altakesphotossometimes: AP 2-D Art and Design (Photo) Portfolio

Below is my AP 2-D Art and Design final portfolio. I've broken it into three sections: The Investigative Portfolio, the Selected Works Portfolio, and the process/other images.

The first fifteen images are for the Investigative Portfolio, which is the portfolio based around (as the name suggests) an extended investigation. They were all (with the exception of the first one, where I used the built-in Microsoft Photos editor) edited with Photoshop to achieve the look I was going for. As part of the submission, I had to describe what my initial "inquiry" was, which basically doubles as the "theme:"

"My inquiry was to push back against the ways in which people, Americans, are diminished, pushed aside, attacked, and deported for things as simple as the color of their skin or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why should Americans who are practicing their constitutional rights be considered 'aggressors' or 'anarchists?' Why is the President telling people who want to live and work in this country that they can't? What makes some people saints with halos while others targets of hatred, when we are fundamentally the same? What makes a person an American? What is the American Dream?"

I had to describe my process as well:

"I started off with just black-and-white street photography, trying to capture everyday Americans living their lives like Robert Frank did in 1959. I realized that I wasn’t getting the effect I was looking for, so I started to manipulate the images in Photoshop to make them 'pop,' adding circles to represent targets or halos. I focused on bright colors so that the people stood out more, and I also made collages of multiple images to better tell a story. These bright colors gradually transitioned into a palette of red, white, and blue, and flag imagery to better reflect the 'Americans' theme."

The second part of the portfolio, after the fifteen, are five "selected" images that basically show that I know how artistic processes work and that the Investigative Portfolio wasn't a fluke. A couple were minorly tweaked with Photoshop to up the contrast or the colors (and I have noted said tweaks in the captions, as was required by the AP people), but otherwise they are as they were in-camera.

Finally, I've included some other photos that didn't make the final cut or show off the process (which is technically a part of the portfolio, as you can see from the first two images, but it can be hard to tell with some of the other collage ones).

Investigative Design Portfolio 15 Images

People walking in Legacy Place Mall in Dedham, Mass.

The same as above but edited. You can see the process a little bit.

Collage of people at Legacy Place Mall.

More people at Legacy Place Mall.

People walking in the Natick Mall, Natick, Mass.

Man inside the Apple store at the Natick Mall.

More Natick Mall.

Two images: In blue, a building in West Newton. In red, Newbury Street in downtown Boston.

Collage of people and buildings in and around Newbury Street.

Four images of cars in and around Newbury Street layered on top of each other.

Montreal, Canada.

Three images: Left and right backgrounds are around Newbury Street, kid and mom are in the Natick Mall.

Collage of people in the Natick Mall.

My baseball teammate Jimmy, a flag, and a helicopter in Port St. Lucie, Fl. (I was team photographer for the baseball spring break trip when I wasn't pitching).

Teammates in Port St. Lucie (flag was added, but also taken in Port St. Lucie)

Selected Works Five Images

Minor lighting edit.

In-camera double exposure. No editing.

Minor contrast edit (making darks darker and lights lighter).

No editing.

Process and Others

The first one I made, mostly as a proof-of-concept. Cell tower outside Legacy Place.

These next three I made early-on while I was working out a theme. They're a little more abstract. This is a parking garage with an image of an electical box layered over it (with a bunch of circles also added).