Me4US "Marriage Equality 4 United States"
A Photo Documentary By: Ryan Clarke (June 2012)
My Artist Statement:
Iam an artist whom is a Gemini that enjoys things such as the color blue,poetry, traveling,music, tennis but my truest passion is photography. I live and breathe it in my soul. The piece you are about to view is my mostprized possession to date. It has beenin the works for about a period of three months. I came up with a proposal for this piece withan end goal of having it displayed in a show in the near future. It has beenquite the journey with my models Chuck & Steven to complete this work andit something we are all very proud of. Thedisplayed photographs were taken using a canon rebel xs with a kit lens andalso used a portrait lens which helps to focus more on a certain subject mattersuch as my two models. In terms of editing I did some small editing techniquesin Adobe Lightroom but most edits such as changing photos to black and whitewere completed using Photoshop CS5.
This particular piece of work istitled “Me 4 Us” (Marriage Equality 4 United States). It is a day in the life documentary of a samesex couple. I created this piece tostand up for the continuous fight for marriage equality in The UnitedStates. I chose to do it in black andwhite because I liked the feel it provided such more subtle and classy and madethe focal point solely about the piece without any distracting colors. As youview this piece make sure to pay attention to the dates that you see. My hope is for you to feel the emotion of thestory and how to dates tie in with it.
My influences for this piece comefrom several organizations such as the NOH8 Campaign which is a photographicsilent protest created by Celebrity photographer Adam Bouska. Another influence is Lady gag’s Born This WayFoundation which emulates Bravery, Love & Acceptance. Other influences include MERI (Marriage EqualityRhode Island), WOHP (Wipe Out Homophobia). These are all campaigns or organizations which all work to fight formarriage equality and equality as a whole and to stop the bullying. Particularphotographers that have influenced this piece are Kelly Connell who is acontemporary American photographer whose piece “Double Life” raises questionsof identity and gender roles. David Hockney is also another photographer thatinfluenced me through his documentary of his relationship with Schlesingerwhich was displayed in “A Bigger Splash”.
“
THIS WAY, TOWARDS BRAVERY
WHERE YOUTH ARE EMPOWERED.
THIS WAY, TOWARDS ACCEPTANCE
WHERE HUMANITY IS EMBRACED.
THIS WAY, TOWARDS LOVE
WHERE INDIVIDUALITY IS ENCOURAGED” –Lady Gaga
*A special thank you to models Steven Beaulieu & Charles Lafond for help making this happen! We did a great job guys! Thank you to Any Jones for helping me add the music to this project! Thank you to Bonnie Simon at GET Magazine for giving me a cover in June and thank you also to Luz Pray owner of Hairspray Salon in Providence for letting me display this documentary for three months!
A Photo Documentary By: Ryan Clarke (June 2012)
My Artist Statement:
Iam an artist whom is a Gemini that enjoys things such as the color blue,poetry, traveling,music, tennis but my truest passion is photography. I live and breathe it in my soul. The piece you are about to view is my mostprized possession to date. It has beenin the works for about a period of three months. I came up with a proposal for this piece withan end goal of having it displayed in a show in the near future. It has beenquite the journey with my models Chuck & Steven to complete this work andit something we are all very proud of. Thedisplayed photographs were taken using a canon rebel xs with a kit lens andalso used a portrait lens which helps to focus more on a certain subject mattersuch as my two models. In terms of editing I did some small editing techniquesin Adobe Lightroom but most edits such as changing photos to black and whitewere completed using Photoshop CS5.
This particular piece of work istitled “Me 4 Us” (Marriage Equality 4 United States). It is a day in the life documentary of a samesex couple. I created this piece tostand up for the continuous fight for marriage equality in The UnitedStates. I chose to do it in black andwhite because I liked the feel it provided such more subtle and classy and madethe focal point solely about the piece without any distracting colors. As youview this piece make sure to pay attention to the dates that you see. My hope is for you to feel the emotion of thestory and how to dates tie in with it.
My influences for this piece comefrom several organizations such as the NOH8 Campaign which is a photographicsilent protest created by Celebrity photographer Adam Bouska. Another influence is Lady gag’s Born This WayFoundation which emulates Bravery, Love & Acceptance. Other influences include MERI (Marriage EqualityRhode Island), WOHP (Wipe Out Homophobia). These are all campaigns or organizations which all work to fight formarriage equality and equality as a whole and to stop the bullying. Particularphotographers that have influenced this piece are Kelly Connell who is acontemporary American photographer whose piece “Double Life” raises questionsof identity and gender roles. David Hockney is also another photographer thatinfluenced me through his documentary of his relationship with Schlesingerwhich was displayed in “A Bigger Splash”.
“
THIS WAY, TOWARDS BRAVERY
WHERE YOUTH ARE EMPOWERED.
THIS WAY, TOWARDS ACCEPTANCE
WHERE HUMANITY IS EMBRACED.
THIS WAY, TOWARDS LOVE
WHERE INDIVIDUALITY IS ENCOURAGED” –Lady Gaga
*A special thank you to models Steven Beaulieu & Charles Lafond for help making this happen! We did a great job guys! Thank you to Any Jones for helping me add the music to this project! Thank you to Bonnie Simon at GET Magazine for giving me a cover in June and thank you also to Luz Pray owner of Hairspray Salon in Providence for letting me display this documentary for three months!
