Final - Faith Sorenson

Imprint

Faith Sorenson

This collection of images explores the dynamic of land and place. When taking pictures of the land and exploring landscape, the subject is often the view. Where landscape is vast, place is specific. It doesn’t have to be grand or spectacular to be a place. Instead, it is defined by the people who interact with it. We remember events, special occasions, and memories in places rather than landscapes. 

With that in mind, I asked people connected to me to participate in this project. Each photo depicts two different places superimposed over one another. The base image is of a place representing my connection to the individual. The photo layed on top is cut into the shape of the individual's fingerprint, depicting their favorite place. Their fingerprint represents both the mark that they have left on me and the sentimental imprint these places have in our memories.

Final Project - Julia Fullmer

The Flow of Water

Julia Fullmer

In this series, Julia photographs rivers and how they connect to emotions and energy. Water

is one of the most important things for survival but it also carries the currents of many

meanings. While rivers can be calm and relaxing, they can also be turbulent and dangerous,

much like emotions.

While all the rivers and streams that have been photographed in this series are calm and

relaxing, somewhere in their path, they may be treacherous. Not everywhere in life is calm but

those moments of turmoil can help people to appreciate those calm moments. Some of these

rivers have things blocking their flow. Even though water can still get through those blocks, it

is not as smooth as it could be if the way was completely clear.

This is the same as how emotions can block energy. Chakras are often thought of as wheels of

energy inside one’s body that should be aligned and stay open. These chakras can become

blocked and cause problems both physically and emotionally. Blocked chakras can cause

headaches, digestive issues, feelings of loneliness, and can cause feelings of insecurity. The

energy inside one’s body can still flow, but it is not as free as it could be. Blocked energy

inside someone can affect one's relationships, thought patterns, and behaviors. Even though

energy can be blocked it can also become unblocked, it just takes some time and effort on one’s

part, then the way is clear to flow smoothly like a calm river.

Final Project- Melissa Zometa

Subconscious Vistas

In creating her work, Melissa Zometa combines landscape photos from Sanpete Valley with neurographic art, a method that explores the expression of emotions, experiences, or sensations through shapes and lines. 

Subconscious Vistas is a collaborative project with the artist’s family members and close friends, who, through neurographic art, portray their emotional response to multiple landscapes from Sanpete Valley.

To create the neurographic art, each person chose two images they found interesting, and the artist asked them to describe an emotion explaining why they selected those pictures. Next, the person had twenty seconds to draw an abstract representation of that emotion on a piece of paper through the use of lines, shapes, and shades.

When Zometa first moved to Utah, she fell in love with the beautiful landscapes and wanted to share the stunning views of Sanpete Valley with her family. This project demonstrates we all have an opinion about landscapes and their connection to our emotions.

Final Project - McKenzie Sacks

Lead Me Home

McKenzie Sacks

Lead Me Home explores the ideas behind road signs and their intimate connection to their surroundings while considering semiotics and sense of place. 

Road signs are meant to provide information about dangers, traffic laws, and directions. They are an important aspect of orientating where you are and what that means. They safely take you where you are meant to go. There is considerable thought put into the design and functionality of signs. These pictures are edited with significant amounts of background color removed to accentuate this idea. 

As a college student, I often feel as if I have two homes. The place I grew up and the place I live now. Driving between these two lives, I consider the roads taken and the signs that have aided my journey. These pictures are intended for you to contemplate where you are headed and what might lead you there.

 

Final Project - Jarek Miller

Dialing up the Positivity of Self-Love

Jarek Miller

Dialing up the Positivity of Self-Love demonstrates that life is an adventure of dialing the ups and downs that can affect you depending on your decisions. Jarek Miller personally approached the idea of life as a dialing adventure by emphasizing the importance of self-love and positivity through the images of his iPhone that made his day better whether he was going through a rough day or a period of self-esteem issues. Jarek hopes his cohesive collection of self-love images will inspire others to understand the life-long message that you are never truly alone, and are always surrounded by your loved ones, and memories that make you the distinctive and unique person you are today. 

Jarek's cohesive body of work revolves around the memories from his iPhone that represent how special he is in everyone's daily lives and how they've helped him be happier as a result. Each of his photographs presents a dear memory of his that includes his fun hangouts at the hot tub at Park Place Apartments and his high school graduation in 2020 which was uplifting to him during the hardships of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the weddings that he appreciated every moment in 2022, and appreciating the amazing family and friends he has. He was inspired to place his iPhone memories in a suburban area where he grew up for seventeen years in Colorado. He's currently living in the beautiful town of Ephriam, Utah. He utilized his own understanding of artistic consistency by placing his iPhone in front of his parents' suburban plants in Saratoga Springs, Utah to demonstrate how the beauty of nature can lift up the memories of self-love into a new improvement of yourself. 

Jarek's project of self-love was mainly inspired by the artistic influence of Daniel W. Coburn. Daniel focuses on the exciting extensions of how the beauties and mysteries of the natural world would connect to him as the person he is today. Jarek believes that his collection relates to Daniel because Jarek believes that no matter how hard life can be sometimes, it doesn't mean that you should be hard on yourself and force yourself to become someone you are not. Instead, Jarek believes that everyone should always stay true to themselves and let the fun memories and appreciation for their loved ones to guide you to enjoy and live life to the fullest.