happy mind, happy eyes.

im f i n a l l y making progress towards my show! ptl.

for one of my classes we had to take 1,000 photos and do something interesting with them. dang.

all the while i was trying to brainstorm for my show, so i combined the two projects together.

below are a few sketches of ideas i would like to play out in my show.. really vague ideas at this point, but still ideas.

for these images i took a picture of my photo slideshow on my computer. as each image changed, they overlapped and i captured that overlap.

the interactions are so interesting and completely spontaneous, i had no control over their relationship, just over when i documented their interaction.

this was such a rich experience for me, i enjoyed every second.

i shot 500 of these interactions and printed 45 of them on vellum (an opaque paper substance) creating a book so you are able to see through both images to the images on the  next page.

this is just a teaser of a few, but i thought i'd keep you posted on what i've been working on/thinking about.

since this project i've made significant progress towards my show and it's changed quite a bit, which is great. not ready to post those yet though... you'll just have to see them MAY 2ND!

(copyright rachel mccord photography 2011... stealing is wrong)

bits of things

first week of school. check.
after a a few classes, lots of emailing, meetings, shoots, projects, brainstortming, wandering about, best friend visits, quick disneyland nights, some old friend catch-ups over dinner and viewing of star trek 4... thus ends the first week, with heaps of sentimentality.

huge news. got a job offer this weekend (!!!) a real life big-girl job where i would be payed to do what i love to do. still praying, we'll see what God's got goin on. but real real exciting to seriously consider a viable option such as this so early in the semester before the final stages of "what the hell am i going to do with my life" panic ensues.

in other news, i realize i have posted z e r o proof of my visit overseas... so here you are. its a tease, with only one but let's be honest... there's no way you want to sift through over 2,000 that i took. forreal.

venice. only one of the most delightful/photogenic cities in ze world.

i move into my studio this week and will get to work on my show/life/work/humanity, ha.

back from Italia.

wow wow wow.
just got back yesterday from my interterm trip to Italy.
my soul is still swimming with all that my eyes saw, all that my mind learned, and all that my heart felt. (photographic proof soon to come)

now i'm sleepily resetting my brain to school mode this next coming week and am preparing to look through all of the images i took while i was over in that beautiful country. i might have an art-attack while looking over them. and then may also have the sudden impulse to run back to the airport and catch the first flight to Florence that I can find/sell organs to afford.
but i'll probably refrain. probably.

my heart is so full, even though my mind and body are so weary.
that right there, is a feeling of great accomplishment.
ciao ciao.

so fascinating.

the story of a nanny who was an undiscovered photographer. her work was just found last year and had never previously been seen. its up to par with all the greats of 20th century photography. i just watched this twice. so obsessed. her work is beautiful and so interesting.
...the host of the show is a loser, but its worth it. i pinky swear.

watch this, seriously.

most beautiful thing i have laid eyes on in quite some time.
[ i watched it three times in a row, couldn't get enough]

Dark Side of the Lens by Astray Films



breathtakingly gorgeous, right? yep.

happy thursday, friends.

big day.

today i decided what i will create for my senior show.

(!!!)

which is pretty much the most important thing i will ever do in my undergraduate career and will be my first professional body of work which i will use as a portfolio builder to launch myself into the world.

and today i decided what im going to do & how i'm going to do it.

it felt surreal to finally be at the place i've been daydreaming of since sophomore year.
but i'm beyond excited to get started and make work that i'm passionate about for no other reason than my desire to make something beautiful & meaningful for others to look at.

just hope my thoughts translate well into physical form. i suppose we shall see at my show come spring! so excited.

p.s... please come see it, okay? okay.

tuition dollars paying off

since i've been chatting so much about how out of control my schedule is... i thought i'd show you why.

my second home is mcnally 82: the art lab.

i spend more time here than i do in my apartment these days.

but i don't mind looking like this, if my work looks like this. 

here's some tidbits of projects i've been working on in my advanced photo classes & at work:

large format 4x5 film camera with natural lighting 

printed digitally; triptych format (3 images)

large format 4x5 film camera & studio strobe lighting

35mm film camera layering of multiple negatives

(digital version, darkroom version still to come)

trying my hand in sports photography for work at the biolan.

so much different than what i'm used to shooting, definitely still rusty but learning.

i seriously learn something critically important everrrry day. 

all photo, all the time. nuts. great. love it.

learning from the greats

soaking up their thoughts & images...

"I photograph elements of my life, places where I feel comfortable, 

where my way of thinking is in line with that I am doing." 

-Sebastiao Salgado

"I think if you don't love people and aren't fascinated by them, you'll never

 succeed as a portrait photographer, because your pictures will look cold."

 - Rankin

"I get excited about authenticity. I try to find something special. 

I don't even know what it is. It's intuition." 

- Rineke Dijkstra

"The key is to photograph your obsessions, whether that's old people's hands or skyscrapers. Think of a blank canvas, because that's what you've got, 

and then think about what you want to see." 

- David LaChapelle

nephew l o v e time

i got to paparazzi these bad boys for a few hours the other day... and it still wasn't enough.

i could hang with them all day long. such cool cats that just so happen to be related to me.  

and they also happen to be extremely handsome. love it.

dying to see more?

thought so.

>> click here <<

love this.

pure g o o d n e s s.

tidbits of The Swell Season show. 

it was on tuesday and my soul is still melting. 

ugh, seriously so great.

thanks for the audible bliss. 

until next time my fine musical friends...

my best friend is a beauty queen.

it's plain and simple... she was a gorgeous bride & is still a gorgeous newlywed. 

love this lady bunches.

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in other news:

i second shot a wedding last night with a friend of mine and will post a few teaser pics as well as a few on my site [ www.rachelmccordphotography.com ] which i will be updating with those and other images this week! so stay tuned!

happy sunday.

... aaand breath out.

and just like that, weight off my shoulders.

after weeks of worrying, asking friends, asking professors, asking photographers, asking myself, asking anyone and everyone... i am proud finally breath out and say: i have an internship for the fall. [yesssss!]

with a photographer that i have heard nothing but great things about, in addition to his impressive body of work as well as great interactions i've had with him so far.
i can legitimately say that i am so stinkin excited.

in other news:

- it's dead week, and i am actually not dying yet, ha, just on an IV of diet coke and cat naps.

- still crossing my fingers for on campus job for the fall [think happy thoughts for me]

- my studio final projects are creepin up on me but aren't overwhelming which is a new feeling, i actually have a good handle on them and am happy with the way they're turning out so far, which is also a new feeling.

- i will be a senior in college in exactly 9 days. N U T S. who let this happen?

- the national is delicious, see for yourself down below:

Help a sistah out!

Hello my faithful friends,

As many of you may know, I have a this blog (duh, silly statement) in which I record life, thoughts, happenings and the general overflow that the walls of my mind can't keep in. 

But {here's the part where you get stoked} I've created another blog for a class project. That's right. Two blogs. I may be crazy, but I'm embracing it. This blog is a space for something entirely different, however.

For my Photo II class our final project involves exploring digital media and this new blog will be a reflection of my attempt at understanding digital media in our contemporary context.

I will do so by creating a process of taking 50 photos a day, posting them along with text/literature/music/video/scripture/media/news etc. to create a cohesive stream of thought. 

I can't guarantee it will all be great, but it will at least give me {and you, if you so desire} something to chew on and hopefully some pretty things will emerge along the way.

I hope you'll join me in this new little avenue of thought and art that I'm about to head towards. And please keep your eyes & minds peeled for any thing on here that may intrigue you.

And PLEASE feel free to comment as much as you like, it will be taken as a collaboration with my project that I would love to include.

So check it out >>HERE<< and see what I've got cookin' over there.

Thanks in advance, you guys are great!
See you here, and there...

xo, Rachel

either that or

i am currently in the midst of a massive case of writers block. either that or i am yet again a procrastinating fool. either that or i am a tired girl with wide eyes for summer.

at any rate, my eyes and mind needed a swift hiatus for something beautiful.

and when i crave beautiful & lovely things....

... this is where i go > > {photos curtsey of: athingfor}

more than up[lift]ing words

soak these in. they're juicy.

NEW photos at rachelmccordphotography.com!

NEW photos are up!

In the following galleries on the portfolio page....

:: Love 

:: Life 

:: Lone

Check out my website here:

rachelmccordphotography.com

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Treat your eyes with a peek /bookmark the page /tell your friends /schedule a photo shoot with me!

Thanks friends : )