jamie Schroeder: second year final portfolio

I went to Algonquin College for Photography and this is my second year final portfolio. My Theme was hope.

Artist Statement:

Optimism is defined as having “hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view. I try to take that definition into my portraits and everyday life. When I graduate from Algonquin College I want to combine my two passions; photography and humanitarian work. I want to work for an world poverty organization, and I want my photography to make a difference and impact others to make a difference in the world of poverty. Hope for me comes from a lot of inspirations. I was influenced by Joey Lawrence and Richard Avedon alot this year for their amazing portraits and lighting. Hope for me is everything from smiling faces, churches, the optimism for a better tomorrow and strength of a beautiful soul. My lighting style is very prominent in my book. I like a very large modifier to create a window light look. I like my portraits to look like they are in a natural setting.

When photographing for this portfolio I always kept the journalistic style in mind. I love taking images of people and so all my opens are portraits. I almost always photograph strangers and barely direct them, I merely document them as they are. I did two mini series for this portfolio. The first is the Ottawa Women’s Shelter and the second is the Salvation Army. I wanted to incorporate my future interests in an interesting print composition. Quoting Jon Warren of (World Vision Canada) ”My goal is to make images that will stir others into action without desensitizing them.” Like Jon I want to take pictures that show hope, happiness and optimism.