Mini Assignment Three

The third mini assignment for Portraiture was to photograph "strangers" using outdoor lighting, expressing either "joy" or "sadness." I had plans to finish up a shoot over the weekend, but unfortunately my body didn't get the memo. So I sort of threw together these images in short notice. This is my grandmother, as seen in other photographs. She suffers from dementia, and it's been quite an adjustment for me to accept the person who she is now, which is primarily based on her disease. There are only a few of my family members that don't live with us, and it's not too often they're able to come around. Just recently was the first time in many years that a lot of my cousins got to see who this person we call our grandmother is today. Though she knows who they are, and can recall stories and other details about them from their youth, she really doesn't know the people they are now. On the other end of the spectrum, my family is also re-meeting my grandma in a sense. My one cousin, Frankie [who's pictured below] has made a considerable effort to come and visit my grandma almost once a week. This is my effort to capture one of these visits.

Portraiture Mini Assignment 2: "Family"

These are objects that belong to my Grandma Bellino, who suffers from dementia. Each of them hold a spot in my memory growing up, but take on a complete new meaning today. They sit in her room, merely decorative - rarely used and rarely touched. To me they're frozen in a time in my mind when my grandmother was healthy. To her, I'm not even sure they hold any substantial value anymore. Most of the time I don't even think she realizes these objects exist, though she sees them several times a day. It's almost as though they've lost what defines them, and are now seen as just "things" - which parallels my grandmother in that her disease has taken over her life, leaving her mind fragmented and empty.































My grandma has always loved pearls and gold. I rarely remember her wearing any other kind of jewelry, and I always remember playing dress up with them. Now they sit in a dresser drawer, and I honestly don't think my grandmother remembers they are there.


















This little statue has always been in my grandma's room for as long as I can remember.


















My grandma used to sit in front of the mirror with her box full of bobby pins and these combs, setting her hair right before she went to bed. Now these combs sit in her room and have very minimal contact with my grandma. If she combs her hair, it's usually after my parents ask her to before leaving to go somewhere.

Intimate Portraits

These are some shots from my Intimate Portraits assignment for color... plus a few extra of the location because it was AMAZING!

Trishna Helmick

This is a series of images with words derived from "hate mail."