PSU Naimuma Powwow Logo Contest Entry

Here's my submission for the PSU Naimuma Powwow Logo Contest. My first project in Adobe Illustrator. It's a Chinook salmon to show respect to my Oregon Native American peeps!

Recent Photos

It's been interesting to look through over 60 posts on my blog and see my photography get better and better over the years. Here are a few photos from last week. I was actually taking two of them from a moving car so that was challenging.

Visual Storytelling: Final Project

Untitled Film About Anxiety

This is a collaborative project between myself and my classmate and friend, Rosie Dyer. We had originally thought of doing animation of a traditional Cheyenne story, however, we soon figured out it was not going to be possible in our time frame. So we thought of the elements that intrigued us by the story and the idea of a film about anxiety was born. We filmed over two three hour class periods and worked collaboratively in the editing. We accomplished this through Skype screen share as I have the editing software and Rosie was able to see the editing I was doing and we worked out pacing and problems. I created all the strange sounds in the film.

Overall it was a great process and I felt Rosie and I worked together really well. The only issue we had was that we couldn't come up with a title for the film so it doesn't have one. I usually refer to it as "Roy" because that is the name of the bowling ball featured in the film...the name Roy is carved on the actual bowling ball.

Similar to our midterm project we utilized two buildings on campus as our setting and asked our friend Kim Tune to act again as well as adding three other women. A huge thanks to Betsy, Kim, Renee, and Alecia for sharing their personal stories and anxieties. It wouldn't have been possible without their honesty.

Untitled Film About Anxiety

Visual Storytelling: Midterm Film Project

Film: Feedback Loop

Assignment Parameters:

1. Work in a groups of 4.

2. Come up with a premise for the film and create a storyboard.

3. One three hour class to film the ENTIRE story on campus.

4. All group members each have a role in filming.

5. All group members have access to all the footage shot.

6. Each group member will create THEIR OWN version of the story: editing, pacing, sound effects, music, color, etc.

7. No dialogue. Story must be told through visuals 

My Version is called Feedback Loop:

Here's the cast poster I made:

Color Photography: Final Project

Self-Portrait

Blood Quantum

This photography series is a continuation of my "kill the man. save the Indian." series I posted about last September. It explores further the ideas and feelings behind the use of blood quantum to establish tribal identity. Native Americans/Alaska Natives are the only groups of people on the planet that utilize this archaic means of determining ethnic and racial identity. Only dogs and livestock are treated this way. 

Blood quantum was created during the mid-late 19th century when US scientists were heavily into eugenics and finding physical ways to measure race through physical means. We since have found out that race is a social construct, there is NO genetic basis. Blood quantum is a tool of genocide and if our tribal governments don't start looking at alternative, and dare I say it, more traditional and ethical ways of determining membership, we will extinct ourselves...do the math. 

I would like to revisit this idea and reshoot it at some point. I received excellent critique and feedback from my class. 

My main goal was to create a

 psychological and emotional environment that visually represented my struggles with my mixed ethnic/racial identity.

Thanks to Rebecca Cheney for her technical assistance. 

This images were taken at two recent clear cuts near Scappoose and Cornelius, Oregon 

off Rocky Point Rd. 

Color Photography: Assignment 4

Narrative

In this assignment our challenge was to create a narrative(s) by the conceptual framing of our photography. I chose to pair up three night photos with one photo from the daytime. In the collage below you can see the night shots on top and its corresponding photo below. The night shots were very difficult and challenging. I got really lucky with the top let shot of the farm across the street from my house. The picture of the cow below is the farm during the day. I also tried using my nephew in one of the photos to play with the uncanny. In a reading assignment they talked about the successful use of children in awkward or unusual poses or environments to add a sense of the uncanny. My nephew is very introspective and is the perfect model for this kind of shot. I think it was successful. 

(Click on image to see larger.)

The lower middle shot is from my photography adventure in the woods where I found all the garbage and then the beautiful wetland. 

A few more narrative photos

My nephew in the kitchen. 

My nephew laying on the counter. 

Night Shots: from the same evening

Longview, Washington from the Rainer hill. 

Longview, Washington from Rainer Hill 

Color Photography: Color as a Psychological Tool

Assignment #3

My friend Michelle let me use her mannequin head and a bright, pink wig for my subject matter. Setting up an area to shoot and using dramatic lighting is a big departure for me. It was a good challenge and I'm happy with the results.

A collage of the six images I turned in and had critiqued.

I didn't turn in this image, but I really like the lighting.