Untitled. Alex Jordan. 8 x 10. 2013.
Thomas J. Abercrombie, National Geographic. St. George’s Bay, Beirut, Lebanon, April 1958.
Timeless Ideas
A large portion of my past work seems to revolve around the ocean or anything related to the sea. The ocean and nature in general are two major passions of mine and are great sources of inspiration for my work. The piece of my own work that I chose to share is a photograph that was taken as part of my final project in Creative Black and White Photography here at U of O. It is of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon. There is a couple in the photo that is holding each other as they walk away from the lighthouse. I love taking pictures of Oregon Coast scenery, and lighthouses in general intrigue me. But more broadly, photographing scenery with a subtle human component is one of my favorite subjects. I love this picture because the lighthouse and the coastal scenery is the main subject but the loving couple give the photo a story, and in my opinion, make it more interesting. Nature inspires my work, but human interaction with nature is something I really enjoy capturing.
The photograph I chose that is inspirational to me is a vintage, re-edited image from an old National Geographic magazine. I think the pictures in National Geographic are the best part. They give so much insight into what different places all over the world are like — culture, landscape, etc. Specifically the image I chose was taken of St. George Bay in Beirut, Lebanon in1958. The image at first seems to just be of the bay and some interesting rock formations protruding from the water. But once you spend a second examining the image you will see a motor boat towing two water skiers that have just gone through a precariously narrow rock tunnel. The image of the shimmering blue water and cool rocks is beautiful, but the water skiers make it unique. They give it intrigue; how did those people ski through that narrow tunnel? This photograph can teach me how to successfully combine landscape, subject, and composition — especially in a photograph where timing was important to capture a frozen moment in time. This photo is beautiful but also very interesting to me.
Someday I would love to travel the world, like a National Geographic photographer, taking pictures of different landscapes, scenery, and how humans interact with their environments. But in the meantime, not yet being able to explore the world, I would like to work on photographing people, landscapes, and things and scenes that have a lot of human interest.