Studio Photography: Final

Studio Final: Spare Change

One of the most essential reasons I got into photography, and what keeps me going, is its ability to bring interest to the most mundane and forgotten subjects in our world. It’s the reason I find myself crouching in the middle of the street to take a picture of the reflection in a puddle or stopping in the middle of a bike ride to photograph a roller cart in a golf course. Of course these pictures don’t always turn out as interesting as I intended them, not to mention it often makes me late to places, but it serves as good practice for when I find something truly remarkable.

            This was the basis for my project. Currencies are engrained within a majority of the worlds’ societies, coins in particular, as they have been circulating in human civilizations for nearly 3,000 years. People come into contact with coins everyday, but how often do they really look at them? How often do they appreciate their carefully designed engravings, all of which have significance in the history or culture of their native country? One could say that you can learn about a place by the coins minted there. My concept sought to strengthen this connection and pique people’s interest by using a background that related to the coin’s depiction.