Abby Gross | Final

For my final project, I really wanted to push myself. Create dynamic photographs that exaggerate motion in nature—more specifically, motion in water. I photographed the motion in water to capture the emotion that water emits when in movement to represent the same emotions that I am feeling. I wanted to create images that are elegant and provoking. I found that throughout the process I learned more and more not only about my camera and my photography skills but about compositions and how I could improve as a photographer, which are always valuable lessons. I find that water is very interesting, especially the way that water reacts to static objects in nature like rocks, sticks, man-made obstacles, or even something as simple as a leaf. I began this project thinking that the images I would create would have limited to no emotional connection to me in the end, even if I tried my hardest to portray emotion in the photographs; but I found as I continued through that not only was I enjoying the process, but I was connecting with images that I was creating in a way that others may not be able to. That was a little off-putting for me, as I wanted viewers to see the emotional connection between water and the photographer, but I realized that the viewer doesn’t have to understand the connection for the photograph to mean something more than what it physically is. I learned (with Eric’s help), that cropping the photo and changing the framing of the more intricate moments would create a composition that was more engaging and made me proud. All-in-all I feel that I created work that not only am I proud of but work that shows more than the physical things in it.