Let's paint some light on this situation

PAINTING WITH LIGHT is a photographic technique in which exposures are made usually at night or in a darkened room by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. In many cases the light source itself does not have to appear in the image. Light painting photography can be traced back to the year 1914 when "Frank Gilbreth, along with his wife Lillian Moller Gilbreth, used small lights and the open shutter of a camera to track the motion of manufacturing and clerical workers. The Gilbreth’s did not create the photographs as an artistic endeavor; they instead were studying what they called “work simplification”." 

The "painting with light" aspect of studio lighting was completely different from anything I've ever done before. It was an amazing feeling to feel like a painter in a photograph... manipulating the images in the photo and adjusting viewers feelings with just a flick of the wrist and a small light source. I used a Canon Rebl T2i with an 18-55mm lens to take this photos; I used an aperture of f22 and a shutter speed of 12s. I was inspired to take these photographs after hearing the morning annoucements and seeing "hunger horror" posters around school. Since halloween is coming up... I thought about how silly it was for us to be "wishing" we were other creatures or people by dressing up in a costume. I thought this was silly because after seeing words like "hunger horrors" around school... it made me feel blessed for the things that I (and everyone around me) have. I thought of all the things we take for granted... things we don't don't feel blessed for unless we experience a loss of it or have it shoved in our faces. "Hunger horrors" made me think of human necessities that a lot of people in the world don't have such as HEAT. The idea of heat inspired me to take a photo of a boy being warmed by a fire, and a boy sleeping with a blanket on top of him. Then I thought deeper... and "freedom of speech"(boy with hand over his mouth and potential sound coming out)

and "knowledge of the difference between good and evil" (boy with an angel and devil on his shoulders) came to mind.

These are aspects of everyday life that we take for

 granted but might not even exist in some parts of the world. The reason why I chose to paint with light to take photos of this train of thought... was to simply shed some light on the situation...or rather "paint" some light on the situation. 

Gazuntite!

Lady With Unicorn                                      Lady With Unicorn Allergy
by Raphael Santi                                         by Allegra Markus

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (April 6 or March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), or better known simply as Raphael Santi... was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. The High Renaissance can be defined as "the artistic style of early 16th century painting in Florence and Rome; characterized by technical mastery, heroic composition and humanistic content." From what I've seen of High Renaissance paintings, the artists seem to be focused on social status and vanity. For example, woman in the High Renaissance paintings are always drowned in deep colours, expensive cloths or/and are naked. Not to mention the extremely serious faces they always have on- especially in this painting by Raphael. Artwork from the Renaissance is extremely beautiful...but I thought it would be fun to add an aspect to this painting that is very out of character for an artist in the High Renaissance period. I chose to (....I don't want to say "make fun of"...but I will) make fun of the fact that the people in these paintings are supposed to make the viewer feel inferior...much like the media does today. I did this by photoshopping in a photo of a girl sneezing (a natural and unavoidable human bodily action). I took this photo with a Canon Rebel T2i with an 18-55mm lens. I shot with an aperture of f8 and a shutter speed of 1/60 s. Raphael was no doubt an artistic genius- but I'm sure if he could see this today he would laugh (hopefully... but if not then I'm sorry Mr. Santi). 

Looks like she needed me......HA

Is it me you're looking for?

While taking these photos, I analyzed the world around me in search for the small details and wonders I have taken for granted. I also analyzed myself, and went into detail about what makes me who I am or who I want to be. All of these thoughts have produced a single banner reading "ALLEGRA MARKUS". I took this photo with a Canon Rebel T2i with an 18-55mm lens. I shot with an aperture of f16 and a shutter speed of 1/100 s. Most of these photos are taken outside because of my somewhat new perspective on life this school year. I wanted everything to start fresh and to get in touch with the organic matter that composes my body, mind and soul. I want to appreciate this life I have, and the first step of doing this is appreciating the aspects of life around me, no matter how small and unnoticeable they are (yes tree branches I'm talking to you). This assignment reminded me to look at things as if I were looking at them for the first or last time.