Cindy Knull » Pop Culture

Nailing It.

Cindy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:28:29 +0000

I’ve been researching the work of some of my favorite masters of photography (you can find them in the 411 page under Inspirations). Therefore, I’ve really been working on shooting the decisive moment and trying to exercise my eye to see the story. Since I have decided to get back to the basics and not process my images outside of black and white conversion, I’ve found a freedom and joy in the shooting process that has eluded me in the previous months. I feel like I’m back to where my heart was captured for photography when I first started out. Amazing what simplicity can do for a person.

At some point I will return to my portrait work, hopefully with a renewed interest and a renewed perspective. Ultimately though, my style will come from the thing I love and that is shooting the human condition without constraint or definition. Without the feeling that I’ve got to get the trite posing that has become so common in even “lifestyle” portraiture. I don’t know how this will happen for me. But I’m evolving. With portraiture there is still so much control that must be exuded because a photographer is shooting for the client…ultimately. Even when they’re shooting from their own creativity.

I guess just like in my real every day to day life, I want people to think. If I can continue to shoot images that make people think or feel or remember or wonder, like they do for me, then I’ve done what I’ve set out to accomplish. I think at heart, I missed a calling to be a photo-journalist. Maybe that’s arrogant. I’m sure it is. I’m just trying to shoot what speaks to me.

This image is my favorite from my trip to Los Angeles. I think it resembles closely what I want to convey. I look at it and I see a famous pop culture entity and the people on the street moving, going, and completely without knowledge that I had captured them doing so. It screams big city to me. When I look at this image, I see how common the pop culture is and how no one seems to be interested in its presence. I wonder where the people are going, thinking, and what is going on in each individual’s lives. I try to guess which ones are tourists and which ones are local. It’s the ebb and flow of awareness or lack thereof.

58:365

The rest of the story….

Sign This

Cindy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:51:33 +0000

“Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreamin’ – this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin’.” ~Happy man, Pretty Woman.

57:365

10:365 (Project 365)

Cindy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:00:09 +0000

I’m nearly finished with the Twilight saga. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading these books, in fact, I have to admit, I LOVE the story of Edward and Bella so much and am sad to see it end. And that’s saying a lot for me. I just don’t get that involved with imaginary characters. I took this image because i LOVE the Eclipse font. I’ve been trying to search out fonts hoping to find this exact one, but I’ve come up with nothing. I’m sure it was specially made for Ms. Meyer. I figure since they’re commercializing the you know what out of this series, I would be able to find it somewhere. Anyone?

Here is image 10:365. Canon 40D, 50mm, natural light, around noon:

Finding the Muse

Cindy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:12:23 +0000

Ah, well I knew I’d be here. I knew it was coming. Sometimes I find myself falling into a rut. I love change and the mundane begins to really get to me. I change up the positions of my living room furniture because I get bored with sitting in the same place for too long. Now that winter is coming, I need to work extra hard to find inspiration because, well, to be honest, winter does not inspire me. It makes me feel blah, and dull. So I thought I would share a link with you that might help not only myself, but you if you happen to fall into a rut like I do. It’s Creative Every Day. It’s not necessarily a place for only photographers, but for artists of all mediums.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of doing a project based on the work of Stephen Shore. Stephen is one of my favorite photographers and I find his work brings to me a certain feeling unfelt by other modern photographers. I think one of the things I may find difficult is evoking the feeling from the object shot. Stephen can shoot a ring stain from a coffee cup and make me feel something in it. Also, his work is based from the 70′s and therefore has an artistic eclectic value that is difficult to find in the present timeline. I don’t know. Just a thought. I should look deeper. Because the thing that moves me about the coffee ring stain, is not the stain, but the understanding that someone somewhere was having a cup of coffee, and a little dripped from the rim to curl around the bottom of the cup. There is story there. That is my goal.

Here is my first image: