This photography class is turning out to be one of my most time-consuming classes this semester. It is not that I mind, but I wish I had time to make it the focal point of my semester. I spend the majority of my time thinking about prints and trying to come up with ideas for more prints and noticing different prints. Prints are even seeping into my photographs! I could see everything I tend to photograph being turned into a motif for a print. This is something I want to work with over the summer. It would be a great to combine b&w photography with print design. I do feel like I am learning more about understanding my camera and I find myself taking more time to make sure my camera is doing what I want it to do. However, I have a long long way to go.

These are my pieces for our "unusual objects" project:




This is one of my photos from our "pinhole camera" project:



As I said, I have a long long way to go. However, I am somewhat pleased with my results.

She gets it.

..and so does he:

This was the view from my window on Saturday when it snowed almost two feet. As I sit here typing, it is currently snowing what is supposed to be at least another foot. Though the commute to school has been less than desirable, this was a rare and beautiful moment of color. Sunsets are overdone, to say the least, but they are not often th ought o f in terms of a snowstorm.
Another plus to this unusual amount of snow in South Jersey/Philadelphia is that we are still unfamiliar with how to react to the chaos. Thus classes are canceled for Wednesday. This gives me an entire day to catch up on the prints I have be en working on. We have been working v igorously on block prints for my Print Design class and after much drama, my piece is starting to come along. My inspiration came from recent encounters with Cirque du Soleil. There is a group of people who climb poles with no safety except the strength of their muscles. It is absolute insanity the things human beings can do with their bodies. The pole climbers hold onto the pole using only one arm and create this directional pattern with their bodies. I decided to use their silhouettes as inspiration for m y block print. These are my test prints so far:

I have not neglected my blog. I have just been thinking. Looking for inspiration:
http://www.jeniferaltman.com/

I truly wish that film, in any form was not dying. It really is a magical process. I am taking my first "real" photography class where I will be critiqued on my work. It is somewhat intimidating, but I am mostly in it for experimentation. We did pinhole cameras, which is something I had never done before. Developing a photo is an incredible feeling, but a make-shift camera is an entirely new perspective. I really do understand the workings of my camera a little better.

Polaroid by Jenifer Altman. Sort of twisted, but beautiful.