I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

I started the process of creating my second assemblage with a few main concepts and objects. I knew I wanted to focus on the bathroom, specifically the claw-foot bathtub, and use small glass bottles to create a medicine cabinet look.

My first step was to take old family negatives of photographs taken in my childhood bathtub to the darkroom. Unfortunately the negatives were so thin that I couldn’t get the look I was trying to achieve. It was a little disappointing and I decided I probably wouldn’t use those prints in the box. Then, I set up a camera and tripod in my current bathroom and chose to do self-portraits using long exposures and sandwiched negatives. I ended up taking two baths (the first one got so cold!) and two separate rolls of film to get the shots I wanted. Then I spent 6 long hours at the darkroom processing and printing but was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them to with a Francesca-Woodman-like creepy factor. I drew some of my inspiration from her photo entitled Bath from 1980 (shown below). 

I found the box I used at an antique store and ordered bottles to fit into it on Amazon.com. I then brainstormed a list of 24 things that I could fill these tiny bottles with that would tell a bathroom story from my childhood or represent a nostalgic memory. For example, one bottle holds three of my baby teeth, nostalgic for obvious reasons. Another is filled with children’s chewable Tylenol that I once ate a whole bottle of (because they were yummy, and perhaps also a little bit for the attention) as a child and almost had to get my stomach pumped. Once I had filled all of the bottles I spent at least an hour arranging and rearranging the bottles to get the balance and composition just right.

I also used an antique curling iron to create an old-timey look while also commenting on the bathroom as a place for female beautification. I know that as an adult, much of my relationship with my bathroom consists of doing my hair and makeup. I curled the piece of hair that is displayed in the box using the old curling iron and it amazes me that a woman would ever go to such great lengths to curl her hair. That’s some crazy business.

I want this box to serve as an intricate portrait of the small, but important domestic space we call the bathroom and my personal experience with it.

*I will be adding a separate page to my site with a statement and photos of box #2 after our next critique!

Six Thousand Years of Bread (Jacob 2007) is a lengthy read packed full with history and information about agriculture, grains, religion and the beginning of bread in human history.  Arranged as a set of “books” from prehistory to “bread in our time,” the content jumps around not focusing on any one element of bread as we know it.

On the very first page is a quote by Henry Fabre, “History celebrates the battlefield whereon we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the plowed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of kings’ bastards but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. That is the way of human folly.”  We really don’t know precisely where the origin of our food comes from; neither are we taught about food and its history in school.  Learning about the history of something that we are in contact with every day of our lives is essential: bread isn’t going to disappear very soon.

Six Thousand Years of Bread informs us that Dr. Gideon Lincecum claimed that ants were the first reapers and sowers of grain, but it turns out that what he had observed was an accident of ant behavior.  Stone age man was the first sower of grain, again an accidental occurrence; agriculture was discovered when early man threw out seeds that began to germinate because the taste was spoiled. Eight months later to his surprise the grain showed up again.

In mythology, the Greek gods are connected to agriculture and bread making.  When Demeter’s daughter Persephone was snatched into the underworld, Demeter made all fields unfruitful; she wouldn’t let the seed rise; men, animals, and the gods couldn’t live without those essential plants.

But how did grain become converted to bread?  It was the Egyptians who first invented ovens, making the transformation of grain possible. The Egyptians went as far as basing their administrative system around bread.   With parallel importance, the Jews made bread the starting point of their religious and social laws, while the Greeks created profound and solemn legends for the Bread Church of Eleusis.   Bread has a long and vital importance as a symbol of power, story, and growth.

I feel like if this book was written well but I wish it would have been written in a different order. I would have really liked it to keep all the same topics or subjects to be kept together in a chapter I feel like it would have made it a lot easier for me to read and follow along.