Sloane Weinkein Artist Statement:
Through art- we explore, we play, and we create.
Through photography- we capture that process.
This portfolio documents my work over a semester long photography course that challenged my skills as an artist and pushed me to new lengths. Equipped with a Nikon D3400 DSLR and the desire to refine a forgotten tween-age hobby, I set out with a complete lack of knowledge into an adventure to master a new artform.
Coming from a background of formal training in the realm of traditional artistry, I started from the basics with camera operations- learning it from the ground up. I struggled, but was determined to learn. During this semester, I kept my camera in complete manual settings. No auto-focus, white balance correction, or pre-set functions. I really wanted to feel my camera, fine-tune my muscle memory, and experience the practice it takes to become familiar with the machine. Thank God for digital, I would have spent so much money if I had to learn this all on film. Haha!
I truly have seen the growth in my creation and a reignition to view the world in different ways again. Photography is something that comes more naturally to me, but I was so un-familiar with looking at the world through a camera lens. It was something I had to focus on and train myself over this semester. By the end, I became inspired to PLAY! Inspired by surrealism, the goals to depict what dreams felt like, and the work of historic photographers- I began to find a love for what I was doing and a connection to the camera I was working through.
These skills will follow me for a lifetime and I cannot wait to see what else I can do at the click of a shutter.