Fall 07

Overall, I felt my final project for senior portfolio was OK. Towards the end I felt very rushed. I had only a week to print after the power-point and it didn't give me a lot of time to re-evaluate my images and plan for my final presentation. I really really hated the way my prints looked - I mounted them on foam core, which I didn't like, and I thought it would be good idea to print them at different sizes, which I also didn't like. I think there are some prints I would like to take out of the series that I felt were not necessary, and I want to re-print them all at the same size. I thought my critique went well - it generated a lot of discussion which is really the entire purpose of the project, but I really need to work on my ability to express my thoughts concisely... In my senior portfolio class, no one really challenged the intent of my work, and when it came time to defend my concept, I got a bit flustered with my words and thoughts. I was amused by some of the reactions to my work - it literally came straight from some of my readings about Whiteness in which people got defensive and pointed the finger. Things like, "well, black people are racist too," and, "We should be color-blind," were all excuses I expected to hear, but had not yet been challenged to answered. One of my biggest goals for this semester is to engage in more conversations about whiteness in which I feel comfortable talking without getting flustered and frustrated. I am also taking African American Literature which will hopefully help me to articulate my thoughts better.
This semester, I'd like to finalize my last project - perhaps find some more apporpiate images to replace those that I thought were not so great. But seeing that this is my last semester, I'm thinking of directly my Whiteness theme into something more personal. Perhaps a sort of exploration of my struggle with whiteness, my upbringing, and lack of traditional culture within, even though I am Jewish and Brazilian. I'm still thinking about it...