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Danielle Beltran is a sophomore at California State Long Beach, studying as a psychology major. Her passions include photography, hiking, and helping those in need.
About
This gallery is made up of four artists that span as far back as the 1950’s all the way to present day, yet all these photographers have one thing in common-- a fascination for the beauty of everyday living. Our mission behind the creation of this gallery is to inspire viewers to appreciate the little things that most commonly go under the radar. Don’t get us wrong, an Instagram picture of yesterday’s sunset is still a beautiful sight; however, there is a tremendous amount of beauty in even the simplest of things that life has to offer.
The Art of Everyday Living
We live in a world where people live from one exciting experience to the next. They post about it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and more to seek validation that the life they’re living is thrilling enough to be cared about by friends, family, and even strangers on the Internet. These experiences are, of course, memorable and important in their own ways. They can highlight one’s biggest landmarks and achievements like graduations, engagements, and vacations. These pictures and posts have perfect poses, staged with impeccable lighting, and are accented with the most thoughtful captions. However, a life of craving perfect “Instagram moments” leaves the everyday moments to be often underappreciated. Overlooking the moments that comprise the majority of our days is hardly a way to live. In addition, the idea that we have to look perfect in every picture we take is an unrealistic pressure. Therefore, in this gallery, we wanted to showcase, the art, beauty, and reality of the simpler things in life. This is The Art of Everyday Living gallery.
With this gallery, we seek to redefine what it means for moments to be photo-worthy. Instead of just appreciating life for its landmark memories, the curators of this gallery all want to embrace every day that we are given. We believe that each day is different than the last, and that there is beauty and even mystery in that. So we wanted to showcase art that captures the little moments in even a seemingly average day, whether these moments are happy, tragic, or even ugly, because all of these moments matter. For this reason, the photos we chose for our gallery showcase the emotions and small events that are interwoven throughout our days. For example, some pictures feature crying babies or families spending time together in the comfort of their own home to give a natural and realistic feel to the photo; not all the photos are perfectly staged, but nonetheless, the artistry is my no means compromised. We hope that these pictures will show viewers that even the tiniest moments can be magnified into art, and they should be appreciated and cherished.
We carefully sought out artists that encapsulated the theme of our gallery. They are from different time periods,have different styles, and execute the theme slightly differently. Some choose to utilize candids, while others choose to find the artistry in simply staged moments. However, all the artists capture and showcase the little memories that comprise our everyday lives.
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The first artist featured in our gallery is Elliott Erwitt. He is a French-born American photographer who is best known for his black-and-white photos that capture candid pictures of his subjects. These candid images capture the reality of being human, emphasizing the beauty of the average person and their experiences.
The second artist in our gallery is Jordan Parks, a light photographer from St. Louis, Missouri. She specializes in family and senior portraits that appear natural and carefree, although they’re not necessarily candid. Her work feels vivid, like the viewer is truly in that moment because the photos are so natural staged. She often accents her work with light and nature to give a sense of nostalgia and artistry.
Our third photographer in our gallery is Colie James, an artist from Colorado who is best known for her family photoshoots. Her work perfectly exemplifies the theme of this gallery because she truly tries to magnify the beauty of her subjects’ everyday lives by shooting in and around their own homes to produce the most natural-looking photos. Furthermore, in each piece, she tries to capture a sense of emotion from her subjects in order to make the photos tell a story.
Our fourth and final photographer is the late Vivian Maier. As a native New Yorker, she was best-known for her art that featured the busy city streets of New York City and Chicago. Her work fits into the theme of our gallery because she captures seemingly-looking candid pictures that look like something we would see walking down the street, or even experience ourselves.
Our overall mission for this gallery is to stir up a greater appreciation for life’s little moments. In a world where there is a constant pressure to live an interesting or glamorous life, we want to show viewers that there is beauty and worth in the everyday events we experience, especially when magnified by art.The seemingly minuscule details of our days are still able to be, and should be, appreciated, because these tiny moments come together to form the lives that we lead. We hope that this gallery can even remind viewers of their own lives because it is a wonderful thing to feel like one’s life is being represented in art. This gallery is not devoted to weddings, vacations, or wild weekend nights. This gallery is for the daily walk through the city, the exhausting Mondays, and the family nights at home with the kids. This gallery is devoted to the Art of Everyday Living.
Meet the Artists
Elliot Erwitt
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Elliott Erwitt’s photography career had lasted over sixty years and has become one of the most admired artists of his time. Erwitt’s artistry stands out due to his ability to capture candid photos that encompass what it truly means to be human.
The idea behind Erwitt's photography was achieved through his cleverly candid photos with a style that is instantly recognizable. Although he has captured breathtaking self-portraits of well-known celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, Elliot is most known for his ability to capture the beauty in everyday life. His photography is mainly black and white and either has a humorous or very serious tone. The idea behind this style of photography is to blur the line between sad and happy, for Erwitt once said, “Some people say my pictures are sad, some think they’re funny. Funny and sad, aren’t they really the same thing?” The theme and idea behind Elliot Erwitt’s photography are to emphasize that life as a whole, the good and the bad, are what make life so beautiful and worth living.
One of Elliot Erwitt's most famous photographs is titled, “The Benevolent Voyeur”. The significance of this photograph focuses on how the mirror and the camera are intrinsically linked. To further explain, both the mirror and the camera “are portals to see through and frames in which to be seen.” Elliot believes that this is the essence of photography at its simplest and most brilliant, for both the camera and the window reveal something that would have otherwise been concealed or gone unnoticed.
Secondly, another famous photo by Erwitt is titled, “Dog Dogs” and was captured in New York City in 1946. This photo is of a chihuahua standing next to a women’s shoes. While looking through Erwitt’s most famous works, a focus on dogs appeared to be a predominant theme. This was due to the fact that Elliot felt as though, “ [He did not] know of any other animals closer to us in qualities of heart, sentiment, and loyalty." This reveals Erwitt’s deep fascination for humans and our ability to make meaningful and lasting connections with one another. As a result, Elliot had made it his mission to capture as many as these beautiful yet simple moments as he could.
In conclusion, Elliot Erwitt's photography fits into our gallery, “The Art of Everyday Living,” because his work truly reveals the beauty in the simplicity of life itself. His artwork focuses on not only the “glamorous” but the “ugly” as well, in order to blur the line between the two and emphasize that what makes living so enthralling are the good and bad moments that weave through an individual’s lifetime. Therefore, both Erwitt’s photography and our gallery focus on appreciating the aspects of life that are full of beauty, yet most commonly go unnoticed.
Jordan Parks
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Jordan Parks is a light photographer who lives in St. Louis Missouri. She specializes in modern portraits and lifestyle photography of newborns, children, families, and high school seniors. Parks has been featured on Popular Photography, B&H Pro Photo and Video, KEH Camera, and Shutter Sisters. She is a contributor of a project called The Hours which consists of 32 photographers across the globe. Parks’s works can be viewed on FLICKR and her own website. The photographer used to be in a of a family of five that consists of her, her husband, and her three sons. However, her husband passed away in April of 2018. When she found out that she had a chronic illness during March of 2016, she realized that she wanted to value life more which led her to start on her career of capturing life into photos. Jordan Parks values capturing life into picture and spending time with her three sons.
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The general theme of her photographs is the purity of nature and life. The pictures capture target models such as families, high school seniors, and children in various places. Some are at home with plain walls and furniture to emphasize the true focus in the picture; a mother holding a newborn baby in her arms or a child standing at the entrance of a home with nature peacefully waiting outside. Simple lighting for the pictures vary, but they are never harsh on the eyes.
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In the year of 2014, Jordan Parks and many other photographers created a project called The Hours. The artists came from various places such as Boston, London, Arkansas, Australia, Ireland, and California. The idea was brought up and brainstormed through Facebook before the project started. The concept of the project was that each photographer would capture an image from their everyday lives at a certain hour of every month for a year. Starting from January, Parks took a single picture at 7AM, then February, a picture at 8 AM, and so on until the month of December at 6 PM. The photographer found this project interesting and is looking forward to continuing it next year with old artists leaving and new artists joining.
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Jordan Parks’s photography relates to the “Art of Everyday Living” gallery due to her belief of capturing people for who they are and what they naturally do everyday. According to Parks, taking a picture of “little in-between moments are the one that matter” the most. Her struggles in the past encouraged her to show her audiences to take appreciation into the little things in life. In a way, Parks tries to make her audiences feel a sense of warmth and a nostalgic feeling when observing her works of children interacting with their parents or the gentle intimacy between husband and wife, which is the main target of the gallery.
Colie James
Colie James is a professional photographer who specializes in taking fun pictures of everyday life occurrences. She currently resides in Boulder, Colorado. Her main occupation is being a family photographer which means that people can book her for photo sessions where she will be around to take pictures of the family in a raw/natural setting. In order to capture the everyday life vibe within her photos, James typically only shoots sessions in or around the house of the client. James takes pride in being an outgoing and enthusiastic person which not only shows in her personality but also her vibrant photos where she captures the bountiful amount of emotions filled throughout everyday life.
James fits perfectly with the theme of everyday life occurrences simply because she literally specializes in taking snapshots of daily life events. James sums it up best as she states that, “I’m in love with taking pictures of the good life--kicking and screaming included.” Almost all of James’ photos captures a specific moment that contains some type of emotion. Throughout the day everyone experiences a wide range of events that triggers different emotions and James wants to capture those different snapshots. Whether it is the photo of the mother eating a cookie and feeding her toddler which depicts a busy lifestyle or the picture of the girl in her sunglasses about to bite into a cupcake which depicts a moment of happiness, all of James’ photos carries a different story.
She gains most of her inspiration from her own family. Part of the reason as to why she specializes in family photography is because she likes to observe other families and see their growth because she keeps in contact with a lot of her clients. Outside of her photography she does not consider herself to be a creative person. When James is not working, she makes sure to spend quality time with her husband and kids which means no electronics for herself.
James uses a Nikon z6 camera to photograph most of her work. Aside from the high quality of her work, a lot of her photos are vibrant because she tends to use a lot of lighting to brighten up the photos. The great thing about using the clients homes as a set is that all of James' photos contain a very natural feeling which means that there are no forced smiles or poses. James has her own personal website where she has a portfolio of hundreds of different photos that she has taken in the past years. All of those photos accurately reflect her high skill in photography and love for her work.
Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier was an American street photographer born in New York City. Although born in the U.S., it was in France that Maier spent most of her youth. Maier returned to the U.S. in 1951 where she took up work as a nanny and care-giver for the rest of her life. In her leisure however, Maier had begun to venture into the art of photography. Consistently taking photos over the era of five decades, she would ultimately leave over 100,000 negatives, most of them shot in Chicago and New York City. Vivian would further indulge in her passionate devotion to documenting the world around her through homemade films, recordings and collections, creating one of the most fascinating windows into American life in the second half of the twentieth century.
Sometime in 1949 , Vivian began toying with her first photos. Her camera was a modest Kodak Brownie box camera, an amateur camera with only one shutter speed, no focus control, and no aperture dial. The viewer screen is tiny, and for the controlled landscape or portrait artist, it would arguably impose a wedge in between Vivian and her intentions due to its inaccuracy.
In 1952, Vivian purchases a Rolleiflex camera to fulfill her fixation. She stays with a family for most of her stay in New York, working as their nanny, until 1956, when she makes her final move to the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Another family would employ Vivian as a nanny for their three boys and would become her closest family for the remainder of her life.
When it comes to her work, Maier’s best-known photographs depict street scenes in Chicago and New York during the 1950s and 1960s. A critic in The Independent wrote that "the well-to-do shoppers of Chicago stroll and gossip in all their department-store finery before Maier, but the most arresting subjects are those people on the margins of successful, rich America in the 1950s and 1960s, the kids, the black maids, the bums flaked out on shop stoops."Most of Maier's photographs are black and white, and many are casual shots of passers-by caught in transient moments "that nonetheless possess an underlying gravity and emotion".
All in all, Vivian Maier fits into our, “The Art of Everyday Living Gallery”, because she often would photograph people in the streets of New York and Chicago. Maier would photograph children playing in the streets as well as even homeless people laying on the sidewalks of the streets. Vivian would also photograph men and women on their way to work and found beauty in everyday routines that us humans do which is why she fits perfectly in our gallery.
Curators
Danielle Beltran is a sophomore at California State Long Beach, studying as a psychology major. Her passions include photography, hiking, and helping those in need.
Danielle Beltran
Sabrina Yang
Sabrina Yang is a freshman at California State Long Beach, studying as a psychology major. She enjoys spending time with her family and boyfriend. She prefers studying outside of home, eating noodles, and using her scooter as a form of transportation.
Aaron Chung
I am a 19 year old sophomore at CSULB and am currently a pre-marketing major. I was born in the city of La Palma and grew up in Buena Park. My hobbies include sleeping, listening to music, and producing music.
Kellen Munson is a freshman at California State Long Beach, studying as a psychology major. He enjoys going to the beach with his friends as well as playing basketball and going to the gym. He also enjoys drawing and listening to music in his free time.
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Norma Guadamuz
Norma Guadamuz is a sophomore, and she will be studying nursing at California State University, Long Beach starting in the spring. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, spending time with her friends, going to the gym, and volunteering at a local hospital.