35mm Photo Recreations:

Series in Chalk Pastel

With these six chalk pastel pieces, I want to not only artistically depict memories and moments that are important to me personally, but also go deeper and convey past memories attributed more to my family and moments that are meaningful to them individually as well. My dad when he was younger, used the medium of photography as his way of personal expression. Though he was not a professional photographer, he still valued the idea of preserving and capturing important and memorable moments that were meaningful to him. Through the 70s and 80s, he was able to capture a large amount of images, ranging from photos of his travels and things that were interesting to him, to photos that were more personal like of his family and important moments with the people he cared about. Though I do not personally know the background and back stories of most of these photos, by going through his slides and hearing these stories retold by him in the present, 50 years later; I can start to understand how important these past memories were to my dad.

By choosing to focus specifically on portraiture, I am able to heighten and bring back to life these important yet slowly fading stories, focusing on the individuals and their connected expressions and narratives that each scene holds through the use of framed composition, color harmonies, and preservation of details. Using chalk pastel as the medium of choice, I am able to accurately and effectively emphasize the colors, details, and contrast each image has, but also use the medium itself as a way to connect deeper to the themes and concepts of memory that are attached to each individual photo. Like a past memory fading away, chalk pastel can also be very delicate and can fade over time if not taken care of well, making the medium itself affect the overall message I am portraying as well.

 I strive to give the same opportunity I initially had, to look at these images and get a glimpse into the window of the past at the stories that are being depicted in each image. Like my dad used photography as his medium to best capture these moments, I used my own form of artistic expression to recapture and bring back to life these meaningful stories; setting his next to mine, and using both as a way of reinvigorating the stories that were once forgotten.