Please Please Please

Ok, so I work at a college too. One bit of advice. Don't use the word "passionate." It is the single most overused word in college application essays. For instance, don't say you are passionate about photography (assuming you might be). Instead, talk about why photography interests you...
 
wow you forty year olds are quite grumpy, i think its time for a nap or bed time depending where you are in the world. In fact you could do quite a bit of damage, detering a young intelligent college student like myself from the rangefinder world, god forbid the film world. :eek:

I am far from a young hipster trying to shoot to look well i don't even know the adjective, i think it will suffice to say "hip". I left highschool my sophmore year and am in a junior college at the moment, as i was too young to transfer to my reach school, UC Berkeley. I am highly ambitious and along with the college counselor who I have "invested" in, I am embarking on the journey of applying. To be able to disclose your life experiences and distinguish yourself from the, as a member said, the "passionate" essays, is a fine art on its best days, impossible on its worst. I have at least 4 and half months to write and fine tune this essay, and i am in a research phase of the process. I am not looking for college advise or anything of the sorts. i just want to as i have reiterated now 3 times, i am looking for underlying philosophies, ideas, abstracts (as another member pointed out) and feelings about photographies. This photographer is especially is an inspiration for reasons I'd rather not disclose, and i just wanted to see his ideas.

I truly do understand the massive undertaking that the college process entails.

With that said, I am usually a to the point kind of person, so if anyone can think of the photographer i mentioned than i would really appreciate it.
 
If you're tough enough to deal with us, you'll do fine.

Google "photographer with cancer," then take you pick... I'm guessing Rick Staudt is who you have in mind.
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Matuschka: http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/matarac.html
Rick Staudt: [/FONT]http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7017918.html
Dith Pran: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/OnCall/story?id=4396882&page=1
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What are you hoping to study in college?

Anyway, don't take a bunch of grumpy old men too seriously. Like I said, we're just jealous.

If you shoot film, you're probably a good guy (or gal).
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rangefound said:
wow you forty year olds are quite grumpy, i think its time for a nap or bed time depending where you are in the world. In fact you could do quite a bit of damage, detering a young intelligent college student like myself from the rangefinder world, god forbid the film world. :eek:

I am far from a young hipster trying to shoot to look well i don't even know the adjective, i think it will suffice to say "hip". I left highschool my sophmore year and am in a junior college at the moment, as i was too young to transfer to my reach school, UC Berkeley. I am highly ambitious and along with the college counselor who I have "invested" in, I am embarking on the journey of applying. To be able to disclose your life experiences and distinguish yourself from the, as a member said, the "passionate" essays, is a fine art on its best days, impossible on its worst. I have at least 4 and half months to write and fine tune this essay, and i am in a research phase of the process. I am not looking for college advise or anything of the sorts. i just want to as i have reiterated now 3 times, i am looking for underlying philosophies, ideas, abstracts (as another member pointed out) and feelings about photographies. This photographer is especially is an inspiration for reasons I'd rather not disclose, and i just wanted to see his ideas.

I truly do understand the massive undertaking that the college process entails.

With that said, I am usually a to the point kind of person, so if anyone can think of the photographer i mentioned than i would really appreciate it.
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If you think the 40 yo's are bad, wait til you get a load of us demicentarians! :eek:

Have you discussed this with your cc photo teacher or other staff member there? I suppose you have, but they probably gave you the same guff as we did here - I know my colleague in the Photo department would at my school.

So why don't you take another tack with this. Instead of asking us to be a super-duper encyclopedia on your behalf, and play 20 questions to discover who you are talking about, why not tell us a bit about your photography.

For example, why are you interested in pursuing a degree in photography? What do you have to say that you say best through photography (feel free to illustrate your answer with original photographs.) In addition to this mystery photographer, who influences you that you CAN remember the name of?

Discuss these questions with us, and you will have found a way that perhaps we CAN assist in writing your essay. But I'm not much interested in doing some online searching for you. That's a skill that a college student should excel at.

ps, thanks for using the term "fine art" correctly in context.
 
Rangefound, you're overanalyzing the essay. Doing so is to run the risk of getting stuck before you begin. Just write what comes to mind after some reflection on your own reasons and views on whatever aspect of your experience of photography you are trying to relate. Then analyze what you wrote in terms of what you mean. Revise, reassess; rinse, repeat. It's better to draw from your own experience first, without conditioning it on "research" into the ponderings of others -- your own experience is more relevant for this purpose than your external research skills. It's misguided to set out with the intention to sound profound.
 
rangefound said:
help me. I am writing a college essay for admissions and I am trying to use a metaphor of photography to my life experience. I am trying to find something profound to say and a story to say.
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I don't know any photography metaphors for life but I do know one about life being like a box of chocolates.

Seriously, don't try to write anything profound. It'll either sound phoney or cheesy. Instead try to write something smart and intelligent. And take it from a fellow 20something: Nothing smart and intelligent will come from an internet photography forum ;)
 
rangefound said:
help me. I am writing a college essay for admissions and I am trying to use a metaphor of photography to my life experience. I am trying to find something profound to say and a story to say.

I know a while ago (anywhere from a month to 10 weeks ago) someone posted an article about a photographer who had cancer and he used to take photos in his house, and as he got stronger he would get further and further out from the house. His pictures were quite eerie and were quite surrealistic. If you could help me i would really appreciate it.

o no, no, no. You guys completely misunderstood my intentions. I just want to see something as a source of inspiration to set a guide, i would never copy verbatim. I really just want to see his underlying philosophy. Does anyone remember what im talking about?
I have got months and months to write out my essay, its not like its just on a whim what to throw down now. Its a matter of getting a direction.
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Yes, well, I can remember my own university applications, though they never asked for essays. Here's what help I can give, based on several decades earning a living with camera and keyboard. One or two bits may appear harsh, but they are as important as the other bits, so don't stop reading in disgust.

Profundity often works better when it is handled lightly. It is all too easy, otherwise, to come across as pompous.

Unless you are a very good writer, an attempt to draw parallels between a cancer sufferer and yourself will be at best bathos and at worst in extremely poor taste. And, at the risk of appearing rude, you're not a very good writer. 'A story to say' instead of 'to tell'; a resolute avoidance of capital letters, even for 'I'; a disregard for the common apostrophe; none of this bodes well. NEVER describe yourself as intelligent ('detering a young intelligent college student like myself'), even if you are: leave that for others to decide. Don't insult those in a position to help you, especially in a patronizing reference to their age: 'wow you forty year olds are quite grumpy, i think its time for a nap or bed time depending where you are in the world.'

If you can't remember the story behind the cancer-suffering photographer, it can't really have meant much to you. You're remembering it as a striking image, not as a logical or philosophical argument. I'd strongly advise you to avoid that theme.

How long does the essay have to be? Some ideas are easier to develop than others. I write a lot of short pieces -- a bit under 800 words for my weekly Amateur Photographer column, <200 words for the Short Schrift on the title page of my web-site (replaced every week or ten days), 1000 words for Land Rover World (monthly) -- and the ideas come from an endless variety of sources: the difference between screw caps and corks on whisky bottles (corks are seen as more up-market), the parallels between True Believers in film and digital and True Believers in religion, the possibility that a £240,000 a year ($375,000) for the head of the Audit Commission might attract a worse candidate than £120,000, and so forth. Take a look at some of the Short Schrifts to see how a idea can be developed. May are lightweight, equipment-oriented pieces, but a few have some serious ideas behind them: http://www.rogerandfrances.com/short/z short schrift archive.html

Above all, stop trying. Let ideas come to you, arising from a natural curiosity about the world. Don't chase them: it frightens them away, and they can run faster than you. Read voraciously. Study history. Look hard at politics, with an eye open for telling lines and ideas: Marx, for example, "Every class acts in its own class interest." If an idea is not working, let it go: don't try to hold to to it. Ideas are like buses: there's always another one along later.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

R.
 
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Rangefound,

may I recommend to you as a starting point "The new history of photography" edited by Michel Frizot, especially chapter 36, Beyond Reality - The Subjective Vision. Good luck with you endeavours.
 
rangefound, when I was at college we looked at a photographer called Jo Spence who documented her own breast cancer.

Now for the "I sound like my ol' man" bit lecture.

I couldn't remember her name so I Googled 'woman photographer who documented her breast cancer'.

When I was younger (44 now) my father would tell me to use the library. Now we have the Internet at our finger tips. It's never been easier! I mean.. sat here with my iPhone whilst my 3 yr old watches 'Pingu' and 8 month old is asleep.

Sorry about the 'lecture', it comes to us all... honestly.

Steve.
 
When I had to write an admissions essay, I first searched on articles on "how to write a personal statement". There are lots of resources out there to get you started (Purdue's online writing lab, for example).

You will also find many examples, both good and bad. These can really help illustrate what has worked for others; I suspect that is what you were after in your first post.
 
A few years ago, and simply as an illustration, I wrote a history essay for my son. He was getting poor marks and I was trying to show him how to construct a proper essay. I got a D ... so you're probably better doing it yourself
 
Sparrow said:
A few years ago, and simply as an illustration, I wrote a history essay for my son. He was getting poor marks and I was trying to show him how to construct a proper essay. I got a D ... so you're probably better doing it yourself
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Stewart...that made my day!

Probably be me in a few years when mine are at school (No no son, you doing it all wrong...this is how you do it.) :eek:
 
Avoid cliches and actually say something about why you're interested in making photographs. Let someone else read your essay before your hand it in. Write a draft sooner rather than later. Answer the question (if there is one).
 
Before Starting.

Before Starting.

rangefound said:
help me. I am writing a college essay for admissions and I am trying to use a metaphor of photography to my life experience. I am trying to find something profound to say and a story to say.
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Well, I'm 70, and I think the 40 year olds are a bunch of grumpy b******s. They're not usually, so let's be charitable and put it down to them having had a bad weekend and it's Monday and they have to go to work. I don't!

As usual, Roger Hicks has made a particularly useful contribution and it would pay you to read it again closely.

I note the use of the words "metaphor" and "profound". My bullsh!t antenna quivers instantly because I see too much of what looks like pseudo intellectual waffle accompanying exhibition notes or articles by photographers (or their agents). If that's the direction you're heading in, pick up any "art" photography magazine and you'll find plenty of material.
I'm not saying this would necessarily be a bad choice - depends on what the examiners are looking for. Do you know? Can you find out? Because when I was doing political studies at University as part of a business degree the word on campus was that there were two lecturers who would only pass those who regurgitated the stuff that those same lecturers had delivered, along with social issues and political leanings close to their hearts. Give them what they want, not what you think.
I first wrote as I thought. Failed. Then I re-sat the exam and wrote for the examiner. An "A" pass! Eureka. Should have listened to the grapevine.

So before you even get started I'd suggest you do some research and try to find out what goes down well at the college. That might indicate a path or treatment that will be more successful than trying to find profound metaphors that might be wide of the mark. Can you talk to some students who are enrolled in the same course and find out what their learning has been?

At 70 I may not be grumpy (well not all the time) but I can sure be cynical!
 
The Deep and Meaningful Bit

The Deep and Meaningful Bit

rangefound said:
I am trying to use a metaphor of photography to my life experience. I am trying to find something profound to say and a story to say.
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OK. Here's an idea. I have no idea what your "life experience" is - possibly not too much at this stage, so this might not work.

Life is pretty much made up of taking decisions, making choices, based on what is presented to us at any given time and we then live with the consequences. And what we decide often impacts on others. Photography is something that can be accessed in similar ways by most people. At least in an affluent Western society. Some take an interest, some don't.
Of those who do, what are the differences and the choices that lead one to become Annie Leibowitz, another a Richard Avedon, a Gary Winogrand, a Steve McCurry, a Phillip Bradbury, a Sebastiao Salgado?

Society photography, fashion, street, war, social documentary? And so on.
And what are the parallels, if any, with the choices you've been presented with and the paths you've gone down?
 
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