Thursday, September 23, 2010

Final Project

I thought about this project for awhile, and I cannot convieve a way to express my thoughts for my project other than to list what my pages will depict/represent...I'm still struggling to find a theme.
My project will be in book form, and will be placed in an old Tomokan (Rollins Year Book), I chose this to represent where I am in life, and express my thoughts and memories through photography, while also relating what memory is. I decided I will not be in any of the actual pictures, but would like to be the one behind the lens on this one; but still depicting through some of the different types of memory my 'views' on some things.

Page 1: Collective Memory- Historical/cultural. This page will actually be viewed from the cover, as I plan to create a window form the cover to this page. I want to create an old polariod picture feel to this page, but having the image inside the whit border be an over with a hot coil to express the notion of collective memeory; we may not have actually touched the orange coils but we all have "learned" not to.

Page 2: Memory and Testimony- Picture of a brain with pin points that all say "memory" to express that memory is not one section of the brain, and it is for that reason that when memory is called upon it is often faulty. So to express this, I want to place sentences around the image saying "He had on a green shirt and red pants" and another "He had on a red shirt and green pants" or something along those lines.

Page 3/4 (spread): Flashbulb Memory- I haven't quite worked this one out yet, but I am thinking about finding a picture of someone in profile, and place them on the page so it appears that they are looking at an image, and then having related pictures seem to stream through their mind. I haven't thought about what the images will be, or what of my values I want them to represent....

Page 5: Trauma- I want to find an antiquated picture and burn holes through it, and stain it, and maybe in the holes put different images- like how we superimpose our memories as a means of self defense. Again I haven;t thought about what types of images, but maybe something will come to me when we get to the taruma readings.

Page 6: Socialization and Identity Formation- I'm thinking for this one of doing a maze that leads to an image, potentially doing a commentary on materialism, having various shoes, purses, etc in the maze and then having the "solved" end be a famous advertisement.

Page 7/8: Memory/Time/Perception- I havent decided where I want to go with this one. I either want to do two separate pages where one page has an image and the second page has the same image that has been altered, a "One of these things is not like the other". Or I want to do a page on optical illusions for perception. I may combine the two and make this two sepereate pages, I am still up in the air. The third thing I thought of was to take an image and purposefully put in ont the pages in sections, where every section progressively changes what you see in the image-- finding said image I feel will be super difficult.

Page 9: Persoanl Identity- I am going to construct this one and have a photoshoot, simply because it will be impossible to find. What I want is to take a photo of someone looking at a picture standing in front of a mirror, but to have their face in the mirror only reflect the image they are looking at (to use that pen technique we learned). I do not know what the image is, but I think i will leave that up to whoever I ask to pose for me, so that its more authentic.

Page 10: Digital Networking- having an image of a camera in hands, but in the LCD screen have images/collage of images depicting technology and instantenous living (times square, etc).

Power

In the last class we talked about what is found photography, and what is involved in the action of taking a photo, and one of the comments was that we pose when someone is taking our photo because as the object of focus we have no power over what the frame will look like. I agree with this statement, but it also seems odd to me, because why then so we continuously in today's technological society subject ourselves to so many photos? So many chances to not be viewed as we would like to be, so many instances where a photo can just be god awful, and so many frames of the same pose, the same head position, the same people?

Is it a desire to preserve a memory and moment in time? Or is it a means to keep our image up?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

http://memophoto.wordpress.com/

This link has an interesting article about mememory and photo, it relates to alot of what we have already talked about in class, but uses some different words for the same concepts we have discussed.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010


This is a photo of one of my favorite singers, Ingrid Michaelson.
I really enjoyed this picture, because I felt that it captured the essence of her and her music; I love that this photo just seems very bare and natural, and the exaggeration of her glasses accentuates the intelligence with which she writes.
Even removing what I know about Ingrid Michaelson (which, as we have studied is somewhat impossible) I still love the aesthetics of this photo. I tend to enjoy simplistic photography, and black and white photos, more than others.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose

 -Kevin Arnold

Passion

There are many things that I am passionate about in life, and among them is music. There are few things, that when I am feeling at my worst and am in the foulest of moods, make me feel content, and music is always number one.
I loved this picture because it evoked in me the thought of just how powerful music can be. I think back on some of the memories in my life and there is almost a asoundtrack to every major event in my life. Thinking about Houston and my grandparents ranch, and the Red Door BBQ (thing sthat defined my early existence) the song is "The stars at night/ are big and bright/ deep in the heart of Texas <clap, clap, clap, clap>". My Dad is "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. Times in Celebration are the cliche "Celebrate good times/ C'mon!". 9/11 is Jewel's "Hands" which she wrote right after the event, and consistently makes me cry. Parker Jackson's death is Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". High School is our alma mater and "Graduation" by Vitamin C. Fuz E's death is "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor. One of my favorite days so far at college is High School Musical's "Can I Have This Dance?". And the best date ever of my life is with out a doubt "All I Ask of You" from Phantom. And the break-up that still aches my heart is Taylor Swift's "Breathe".

So much of my life and memory I equate to music, and so much of music equates to emotions I have experienced. I think its a good and bad thing, because to an extent I have no control over what music can evoke in me, but its an interesting power, and makes me question whether music (or memory) is truly inanimate.

Friday, September 10, 2010


I found this picture, and chose to upload it because it just makes me so calm and content. 
This picture just sums up how I feel about the sea, and makes me think of  how every time I go, I just feel at peace and in touch with me. It also makes me think of why  I love the ocean, because really for me, its the only place that I can go and let go. I go surfing, because I love the ocean, and also because its the only time I feel truly free--which is ironic because I'm not free really, but have just surrendered myself to the massive being that is the sea.
The ocean is also where I go when I need to feel closer to something greater than myself, and I can't go to the ocean and not just know that there is more to life, and something greater out there.

Thursday, September 9, 2010


I uploaded this picture of Taylor Swift for two reasons, both rather shallow: I love her, and I love the ocean.
I am so proud of myself this year because I have stuck to my guns on so many things, and made such a conscious effort to improve; and Taylor Swift's music is part of what inspires me to do that. Its odd to have someone to look up to when you are almost 20, but I really do look up to her. I have spent so long being moderately-happy that I am really conscious now of the things that make me genuinely happy, and  I think thats why I enjoy her music so much, because it reminds me of so many things that I have been through that were not so happy, and yet I look at where I am now, and I know that it all happened for a reason.
Plus, nothing makes me happier than frolicking on the shore!