Manipulation

Digital manipulation of images is a new problem for a new age. How much can you touch up an image and still be true to the original? At what point do you alter the image so much that it no longer is true to the "capture". This is an image that I posted on Fred Miranda.com a website dedicated to more advanced photographers. A brilliant graphic artist from Argentina named Natalia offered to enhance the image. I sent her a full resolution copy of the image and this is what she did to it. In her subtle way she added what I wanted in the original capture.

I also want to give her full credit for the Main Page on the Dow website. She and I had different ideas on the fonts and how the words follow the lines in the images. This is her Flickr website:

nataliataffarel

She really is gifted.

Stereotypes

In creating the book and website defintionsofwomen I am forced to consider stereotypes. The questions that I am pondering about is should I fall into these stereotypes.

Should stereotypes define women or do women define the stereotypes?

Here is another image of Makeda that could fall into that definition of a stereotypical black woman. On one hand it is a clearly beautiful rendition of her shape and form but is it too stereotypical to use as a fine art piece in the book/website?

Is this a direction that I want to go in with my art or is it too easy to fall into that trap? This is indeed a slippery slope that will need consideration. As much as I like this image I feel forced into excluding it from the group just on these grounds. As this blog is new has not had too much consideration I as for those to post their response as to whether or not this image should be included. Please post your comments, I would like to hear them.

Nude Images are permitted

Good news, I finally got around to reading the terms of service agreement that I clicked through at lightning speed. The Blog hosts do not mind nude images and also, to their credit, do not wish to censor blogs. That is pretty cool although I am not sure I agree with their little notice about how Google can freely use my images.

Nonetheless this is an image of Makeda a dancer from New York. She was a wonderful model with a strong and striking sense of presence . She also ran track in college so this pose wasn't a stretch at all for her. She was visiting New Orleans and we set a shoot although it started at 5:00 PM on a Sunday because of her classes.

Motherhood

Alright, so I have this blog and I decided what a good way to update our website; www.definitionsofwomen.com

I did a shoot today with a young mother and after a long contemplation decided to title the image motherhood.

Motherhood: noun. the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother.

Not knowing the mom, as we just met Saturday the 8th, I wanted a title that was suitable and yet added another definition that added to the sum that is women. One day when I have an afternoon I will delve into the reasons for D.O.W. For now suffice it to day that each of these definitions make up one small aspect of women.

I must admit I am new to this so please bear with me while I get my bearings straight and check with the powers that be to see if I can include the nude images. so check out our link for now and I will be updating this regularly.