life by heather haynes

Un-hiatus-ed

Heather — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:40:39 +0000

So I’ve not been very alive recently. Next week, week 9, marks the final deadline for Soul of Athens and my master’s project defense. Week 11 holds my Information Architecture/User Experience final and graduation. After that: the real world.

Since I can’t show you anything from Soul or my project before the final edit & release, here’s one of the first things I can legally show you from my GA position:

Imagine you’re a prospective student, maybe interested in audiology or linguistics, and you stumble into OU’s College of Health Sciences and Professions. You watch.

RLSH Podcast

Heather — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:26:06 +0000

My first attempt at a podcast or narration since recording radio-style mix tapes in elementary school. I’ve entered a slightly shorter version in the Missouri Review Audio Competition so in December we’ll see how it does!

Chauncey Elementary

Heather — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:23:22 +0000

For this project, I acted as co-editor and co-producer in a group of four collaborators. Seriously proud of this one.

//update – 3/21/12 Athen’s local NPR station, WOUB, published this exact cut on their website. View the page here.

Patrol, Madison

Heather — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:09:12 +0000

After a week of Minnesota’s superheroes I became comfortable with the idea and situation. Patrol in Madison blew my mind in a way that was probably boring and underwhelming for the RLSH involved. Here they were able to help homeless on the streets and in the Occupy camp and talk candidly with passers-by about the RLSH movement.

I walked with them for almost five hours, until well after I knew my feet were bleeding, and still they patrolled into the night afterwards. Forget what they do and where they go…what does it feel like to be with them, the presence and energy and camaraderie. Maybe, just maybe, this explains the experience a little.

Pictured left to right: Night Vision, Blackbird, Watchman, Electron, and Geist. Curiously absent from this frame is Charade.

And to prove I brought a long lens, a pause as they stop for supplies to bring the Occupy camp:

Patrol, Willmar

Heather — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:45:30 +0000

Stingray and I shared a relatively quiet evening in which we encountered some broken glass and a stray cat. Our interview was, I think, longer than he intended so that some who arrived home early were surprised to see Stingray in the dining room.

Let’s say that cutting people’s feet off is my new aesthetic, instead of that I’m doing it by mistake.

Portraits, Geist

Heather — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:23:10 +0000

This is the first portrait session I’ve done since working at Picture People…the difference is unbelievable but challenge never disappears. Instead of creating endearing photographs of crying children, I’m charged with making intimate, telling images of a real life superhero without showing his face.

Thankfully Geist and I get along well and super patience is probably one of his powers. The first frame comes from a quick drop-off for a Ronald McDonald House; the other three are moments allowed to me after our audio interview.

Placing the Place

Heather — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:45:44 +0000

What’s the point in beautifully lit ‘sense of place’ photos when all the ‘action’ photographs take place under cover of night? Why do I go out each twilight attempting to capture the essence of the city when the rest of my schedule takes me other places? Even if we find a contextual reason to include these photos, does having verticals really matter?

The photos I make in the moment, trying to match the mood and color of the action shots, end up like the frame below. To me the image is successful in that it feels the way Nicollet Mall felt that night. However, I anticipate my cohort gravitating toward the ‘pretty’ frames, those matching neither the aesthetic nor the tone of the story.