Ryan Ward, one of the Photography and Media Arts Senior Exhibition artists, stands above. His senior project is about an odyssey adventure short film. “I was inspired by films like: ‘After Hours’ by Martin Scorsese and the Safdie brothers’ ‘Good Time,’” Ward said. “(It’s a) short film of two friends tripping as they try to get through the city to rescue something. What that something is you will just have to see.”
Ward, after showcasing his upcoming short film, answers questions about the process of filming and the release date of his film. Ward displays the trailer for his film on old television boxes. Ward said he is still editing his film, but, for the most part, he has all the necessary footage. “The process isn’t even over,” Ward said. “I am still in the editing process, but the pre-production was a long process because I had to write, get crew, cast, and this is a bigger movie than I have done before.” He mentions that last year’s spring semester, he made a short film called “DARKROOM” for his film class which he had also entered into a film festival that same semester. A film festival is where filmmakers can showcase their movies. “By October I had the final draft, then by December I had it fully cast,” Ward said. “The tricky part is when it worked for everyone to shoot because scheduling that many people was tricky, but we got shot in four days; now it’s editing time.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Sam Buckner is a returning Photography and Media Arts major who took some time away from school. “Stepping away from studying photography in an academic setting has provided new perspectives,” Buckner said. His project is called “Exploring Loneliness and Liminality,” and he mentions that he is always searching for unassuming and empty spaces. “I took photos of mainly empty spaces and printed them on translucent paper, and then mounted them on the light boxes.” The translucent paper is called “display trans,” and it’s inkjet paper that you print on a inkjet printer. (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Buckner receives praise from fellow Photography and Media Arts exhibition seniors Francie Zenner (right) and Susan Perkins (left). They both loved his work and asked about the process . “You have to use translucent paper which is called “display trans.” Lastly, you glue them to the light boxes and the light from the boxes shines through the prints,” Buckner said. (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Zenner is another participating senior at the Photography and Media Arts Senior Exhibition. Her project is called “Ecosemiotics: The Nature of Reality.” “My project is about the interconnectedness between humans and nature,” Zenner said. “I was really inspired by a road trip I took over the summer to California. When I stopped at the beautiful national parks and amazing sites, I noticed everybody around me was taking pictures of it and not really experiencing where they were.” Zenner displays her photos on untreated wooden panels showing the interconnectedness of nature and humans. “I thought that would give way to the natural, raw aspect, and with the really bright and vairbit images from the inkjet prints I thought worked with the man-made aspect.” Amber Taylor, one of the many attendees, expresses her thoughts while visiting the exhibit. “I was looking at these photos and they are absolutely beautiful, and I am pretty sure the project is called Ecosemiotics,” Taylor said. “I think it’s a beautiful concept because it is about taking a step away from your phone and really getting into nature and really seeing different things you can usually see through your phone and I think it’s absolutely stunning.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Liberty Vela, another senior artist at the exhibition. Liberty states that this project was a struggle because of the new policy for the printing lab in the Munday Library. Still, she was able to make her project, titled “The Celebration of Your Body in Your Twenties,” come to life. “I had this idea in the summer just from growing up and I was in my childhood home at the time actually,” Vela said. “At first it was about reflecting, and now it’s about celebrating, and that’s why the different colors and the disco ball.” Vela printed these photos, measuring in at 7ft x 4ft, and said it was a hassle to print them. “ It was a hassle, but it was worth it, because I love them,” Vela said. “The printers are terrible, and I just wanted them to be perfect and I had to print one of them twice because I pulled it out and then my shoe hit it and it ripped it, and I started crying in front of everyone.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Vela showcases her project to the guests at the Photography and Media arts senior exhibition. She talks about being in her twenties and not looking the same anymore, which inspires her to explore the concept in her exhibition.“I feel like it’s not talked about like we have puberty in our teenage years and now you enter your twenties, and you’re like, ‘wait, I don’t look the same,’” Vela said. She also talks about how her generation is very social-media-based, and thinks that is what contributes to the project because she wants for everyone to celebrate. (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Christine Stewart is one of the models for Vela’s project. Stewart admires the work of Vela “I came here to support Liberty,” Stewart said. “I love her so much and I think her work is amazing all the time and I am also one of her models. I think it’s an honor, especially because I love the concept of celebrating your body in your twenties. It’s hard to always feel in love with your body at an age like mine. Getting an opportunity to model and see what Liberty came up with was absolutely beautiful and seeing how it evolved from a couple months ago to now is so cute.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Perkins is also a Photography and Media Arts senior exhibition artist. Her project is called “Slow Death/New Life.” “I drive around Texas, in the rural parts, looking for dilapidated structures and I don’t know what it is about that calls out to me, but like it’s obviously a building, but I think people just drive by, pass and not notice at all,” Perkins said. “I see it as like they are almost human beings to me, I see them, and I am like ‘wow they used to hold so much life, and so much must have happened there.’ By me photographing them, they are immortalized.”Similar to Zenner, Perkins also mounted her prints on wooden panels, but these were on darker wood to emphasize the photographs. (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Klaus Ruckgaber is one the seven of the photography and media arts senior exhibition photographers. Ruckgaber’s project is about what he has been studying the last four years at St. Edwards: photography. “This project is about what I have been studying for the last four years of photography,” Ruckgaber said. “I have been more focused on analog photography and analog printmaking.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Sophie Warren displays her work in front of Vela’s at the exhibition. Warren’s project is called “Time Capsule,” which is a version of what Warren thinks is vintage and childhood nostalgia. “I used this thing called gel wax, which is used in candles, and I got a mold to make it look like jello,” Warren said. “This is what gives the time capsule aspect to the photos. I would like to trademark it.” Warren was going for an early-2000s vibe when shooting her photographs. She went as far as having an interactive piece of work alongside her photos which was the gel wax mock up of jell-o. “I had been inspired by the gel wax because I like the translucent colors almost like stained glass,” Warren said. (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)Professor of Photography Joseph Vitone is proud of the work that his students were able to produce. He had very heartwarming talks with each of the photographer’s family and friends. Alexandra Robison, an art professor, was also very proud of the work each student was able to produce. “I think the exhibition came together really well, they are organized,” Robison said. “The photo students tend to be very organized and like a lot of this work was started in the fall and so they spend a lot of time working, shooting and getting critics. Finally in the spring they finalized everything and some of them have never seen their photos in a certain arrangement, like, for example, Francie Zenner. She has never seen it like this; she always did tests but she has strong solid work all the time. It’s a strong show and usually photos are strong.” (Jose De Luna / Hilltop Views)
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