Me, Myself and Eye

ONLINE PRESENTATION

Me, Myself and Eye Home   //  Leslie Elsasser - Introduction   //  Selina Roman - Mind Currents   //  Michael Ball   //  TC Bryant   //  Larry Busby   //  David Canaday   //  Michael Congdon   //  Brandie Dziegiel   //  Loretta Fields   //  Jeaniel Image   //  Douglas Eric Jordan   //  Valerie Larson   //  John Leduc   //  Jason Lind   //  Mikko Maki   //  Alex Martinez   //  Matias   //  Noemys McConnell   //  Megan O’Connell   //  Robert Ortega   //  Adaina Plaza   //  Pat Randall   //  Heather Rivera   //  RaeAnne Swanson   //  Michael Webb

 

TC BRYANT - US ARMY

Dad’s Hat 

I took photography classes thirty or forty years ago in Wisconsin, and I wanted to start taking pictures again. In Wisconsin, I used a view camera and we had to develop the film. Unlike today’s digital cameras that can take infinite pictures or make immediate edits when developing film you only get one chance to take that perfect picture and you have to get it right the first time. It’s not like digital. I’ve used a digital camera before, but this was the first time I used a cell phone camera for artwork that was meant to be shown. 

In Wisconsin I learned techniques, such as composition, contrast, line, pattern etc. For this self-portrait Dad’s Hat, I went outside and recalled all that I had learned. Regardless of the fact that I was using a camera phone, I thought about the angle of the camera that made me look taller, the balanced composition, the converging lines and the pattern created by the bricks. I took the picture as if it was my one chance to get the picture right. I did not edit this image. 

The hat is my Dad’s hat. He died in 1993. It’s one of the things I took when my Dad passed away. I’m originally from Alabama and came to Florida in 1983. My Dad never came to Florida. But the hat is with me in Florida. It is the first time I put it on since he died. Otherwise, It’s usually just sitting in the closet. I wanted to remember my Dad, make a self-portrait and a good picture. 

TC BRYANT
US ARMY

 

 

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For more information:
Email Leslie Elsasser at lelsasse@usf.edu
or Ashley Jablonski at danyele@usf.edu

Breaking Barriers 2020 is supported by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Love IV Lawrence, Hillsborough Arts Council, and the Florida Department of State.