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This grid-like formation is what I'm looking for. A way you can easily look from photo to photo and see the differences between each one. But then from afar they all are together united.

Based on this I think I want to affix all the photos onto a board of some sort and have it be able to be hung up. This is part of the reason I wanted to choose polaroids as the medium, they are physical images not just prints. So ideally they are going to be placed on a board of some kind.

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This piece is always the one I think of when I see the stacks of soup on the grocery store shelves.

And that's really commenting on consumerism. At the time there were all these things about mass production with the growth of industrialism and factories etc. As I was taking photos of the shelves and stacks of things in the store I couldn't help but think of this piece - so definitely had to include it.

I think moving forward I'm shifting concepts a bit and instead of focusing on places I want to focus on things and the accumulation of choice and stock etc.

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So for the majority of last week I have been taking my polaroid camera out and using that to take photos. I really wanted to use film for this project. And I saw this as an opportunity to use polaroid film for a fine arts purpose.

So far I've been pretty content with the results, but I'm still debating if going digital is the way to go. I just wanted the physical photo to really be a part of this process.

With the polaroid film we also get this square image that I've really been drawn to recently, as well as the traditional borders. And I think using polaroid film gives this feeling of spontaneous "on the spot" consumerist kind of vibe. And I like that.

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As I've gone out and shot pictures I actually have been inspired to take somewhat of a new but similar direction.

After reviewing the first group of photos I found that the ones I liked the most were photos of things in shelves. Which got me thinking maybe I should be drawing inspiration more from Portfolio of Piles.

When planning this out I already had this idea of having the group of photos all placed together in sort of a grid formation of some kind, and I realized by doing that it kind of reinforces this idea of mass production and accumulation. Other good sources for this would be referring to Andy Warhol and his soup can paintings. But photography-wise I really did enjoy the portfolio of piles. So I'm thinking this project should be what I'm inspired by.

I found that taking photos of the exterior of grocery stores wasn't quite sparking something in me, so I started going inside them and taking pictures there.

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I think a theme I definitely want to explore in my thesis is the concept of "spaces". I mentioned this in my "About You" assignment, but the idea that we are constantly in a space. Where I am sitting right now in my friend's house is a space. School is a space, a car is a space. We are constantly existing and going through different spaces, and our relationships to these spaces are sometimes very superficial and surface, and sometimes they are very deep. Regardless of either one, we have relationships to the spaces we are in. And that's been a theme I think I've always enjoyed.

What spaces make me feel like home? What spaces have influenced me? What spaces hurt? etc etc.

Mentally I am also in a space, people in my life can be a space. That's getting to be a little conceptual but you get the idea.

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In response to 26 Gasoline Stations I think what I would (potentially) like to focus on is photos of grocery stores. Even without giving it much thought, I realize that I enjoy taking pictures of grocery stores - probably for the same internal fascination with the "temporariness" of them.

But when I think of a making a piece that is inspired by 26 Gasoline stations, it would probably be capturing grocery stores. That's kind of been one of my "things".

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I think what inspired me most about 26 Gasoline Stations is both the meaning I've gotten from it, as well as the photographic style.

Sentiment-wise, I feel gas stations sort of fall into this category of "liminal spaces", which I find these all very interesting. A gas station (the way I see it) feels almost like a juxtaposition. They are one of the most permanent places I feel, gas stations aren't always popping up and closing, they are always there and probably will be just 'there' for a long long time. But their existence is so dependant on its temporary purpose. I think this effect stands out more with gas stations that are placed on highways or rural areas, because they encounter travellers who are quite literally "passing through". The point of a gas station is to stop there and keep going, and that idea I find really interesting.

Photograph wise, I really like this style of casual observation. This is something that also stands out with "A portfolio of piles". There's something very casual and almost mundane about these images that has this reverse effect on me when I look at them. It's almost that the intentional mundaneness makes them unintentionally interesting.

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In high school I did a painting for a project titled "Imaginary Landscapes". I can't remember quite what the whole prompt was, but I did a very surrealist style painting of a McDonalds with this long floating figures in the parking lot. It was an ordinary place - nothing really special about it, but upon visiting it with some friends late at night there was just something so eerie and strange about it.

My inspiration behind this project was the concept of "liminal spaces" and these are places that are defined mostly by what comes before or after them. Places like airports, they exist because people are coming and going from them. People go to an airport to leave it. Same with hotels, similar kind of vibe, it is a temporary location, defined by the fact that people will come and go but never stay.

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Something like this I think is ultimately what I want to achieve thesis-wise. And I'd really like it to be focused on the environment.

But focusing on this project - I really like what Ruscha did here. Similar 'vibe' to the Portfolio of Piles - they are just gas stations. And something about that is really interesting to me. I think i've always found something charming about places that are deemed "temporary" for us but also eternally existing. A gas station exists, it is a place that is arguably one of the most important parts of travel and routines, despite how permanent it is, people are always passing through them. Nobody ever really stays at gas station for long, the people are always going, but the gas station itself will always be there.

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I think this (other than 26 Gasoline Stations) is kind of the 'vibe' I'm going for. These pictures aren't really necessarily 'glamorous' or overly staged, they feel simply just like casual observations of normal things.

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"Piles are not pretentious--they are just there being beautiful and doing their thing. Why piles? The structure is usually determined either by the object alone or the object plus the piler's imagination or lack of it. Naive piles usually are the greatest. It's the molecular structure and physical characteristics that give pile materials their nuances of stackability."

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I really like this concept here (in this photo specifically and as a whole work).

Focusing mainly on the photo - this is visually interesting, and I find it is simultaneously breaking rules of photography and following them. The dark post in the middle of the frame splits the image in half - which is a common technique recommended for your subject. However - the subject (arguably based on the title of this work) is the pile to the left of it, which is not placed on a third, and is instead placed off centre.

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This grid here shown with all the death certificates as well - very much what I like and what I'm hoping to gain here.

I think another thing with these grid presentations is they feel somewhat overwhelming and busy. And I think with this idea of shelves and accumulation, it's meant to be overwhelming. It's supposed to feel busy because there should feel like there's a lot to look at.