Artist's Statement

Melissa Pakusch
Artist’s Statement
Photography

                My favorite tool to use is photography. I own a Nikon D3000 digital SLR. I like to use photography as a tool because I feel it is my best use for art. My goals for photography is to someday own my own business, selling photos to buyers and photographing them for their own usage. I would also like to attend the School of Visual Arts to learn more than I already know and put that towards my career.

The best thing, I feel, about my work is the fact that I use different angles and techniques to get the best quality photo I can. I begin a photo by figuring out the best lighting there is, such as the sun, or a lamp. I generally don’t like to use flash settings because I feel it doesn’t show the shadows as well, especially if the shadow makes the picture even better. When I say that a piece has turned out really well, I mean that the picture’s zoom is perfect in my eyes, I mean that the focus is exactly how I want it to be, and the lighting is exactly how I want it. I also mean that the subject in my photo has a story behind it; whether it is a real story of how I got the picture, or a meaning behind it that the viewer has created in their mind.

I have self taught myself everything I know about photography up to this point. I have used many different techniques of learning such as internet search usage, photography related books, or magazines. Each of these different ways has answered many questions I have had over the years of self teaching. When people see my work, I want them to think to themselves, “wow! That is an amazing photo.” I want them to be able to see a deeper meaning of the photos. My current work, I feel, is improving every day.