Hello! My name is Jessie Koontz and I am an "official" graduate of Temple University. I studied Kinesiology and am currently finishing up my last 8 credits of electives this summer. As of now I am a stay-at-home daughter, taking some much needed time off before grad school (if they'll have me). When I'm not looking at classified ads I enjoy spending my time with friends and family, running, hiking, reading, listening to music, taking photos and watching Game of Thrones. I am a self-proclaimed craft beer and wine enthusiast, enjoy crude comedy movies, have 3 tattoos and desperately want more and love traveling; my first trip to Cali booked for the end of June. Other than that I'm your pretty average 22 year old.
I am looking forward to this class and checking out all of your photos!
Hello Jessie Koontz, it's nice to meet you. You seem fun an interesting I share many different interests as you, and if your interested in getting more tattoos the tattoo convention comes every year I just got my 5th one this year for really cheap. Also if you like crude comedies and GoT check out any of Tim and Eric's stuff and a show called Vikings on the History Channel. Anyway, your picture is lovely. Your technique using a medium close-up, and staring directly into the camera is extremely engaging. The first thing that pops out with this photo are your colorful lips, than the second the piercing gaze into the camera. Your head cocking to the right exposes more of the joints of the stone wall behind you and makes my eyes follow around the rest of the frame. The balance is shifted to the right making the composition more interesting in this picture. It feels stronger on the right side. I believe that you fulfilled this assignment, by making a self portrait that shows you as the person you want others to see.
ReplyDeleteI am not quite sure what you are trying to communicate to the viewer here, since it is just you against a stone wall. What I interpret from the picture is that you like to wear makeup and picked a black tank top so you care about your image, but are also proud of it. The woman that is in this picture is strong and almost seems to be challenging her viewer because of the way her head is cocked or maybe asking, "So what do you think?". From your other screenshots where you give obvious emotions, I think you made a great choice by choosing this one. The viewer is left to wonder how you are feeling or what you are saying which makes the image more interesting.
Hey Jessie, nice to meet you! Congrats on graduating and that's awesome about Kinesiology, I hope in my time left at Temple I get to take a class. I love Game of Thrones too and am so pumped for this season! That's so exciting about Cali and you will definitely have a blast, I am so jealous!
ReplyDeleteYou photo appears fun and genuine, which after reading your profile seems to sum you up. I agree with Luke that the first thing my eyes are drawn to are you lips becasue every other color in your piece is a neutral. I like the link between your top eyeliner and your black tanktop, which encourages the viewer's eyes to travel (I think there is an artistic term for this but I am blanking right now). For some reason I wish you had a Hawaiian flower in your hair (I just finished watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall and that's like all Mila Kunis has so that might be the link), but I think something colorful like that behind your ear might have drawn the viewer's eyes as well, and after looking at your screenshots I see that you did have a flower in your hair! I question what made you choose this photo over the ones below, and what about the flower you did not think conveyed you. I see that you have no necklaces so maybe you prefer simpler tastes as also evident by your plain black tank top.
This photo reminds me a lot of a headshot, which works with the assignment because those are also meant to tell the viewer something about the person whom they are looking at. I agree with Luke that I am trying to figure out what you are trying to communicate to the viewer. You look approachable and comfortable in your skin so maybe that is what you are trying to convey. I like the background but for the purpose of showing the viewer something about you, this does little for me.
Overall, great job though! I would only have changed the background and maybe worked with your expression to make it less ambiguous. But I definitely believe you satisfied this assignment and I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Hey Jessie! Really cool photo. The lighting is strong, and complements your features really nicely. Without reading your bio, what I gathered from your self-portrait, is that you put effort into your appearance, with makeup, which is very natural but still bring out your best features. The choice to wear pink lipstick says something about your feminine side, and you the position of your head to one side also give off this inviting, pleasant effect. The picture is a great head-shot, and I think the lighting on your face complements the brick wall behind you. Looking at your screenshots, it seems you played a lot with different angles and poses, but I think this one suits you the best, and gives off a genuine tone.
ReplyDeleteWhats good Jessie? I know people say it all the time, but your eyes are the first thing that stood out to me. They are big and beautiful! I like how you used a pink lip gloss that stood out from the rest of the colors in your photo. Congratulations on graduating, and I hope to soon add my name to the list of Temple University graduate. Also the look you have in the photo you've chosen says to me you are ready to start your future, with eyes wide open. You can also see that you care how the world sees you, and not in a bad way. First impressions are important and you have set the bar high with just a photo, and a look. The brick wall in the back ground shows that you are feminine, yet strong.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the rest of your photos I can see your not scared to experiment, and you don't take yourself to serious, again in a good way. I hope that you find a job soon, but not before you get the chance to do some traveling. Enjoy your time off from the grind of school.
Hi Jessie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very beautiful portrait of you. As many of the others have pointed out the touch of pink from your lipstick is a nice addition to all the neutral colors of the photo. The lighting in the picture is also very nice; it brings direct attention to your face and the flow of your hair. The use of a textured background was also a nice touch. I feel like it adds to the beauty of the photo and would not have been as nice if it was just plain.
I'm not sure, however, what was trying to be conveyed in this photo. You seem to be holding an intense gaze with the viewer and maybe this is where you were trying to convey something, but that is only me guessing. Maybe, as others have suggested, the approachable look you portray in this photo is what you were trying to originally convey; that you are the type of person who is kind and is easy to talk to. Again, however, that is just me guessing.
All in all, this is a excellent photo that captures your beauty. There are a lot of talented people in this class, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from them and from you during the rest of this semester.