JESSICA SCHULMAN |
Jessica Schulman
Jessica Schulman Photography came into my life at an early age in the personage of a Kodak Brownie camera, which accompanied me everywhere, followed by several folding cameras, a Polaroid, and a Twin Lens Reflex. I pursued this attraction to photography throughout my school years. While in Brooklyn College, majoring in both elementary education and the traditional arts, I took a course in photography and darkroom printing. I was fascinated with the darkroom process and became obsessed with making prints. As part of my artistic growth I turned to using the computer as a creative tool. I am very excited about digital illustration. I find it creatively and technically challenging. The use of the computer opened up new world for me. The photographic work that I had done in my darkroom using traditional materials and the work that I am doing now using the computer as my compositing and printing tool are virtually indistinguishable stylistically from one another. The digitally manipulated work is more polished but the imagery and subjects are consistent with that created before. I consider an artist to be an artist and an creator regardless of the tools that are used. I concentrate on taking excellent photographs and then using the computer to achieve the intended illusion. I have a self-admitted passion for lighthouses and am interested in all aspects of lighthouses, and am constantly looking for new and different ways to document what I see. The lighthouse is a near-universal symbol of safety and guidance that has helped mariners find their way home since ancient times. Although they are gradually outliving their usefulness, they are still epic monuments to human ingenuity and to their own resilience. I am currently a member of NELL (New England Lighthouse Lovers), and The National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, NY, both of which organizations work toward the preservation of these guardians of the sea. In my photography, my aim is to convey the emotion I feel coming these structures: their energy, and the feeling of what they once were.
Photography came into my life at an early age in the personage of a Kodak Brownie camera, which accompanied me everywhere, followed by several folding cameras, a Polaroid, and a Twin Lens Reflex. I pursued this attraction to photography throughout my school years. While in Brooklyn College, majoring in both elementary education and the traditional arts, I took a course in photography and darkroom printing. I was fascinated with the darkroom process and became obsessed with making prints. As part of my artistic growth I turned to using the computer as a creative tool. I am very excited about digital illustration. I find it creatively and technically challenging. The use of the computer opened up new world for me. The photographic work that I had done in my darkroom using traditional materials and the work that I am doing now using the computer as my compositing and printing tool are virtually indistinguishable stylistically from one another. The digitally manipulated work is more polished but the imagery and subjects are consistent with that created before. I consider an artist to be an artist and an creator regardless of the tools that are used. I concentrate on taking excellent photographs and then using the computer to achieve the intended illusion. I have a self-admitted passion for lighthouses and am interested in all aspects of lighthouses, and am constantly looking for new and different ways to document what I see. The lighthouse is a near-universal symbol of safety and guidance that has helped mariners find their way home since ancient times. Although they are gradually outliving their usefulness, they are still epic monuments to human ingenuity and to their own resilience. I am currently a member of NELL (New England Lighthouse Lovers), and The National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, NY, both of which organizations work toward the preservation of these guardians of the sea. In my photography, my aim is to convey the emotion I feel coming these structures: their energy, and the feeling of what they once were. |
