stars
it was a success!
do yourself some good and buy a print~
*remember, i take requests for images not in the store but are on the main website.
thanks everyone for all the support!!!
art school
Art School Series by Matthew Monteith
There will be over achievers and there will be under achievers.
I am a self-diagnosed workaholic. Therefore being in a typical big university, I fall into the crack of never having a “life”, always in studio, and never able to get “shitfaced.” There have been moments where I wish I were sitting out in the sun and just enjoying the time.. but I also really enjoy being in studio. There’s two weeks until May 3rd, the big night of the senior photo majors, the big shebang a la Delavan Art Gallery.
I’ve been preparing my series for basically for the past year and a half and for some people in the class to pull (pardon the french) shit outta their ass in two weeks, makes me fume. Every hour awake, I’ve been thinking about the show, in the darkrooms, in the labs, in front of computer screens, and working away. They say, “Jane, you should get some sun. But wait.. can I waste half an hour of your time repeating something you’ve repeated many times before in Photoshop?” Right, I sound like a complete bitch now. Lending a hand is what I do and like to do.. holding a hand is not what I do.. especially if I explained something more than five times.. They should be the ones shitting their pants with the work that’s ahead of them…and don’t tell me how to feel.
Sure we all have different work ethics.. but if someone complains to me one more time about how much work they have to do, they should realize that hours spent at the bar or sunbathing could be put to better use.
This probably all due to stress but certainly something that’s been pent up for years here in college. People don’t know how to troubleshoot anymore.. experimenting to find solutions seem like a thing of the past. It’s all about fast and easy solution.. no hard work to deal with. Do people not want to learn anymore? Does it take that much brain power? Where’s their drive?
On the happier note, after consulting with every professor and mentor.. I came up with my own edit of 15 images for the show. It feels good to have made some decisions.. now onto coming up with a good title.
Play nice
Over the past week, I’ve received gigantic amount of traffic from a couple of blogs (Conscientious and NYMPhoto) linking my gallerina post. While I hope many people can understand the problems, I also wished there was a discussion formed from the post. But being completely unaware I had a buggy problem with comments, no comments were posted. Anyways, it’s all fixed now. So, if you have any thoughts, please leave me a note.
I do find it interesting how some prominent female photo bloggers are not initiating into the conversation.
Let me get back to some head-scratching decisions. Edit thumbnails down to 15 images for my thesis show.
Prints for Sale!
I’ve had the idea of selling some of my prints online for awhile. Now is the time to launch such a project, especially since finances are rough right now. I’m limiting the selection to 3 images because this is only the beginning. Hopefully, those of you who enjoy my work would be kind enough to purchase a print. Go to the store~
There is also an option to donate. Why donate?
I am currently a senior at Syracuse University, preparing for my BFA Solo Thesis Show on May 3rd. Like many college students, I am immensely in debt from the costs of film, processing, developing, and printing. Frames cost money. Mounting costs money. The space I rented cost money. This is all for a solo show featuring my photographic series on my family. I do not ask my family for money as they are a working class family who struggle enough to put me through a private university. So, any little bit will help me. Thank you! For those who donate $15 or more will receive a 5″x7″ print in the mail.
**International buyers: I set up Paypal to only accept US addresses but if you’re interested, please just drop me an email at store@janetam.com for shipping prices.
**update: I added two more images up for sale. There are also now 5×7 prints available for photo-illustrations.
**Super thanks to Herman, Nina, Jen Snow (for Jen Bekman), Noel, Kelly, and Timothy for linking my store.
**update: Added three more images for sale. Had to change prices a little bit due to the realization of the budget needed to produce my show. If my department would help a little, just a little, that would ease it up a bit but the Art Photo department in Syracuse never really did get much funding.. -_-
A little repetitive
Grandfather’s chair, 2008 © Jane Tam
After awhile, you really get tired of seeing the same few names float through the photography community. It’s not “emerging new artists” anymore, rather it is a community that selects the popular trends and joins the train. While this is great for those on the train, what about taking risks and allow the many “new artists” on board? After all, are we not a little bored?
Updates
I just updated the main site with new images in Welcome Home and several other mini series. Also, welcome to the more bare-bones looking blog.
The Tourist
Kathryn’s Bed at Home, Brooklyn, NY ©Jane Tam
The next following weeks will culminate into full preparation for SPE National in Denver. I am still contemplating whether to include some work from Hong Kong into my portfolio and how it actually fits in conceptually with my Family series. When showing my work, it is all in how I explain the images.
You can tell when images don’t fit into a series of work and my portfolio is not exactly immune to that problem. My perfectionalist personality makes it hard for me to create new work as I constantly reshoot images over and over again. I am not the best technician when it comes to using a camera so reshooting is a must. So, I realize some images in my portfolio do seem to stick out like sore thumbs. Though with the whole series, you can certainly see the growth of how the project started.
Preparing my portfolio comes with a lot of finishing. Most photographers buy an archival portfolio box for prints, which usually comes in the grand old color of *drumroll* Black! When you’re in a conference with hundreds of other photographers all vying for attention, a black portfolio is not exactly what’s going to make you memorable. Seeing this problem from college reviews, I decided to make my own portfolio box. Notice the plaid. (please disregard the crappy digital photo)
A 16″x20″ plaid portfolio box; homemade by your’s truly. This certainly grabbed a lot of attention and I have some requests to make other’s. I have yet decided on a fabric for my next box but I plan to make it open in a “portrait” orientation rather than a “landscape” orientation. I also have to make a box to safe-guard my book.
If anybody wants to request a homemade portfolio box, just email me and I will give you a quote. (I’m trying to up money for my Senior Thesis show, coming this April, so any help is appreciated.)