artist statement, bio and resume

We live in an era that is fast paced, an era that normally does not take the time to slow down to enjoy the details of life. I believe as a society we must learn how to connect with our surroundings and embrace life at a slower pace. I have found the best way i connect with my environment is through documenting it. Capturing moments in time allows me to express my opinions and show the emotions that i keep locked inside. I hope to one day share life changing stories that challenge people and have the potential to change people’s lives. I know there is no stability or security in photography, but I do know that this is what I’m supposed to do. I do this because because God has called me to do it. I do this because I love people and I want to serve them.  

Rebecca Haskell is a Senior at Texas A&M University-Commerce working towards her BFA in Visual Communications with an emphasis in Photography. Upon graduation she plans to pursue her passions of traveling and photography through world missions. 

Rebecca Haskell

PO BOX 446, Commerce, TX 75429

beccahaskell@gmail.com

beccahaskell.weebly.com

903.658.4637

Education 

· Texas A&M University- Commerce

                Spring 2011 - Present

                      Bachelors of Fine Arts in Visual Communications with an emphasis in Photography

· Kilgore College

                 Fall 2008 - fall 2010

                    Worked towards an Associates in Commercial Photography

                         The Flare Newspaper, Staff Photographer

                         The Ranger Yearbook, Editor   

            While a student at KC my work was shown in the Anne Dean Turk Fine Arts Gallery and the Mathew Dean Johnson Gallery.

· Tatum High School 

                  Fall 2004 – Spring 2008

                         Honors Graduate 

Employment

· Kilgore College Police Department 

                    January 2009 – December 2010

                    Student Worker    

                    Job Details: dispatch, office secretary, printed student ID’s, and issued parking permits. 

· Shannon Oaks Church 

                    May 2011- July 2011

                    Summer Youth Intern

                    Job Details: built relationships with the teens, Organized/planned trips, and a camp counselor. 

· Texas A&M University – Commerce, College of Business

                   August 2011 – Present 

                   Student Worker

                   Job Details: creating spreadsheets, running errands, decorating display boards, and  scanning/shredding   documents.

Skills

         Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, and Indesign; Microsoft Office; 

research on top of more research

shock value

Can art still shock? That's a great question that i find hard to answer. i personally think art should be more about connecting emotionally rather than that initial bizarre shock factor. This particular piece is a very controversy piece that has even got the government included in the past. I do believe some work is unnecessary and makes you question what the artist was thinking but i don't think the government has a right to over power the art world. It's a world of it's own and is a way people express themselves. We were given freedom of speech which i think should include all art as well. So yes to freedom of speech but i think reaching for a shock factor is just too much. 
As Carlin once put it: “It’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." why must a comedian cross that line, isn't his duty is just to entertain the audience? 

Chapter 1 Reviews

How to Win Friends and Influence People: Principal number1: don't criticize, condemn or complain. When starting this book i was a little hesitant about reading it because i saw that is was written around 70 years ago. Once i started reading i found the information to be enjoyable and very helpful. The author talks about how criticism is dangerous because it causes resentment but in most cases it also comes back to you. This chapter taught me a lot, most of the time i'm quick to criticize. It taught that criticism isn't always the best approach. learning how to accept peoples faults and not condemn them for their mistakes but instead helping them in a selfless and generous way will not only teach you patience but will grow your relationship. the author stated," Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving." This was a great lesson for some of the though relationships that i have going on in my own life at this time. It has taught me to be patient with people and show love to them no matter the situation.

I've only read half of part one...
The 7 habits of highly effective people: inside out part 1 is a great lesson on how to work on your behavior and attitude, as in you can try harder and be more positive.

fun photo for the day

anything is possible with creativity.

national geographic photo contest

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/
 this website is a great source to find amazing and current photography. several collections of great work that have been taken within the past few months. the image to the right is from the collection of 50 states in 50 photos. i chose to focus on this particular image because it was taken with an iphone 4 and was given a vintage filter. this goes to show that even national geographic is now accepting of iphones as a medium of photography.

The Approach by John Stezaker

I just don't get it at all. I understand that he takes movie stills and postcards and arranges them to give the images a new meaning and context but it's just not visually interesting to me. This particular image is one that i don't find appealing at all, though i somewhat understand the context that he is portraying by arranging the images the way he did. this body of work is interesting in its own way and i'm truly surprised that it was awarded such a large award with prize money. How can one be awarded a photography award if he isn't even a photographer?

I personally preferred the style of the 2nd place winner, Pieter Hugo from South Africa. His work on a technology dump is Ghana has such deep emotion and connects with the viewer more. This photographer actually had to go and take the images and become part of the community to capture such great photos. 

commerce documentary

Parade and events throughout the bash to add to the collection on the history of commerce. 

Copying Avedon's Westbook

 Attendee's to the Commerce 2012 Bois D'Ark Bash

photographer find

Cory White is a photographer i discovered through the whole larder love blog. He is the photographer for whole larder love cook book. his images amazed me so i checked out his website and found some pretty neat stuff.  you can find his projects at http://mrblanc.com/ or his website is http://www.corywhite.com/home/

richard avedon

These images are taken from Richard Avedons' series 'In The American West': 

Avedon traveled with a portable studio with him in order to shoot his subjects against a clean white background and in there own environment (as you can see from the bottom image). This weekend, as in tomorrow, i will be shooting the Bois D'Arc Bash in downtown commerce. My intentions in shooting is to take shots of people attending the Bash. I think the people within the community are a very important part of the history of the town so i plan to add the portraits to my project.

food photography

I personally think that food photography is at its best when there is selective focus and warm colors and just an overall home-style feel to the image. depth of field is an important part when shooting food, but the most important part is presentation. food photography is not successful without an excellent presentation. you want the viewer to feel like they can taste and smell the food within the image. A wooden table or cutting board is an excellent add in to give it that natural home-style feeling.

Diptychs

After researching and going through images all day i think both of these images would work great as diptychs of the square.

final project- document commerce, tx

photo blogs

there are great photo websites out there you just have to search for them. http://www.americansuburbx.com/

an artist that i found and thoroughly enjoyed is Roger Minick and his album "Sightseer". This one is called flag man at the wall, Washington, 1999. Most of the collection was taken at some point in the 90's so it's entertaining to see all of the fashion at the time. To see more of the collection you can go to http://sightseerseries.com/

another great website is inmotion.magnumphotos.com.

Magnum in Motion is full of documentary videos. Documentary photography is my passion so i fell in love with several of the videos i saw. This particular image was taken by Bruce Gilden and is part of his Las Vegas home foreclosures series. I found this image to be powerful through what she's wearing and the message she is trying to get across. I also love his choice in black and white photography. I personally think documentary is best when black and white. 

Ghost Town

dreary photos that i took of commerce at the beginning of the year. these photos represent how i feel about this city most of the time, that at one time it was a busy city but now it's vacant other than the college campus and Walmart. ever since i moved here almost 2 years ago i've always considered documenting the city. i think it would be fun and rewarding to photograph the city of commerce along with some of it's oldest/older residents and pair it with their stories from spending a lifetime in this small town. 

conscientious

this is work that i found similar to my own by Adam Holtzman. “After the unexpected death of my grandfather, I gathered with my family to grieve and to try and put things in order. We began to sort his belongings, going through each room cleaning and packing. After several trips the house became empty of these things that were his. As this process became complete I was struck by the differing voids left as a result. Here was a place, now absent of its occupant, the belongings and life.”- Adam Holtzman. Back in March my great-grandmother passed away and i too photographed her house as it was emptied. The images leave you with this emptiness that your loved one and all of their belongings are gone. Photographing my "Mamaw's" house was the best decision for me, it helped me to grieve and accept her passing. You can find more of Adam's work at http://www.adamholtzman.com/absence8.html.

This image is by Adam Nadel, a photojournalist. whose projects Portraits of Noncombatants and Rwanda Testimonies are both excellent and utterly compelling work. I relate to his work because his hope is to connect to the viewer and to create an opportunity for the public to better comprehend the effects of the environment they live in. Here is child a child that has seen the effects of war.