A look through Robert and Kendall’s innovative lenses
Credit: Robert Patterson
Robert considers his photos “stolen moments.”
December 18, 2016
In our social media-obsessed society, many view photography as simply a device for people connect with others through social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Despite this superficial label photography has, extraordinary talents are recognized and praised, as seen in the works of two Hackley students.
Hackley offers several photography courses for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Sophomores Robert Patterson and Kendall Wieland are two gifted photographers who are currently enrolled in the Foundations of Photography class.
Robert was exposed to photography at a young age, with his father constantly capturing moments of his sister and him through a lens. He was Robert’s first inspiration. “I think that seeing him with a camera in his hands so often made photography seem really cool in my mind,” he said. After being mesmerized by the architecture on a trip to France in third grade, Robert took hundreds of pictures, and has been taking photographs ever since then.
Robert’s fascination involves every element of photography; he considers his photographs ‘stolen’ moments. “I love how with a camera I can take away a moment or a scene. If I see a tasty looking pretzel being sold next to the subway, I can steal it…through my lens. If I see a couple of children playing on the beach, I can ‘abduct’ them…by snapping a picture. I can be the world’s most normal and law-abiding kleptomaniac with my camera and I love that. I love that taking a picture that makes me happy is difficult, and getting one that I hate is easy. I love that in order to be unique, photography forces me to look at the world in ways that I most certainly would not have if I were walking around without a camera. I love that I can keep all of this to myself or share it with the world,” Robert commented.
Robert believes that photography allows him to express a different truth to words; by this, he means lying. Robert’s favorite objective is to constantly find new ways to lie to whomever may be viewing his photos. “This means I like shooting everything, as long as I can lie about it in a creative way,” he said. “All photography is inherently deceitful, since it takes a three-dimensional space with sounds, smells, tastes, temperatures and feelings, and turns it into a flat image. All photography is lying and all photographers lie in different ways,” Robert added. Some people use photoshop to manipulate images, while he personally likes to play with colors to change the feeling of an image.
Over the summer, Robert attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA) for two weeks in Brooklyn and took classes on digital photography. “It was an amazing experience where I met people from around the world and spent a lot of time getting to know my teachers on a personal level, which made their instruction more interesting to hear,” he added.
Kendall first started to experiment with photography after receiving a Kodak video camera for Christmas at age six.
She enjoys the various perspectives photography offers, as well as enhancing the beauty in simple things. “Once I had this assignment at a summer program where I had was given a Dunkin’ Donuts napkin and told to make it interesting. I know nothing sounds interesting about a napkin, but once I got started with the project, I realized how something so plain could be interpreted as beautiful or given some meaning even though in the end, it was still just a Dunkin’ Donuts napkin,” Kendall explained.
While she originally started photographing sceneries like beaches and sunsets, Kendall has recently been interested in portrait and street photography.
Last summer Kendall attended a three-week photography program at the New York Film Academy, where she learned about compositions, different lightings, and how choosing to make the background blurry or leaving the exposure on longer could change how people see and interpret the photo. “I got to meet so many great people from all over the world who were in my classes and had the same interests as me,” she said.
Both artists have used social media as a platform to present their talents to their friends. “Social media has been a great place for my photography,” Robert said, “It has given some validation to the work I’ve been doing, plus, nice comments are always good to hear.” Kendall received this same approval.“Social media has affected my photography because it’s made me more confident in my work. I generally get very nervous when it comes to sharing anything I’ve created, even if it’s just sharing a homework assignment in English class,” Kendall said. “I kind of forced myself to start posting my photos on social media to help me take some pride in my photos and be proud to share them with the world.”
