Hill Ford Building Gone

Photo Essay

It's funny how memories seem to become more important as the years go by. I know in my hometown, Portage, so many of the places that have great meaning to me are being replaced by places that I have no connection to. Sure this often happens naturally with time. People move, the times change. But sometimes things that seem so real are replaced by something materialistic or corporate that seems like it will never leave behind any meaningful or positive memories.












This is where I was born. This is where Divine Savior Hospital once stood. The new hospital is located on the new side of town- right by the Wal- Mart and the McDonalds. The whole old hospital was demolished so expensive condos that most people can't afford could be built. It is just so strange to me that the hospital I always went to when I was sick is gone. The place where I was born is condos now!



This is where I used to go with my parents to buy all my cards. Sure it was just a Hallmark. But so many of the stores that I used to visit are gone (see document project) are vacant. Even though these are just stores, there was more of a local connection to them. Most of them were not chains and they had been in the family for years. Now people no one knows come to town and open up chain stores... it's just not the same.





This is the house I lived in until I was 9-years-old. It seems so strange that I have all these memories here yet I haven't been inside for years now. I can see the window of my old bedroom in this picture. It is on the left side of the 2nd floor. Although part of me really connects to this house, the other part of me sees the new mailbox, the tacky bricks, and the colorful flag that never would have hung when it was our house...




This is where the Portage Lanes Bowling Ally once stood. Ok a bowling ally, not a big deal right? Wrong. In a small town like Portage there is not much to do before age 21. I spent so much time at the bowling ally even though I never really bowled. When I was in high school it was the place to be. I have so many funny stories or memories from that place. We even used to walk there on Fridays for gym class. Heck my parents used to bowl there when they were kids. Well they knocked that place down and put up Walgreens! And Portage already had a Walgreens but they wanted to located on the "new" side of town. It is just strange to me that a place where I spent so much time, is now a Walgreens.



This is where my best friend Megan used to live. She was my next store neighbor from age 9 until I was like 16. We used to play or hang out together almost every day, I took the picture from this angle because that was the view of her house from my bedroom. Her bedroom had the two middle windows on the 2nd floor. We had a code system we used to use with flashing our bedroom lights and we used to leave eachother messages through colored symbols we would tape up in our window. She moved away and things were never the same after that. Another family moved in and resided the house. It is strange when I look at that home now and see different little kids playing out in the yard.










New places are springing up in one area of Portage, but I don't feel connected to any of these places. As the years go by more of these places will continue to open, and more of the places that hold so many memories will fade away. At least no Wal-mart or Family Video can take away all the little seemingly meaningless memories. It really seems as though places don't even seem that important until they are gone, and the only places that remain are the same looking buildings with all the same businesses. That is what is happening to my hometown and probably yours too.

PR for State Farm

For this assignment I took pictures for my dad's State Farm Insurance Office. He was planning an open house with a raffle for Packer Tickets. This tends to bring in a lot of people. He wrote up some copy about the open house and sent it into the Wisconsin Dells Paper along my photo.



I also took a couple pictures at the open house and we are going to write up a little story about what happened at the open house, such as who won the raffle. We'll send those in to the local paper this week and hope something gets published. It's great publicity for my dad.







Either way, my dad plans on using the photos for flyers or mailers that he sends out.

Journal #5- Moral Obligations?

I think that a photographer’s moral obligations depend upon what the photographs will be used for. If the photography is for personal recreation or artistic purposes then the I think in most cases the photographer can take a picture of whatever he or she wants. This is along as whatever is being photographed is something that is in public and could be seen by the naked eye.

However, I thing that with photojournalism comes more moral obligations. Because photojournalists’ photos have the potential of being republished all over the world, there should be some guidelines. I know personally I don’t think pictures of dead people or grieving people should be published. To me the issue here isn’t because of the people that might see the images. I see it out of respect for the subject.

Yet a photographer is often obligated to tell the truth. Sometimes you must ignore that voice telling you no to take the picture because you may get a photo that really tells a story and that is the most important obligation of a photographer- is to tell the story…

Journal #4- Grand narrative?

I have been thinking of what story to tell for my photo essay. I really want it to be something that tells at least some part of my life. Lately I have been thinking about past memories and what they mean. It seems like as you get older, the places that have some type of meaning to you seem to disappear and be replaced by something that you cannot connect to. I plan to explore something like this for my photo essay.

Do I have some type of grand narrative? No, my story seems to be made up of a lot of little stories that are significant to me in many different ways, but they in no major way seem to chronicle every aspect of what my life is.

I am definitely still writing the story of my life. All I have done so far is the beginning. It’s funny though. When I think of my life as a story it seems like it would be a pretty boring story for other people to read or hear. But to me it is not boring. I guess that is just because different things mean different things to different people, just like photographs. To someone else, a picture of my old house does not seem that great... but to me it holds so much value.

Journal #3- In front or behind the camera?

I think that I am better behind the camera, rather in front of it- especially when it comes to semi artistic photos. Sure I am fine at looking at the camera, flashing a big grin, and not blinking, but whenever I am a friend's model for what I think of as a real photograph, I always look really uncomfortable. I am never sure where to look or what face to make. It’s really hard to relax.

Being behind the camera is better. I feel much less vulnerable and I have all the control. I tell the subject where to look or what to do with their body. It is much less awkward for me. I have much more confidence behind the camera and thus it is way more fun!

Journal #2- Differences between the Photograph and the thing itself.

There are several differences between a photograph of something and the thing itself. To me the photograph can often be more beautiful, even if the photo is of some mundane object. This is because..

• photos can often capture details that people fail to notice with the naked eye
• photography forces the audience to look at photos in ways that they often would not such as different perspectives, angles, or different distances away from subject.
• photos can be cropped to cut out distractions or less desirable images.
• photos often draw attention to lights, darks, shadows, and highlights.
• photos can be edited to make the image better than the original.
• To me, black and white photos are always the best... but we don't see in black and white.
  

Yet often times the original object or sunset is much more beautiful than any photo. Just seeing something with your own eyes and feeling the mommentt is what makes something beautiful. For example, a photos of ocean waves crashing against the beach is not as great as seeing the waves crash as you feel the wind and smell the sea

Journal #1- Earliest Memory

My earliest memory is of me playing outside on these old wood charis that we used to have. It had to be before age 2 because it was at the first house that I lived in. There were these 3 chairs but they were different sizes. One was really big, one was slightly smaller, and then there was one little tiny one that was my size. The time that I remember playing with these chairs I even remember what I was wearing... my light green snowsuit.

There is a picture of this and I tried to find it... but couldn't. I think my dad just took the picture because he thought I was being cute or silly or something. My parents have been semi skeptical that this is my first memory because I was so little. They say I must just remember the picture. However, I remember more than the picture. I really remember the momment. I Remember that I was in that old garage and that I was having fun. But maybe the picture over the years helped me to remember that time. It seems that pictures can be very helpful in remembering things in the past- often things that are not of crucial importance.

Portraits

Old Portage

This place used to sell boats....It has been abandoned for as long as I can remember.



This was once Hill Ford... The entire building, located in the middle of downtown Portage, has been vacant for years

The "Old Shoe Factory" employed hundreds...eventually another shoe factory opened on the other side of town. The factory closed in the 70's and few shoe factories remain in the United States.

The 'Popcorn Stand' was a family run business that brought in customers from all over. I remember how all of downtown used to smell like popcorn. When the stand opened for the season, it was always a front page news story. It has been closed for over 5 years now... I still haven't tasted better popcorn.




Portage even once had a women's lingerie store...It didn't last...




Sandy's Hallmark... I remember going in there when I was little to buy presents for my mom. I miss that Hallmark smell... The empty Barbara's Lingerie Shop is reflected in the window.

Self Portrait

Bridal Pond at Sunset


Now is the time of day when artificial light starts to take over as the sun sets. I really like this time of day in the winter because when the light reflects off the snow, the snow begins to look purple.

Here is my photo for the light assignment. I like this photo because I love sunsets, and I like the little bit of light that reflects off the water.