My research topic is about architectural photography and digital designs as an art form. I will be studying the use of buildings and architecture as a primordial element of design. I will be evaluating photography as a way to vigorously explore the world and an avenue to express visual thinking. This art form is concerned with the transformation of three dimensional spaces into two dimensional forms. I will be looking at artists such as Piet Mondrian, and how he creates complex compositions based off of basic shapes, primary colors, and flattened forms. His designs mirror the concept of using simplicity to create something complex, reinforcing the idea that something magnificent can come from something plain. Photographers tend to be more appreciative, given their ability to pay close attention to detail and be aware of their surroundings. Most talented photographers are able to create intriguing compositions anywhere and from anything. The world is a canvas, and the camera is the paintbrush.
I will be analyzing, critiquing, and interpreting ideas from Misha Gordin’s essay, Conceptual Photography: Idea, Process, Truth. Some of the questions he poses that I will try to explore are: “Am I taking photographs of existing reality, or creating my own world, so real but nonexistent?” “In a world of high technology, will you still believe in the truthfulness of a photograph? And does it matter?” Both of these questions highlight photography’s nature of being a documentary medium, expected to capture and reflect reality. However, I am interested in photography’s nonrealistic qualities, and how it serves as a representation of the artist’s intuitive vision instead of an accurate depiction of the real world. The production of altered realities is a phenomenon in photography that allows artists to express their unique world of visions. “Traditional photographs - the ones our culture has always put so much trust in - have never been “true” in the first place. Photographers intervene in every photograph they make, whether by orchestrating or directly interfering in the scene being imaged; by selecting, cropping, excluding, and in other ways making pictorial choices as they take the photograph; by enhancing, suppressing, and cropping.” – Leslie Mullen
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Gimp Girls Community is an online community made by women with disabilities and for women with disabilities. It is rare that online communities have a sole person who represents their group as a whole, but GGC chose Jennifer Cole to express their voice. GGC makes sure their online space is inclusive to assure its users a safe and comfortable experience. Jennifer initially created the Center for Breaking Away, a non-profit organization made to support young adults in their transition into adulthood. Jennifer herself was 17 when she founded this organization, and had been living in an abusive home. GGC was initially a project within this organization that later grew enough to became the main center. GGC helped teens coming out of abusive homes fight back, and provided support and guidance. It was the first website created by young women with disabilities that provided peer to peer support regardless of age, disability, or gender. GGC’s main goal was to unite isolated teens that shared the same interests. It began as a space where users could share informal ideas, experiences, and give advice. Its name originated from Jennifer’s nickname growing up, and had a large influence in the development of her identity. GGC was not a space that tried to be politically correct towards people with disabilities. The members were the ones to decided how to respond to specific language directed towards women with disabilities, instead of having political figures be the ones who set the precedents. GGC later transferred towards social media platforms and was always on the vanguard with new technology. It made sure the use of new technology would not be limiting to some users prioritizing inclusivity. GGC encourages its users to gain autonomy over their lives. It is very hard for people with disabilities to gain an identity of their own because they live dependent on care takers or require daily assistant. They also resist the stereotypical view of how women with disabilities should act. They have to endure dealing with other people defining what it is like to live with a disability, when the ones creating these guidelines are not the people living with disabilities. They tend to be marginalized from society and deemed inferior because of their label. GGC helps women combat this issues and provides resources for women to take control over their lives.
Topic: Architectural Photography & Digital Collages.
I chose these source because they all present different outlooks on my topic. They talk about the early stages of digital design, and how photoshop has influenced digital art making. They also talk about photography as a procedural practice and the conceptualization of ideas that later turn into images. I am interested in how photography is able to provide a framework for the exploration and study of the world. Not only for its journalistic and documentary purposes, but only as a medium for self expression, art, and visual rendering. I will be exploring the importance of visual aesthetics in photography and how a camera can be used as a paintbrush. These articles also make reference to how technology has shaped the rendering of images and provided unconventional art forms. Behrens, Roy R. “Abbott H. Thayer's Anticipation of a Computer-Based Method of Working.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, pp. 19–20. www.jstor.org/stable/1576975. Jensen Schau, Hope, et al. “We Are What We Post? Self‐Presentation in Personal Web Space.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 30, no. 3, 2003, pp. 385–404. www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/378616. McCauley, Anne. “Francis Bruguiere and Lance Sieveking's ‘Beyond This Point’ (1929): An Experiment in Abstract Photography, Synaesthesia, and the Cinematic Book.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, vol. 67, 2008, pp. 46–65. www.jstor.org/stable/20442636. Emme, Michael J., et al. “Photoshop Semiotics: Research in the Age of Digital Manipulation.” Visual Arts Research, vol. 31, no. 1, 2005, pp. 145–153. www.jstor.org/stable/20715375. Misha Gordin. “Conceptual Photography: Idea, Process, Truth.” World Literature Today, vol. 87, no. 2, 2013, pp. 76–81. www.jstor.org/stable/10.7588/worllitetoda.87.2.0076. Pop cosmopolitanism provides an escape from one’s local culture and embraces global popular media. Globalization has had a great effect on American pop culture, in order to understand and produce pop culture it is crucial to have an understanding of global cultures. We are living in an era where images are being produced distributed and consumed faster and on a greater scale than ever before. This massive flow and access to media creates a space for diverse cultures to connect and new cultures to be created. Images are becoming more and more unpredictable, given the rise of individuals becoming media makers. Consumers are de contextualizing main stream media and creating new contexts to images that do not necessarily align with the values of the main stream media corporations. More power is attributed to consumers and less to traditional gatekeepers.
Media convergence introduce a wider array of media outlets where consumers can transform, interact, and recirculate media content. People are engaging with media content and information in a whole new way. The ability to easily share information has allowed the circulation of content to over saturate most of our browsers. It has also paved the way for the rise of more and more young artists, given the accessibility and reach social platforms offer. Global convergence is leading to the rise of a new pop cosmopolitanism which embraces cultural differences. Foreign media producers are now able to penetrate the American media markets without having to pass through gatekeepers, who tend to mold and transform the original content. Therefore, more authentic media is being consumed and distributed within the American media market, leading to a more open approach towards foreign media. Consumers are now yearning for more culturally diverse and unconventional content and even creating their own interpretations of foreign media. On March 2011, Alexandra Wallace, an undergraduate student at UCLA, posted a racist video on YouTube addressing the Asians in her school. That same day Jimmy Wong, uploaded a video response called “Asians in the library.” Jimmy Wong’s video was a satirical song he composed reclaiming Asian stereotypes and re framing the situation by presenting it in a comedic way. Part of what was hurtful and hateful from the original video was the sense of foreignness in which Alexandra Wallace depicted Asians.
There a couple of reasons why Jimmy Wong’s video went viral. First of all, the satirical tone throughout his entire song presented an alternative form of approaching the situation. It was evident he was very mad but his arguments came out louder and clearer given his passive aggressive approach. He was socially controlled throughout the whole video and used satire to regulate his anger. He followed the classic pop music storyline of boy chases girl, which added a very sarcastic tone to the song. He also included quotes from the original video, which directly addressed and mocked Alexandra Wallace’s racist comments. In “How it Feels to be Viral Me: Affective Labor and Asian American YouTube Performance”, Christine Bacereza Balance talks about affective labor, which is traced in feminist studies as unpaid work that women do and compares it to how Asians in pop culture present affective labor. She tries to re diagnose all the affective labor Asians have done in our culture. She also talks about the model minority myth, which depicts Asians as hardworking, obedient, and self-reliant individuals. Asian stereotypes also include their devotion to traditional Asian values of piety, humility, and sacrifice. They are considered model citizens but simultaneously are branded as perpetually foreign for adhering to traditional Asian values. |
AuthorI am from Panama and a sophomore at Emory University. I am passionate about photography and media making. ArchivesCategories |