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| "Zoe - Age 8" By Gwen Walstrand |
Gwen Walstrand's work in photography mainly deals with portraiture. She showed us many series of her work, but the ones that stood out to me most were those she titled "Between." They consisted of photos of preteens, and a few kids who were slightly older or younger than that range. Something about the way she photographed them really captured that feeling of being a preteen. The one that stood out to me the most from that series is:
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| "Elizabeth" by Gwen Walstrand |
Just something about this portrait really jumps out at me. I think it might be how much the darker background makes the pale girl stand out that much more. She's also so thin and fragile looking, yet seems to have some sort of strength about her face. I usually don't care for portrait photography, but this one really stuck in my mind. I also really liked her series of photos from Italy:
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| "Italia - 102" By Gwen Walstrand |
Ms. Walstrand has a knack for conveying personality and character with her subjects. As for her work with Ms. Perkins, Ms. Walstrand said that the town was "...Interesting, it's like everyone walked out all at once." During her talk she told us more about how racial tensions had destroyed the town. Many violent acts had occurred there, including a lynching. This fighting destroyed the town and left it as the shell it is today. Ms. Walstrand did take some interesting photos of the town, but I didn't find any of them as engaging as her portraiture.
She said she was inspired by searching, the unknown, navigation both physical and spiritual, and said that it was likely a reaction to her strict religious upbringing. She also recommended a book called "A Field Guide to Getting Lost" by
Rebecca Solnit. I've googled the title and it looks like a book I might have to check out once everything settles down from finals and graduation.
