David LaFleur Photography: 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Round 3 Images

So here are photos from my last two visits to The Plant. This basically wraps up the last of my photographing for my portfolio. I hope I got everything I need to make my portfolio complete and professional. Wish me luck. I will also be posting a link to my website in the next week, so everyone can check out my final web portfolio.

©David LaFleur Photography

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Writing Weekend

In November I began writing my first grant for the Getty Images Creative Grants that cover photographer costs as they work together with a nonprofit of their choice to create compelling new imagery during 2012. Over the weekend I have finally finished my first grant writing experience. I do have to say it was more work then I originally expected, but all of it was beneficial and inspiring to actually spend as much time and effort on the writing end as I do on the photography end. I am very excited to see how this all unfolds, waiting in great anticipation. I will begin working on my second grant in April which will be for the Grants for Editorial Photography.

Also over the weekend I wrote the rough drafts of my artist statements for the three chapters in my portfolio book. I am again very excited to finish my portfolio and go through all of my material together in one book. I know I have not posted any new pictures in awhile, and it is not because I have not been shooting, because I have. Lately I have been busy with trying to finish this grant along with developing my portfolio. But I will post new imagery throughout the week, so keep posted. Thank you to all!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Determined to Germinate 2

Here are some more of the photographs that were apart of my Determined to Germinate series. As a whole these photographs show the relationship between audience and artist together by revealing the ability for life to flourish even in the most of forlorn places. It is my hope that this series will inspire charity, volunteerism, interest and involvement in the subject of Urban Agriculture. So take a couple minutes to look at the photographs and look for the purpose that these organizations are trying to bring to the 21st century.

©David LaFleur Photography

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Determined to Germinate 1

Below are some of my images from my photo series that I worked on from October- December of 2011. These images are going to be apart of the 3rd chapter in my portfolio. The series is a documentary of different urban agricultural business and organizations that are in different stages of development located in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit. I am going to break the photographs from this series into two different blog post, so stay tuned for my images. As always feel free to leave your comments.

©David LaFleur Photography

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Round 2 Images

On Wednesday I returned back to The Plant to continue photographing and volunteering. I would say it was a successful day, got some good photographs and got to help them clear out one of the rooms so they could begin putting in drywall in one of the rooms. So here are a couple of the images from that day I edited out as possibilities to add into my portfolio. Let me know what you think.

©David LaFleur Photography

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Inspiration for the Weekend

While checking out some different books and photographers on urban agriculture, I came across the book "Breaking Through The Concrete" which consists of a 7-week book project documenting urban farming in the US. The book was created by David Hanson a freelance writer and photographer. Edwin Marty a founder of Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham, Alabama. And Michael Hanson an award- winning travel photographer. This book is a must for me to check out for ideas and inspiration for a future book of mine. Also Michael Hanson's photography work has become a valuable resource for me on how a good photographer works in environments that I would like to find myself in the future. Check out some of his work at his website: http://www.michaelhansonphotography.com/
Below is some of my favorite photographs from Hanson's collection. Enjoy.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Round 1 Images

Here are three of the images from my trip on tuesday to The Plant that have been selected for possible entry into my portfolio. Any thoughts?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Photograph/Volunteer 1

Today I returned back to The Plant for the first time since my original visit in November. Since The Plant is a new business/organization and are currently in the process of transforming an unused pork factory into a vertical farm and food bank, they rely heavily on volunteers to accomplish their goals. So when I go there to photograph I also feel the need to volunteer while I am there. The volunteering part is the hardest and most manual labor part of my adventure there, when it comes to actually photographing thats the easy part . But I enjoy my time while I am there, the people that volunteer are pretty cool and the owner is just this lively guy that appreciates any help he can get. Hopefully the blood and sweat that went into these photographs will all be worth it. I will be posting some the photographs in the next couple of days. Feel free to leave your questions or comments.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Inspiration for the week

After taking some time to research current documentary photographers I have came across two photographers that stood out to me.
Andrew Moore for his Detroit and Cuba series, which I see a lot of my work when I look through these series. Aesthetically pleasing photographs, that raise a lot of questions.
Website: http://andrewlmoore.com/
Ed Thompson for his Transition Town and Re-home series, conceptually and technically really good photographs. I learned valuable information about viewing these series that I plan on utilizing in my portfolio.
Website: http://www.edwardthompson.co.uk/transition.html

Check out their websites to be informed about current issues, concerns, and solutions.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Beginning

Got the blog up and running. I'm excited to see how my portfolio develops over the next 9 weeks, as I prepare for graduation and open the doors into the professional world. But for now I will prepare for my next photo assignment. I have a lot of researching and contacting people I need to get done.