Inspiration for Final Project

 Justin Kimball

By: Amanda Schaeffer

            My final project is about capturing buildings and important landmarks around my county. I want someone from Schuylkill county to look at my photographs and say "that's my county" due to knowing the important scenery shots. My county is an extremely rural/farmland area and doesn't have a lot of population. Which is why I chose Justin Kimball for my inspiration for my final project. Kimball took many photos around rural areas to showcase towns and how they live. Which is basically what I'm going for, to showcase where we live at and how we see our county.

            Justin Kimball inspired me for my final project on capturing the details of our county's specific landmarks. If you go to his website, under the "Elegy" tab, you will find old abandoned homes, landscapes, and even pools. The picture above is the photo I chose due to the scenery view of the green pool and run down houses. Kimball really captures what a rural/abandoned town would look like. Trash in certain places, run down house that needs to be worked on, and an unused pool. The photo represents what you might see if you explore a rural town. With Kimball's above image and all his images in his "Elegy" section, he has inspired me to look closely at the details because I might think something is normal in my town but someone in my class might think it's abnormal due to never seeing it before. For example, in my county there's a Vraj, a Hindu temple, which I always thought it was normal seeing it and never really thought it was interesting to look at, but many students in my class were drawn to that image and wanted me to include it for my final project. In conclusion, I did put the Vraj in my final project presentation since the details of it attracted the attention of my fellow classmates. Justin Kimball inspired me to remember to look for the small details and to have an open mind on my photos that they might be different to how my classmates view a "rural" area. 

            I had a great time with my final project due to going around my county and taking landmark photos around my rural area. It pushed me to visit places and to see what different angles I can capture it at. Justin Kimball's photographs gave me inspiration and a push to capture details so my audience can get a feel on what my county has to offer. Looking through his rural photographs, I knew I didn't want to do the same concept as him with his "Elegy" series, but it pointed me to the right path on how to take my photographs and attract my classmates. I'm happy with my series I created especially since I got to showcase my county and all the wonderful landmarks it holds.