I took this picture at a farm in little neck, NY where I grew up as a child. I went back to visit the farm a few weeks ago and was amazed with how much it changed. I would go there every sunday with my brother and father, mainly in the winter and fall. I basically grew up there. I remember the place looked so huge to me cause I was so little and I remember there being tons of animals. This was the only cow that was there. It was sort of depressing to see him all by himself. I think the picture portrays the feelings I got from looking at the cow and maybe even the cow itself. It does not look happy and healthy. He's symbolic of what has happened to the farm over the years. Slowly there are less animals and less visitor. this means less money to take care of the land. I was also inspired by the picture because of the beauty, shape and color of the animal. I have always been an animal person and I still am amazed by nature. It unfortunate that times have changed and I feel that less children go to places like farms. Instead they go to theme parks and movies. Animals are so special and I wish that people would still be exposed to them despite the fact that our culture seems to become more urban and less interested in nature.

I also had to write about my self portraits. I learned from the critique that I have to use negative space more. For example in one picture I used most of my face and focused on my eyes. If I had taken the picture a little further back and got part of the wall to my left, the picture would have been more effective. I learned from other peoples projects how to use light and color to create a feeling. I also learned not to be afraid to get up close and maybe cut off certain parts of my face or body. Doing this can still achieve the same effect or even a better one.