What is the nature of your photographic study?
In my series of photographs I am trying to compare my life in Jamestown, NY to what my life would be if I still lived in Scotland.

What was your initial source of interest in this line of inquiry?
For ten years I have lived in Jamestown NY and for the majority of that time I have found myself struggling with living in another country. I wanted to find similarities and differences in the two places I have lived. I wanted to do this so I could have reasons for liking Scotland more than the United States.

What is the point/purpose?
The point my project is to show that even though I am in a different country and a lot of things are different there are some similarities in the two places.

Were there any specific people or circumstances from which you found inspiration or guidance?
I found a lot of inspiration from my mountain climbing experience. While we were up north I really enjoyed the scenery. While I was looking at the scenery I noticed how different, yet similar, it was to the scenery here. In Scotland there are a lot of beautiful mountains. However, I realized that the scenery around Jamestown is beautiful too. A lot of people take for granted the lake. I also was inspired by my cousins who played soccer the whole time I was there. It doesn't matter how old you are, in Scotland everyone plays soccer. In the United States there is a variety of sports that people enjoy.

How did the visiting artist guide your project? How did it change or evolve from beginning to end?
Cathy was a great help to me. She gave me some ideas of what to photograph before I went to Scotland. When i got back she guided me and suggest some things to compare. In the beginning I anticipated that my project would be very noticeable comparisons. Now I realize that the differences aren't all that big.

What have you learned? How has your opinion/belief/outlook changed?
I have learned that even though Scotland and Jamestown seem like two totally different places in reality the everyday life in both places is similar. My outlook has changed a lot. In the beginning I had anticipated on showing how Scotland is so much better that life here. However, now i know that my life is very similar here to what it would be in Scotland.

What happens next?
Next I would like to pair a picture of my cousins playing soccer to a picture of some kids playing baseball or football. I would also like to get a picture of the lake to match with some of the pictures from mountain climbing.

diptychs

These are two of the diptychs I have been working on. The first is a picture of my church here in Jamestown, left, compared to my old church in Scotland, right. Next is a diptych comparing my houses. The top picture is of four houses in Scotland and on the bottom is of my house in Jamestown.

Unfortunately, I had another diptych comparing my family eating in Jamestown alone to eating together in Scotland and for some reason it was unable to be posted. I will try and get that picture up later.

more pictures

These are just a few more pictures I took while I was in Scotland.

A couple of Pictures

These pictures are of the scenery up north in Scotland. I went mountain climbing for 2 days with my dad and some family. I really enjoyed these days and looking at all the amazing mountains.

I am planning on comparing these pictures to some nice scenery from Jamestown and the surrounding area. I have more pictures of Scotland that I will hopefully post tomorrow.

Dinner Time!

I decided to photograph my family eating dinner on a normal night. Most nights at dinner time we will eat in seperate rooms doing different things. When I go to Scotland I will take pictures of how our dinner time was when I lived there. Most nights in Scotland my family would eat with grandparents, aunt and uncles, cousins or just the four of us. Every night we would eat together, as a family, and I miss that.

Lauren Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield's series, THIN, is about who struggle eating disorders. This series came about when Greenfield started taking pictures at a hospital of patients. When the patients became comfotable with her they allowed her to take pictures of their everyday battle. This series is more journalistic, it is a documentary. The only thing in the series that makes me feel uncomfortable is the idea of being that close to someones personal life. I know that at first I would feel strange following someone around all day, but maybe thats just because im shy. I might improve the series by illustrating why these girls felt as if they needed to be thin. I can compare this series to my own life becasue everyone, including myself, try to fit in. I feel that sometimes I need to change who I am so people will like me. The girls in the series feel they need to be thin so they can be comfortable in the world.

Vanguard Proposal

For the Vanguard project I plan to compare my life in Jamestown and what my life would be like if I was still in Scotland. I want to try this because at times I struggle with my feelings of this area. I often wish I still lived in Scotland with everything that is familiar. However, I then realize some of the positive things about living in this area. I would like to illustrate these feelings. I will accomplish this task by taking pictures of my family, home, neighborhood, and other activities that I enjoy participating in. Then, I will take pictures of my family, neighborhood, and show the Scottish culture when I visit at spring break. I will probably take the majority of these pictures with a digital camera, maybe some black and white. I am still in the process of finding an image that is related to my idea.