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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Fall Sunlight

I love this photo because of how it happened and because of how in the moment it was, even with a heavy 35mm camera. I decided to bring my camera on a trail up in the mountain, needing to quickly get some photos for an upcoming class assignment. I got lucky with some really beautiful fall lighting through the trees. One of the family friends I was hiking with stopped to admire the sunlight and stood directly in this natural spotlight. I noticed and rushed to take a photo. The sunlight streams through the trees, providing beautiful contrast and shadow and making the subject stand out from the busy natural background. I wouldn't change a thing about this shot.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Luminous Mirage

The photo I chose is not what it appears to be. It may look like the sun or the moon in the sky, but it is actually the camera pointed at my phone lens with the flashlight on. This keeps the light as the center with a reflection of my house and the trees. I think this one of my best photos because of its indecipherability and appealing appearance.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

EVA

My big sister is one of the most important people in my life and she means a lot to me. I chose to take photos of her for a school assignment using a DSLR camera. This is my favorite of the ones i took and she surprisingly loved it too.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Lonely Voyage

This picture might just seem like a normal picture for you but for me I see so much more. I see a small boat in a gigantic sea on a lonely voyage drifting through the sea. I see myself going through the waves of life in a big world. I took this picture because it spoke to me in so many ways even though it looks so simple. For me pictures could speak a million words depending on the way you see it. Many people won't see anything in this picture but with the right perspective you will see yourself as the boat in the picture going on a long lonely voyage in a Humongous world taking on the challenges of life.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Mr. Squelette

This was my first time ever developing and printing color film myself. The assignment was named "Golden Hour", and we were asked to study how light affects our surroundings. I tried several different filter settings to experiment with the print colors, and the simplicity of the image helped me understand the adjustments I was making. Overall, I was happy with how regal and dignified the skeleton is depicted, and the contrast with the details that reveal that he's just a cheap plastic Halloween decoration. My analog photography class in school has become a massive part of my life, every new technique that we learn in class makes the work exponentially fun while also pushing me to progressively become a better photographer. In my opinion, this print represents how I am able to learn in this class. The trial and error aspect of this print shows the typical learning process that we experience in class. The reason that I managed to perfect this print is because I find this class so fun and engaging. My teachers assign very interesting and inspiring projects that push the students to find new ways to make better art in this specific medium. Thanks to my teachers, my confidence and creativity as an artist had been lifted.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Universal

I am very drawn to architecture, it can pull my eye easily and I would most of the time take a picture of a building. While taking pictures of buildings or the outside world sometimes I will change the hue of the picture I take which would either correlate to what's in the picture or just because the colors of the actual place of the picture isn't vivid or vibrant. This picture here was taken at Universal Studios and I think it is a building from the Harry Potter movies. Me having knowledge about the Harry Potter movies. I made the picture dark based to make it kind of more accurate to the movie. Even though the picture has more of a dark base that does not make it non vivid or vibrant in my opinion. I also like the architect of this building hence to why I took the picture

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Macau at Dusk

This photo was taken while I was city walk in the old town of Macau. I really like the unique architecture of this small city. At dusk, I found that the bustling figures on the streets also reflected the busyness and vitality of Macau. I think the contrast between the sunlight on the building and the traffic on the street is just right. So I picked up the camera. Stay in this moment.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Penetrating Gaze

Solid rock, walls, and other seeming barriers feel insurmountable. But from the right vantage point, we can peer through exterior layers. Then, the deeper we look, the greater the clarity we acquire. Through clear levels of progression and shadowing that emphasizes the depth of the viewer's gaze, the photo delivers crystal clear focus on the underlying growth taking place within a structure that, if the outer layers had not been penetrated, would have remained unseen and unappreciated.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Walkway to Paradise

Under the watchful gaze of Mount Shasta, I stumbled upon a breathtaking sight. The sun dipped low, casting a soft glow on the water, turning it into a reflective masterpiece. Using my hands as a makeshift tripod, I snapped away until I found the perfect angle.In the image, nature's every detail unfolded – a flooded bridge sprawled across the reflection, creating an illusion of a pathway into the beauty of the surroundings. It was as if I could step onto that watery trail and walk straight into the heart of nature's wonders. The simplicity of the scene held a poetic charm, where the sun and water painted a serene picture, inviting me to explore the hidden poetry within the landscape.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Warm Breeze

On a beautiful day walking on the island Kauai of Hawaii, I went on a walk around where we were staying. I stopped at a couple different stops to take pictures and this was one of them. I loved how the palm trees swayed in the breeze and the beautiful resort and ocean so I captured it all in one picture.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Trans Joy

Trans joy: (n) A feeling of freedom or happiness in relation to one's own transness or gender euphoria. Beauty products are insanely gendered, and beauty expectations are often unrealistic and damaging. I wanted to encapsulate this with the subjects in the background. Personal hygiene products are often blue and white, promoting feelings of freshness and cleanliness, but the cosmetic and beauty industries are dirty and unsustainable. The purple and yellow on the testosterone vial stand out in the same way it often feels for me in a crowd of people. I’m constantly labeled as an outsider or as an “other”. My goal was to capture the beauty and messiness of being trans. I wanted to convey some of the feelings that I feel every day as a trans person, thinking about my place in this world. Often, there is so much pressure to conform because that’s the expectation yet conformity takes an immense amount of energy and effort. This photo is the fina photo from a series where I tried to tell a story of transformation using still lifes rather than relying on a human subject to convey the emotion.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Pause

This photo explores teenagers back in nature and taking a break from life. School, social pressures, and college are looming over teens, so exploring and reconnecting with nature is a way to cope. Being outside is a place where you can forget everything and just take a pause in life. You can finally take a deep breath. I did this photoshoot with only one model to capture this self-learning time. Coming of age is when teenagers are getting comfortable with themselves and learning to be independent. Teens need to take a break from burnout to help relieve some of the stress. It allows them to reflect, think about their emotions, clear their minds, and listen to their bodies. Teenagers in the Bay Area have this carefree, explorative side where they go on adventures. We can still appreciate life and what it has to offer without technology. Berkeley, being surrounded by forests and nature, we have grown to explore and see these beautiful sights. I wanted to capture these emotions of being carefree.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Domestic Rhythms

Inspired by the simple moments and routines that I observe throughout the day, this series chronicles the quiet cadence found in a lived-in home. Be it a familiar morning cup of coffee, the silent stoicism of a cluttered basement, or the gentle sunlight dappling the living room on a Sunday morning, the movements of my home had always gone unnoticed to me until I took the time to capture them. This project required me to dive into my own life as an outside observer, and study its patterns from a photographic standpoint instead of a personal one. Although challenging, the process opened my eyes to many of the unappreciated or unnoticed intricacies present in my house. I woke up early to shadow my parents as they followed their daily routines, making sure my camera was on hand at all times. As my photographic eye developed, I began to see elements of my home differently: my living room was no longer just a room but a complex interworking of leading lines, light and dark, shapes and forms. The daily cappuccino made by my dad wasn’t just the brewing of cup of coffee; it was a a graceful dance of espresso, milk, and steam, and a labor of love. By photographing my family and our home, I’ve been able to rediscover the beauty of the familiar and document my home in a new and meaningful way.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Solitude

This image was taken of Kendrick Lamar at his tour, The Big Steppers. The images intention is to prompt emotion and create compassion for the artist’s isolation in this moment. Lamar is surrounded by thousands of admirers all paying to see him perform. A majority of them don't even know his last name. In the image there is a clear separation between Lamar and the audience however the empty space provokes thought and allows one to think about the emotional disconnect that is also prominent.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Leaping

For my artistic process, I seek out people and places that satisfy my visions. My most preferred genre of images to create is consisted of cooler colors and isolated subjects, and this one is different because it have something most of my pictures don’t. This piece displays childhood and innocence that I feel leaves everyone too early.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Redwood's Witness

I wanted to express my connection to the Coast Redwood trees of California. All my life I have felt sheltered by these beings, so I drove to the crest of the Santa Cruz mountains where a 1,900 year tree named Methuselah makes her home. I set up my camera in the redwood duff to shoot this self portait. These trees have always been a constant in my life, and I've always felt safe in their presence.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Ephemera

I drove up north to Tiburon to capture some photos of an outdoor art installation. The day was windy and I noticed how fleeting the installation was, the way it changed with each second. I bent to take a picture and became lost in the tulle as the world seemed to change around me with each passing moment. I enjoy capturing small moments in life that let the viewer decide how to feel. This photo lets the audience interpret its meaning. Is it playful, dreamy, flat, or something else? I hope the viewer lets their mind wander, never landing on one feeling for too long.

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Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin Photography, 2024 Paulina Vo-Griffin

Ship in a Darker Light

In this photo, I used the ideas of black and white to make the photo more bright and important. I tried to make a discrete focal point of the ship to the left of the photo. I did this because the ship is an extremely important thing to my family and I. My dad and his parents used to come to this beach all the time when my dad was young to look at this ship and to swim. Ever since both of the my dad's parents, my grandparents, passed, this ship has been even more of importance to us and constantly remind my dad and I of them. Though the ship is slowly sinking, it will always have a calming and memorable feeling to us every time we see it. This photo is dedicated to my dad and my grandparents.

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