For my second photo assignment I have chosen to emulate San Francisco Photographer Steve Landeros. The reason I chose him is because of his amazing fog photos. He creates a surreal representation of things people see every day, for example the golden gate bridge. He takes great semi-surrealist photographs and that is the key idea that I will be exploring with my project. I tried to create a new, dream-like version of things we see on a somewhat daily basis. I am exploring this idea because I think it is very interesting as well as important to see things in a new way, particularly things we have a clear definition or representation of in our heads. The series of photographs I have created were all taken here in Tucson. I feel that anyone who lives here will see some familiarity with the photos. They are things we see every day, things we drive past on our way to work or things we walk past on our way to class. I tried to show these things in a new way, and the perfect opportunity arose one foggy night here in Tucson.
I chose this photo because it is a place most of us have to visit a few times per month. It's something we are all familiar with. We are not used to seeing these places empty, especially not in this foggy setting.
This is an intersection right near U of A on speedway. Usually there are tons of cars passing through here, but in this case there is just one. In addition to the unusual emptiness, an addition element of surrealism is the effect the fog has on the street lights. It gives an aura of gloominess in an otherwise un-characterized setting.
This is my car in a parking lot. Usually we just see the headlights but thanks to the fog we can actually see exactly where the lights are shining. This makes us think of how light works in a new way.
This is the Miracle Mile sign on Main Street in Tucson. This is a familiar sight to many Tucsonans but not with the sort of aura it has in this photo. It, like the intersection photo, carries a certain amount of gloom or even spookiness to it.
This is the dealer lot at BMW of Tucson. Typically when someone goes out to buy a car they'll go out during the day and look at the shiny new cars. By going at night and capturing the cars while they're matted by the fog you get an unfamiliar look at the familiar.
This is another shot from the gas station. The unique aura created by the fog around the fuel price sign creates an air of scariness, which isn't helped by the unusually high price posted on the sign.
