Jenna Martin
Jenna Martin lives in Billings, Montana, with her husband and two daughters. Despite her talent, she didn’t go to school for photography. Instead, she earned a Master’s Degree in Psychiatric Rehabilitation. In 2011 she quit her job, moving from working at a rehabilitation facility to an interest in photography. She soon bought her own camera, even building her own underwater equipment to kickstart her career.
She does a lot of underwater photography, particularly portraits. The photos are very elegant, and the models are usually wearing very loose clothes to emphasize the current of the water. They’re also very colorful, and often incorporate reflections of the water’s surface above them. She also has a collection called “To Dream a Dream,” which is full of surreal photography. I’ve noticed that she tends to use mostly neutral colors for these, which makes gives them a kind of mysterious effect.
On her website, Jenna claims that she is, “exploring what the world has to offer, both above and below the water.” I think the ideas behind her photos are definitely personal, and were probably inspired by wanting to document where she’s been. She was unhappy in her rehab job, where she was stuck in one place for her entire day. Her pictures show her love for being out in the open to do what she wants, and to be able to take the opportunity to be creative in her work instead of following structures.
I haven’t really taken any direct ideas from her work, since I’ve never done any underwater or surreal photography. However, I like her view of using things you’ve made yourself for taking pictures. Just like how she built her own underwater gear, I’ve made a few things for the subjects of my photos. When I took my shadow pictures, I drew some little doodles, then cut them out and used a light behind them to get their shape as a shadow. I liked the theme of basically having homemade photos, where every part of the picture is something that you’ve created for yourself.
Compare and Contrast
Jenna Martin lives in Billings, Montana, with her husband and two daughters. Despite her talent, she didn’t go to school for photography. Instead, she earned a Master’s Degree in Psychiatric Rehabilitation. In 2011 she quit her job, moving from working at a rehabilitation facility to an interest in photography. She soon bought her own camera, even building her own underwater equipment to kickstart her career.
She does a lot of underwater photography, particularly portraits. The photos are very elegant, and the models are usually wearing very loose clothes to emphasize the current of the water. They’re also very colorful, and often incorporate reflections of the water’s surface above them. She also has a collection called “To Dream a Dream,” which is full of surreal photography. I’ve noticed that she tends to use mostly neutral colors for these, which makes gives them a kind of mysterious effect.
On her website, Jenna claims that she is, “exploring what the world has to offer, both above and below the water.” I think the ideas behind her photos are definitely personal, and were probably inspired by wanting to document where she’s been. She was unhappy in her rehab job, where she was stuck in one place for her entire day. Her pictures show her love for being out in the open to do what she wants, and to be able to take the opportunity to be creative in her work instead of following structures.
I haven’t really taken any direct ideas from her work, since I’ve never done any underwater or surreal photography. However, I like her view of using things you’ve made yourself for taking pictures. Just like how she built her own underwater gear, I’ve made a few things for the subjects of my photos. When I took my shadow pictures, I drew some little doodles, then cut them out and used a light behind them to get their shape as a shadow. I liked the theme of basically having homemade photos, where every part of the picture is something that you’ve created for yourself.
Compare and Contrast
Lowe’s Location 1: The Paint Samples
https://petapixel.com/2017/11/21/ugly-places-pretty-portraits-photo-shoot-lowes/ Lowe’s Location 2: The Lighting Section
https://petapixel.com/2017/11/21/ugly-places-pretty-portraits-photo-shoot-lowes/ Lowe’s Location 3: The Aisles
https://petapixel.com/2017/11/21/ugly-places-pretty-portraits-photo-shoot-lowes/ |
I found an article by Jenna, called “Ugly Places, Pretty Portraits: I Did a Photoshoot in Lowe’s.” She had taken photos of her friend in Lowe’s, which would seem an unlikely place to try to get a good picture. Since I’m not experienced in either surreal or underwater photography, I thought I’d try to recreate some of these.
In the first photo, Jenna has her model facing the camera, and uses the paint sample cards as a background. In mine, the model-who happens to be my mom-has her back turned. The lights in the store are much less bright than the ones in front of her, so when she looked toward the camera, her face was in shadows. I had her turn the other way so there weren't too many details to worry about being dark, so it created some backlighting. It also worked to make the photos a little bit different so it wouldn't seem like an exact copy.
The second one was much harder to recreate. In the store that Jenna did her shoot in, the light fixtures are simply hanging from the ceiling. But at the location we went to, they were all set up on shelves that were above our heads. It was difficult to get an angle that included a good amount of both the lights and my mom. The shelves underneath her were very dark as well, so I ended up having to crop out a lot so the whole picture didn't look so dim.
In Jenna's third photo, it's taken straight on and looks very symmetrical. For the sake of changing things up a little, I decided to take mine from an angle instead. This was probably the easiest photo to imitate, since there weren't too many features I had to focus on remaking. However, it did take a while to find an empty cart and an unoccupied aisle. There was also the problem of the giant pole in the middle of it, but it was hard to find a space that wasn't cluttered with other objects or displays.
Personal Artist Statement
None of these photos were really original ideas, but it was interesting to use Jenna's photos as a sort of prompt. It was also more fun to get out and take pictures around other places in Ann Arbor. It was starting to get a little boring just shooting objects in my house, so it was good to find some other subjects. It was kind of awkward to be taking pictures with a lot of people around, but it was worth the experience to be out in a different spot. I might not have gotten the pale aesthetic that I liked in Jenna's photos, but it was fun to use the environment around me in the uniques ways that she did.
In the first photo, Jenna has her model facing the camera, and uses the paint sample cards as a background. In mine, the model-who happens to be my mom-has her back turned. The lights in the store are much less bright than the ones in front of her, so when she looked toward the camera, her face was in shadows. I had her turn the other way so there weren't too many details to worry about being dark, so it created some backlighting. It also worked to make the photos a little bit different so it wouldn't seem like an exact copy.
The second one was much harder to recreate. In the store that Jenna did her shoot in, the light fixtures are simply hanging from the ceiling. But at the location we went to, they were all set up on shelves that were above our heads. It was difficult to get an angle that included a good amount of both the lights and my mom. The shelves underneath her were very dark as well, so I ended up having to crop out a lot so the whole picture didn't look so dim.
In Jenna's third photo, it's taken straight on and looks very symmetrical. For the sake of changing things up a little, I decided to take mine from an angle instead. This was probably the easiest photo to imitate, since there weren't too many features I had to focus on remaking. However, it did take a while to find an empty cart and an unoccupied aisle. There was also the problem of the giant pole in the middle of it, but it was hard to find a space that wasn't cluttered with other objects or displays.
Personal Artist Statement
None of these photos were really original ideas, but it was interesting to use Jenna's photos as a sort of prompt. It was also more fun to get out and take pictures around other places in Ann Arbor. It was starting to get a little boring just shooting objects in my house, so it was good to find some other subjects. It was kind of awkward to be taking pictures with a lot of people around, but it was worth the experience to be out in a different spot. I might not have gotten the pale aesthetic that I liked in Jenna's photos, but it was fun to use the environment around me in the uniques ways that she did.