Artist Statement

Jennifer Masuda was born and raised in Southern California. From childhood she had a love of painting and drawing. After taking graphic design classes in high school Jennifer knew that this was the career field that she wanted to pursue. Jennifer is currently a senior Studio Arts major with an emphasis in Graphic Design at Loyola Marymount University.

The theme of this digital photography project is the juxtaposition of a journey through nature and a drought-stricken California. With influences such as the famed landscape photographers Charlie Waite and Jackie Ranken new insights are discovered from both constructed and discovered meanings.

The title Journey Through the Scorch preludes the images within the series. The “journey” refers to the tour through the trails as signified by the winding paths and curving stairwells of the landscape. The “scorch” denotes the dry, dead, and desiccated patches of the Earth. The photos were taken on a trail in Diamond Bar, a suburb in eastern Los Angeles County because this is Jennifer’s hometown and the basis for her perception of the drought and its effects. Granted the location is not an extreme example such as a desert, Diamond Bar has still been adversely affected by the drought. As one can see in the photographs, patches of green attempt to persevere amid their dead, brown counterparts. Furthermore, the trails, which were once lush and green, are now mainly dusty and brown.

The photographs focus on featuring natural textures, earth tones, and the fluidity of movement through the photographs with the use of lines found within the compositions. The earth toned color palette shows the raw and beautiful energy of the Earth. Jennifer hopes to showcase moments of beauty found within the parched landscapes. The photographs aim to encourage an emotional and thought provoking response from the viewer based on the silent exchange between the landscape and the viewer.

The intentional order of the photographs intends to walk viewers through a journey along the trails and to display the various states of aridity that unite to form rather interesting and beautiful textures and compositions. Several photographs are closely cropped to abstract the composition and the others are not, so that viewers may appreciate the whole landscape. The final photograph which illustrates the assorted, dusty footprints speaks to the bigger question of the viewers’ own footprints and their impacts on nature over the course of their various journeys.