route but a lot of my friends who were in the same internship program were studying photo. So as a result it kinda got me into photography, and I was influenced enough to start studying photography when I returned to school afterwards. (Hayes) After graduating she got her teaching degree and started teaching in Michigan, eventually coming to the Bay Area and teaching at Los Altos High School. Currently, Jessica teaches Photo 1, where first semester she begins with teaching a foundation of film photography before moving into digital photography for second semester. A

firm believer of needing to begin with film, she pushes students to slow down while taking photos and be mindful while shooting. Also she teaches every aspect of the darkroom as well because of how much students learn from developing their own film. Almost instantly, she was drawn to the darkroom as a college student because “it’s a very hands-on process... Coming from a painting, drawing and sculpture background... I really liked the hands on process of how you take your photos, you capture your photos, you’re telling a visual story and from there you go into the darkroom and you develop your film , you make the prints”. Jessica wants her students to fully understand photography, not just point and shoot with a rapid shutter on a digital camera. Also she encourages students to experiment with film, since it truly is a trial and error process. Jessica captures the essence of her process: “I ruined a lot of film starting out... As I’ve gotten older I’ve gone to workshops to continue learning. You never really stop learning” (Hayes). Her advice for future artists is to “Be creative, push yourself to do things that scare you cause that’s when you… get the best outcomes” (Hayes).

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THE HARMONY There are several perspectives to every topic. It’s much like a phoropter, the machine that optometrists use to find your prescription. You are asked which lens looks the most clear in your eyes: 1 or 2 or 3, and so on. This is how we must view the digitization of photography: there isn’t one viewpoint; there are positives and negatives of each side. Our minds all analyze and perceive things differently, much like how we all have different vision. As we progress we must recognize that both can simultaneously exist and that both keep the art of photography alive.

The origins of film photography act as the base upon which modern day photography can build. Jessica agrees: “everything that has been created through digital has been inspired from the film camera…I think it’s really important for 26

“Be Creative Push Yourself”

students to have that foundation of film so they understand…where photography started so they can advance themselves further with digital photography” (Hayes). The success of digital photography couldn’t have been achieved without the basics, therefore we must not forget where it all began from. Even though digital may seem more aesthetically more appealing with HD photos and perfect color corrections, we must give appreciation and recognition to film. Film established settings like aperture and shutter speed controls (D. Murphy). Without this concrete basis, the fancy editing and filters that are so popular in digital photography would not have even existed. We must continue to look at the past in order to improve our future, therefore we must look at classic photography when we are shooting photos digitally.

Emil shares his thoughts on this when he says, “ [Film] is more dependent on your skills as a photographer and your eye for composition… now… it’s more of how you can manipulate a photo” (Jarfelt). Ensuring that your foundation when taking photos of any kind is extremely important and will be the number one factor in determining whether the photo is good or not regardless of how you edit (Lévêque).

Additionally, digital has kept photography as a current hobby for many. Sorman-Nilsson insists, “We’ve all heard of languages that

have died out because they only lived in oral tradition. When the language isn’t spoken anymore, the language and the tradition dies with it...Technology enables this transfer of history into the future” (65). This is much like photography because as film became more expensive it became more of an elitist hobby.

Having the digital footprint of photography protected in social media ensures that it will stay alive forever. Furthermore, having a space where all other artists are sharing and mingling about the projects that are creating, will push people to be more

inspired. The accessibility to the immense size of art and photography online is something that never existed before (Sillars). This is important in keeping art forms alive, and keeping the youth inspired. Jessica believes that the best way for students to learn is to continue exposing, collecting, and taking inspiration from new art (Hayes). She says, “ Photography is really powerful in the stories it can tell but it also is a tool for you to express yourself, learn, and heal as an individual” (Hayes).

“The world around us is unlimited, so don’t limit yourself.”

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W O R K S C I T E D 28

Beaumont, Claudine. “How the Internet Has Changed Photography.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Me dia Group, 15 Apr. 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/advice/7590387/How-the-inter net-has-changed-photography.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Gale, Amiria. “Art Student Acquires Huge Social Media Following.” Student Art Guide, Student Art Guide, 8 Feb. 2017, www.studentartguide.com/featured/kate-powell-art. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

“Gallery of TV memories.” The Bookseller, 5 May 2006, p. 42. Student Resources in Context,go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7 CA146390726&it=r&asid=e3c9e4b905da62eaa0d00dbd305a6f65. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Getty. “Art & Architecture Thesaurus.” The Getty Resources, J. Paul Getty Trust, www. getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=heliography&logic=AND¬e=&english=N&prev_ page=1&subjectid=300133322. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.

Hagy, Sarah. “Are the Arts Dying?” University of Oregon Sites, University of Oregon, blogs.uoregon. edu/shagyg1w13/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Hayes, Jessica. Personal Interview. 22 March 2017.

“Instagram: Active Users 2016.” Statista, 2017, www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/.

Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.

Jarfelt, Emil. Personal Interview. 8 March 2017.

Lévêque, Elise. “Is Social Media Destroying the Art of Photography?” Social Media Today, Social Media Today, 7 Feb. 2015, www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-media-destroying-artphotography. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Miranda, Carolina A. “Social Media Have Become a Vital Tool for Artists — but Are They Good for Art?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2016, www.latimes.com/entertain ment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-is-social-media-good-for-art-20160517-snap-htmlstory.html.

Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Murphy, Diana. “Instagram: How It’s Changing the World of Photography.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2 Mar. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-murphy/instagramchanging-percep_b_6727100.html. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Murphy, Jay. “Vision Anew: The Lens and Screen Arts.” Afterimage. 1 jan. 2017 db - elibrary: n. pag.

Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

“Nicéphore Niépce.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 2 Apr. 2014, www.biography.com/people/ nic%C3%A9phore-ni%C3%A9pce-41069. Accessed 21 Apr. 2017.

Sillars, Rosh. “Social Media for Photographers.” Photography Digital Marketing And Social Media Blog and Podcast, Rosh Sillars, 30 Sept. 2015, www.roshsillars.com/2015/09/social-media-for-photographers/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Vermilion, Thomas. Personal Interview. 18 March 2017.

photo by Tommy Vermilion

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hannah Pang is a 17-year-old Freestyle film student and an aspiring artist and filmmaker. She was born in Thousand Oaks and moved up to the Bay Area when she was 15.

Also, she enjoys painting and is trying to create her own clothing brand “honeyes” by the end of 2017. Hannah created a narrative film with Caroline called “K.” in early 2017.

For college, she aspires to major in graphic design or illustration. Her art instagram is @sqin.me .

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photos by Tommy Vermilion 32