"Spring Break" By Timothy Keaney

Spring Break has always been seen as a time of craziness with partying, dancing, drinking and hopefully someone taking their clothes off.  College students work hard throughout the year, for the most part, and take on a good amount of stress.  Spring Break usually comes right before finals where students have that one last moment to relieve themselves from their stressful environment of school and are able to let lose however they feel.  I knew I was going away for Spring Break to Myrtle Beach with a group of my friends; so, why not document a Spring Break experience for my final project? I know my friends and I’ve seen them at their best and I’ve seen them at their worst so anything was possible. 

When the trip began I made sure everyone was okay with me photographing him or her and the only thing I said was to pretend the camera wasn’t there. For the most part that went well and everyone looked through me.

Throughout the trip the way everything was happening it appeared that the trip was planned out for a very relaxing and peaceful experience, just to get away for a while. The people I documented went to the beach almost every day, caught up on sleep, went out to eat, walked on the boardwalk and went to a club one night, unfortunately I couldn’t bring my camera in, and lightly drank throughout the time.  Nothing crazy! Just a peaceful relaxing time with friends.  Then I thought, the only craziness I really know about Spring Break is from movies and shows. So, I would say although I didn’t get an exciting outcome with my project, I did get a realistic documented experience that shows a different side of Spring Break. Maybe even a more accurate side.   

The Story of a Gymnast

At the tender age of five my sister began her career as a gymnast. Isabella is now her team captain and a senior ready to graduate from high school. After so many years gymnastics is no longer just a sport to her, it has become her whole life.

Her drive, determination and discipline have shaped her into what I believe is the true definition of an athlete. I find that the tenacity and self-control she's developed through gymnastics is found few and far between among other people her age. I want these photographs to showcase her strength, grace, and skill level, which she has worked so hard to perfect over the years. In every motion, through every routine, she hits every pose with consummate poise. 

Gymnastics is ever-present wherever she is. Whether at home, or in the gym, her life revolves around this sport. I admire her for everything she has been able to accomplish, and am so proud to call this talented gymnast my sister. 

Final Project

  Ever increasing in size and availability and filled with stores specializing in everything from shoes and clothing to baseball cards and cell phones, the shopping mall has become a staple of the American landscape.  When starting this project I had planned to seek out the different groups of people that call the mall home.  I was seeking out the bands of teenagers that linger in the food court or arcade with nothing better to do or the tired shopping companions abandoned in the various seating areas too tired to continue.  What I wasn’t expecting to find was that the mall is largely filled with those too young to even be there on their own.

  Small children dragged along by their parents can be found in all corners of the mall.  We can find them pretty much everywhere strapped into strollers or kept close by the clutch of a hand.  They’re in the food courts and department stores, the corridors and seating areas.  Their frequency throughout the mall is a nod to how young we begin acclimatizing our youth to cultural norms.  And, it’s interesting that this is not the first generation that will be part of mall culture for their entire lives but just one of many.

Final Project by Maggie Terrels

For my final project I chose to photograph dogs with their owners. I tried to focus on the connection between dog and owner. I really enjoyed shooting this project because I, myself am a huge animal lover. I have always had dogs of my own growing up and now that I left home and live in my own apartment I adopted a dog from the North Shore Animal Hospital this November. I bring her to the dog park often and I figured it would be interesting to try and capture the relationship of other dogs in the park with their owners. I went back to my local park in Islip a few times, and I went to Central Park as well. People in the city were less reluctant to let me take their picture because they were in a rush. I got my best shots at my local dog park. Overall I really enjoyed shooting this project. I had fun meeting new people and their pets.

Fiore Italiano (Italian Flower)

            My parents and my parents’ parents and the generations before them grew up with what you can call a green thumb. My Nana, 91, on my mother’s side, still lives on a handful of acres on Long Island that my grandfather, her husband, and his father had worked for to buy for my family. With all this land they built gardens, green houses, and planted countless trees and raised farm animals.

            When I spoke to each of the owners of “The Little Flower Shop” in Locust Valley, New York and “Constantino’s” in Glen Cove, New York, I fell in love with them immediately because they reminded me of my family. Both of the owners are not originally from America and they came here with whatever money was in their pocket in search of a different life. They came here and found that they could not achieve the job they had imagined for themselves, but along the way they discovered a love for growing and tending to common and exotic plants.

            In this series of photographs my main purpose was to show the viewers the owners and what their hard work has accomplished. 

Final - The Scar Project

Whether they are subtle, or very distinct, all scars have stories. They say something about the exterior of a human that not even a tattoo can depict. They become a memory, a badge of honor, something that we will always have on the canvas known as our body.

I myself have many scars. Childhood scars, surgical scars, accidental  scars.  I look at these scars no different then I look at the rest of my skin. They are a part of my outer appearance, a part I never wish to change.  I take pride in the fact that I have a four inch scar running across my breast.  It might look unappealing to most, but to me it is a mark that holds years of emotion and strength. 

Missed opportunity-Jen Brunjes

Missing photographic opportunities is something that unfortunately happens to me regularly. The lack of a camera in my life makes it so every single day I miss something I should have shot. I recently spent a week hitchhiking up state into the mountains. Without my camera I felt as if every minute there was something I was missing. From the people giving me rides, to the mountains I was climbing, I wanted to photograph anything and everything, but I couldn’t. I found myself regularly putting my hands in front of my face as if I were holding an imaginary camera and pushing the imaginary shutter, just to attempt to capture the image in my head. If I can’t have a permanent hard copy of the images I am seeing, I may as well have a hard copy inside my head. I have missed so many photographic opportunities. So many experience left to be captured just floating about waiting to be immortalized on film, but forever left to fade in my memory.