Conclusion

Through my photographic journey I was able to gain a better understanding of the art of photography as a whole, as well as of Lauren Greenfield’s work in Fast Forward. I have been taking pictures for a long time and my initial approach has always been to just find the beauty in everything rather than conveying a message. This project has enabled me to break out of my comfort zone and explore themes that truly interest me. Fast Forward is about a loss of innocence in children of the MTV generation growing up in all parts of Los Angeles and I have worked hard to replicate that theme in terms of my every day life. Rather than photographing children specifically from Los Angeles, I have photographed teens ranging from all over the United Stated who attend the University of Michigan and children from Miami and Los Angeles, which I feel has given my photographs a unique view. Unfortunately though, one major problem that has kept me from portraying Greenfield’s vision accurately is my inability to meet and photograph children of all different ages and social classes such as she did. I was able to photograph my younger cousins who hail from Los Angles and seem to be a part of the West Coast “rich and famous” lifestyle, but I was not able to photograph “ghetto” teens who hail from lower socioeconomic parts of Los Angeles.

Nonetheless, over the past few weeks I have learned a lot from Lauren Greenfield’s work and style. She has shown me that photography is not simply about a “pretty picture,” it is about getting to the core of your subject and letting the photograph speak for itself. She does this through her interviews and through her lack of manipulation to the photographs. Through this project, I have gained a better understanding of what it means to be a true candid photographer and how a single photograph can portray such a powerful message.