Old is New Again

 

My concept for Old Is New Again combines the past and present. I used a photograph of a 400-year-old tree as the modern setting, incorporating contemporary elements like the bench, light posts, and houses. I then added Civil War-era images to imagine what this space may have looked like in the past, blending different moments in time through the collodion process.

Image Sources 

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/2013647554/resource/ 

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/2013647458/resource/ 

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/2012650262/resource/

Old Is New- Courtney Huston

 

My concept for Old Is New touches on a love for instrumentation and music passed down through generations in my family. I wanted to represent that connection by implementing my late grandmother's violin alongside the piano since playing it is a hobby of mine. I wanted to show how that love for music carried forward to the present through me.

Old is New Again - Joseph Bullock

 

My composition encapsulated a working family, the father doing dirty work in the rock crusher shaft while his daughter sweeps and cleans behind him. Using my friend in her oversized dress and headwear I had her in a sweeping motion to match the scenery that is in a flourishing shop outside of Staunton in 1944. The guy is at another day of work in the rock crusher shafts with a feeling of dreadfulness in being there, so I reflected that feeling with her emotion. Using gradient maps, clipping mask shadows, camera raw, brush strokes and smudging, it comes together as a wet plate collodian piece that was dropped to break the glass and have some leftover fingerprints.

Shenandoah Valley. Braden and Van Fossen Works, a flourishing shop outside of Staunton, which does such heavy work as machining different rock crusher shafts

Transfer; United States. Office of War Information. Overseas Picture Division. Washington Division; 1944.

Film copy on SIS roll 37, frame 199.

Old Is New Again - Catherine Kerns

 

I interpreted the "what is old is new" in reference to someone in my personal life - my dad. He personally will make it his mission (in my opinion) to bring up something or another related to his service in the Air Force into any family conversation. My concept was him being "stuck in the past", or to allude to such. 

I used the frame, texture, and cracks from the LOC, and the photo of the airplane in the hangar from OpenVerse (marked public domain).

Old is New Again - Ava Shuman

 

My concept for Old is New Again was to create a commentary on the way we perceive war in the present day. Many photographs from the civil war features deceased subjects, which is something I wanted to touch on with my project. Photographers may have taken so many photos of people's bodies because it was convenient at the time, but it shows the massive loss that wars bring. Nowadays, there are international wars happening around the globe, and yet we have less of an idea than ever how devastating these wars can be. Gruesome imagery is censored and journalists are silenced. Our first thought about that could be that the government is protecting its citizens from hysteria and the horrors of war, but a deeper look reveals the benefits of keeping the public out of the loop. I feel strongly that the government's idolatry of war aesthetics, mindsets, and morals is leading to normalization, starting the moment we are able to play with toy guns.

To express my thoughts through this project, I created a somewhat civil-war-esque outfit and made a portrait of myself. Rather than holding a rifle like many of the actual soldiers' portraits, I hold a plastic gun. War is only a game while we are young, until we are exposed to the reality of it and forced to cope with and accept war as we are expected to. I place a photo of a soldier and a child in the background to make the imagery of childishness more obvious.

Links:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpb.03792/?co=civwar
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpb.04743/?co=civwar
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.67835/?co=civwar
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.11700/

Old Is New Again - Ziah McDowell

 

Sunday's Best: Redefined

This piece explores how the outward appearance of faith can change over time while the meaning behind it can remain the same.Traditionally , "Sunday's best" was associated with dressing formally for church, so I intentionally photographed myself in a modern hoodie while holding a Bible. The casual clothing creates a contrast between present-day church culture and the more formal traditions of the past.

I placed myself in front of a historic church image from the library of congress. The church acts as the connection to the past , while the clothing shows the present. The contrast encourages the viewer to question whether Sunday's best is about the clothing someone wears or the intention they bring with them.

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20wi0119&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true

Old is New Again - Ryan Black

 

My concept was "digital museum." I love learning about history, but the 18th-20th centuries are my blind spot and in my opinion, there's no better way to learn about history than to go to a museum. To visualize this, I inserted a picture of myself in the setting as though I'm experiencing the moment with the featured individuals. I chose to wear clothing that deliberately contrasted with the others and I chose to depict myself looking down at my phone to convey that in no way am I able to interact with any of the men in the photo and that I'm a tourist to the time.

Library of Congress source.