Emily Masuda, Photography
Artist Statement
In high school, the uncertainty of which career path that I wanted to pursue daunted me. I took a semester off from school after graduating because I was unsure of what I wanted to study. During this time of uncertainty, my intuition pointed to a conversation that my father and I had when I was a child. I remember him telling me that if I worked hard and did what I love, I would not work a day in my life. During this semester off, I had dedicated most of my time learning how to shoot photography manually. The feeling that I got from taking a photograph was reminiscent of the feeling I get when hearing the song Hotel California play, passion, love, and nostalgia, and that moment was when I decided to change my major in the fall semester of 2018.
When creating photographs, I do not believe in limiting myself to a particular style or subject matter. My images can range from capturing the stillness and subtleties of a moment in nature to the boldness and high energy of a concert. However, regardless of what I photograph, I am primarily interested in creating abstract or experimental images. I express my thoughts, ideas, and feelings through my work, and I often try shooting photos from atypical perspectives. I enjoy incorporating visual distortion by using a prism in my digital work to heighten the mood, emphasize colors, and to create surreal or psychedelic effects. I prefer making alterations while shooting because I believe in capturing images as they appear in the viewfinder at that moment rather than heavily post-processing the images in photoshop. I dislike heavily post-processing my images, especially those of people or products because I believe that it takes away from the photo's integrity, especially when presented to a consumer.
听
