Platon Inspired Photography

In your own words, describe an image from the documentary or  “The People’s Portfolio”  that brought you close to your own emotions?

I truly think that the photograph of Michelle Obama on the cover of TIME magazine with the title of "The Meaning of Michelle," resonates with me and my journey to success as well. I think I speak for a lot of women and not just myself when I say that Michelle Obama is an amazing leader to look too since she had been such a great advocate for children during her husbands time in office. Her portrait from Platon is immensely powerful in a way that influences me to continue to not only work hard, but to reach those goals I have set for myself in the future. The portrait also makes me feel as if I can see the struggle and success in her eyes, not just the raw-ness of emotion, but also seeing the past, present, and future in one singular take done by Platon. I think that for me this would be my most relatable portrait Platon has done since I too want and will be a great force of film, entertainment, and art in the near future, all I have to do is continue to be inspired and work like I never have each day. 

Somethings that I also found very influential from the documentary was how raw and quietly ambiguous Platon was while talking about his work or the process of setting up for a shoot. Platon explained how he has always used the same camera, lighting, umbrella light, and box, to shoot all of portraits, and he says "Everything stays the same, but the story changes every time". He also goes to build off of this concept with saying in the documentary, "For me design is a way out of confusion. Great design simplifies a very complicated world." And I took this saying to my heart because that is exactly how I feel about all the arts. Not only does art express emotion and storytelling, but it is also a tool that helps us make more sense of the world without having to try to hard, like having a spiritual awakening. 

My Self-Portrait: 

Artist Statement: 

The portrait I took is in a art building in which there is a rented out space for my friends Microcinema that he partly owns and runs. I took my self portrait there because it was the first place I had met my friend Ethan who has actually since then become a really great friend to me, he has helped me see my own creativity and motivation while still being able to be a really fun and creative person I look up to. I stood in front of these film posters that were in a different language then where they were produced and I thought that at first standing in front of film posters would express my interconnectivity to the film and television world where I had found peace in some of the darkest times of my life. I also unintentionally used the posters in international languages, but I now realize that those show my love and support for others and films that aren't western or American, for example my 2nd favorite movie is actually Italian and directed by Federico Fellini in 1954, and this comes from somewhere else besides America. On the other hand, I put my hair in braids to symbolize my heritage and culture of being a Native American women in the 21 century and film and television business, in which I will keep known in all of the art and work I create over my entire life time.