Photography Endeavors

So much of our experiences in living derive from our sensory activities and processing and for the most part we are either aware of it or unconscious of it as it is a natural mechanism.


I recently read, as part of my current research, a few pages of the book Image Makers Image Takers by Anne-Celine Jaeger which interviews successful photographers and important curators and art collectors on photography, their background, and their unique approach to the art. A few things stand out, such as the realization that 'seeing' in photography is an active pursuit (IMIT) and that 'a way of seeing' is who we are, how we think and how you create images (Mary Ellen Mark). Developing a unique perspective is not something that can be done. Developing the skills to take a point of view further can happen by learning and becoming technically fluent. "It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them" (Elliott Erwitt). 'A way of seeing' is not something that can be learned. Perhaps it can change forms and expression but it comes from our interior in such way that if it can actually be expressed on paper or tangible image/object, a part of our soul and state of mind is imprinted on the created work. An essence of who we are can be portrayed through and through.


"We must always remember a picture is also made up of the person who looks at it" (Robert Doisneau). That is, the viewer is as much a part of creating and finishing a work as the artist or photographer is. The work is not complete without a dialogue or an impression. Is this a good thing? To some extent, recognizing this may help the artist create while letting go and becoming more free but to another, becoming conscious of an audience can be tunnel visioned and too focused hence, cliche or trying too hard. "I know what I think as an artist but it's impossible to say what other people might think" (Thomas Demand). Often viewers project their own embarrassment and discomfort, their own experiences, and at times, viewers are incapable of looking beyond or deeper into a difficult image (Mary Ellen Mark). But, "it belongs to education to get beyond the point of mere likes and dislikes," (Josef Albers), an education that goes past one's own personal experiences to those of others like and unlike us. The same is true for the artist but the same is applied or expressed in slightly different ways. Therefore, "conscious attention, a condition of seeing the world in a heightened state of awareness," (Shore) may or may not be our best ally. It is all matters of perception.

Reinventing the Wheel

After months of not stopping by for some ladidadida, I've gone through old posts and deleted some that, although I wrote them with some heart, I do not feel they are completely in tune with who I am. I tried to be honest but I couldn't get over the idea that putting stuff on here, means I could or could not have an audience so I wrote but I wrote conservatively and didn't take the risks I thought I'd be taking. Mind me, this time around, things might not be any different but I feel like reinventing myself. We'll see where this goes.


I'm fueled by the want and need to climb out of the black hole I've been in for the past year. Over my dark times, I've attempted many things none of which have been giving me the results I wanted. My career and personal goals are quite large and nothing seems to really have a clear ending or future and the thought of this uncertainty is both thrilling and nerve wrecking. I've taken up projects and connected with people having high expectations that have been let down over and over again. Who's to blame?


So ladidadida. I'm on my way to discover and create new things, to develop different perspectives and view things from a different POV, to draw inspirations and experience life outside of a tunnel context. We all have issues with control and our attempts to be in charge of our own destinies but sometimes we have to let go. No more closed dialogues between me, myself, I, and the rest. There's great issues with perception now a days and while we live in a society that is so connected, versatile, fickle, active, informed, controversial, and loud, the way we see and perceive reality is mixed up among these things. There are people out there who are very talented and smart and are capable of keeping up; there's others, like me, that are confused and overwhelmed.


So now, with a new found purpose, I can only hope to make the beginnings of an incredible body of work capable of transcending some barriers of time and if not, capable of changing through time to reveal things I might have overlooked and/or to connect with new meanings and contexts. Wish me luck!

You can clean around the wound, but if you want it to heal, it just takes time.

-  Future Islands, Lyrics from Balance 

Pancakes… Soul…? What is this? Lucidapples!

Started reading/doing/looking through the pages of Soulpancake. So far all I can say is I'm interested and willing to jump into this weird journey guided by a book. Doesn't sound too special since every book or some forms of literature at the very least, should be able to guide you through a journey that inspires and fuels your soul and energy/knowledge, but this one seems to be influenced by the way people are thinking nowadays based on the tweetface-book-make-my(space)self-a-celebrity-asIblog contemporary culture so it caught my attention and I'm somewhat excited about it.

So… here it goes.

The first challenge:

mind, beliefs, spirit, ideas, freedom, daydreams, time, spacial reality, truth, existence, fear, love, wonder, experience, talent, ethereal, ephemeral, thoughts, emotions, common ground, inspiration, calling, vocation, spirituality, cause, presence, transcendence, introspection, awareness, consciousness, conscience, meaning, human dignity, interconnectedness, lucid, passion

strawberry shake, cheesecake, brownies, tacos, pizza, pasta, ravioli, pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, ice cream, grapes, peanut butter, sandwiches, lasagna, nachos, gyros, key lime pie, apple pie, red velvet cupcakes, tiramisu, strawberry strudel, juice, paella, steak, ribs, lox bagel, ceviche, burgers, pop tarts, bubble tea, fruit, yogurt, tortillas, toast, bubblegum, apples, cheese

mind-bubble tea, belieftarts, spiritburgers, ceviche of ideas, freedomlox, daydreamribs, timesteak, paella of spacial realities, strawberry strudel truths, tiramisu of existence, red velvet fear cupcakes, lovepies, wondergyros, experiencenachos, talentlasagna, ethereal sandwiches, ephemeral butter, thoughtgrapes, emotions ice cream, common ground waffles, inspirationeggs benedict, callingpancakes, vocationravioli, spiritualitypasta, pizzacause, tacopresence, transcendingbrownies, cheesecakeintrospection, strawberry shake awareness, consciousnessfruit, conscienceyogurt, meaningtortillas, dignitytoast, interconnectedbubblegum, lucidapples, passioncheese

COSMOS - el Cosmos - cosmos

Absurdism, Carl Sagan, you, me, them, us, Ethereal, Ephemeral, Nature, mind, thoughts

Have something to say?

evagracet@gmail.com

Evagrace Torres' photostream

Evagrace Torres' photostream on Flickr.

Eye Spy

It's been a long time coming but here it is… some old and new work. These photos were taken by me in North Carolina and Chicago. They are the beginning and development of a collaboration between Sam Hensen and I to experiment with portraiture, fashion, editorial, and journalism.

An Ocean of First Impressions

Loyalties

Eve

I'm currently working on a new concept related to social justice and photo journalism. If you have any ideas or suggestions email them to evagracet@gmail.com. They will be greatly appreciated.

Gentle Freedom

by Barker

By Sam Hensen

by Arman Zhenikevev

by Sam Hensen

International Dadaism Month!

From The Huffington Post

Best month ever in my opinion! 

Marchel Duchamp

Word That by Sadie Myers and Dustin Whitehead

My friends put this great blog together and its definitely worth looking through it. Photography and written words come together for a new take on poetry… Click here to view the complete blog. I recently tried it out myself and here is an excerpt from the poem:

by Sadie Myers

When the leaves fall from the trees

it scares me that I won't be able to tell if the wind still blows

It scares me that I won't hear you

that I might forget

But then the leaves will grow

and the whispering wind wrapping around will make music again

and my walking feet will follow

my heart racing to catch up and dance with you

Then I’ll remember


For the Entire Text of the Poem Visit http://wordthat.blogspot.com/search/label/Evagrace%20Torres%27%20Words ©2011

Film Magazine!!!

What a magazine!!! LITTLE WHITE LIES It has interesting articles on the latest movies accompanied with beautiful images and photographs. It has an attitude of its own and I love it!

Click here to see the Magazine and Subscribe

Click here to view the making of on Booooooom!

from Booooooom

Mad Men on Booooooom

And the Nominees are…

Evagrace Torres has shared a Huffington Post article with you:
Oscars 2011 Nominations List: Academy Awards Nominees

from The Social Network

- sent by Evagrace Torres

Consumers

A segment of The Awakening


You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

The Snow White Dilemma by Lissy Laricchia

We all mumble…

For Chicago socialites, the world is a playground as their excessive lifestyles and glamorous but daily routines do not satisfy their deepest desires. Through the looking glass, Corinne, 26, is absorbed by the fantasies of an elite group of people that, due to her job as a social columnist, she must be surrounded by but will never be part of despite her attempt to love and be loved in return. Turning to her friends for support, Corinne manipulates a previous fling to regain her sense of worth and to fill a void at the cost of putting her own morals aside to take advantage of someone else’s vulnerability versus dealing with her own. But, Corinne’s story runs parallel to Desiree, 20, the most desired and mysterious socialite, who also feeds off people’s vulnerabilities forcing them to become parasites that cannot survive without her. Each one playing in their own field, they finally cross each other’s path forcing Corinne to look into her own destiny as reflected through Desiree.

This is how I introduce you to STRANGERS, a new script in the workings with my co-writer and friend, Brittani Smith. Excerpts of the script below:

EXT. City of Chicago - Day

A series of shots inter cut together.

MICHIGAN AVE. is claustrophobic. Cars drive by, people walk in and out, side to side. The morning noise increases.

INT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Natural light pours into a well-kept bedroom onto CORRINE (26) who lies in bed with her eyes wide open. She is awake but lifeless. The soft lighting illuminates her green eyes that stare into space.

An ALARM CLOCK rings. Corey blinks and looks up.

EXT. CITY OF CHICAGO - DAY

On STATE STREET, people overflow the sidewalks, the traffic is louder, and the train screeches by.

INT. Desiree's Apartment - Night

In a candle lit bedroom, DESIREE (20) pulls black stockings up her thighs where they meet the lace of the lingerie that hugs the contour of her body.

INT. CORINNE'S BATHROOM - DAY

Corinne splashes water on her face. She looks into the mirror; the water slowly dripping as if tears are falling.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Des moves her hands along the sides to reach up for the hair tie that holds her hair up in a bun. Her hair falls gently. She pulls the straps of her bra tight pressing against the skin on her shoulders.

INT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Bra straps slide over hands, arms, and shoulders. Corinne's well kept hands finish the action clasping the back together.

EXT. CITY OF CHICAGO - DAY

Revolving doors pour incoming and outgoing bodies. These people robots share the same expression: gray and black.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Black satin smoothly drapes over her undergarments adding a layer towards completing her entire outfit.

INT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Corinne's hands move through garments neatly arranged in her closet. The easy task is hard to execute.

Her eyes stare blankly.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

She zips her dress up along her spine with her profile slightly outlined by the soft glimmering lights.

INT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Applying mascara to the shades in peach on her eyes, Corinne looks into her mirror.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Through the mirror, her hands reveal the crystals on her earing, swinging lightly as her profile looks down to reach for her perfume.

EXT. CITY OF CHICAGO - DAY

The bridge on MICHIGAN AVE. suffocates by the surrounding buildings and as the day looses daylight, street lights are now also creeping up adding to the chaos.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

From the glass bottle in the shape of a fruit, the liquid particles fall on the surface of her extended neck.

INT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Looking down, Corinne buttons up a perfectly pressed white shirt over her breasts. She wears pearls around her neck.

EXT. CITY OF CHICAGO - Night

Crowds push up against each other in fancy sparkling colors at WRIGLEYVILLE's night life. These people robots share similar expressions: bright red and wide-open joker laughs.

INT. DESIREE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Des slips onto her heels and walks away, blocking and revealing with each step the reflections on the wooden floor until a door closes, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

EXT. CITY OF CHICAGO - DAY

Corinne walks down a peaceful LINCOLN PARK street alone. Her eyes looking forward she moves past leaving the early rising sun to light behind.

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

Corinne sits over tea with JAIDE (25) on their favorite couch in the establishment.

Jaide

Dude was just jerking off into your body, if you want to know the truth. That's different than having sex with somebody.

Corinne

Yeah, you've said that. But I've never felt so captivated.

Jaide

He's an asshole. I want to kill him. I'd cut his dick off.

Corinne

Don't do that. It's good dick.

JAIDE

So what if its good dick? That's great, tell him congratulations. And say but you know what? I can also get good dick over here, and I might even get a bit of romance, too. Imagine that.

Corinne

He's like a machine.

JAIDE

If you want to get fucked by a machine? Then fuck a machine.

Corinne nods and laughs a little at herself.

JAIDE (cont'd)

You should get at Jordan again.

Corinne

I don't know if he'd want me to.

JAIDE

Pretty sure he'd still hit it.

Corinne

Is he seeing anyone?

Jaide

No, he's missing you. Call him.

EXT. CORINNE'S APARTMENT - Day

JORDAN (26) walks up to LINCOLN PARK apartment building. He's on his phone.

Rights Reserved © Brittani Smith and Evagrace Torres 2011

Sam Hensen

I've recently been collaborating with this talented photographer. Our working relationship started junior year in college when we shared both writing and filmmaking interests which later lead to the production of several films together as members of a tight and talented film crew.

Our work has been moving towards photography and working with different subjects and models of every range in experience. Here are some of my favorite photographs all taken by Sam Hensen:

Rest by Sam Hensen

Whiteout by Sam Hensen

Grab by Sam Hensen

Carlotta Valdes by Sam Hensen

Rapping by Sam Hensen

In Shape by Sam Hensen