YOANA: ALLURING ANTIQUES

ARITIST STATMENT: YOANA ZAHARIEVA 😎

I’ve taken photos of old Toronto, the way the buildings have been preserved and the new way they’re using those spaces. I want to capture how the world used to be back in the day, and show the changes over the years. My goal for this assignment is to use my work to reveal aspects of history which has impact us today in the modern world.

The reason I decided to go with a vintage theme was because I was drawn to the beauty and wanted to capture it in the photos that I took. I am fascinated by things that represent an old era and I want to portray how classic the world used to look. I find it very captivating how our world developed over the centuries. Now a days, we are so engulfed in the modern world that we don't take the time to appreciate our history. When people see my photography, I want them to take in perspective the contrast of our modern day life to back then. I want people to recognize the small and big changes that have occurred. I want people to see my photography and appreciate the history the way that I did when I was taking these photos.

I feel that personally my photography since the beginning of this course has grown tremendously. When I first started this course in the beginning of this quad, I had a very shallow and simple technique for taking pictures. I didn't appreciate any of the photography I was being introduced to that was until I finally step out of my comfort zone to take pictures. As I said before, when I first got into photography I only looked at the tip of the iceberg. I refused to experiment with the camera but through out the course, I became more open minded. I began playing around with light, angles, contrast, perspective, objects and places to try and give my photos more depth and meaning.

I feel when I started this course, I struggled to engage viewers to my photos. I struggled to gain an artists vision and if I say so myself took some pretty dull and boring photos and personally I'm pretty proud of how my perspective has grown through out the quad. I think the way my work fits in with current contemporary art by trying to show the old ways of life with modern technology and capture the moment instantaneously. 

I have always felt inspired by anything vintage or old times, I love watching movies and seeing our history unravel. I think that one item can say a lot of words about our history. It makes us think about the past, of a time that couldn’t be duplicated.