Samantha Saldana

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samantha.saldana@sjsu.edu

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Erin De Juaregui – Warriors ATC Exhibition

Warriors is a series of photographic studio portraits where I explore individual diabetics and the physical endeavors that they participate in. The name Warriors derives from the social media hashtag #t1dwarriors when describing a Type 1 Diabetic Athlete. By taking a stylized portrait of each athlete with a red and blue color scheme. While diabetes is an infliction of the pancreas, red symbolizes the fact that the effects are circulated through the vascular system. It is the regular testing of blood glucose levels that helps diabetics manage their condition. While blue was initially chosen for stylistic reasons, it is also the color used in diabetic fundraisers and awareness. In this exhibition, I want to elevate the individual and applaud their achievements while acknowledging the fact that they are diabetics.

Peter Moppert – BLACK ATC Exhibition

My subject is the human form, photographs of conventional beauties are ubiquitous, and as I would not be considered a conventional beauty by western European standards, I look for beauty in all.  I am interested in age because of the impact of sun on the skin, the blemishes of disease and childbirth, scars from accidents, bulging fat, tattoos, and the sag of weight loss. Somehow I look for features that elicit emotions.

Rhyan Maldonado – After Hours BFA Exhibition

Herbert Sanders Gallery, Industrial Studies Building 236 October 02-06 2023

After Hours is about my journey as a concert photographer, as part of the media, as a concert goer, as a fan, as a music lover. The photographs in this series and exhibition at first glance are obvious in what they are. Concert photos. However, with further knowledge, these photographs are about the determination of striving to be a better photographer. They are about the process of achieving your goal and the process it takes to get there. They are about the artist and the fans I photographed. As well as being about me.

Diego Leung – Women In My Life BFA Exhibition

Black Gallery, Art Building Room 204 October 2nd to 5th 2023

This project documents the special people in my life that include my grandmother, mother, my two sisters, and my beautiful niece. This series of photographs is a celebration of their lives and a thank you for their never-ending love and support. I do not know where I would be without them. In each image, there are subtleties to give context on who they are as a person from the article of clothing to the expression on their faces. My goal with this work is to share an important piece of my life and the love I have for my family. 

Nicole Weyant BFA Exhibition “Raw” October 5th to the 8th, 2021 SJSU Theta Belcher Gallery

Mental health and mental illnesses are topics that our current society tends to push
aside or sugar coat. My work represents my personal inner struggles as someone who
struggles with mental issues through the use of digital photography to document and re-
enact the emotions I have felt and some of the key moments that have been a recurring
issue with my mental illnesses. These images show the some of the raw emotions I
have personally felt and dealt with when going through my own breakdowns and I’m
using them to help create awareness to the spectrum of mental health. These emotions
are here to help show that not everyone struggles in the same way and that some
people react differently and are affected differently by their mental issues. With this work
I want to show people that mental health is a topic that shouldn’t always be sugar
coated because it can cause people to see it as a less serious issue or brush it off as an
easy fix, but in reality that’s not true. These images are examples of my own personal
issues and are helping me on my path of recovery. These may not be the same for
everyone, and it is important to know that mental illnesses can present in different ways
and is not the same from person to person.
I have struggled with mental issues for a good part of my life and I firmly believe that if it
was less of a taboo topic I would have gotten the help I needed when I first brought it up
to my family. This show is helping me to open up about my own issues in hopes of
encouraging other people to do the same. I want to showcase physical representations
of what it is like in the minds of people who struggle with mental illnesses. This, in turn,
can help others empathize with people who have mental health issues and offer them
the support they need to heal. I use photography as my medium because I am able to
create and re-tell my experiences to my audience through the re-enactment of emotions
I have felt previously. Photography has become an outlet for me and has helped me
through the process of overcoming my own mental illnesses.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Yvonne Bellido BFA Exhibition “WILL YOU REMEMBER?” October 4th to the 8th, 2021 SJSU Hernandez Gallery

Photography is an exploration for me and a method to be able to connect with the past. I have always loved old things and feelings of nostalgia. During the past year, I lost my grandmother and couldn’t say goodbye because of the pandemic. Since then, I have been making my peace and closure with it, which led me to find old photographs of her and my family. I spent extended periods piecing together specific photographs for this series. Looking back on these old images and memories, it feels like unlocking different parts of who they were. With my grandma, she was a mother, but at the same time, she was a sister, friend, and daughter. I wasn’t able to see these other sides of her or ask her questions about it. Film photography has an emotional connection to me and is intertwining within my life. I catch glimpses of who the people I love, and this allows me to preserve their memories.