Hee hee – this is a letter I just got from my dear grandparents. Matt Baldeck Michigan Jersey Silly Grandpa put the stamp on upside down. Smith Orogbo Texas Jersey I am not quite sure why I find this amusing enough to put this on my blog.

Rather, this funny happening reminded me of the photographs I took of my grandparents while I was in MO for Christmas.

Hands hands hands. I love them. Corn Elder Jersey Especially my Grandpa’s. I absolutely love this photograph. Micah Morris Georgia Jersey It was a stroke of accidental brilliance. At least I think so. Justin Lindner Jersey Jerry Cross Penn State Jersey What do you think?

This is my beautiful Grandma Sue. C.J. Miller Ole Miss Jersey She writes in only capital letters just like Mom. Make sure you click on this photo to make it bigger – it’s worth it.

Silly Grandpa, he made some pretty hysterical faces right before this, but I prefer his natural expressions. I really like the combination of colors & patterns for some reason. It is oddly satisfying in its quirkiness.

Usually, my obsessions are concentrated on hands (see above), but lately I have taken to ears. John David Moore Jersey Specifically women with wispy strands out of place and delicate earrings.

And out of respect to my grandparents, this is how I KNOW they prefer to be represented:

I can get away with getting uncomfortably close to them with my camera – all because they love me. This is how I so often wish I could photograph the people I meet and adore. Bailey Hart Jersey All the little details I observe – preserved forever. Zion Tracy Penn State Jersey The details constitute a portion of reality – more prominent in my world than most. Sam Wiglusz Jersey But to the average viewer, this would not be considered documenting reality… mainly because I am selecting small details to represent entire persons.

I guess that’s just my vision. JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey I wouldn’t have it any other way.

* P.S. Check out this link to KayLynn Deveney’s work if you enjoyed these images at all. Ben Bolton Tennessee Jersey She spent a good deal of time getting to know an elderly man named Albert Hastings – all while documenting the small moments of his day-to-day life.

I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been rather intimidated to write anything lately. Not sure why. Nelson Agholor Jersey Thinking a lot. Making a lot. But I don’t have much to show for all my processing yet. You know those seasons when you doubt yourself? I’ve been doubting whether I have much to say through writing. Jordan Phillips Jersey Which is odd, because I’ve never doubted that particular facet of my life before.

I’ve been reading this marvelous little book I picked up at the Goodwill called Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time. I’m not sure I agree with everything she has to say, but I do know that her words are making me think. She talks a lot about a childlike state of thinking and creating – of taking in the world. Not so much in a sense of maturity, but of wonder. The wonder that allows us to believe in angels and other realms. L’Engle says that artists are often among the few adults who retain some of these childlike characteristics. Through the call of creating, and how that comes about through responding to the world around us. Interesting thoughts. Cade Garcia Texas A&M Aggies Jersey Hard to summarize for you.

Today I woke to a wonderland of a new world – that’s right. I woke to the most snow I have seen since I was a little Rachel living on a mountain in western NC. Kyle Hamilton Jersey Odd timing for this snow to come, what with reading this book. It was a gift. I could not help thinking about my time in France. The connection? Soaking in every last detail of a new environment. Bob Boyd USC Jersey Relishing it. Visually. Sensing. The sound of a tree branch easing from beneath the weight of piled snow – a soft plop of white next to me. The crunch of snow packing beneath my boot. Bird feathers in flight. Ellis Robinson IV Jersey The slush in the center of the road from the car tires. Cam Little Jersey The beautiful bird bath nearly camoflaged in the middle of a circle of snowy birch trees.

Spotted bark. Dark and light. The feeling of my fingers numbing on my camera. The burning sensation of thawing indoors. The warm glow of our Christmas lights trapped in the snow – what glorious colors!

Today was a gift for me to see again. No expectations. No plans. Bradley Pinion Jersey All thoughts relating to the current world suspended to explore the snowy white reality around me. A curtain, a cloak. With which to see better.

I love the photo at the top of this page. Just want to throw that out there. Not entirely sure why. I’ve been photographing a lot lately. A lot. Now that I’m not a photo major, I feel this great release from expectations. I am beginning to photograph with the same freedom I had when I first started out. Experiments. Wanting to carry my camera with me everywhere – to capture my family, my friends. RaiQuan Gray Jersey The little details of my daily existence. Instead of the prevailing mindset I’ve had for far too long: leave the camera at home; don’t feel obligated to capture everything; don’t be that photo nerd; enjoy your time – don’t spend it behind the lens. Those are sad statements, but that’s how I’ve actually felt. Things are different now. I race up to my room to grab my tripod out of the corner so I can get that shot; I pull on my boots quickly so I can get a shot of our house in the snow before the sun goes completely down.

That photo at the top. It is my favorite because it is delicate. And it records an experience, not just a scene. An interaction between an artist and an environment. Not a postcard. Greg Froelich Jersey Not a facebook album cover. Ben Snyder Jersey The color is gorgeous. Kevin Macias Jersey But the focus, the crispness of the snow on the green shutter, the intricacy of the barely-there branches against white sky… mmmm. The funny thing is I don’t specifically remember composing or noticing this shot. I just found it in my files at the end of the day and said, “Yes, that captures my day in the snow.” My day just being.

I want to drink in light again. Words, poetry, sounds, thoughts, ideas, textures. I miss these things.

This weekend involved some madness (and it’s not over yet!). Friday morning I spent about two hours around Pulaski square shooting four negatives (yes, that is an average of two negatives per hour). Kevin Faulk LSU Jersey Went back out in the afternoon for a few more hours and shot some reflections on Broughton street. That was a somewhat bad idea because between the big photo box (that’s the camera) and my photo cape, we attracted quite a lot of attention together. Kam Dewberry Alabama Jersey All Rachel wants is to be discreet. Subtle. This camera doesn’t allow for that. Alex Asparuhov Jersey Brandon McKissic Jersey I had several people approach me with bewilderment, enthusiasm, admiration, amusement, and possibly a mix of these. One man was intoxicated. Eeeek.

Then I spent a grand total of seven hours at Bergen on Saturday while it poured rain outside developing all those negatives by hand and making contact sheets. The coolest part? Turning on the lights after the first two minutes of fixer to see that my negatives looked okay! And seeing my first contact sheet with my friend Megan on it. Cole Turner College Jersey I rarely take portraits, so I figured the first week would be the best time to try! Amazingly, she didn’t blink even with the one-second-long exposure.

I am somewhat disappointed that none of the shots are of excellent caliber, but I’m glad I didn’t ruin all ten pieces of film! Just two. Sean Ormiston Jersey Derrick Mclendon II Florida State Jersey Working with a light meter and doing all this math… it’s going to take some getting used to.

I am most pleased with the top negative on this page – the reflection of the man walking by. Bladen Reaves Texas A&M Aggies Jersey I’m also liking these two a lot:

What’s neat about these negatives is that they feel like my first real photographs. Sure, I’ve taken plenty of pictures throughout my lifetime – on everything from underwater disposable cameras to my Grandpa’s Polaroid camera to an assortment of digital cameras. But these 4×5 negatives… this is not something a person off the street could pick up and run with. This is some difficult stuff. I feel like a mad scientist – carting around all my instruments, recording all my measurements, then hauling it all off to the darkroom to be alone with the chemistry and the timer. Hunter Neff Jersey We learned in my 20th Century art class about one of the first major photographs – taken in 1839 by Daguerre. Just the fact that we can pinpoint when he took his first photograph – and which negative was his first! That boggles my mind – knowing how many pictures I have taken in my lifetime. (A lot has changed between 1839 and 2010.) But this experimenting I’m doing in Large Format class… I feel a little like Daguerre and the others who came before him did. Eric Mensah College Jersey NOT that I’m making ground-breaking discoveries. But I am involved with the materials and processes at such an intimate level – I am truly beginning to take control of my art now. My camera is just a box. It does nothing but provide the mechanical aspects through the lens, the shutter, and the bellows in order for me to capture my image on a giant piece of film. DJ Campbell Jersey This is not a “smart” box like today’s digital “take-my-picture-for-me” cameras. Bill Willis Ohio State Jersey It has no brains. It is empty inside.

Hopefully by the end of this quarter we will be a better team.