first attempt at collage

This is what I came up with in lab. I don't know yet if I am going to keep tweaking it or start something new. 

Picturing the other: the Sunday Times

Sometimes I feel like I’m living to work instead of working to live. My world is a blur as I constantly brace myself for the next and the next. I am always hurrying to wait. Knowing that I frequently allow myself to become a giant, spiky ball of stress, I have decided that Sunday is my day. Fridays are usually weighted with homework and Saturday carries more homework along with odds and ends that seem to eat time like 99 cent cheeseburgers. I don’t always spend the entirety of Sunday in indulgence; just the morning.
Rave music from the neighbors’ vibrated the walls at five am this morning; oddly comforting in the half awake morning. I woke up much later and lay on my bed in the sun with my kitty. I made my bf’s fabulous spicy cream cheese eggs and waffles, settled with my cup of coffee, and read the New York Times. I didn’t read the thing cover to cover mind you, but I did my best. The Sunday Times is one of my favorite indulgences, along with $2.50 beers at ‘Mars Night and those ham and cheese croissants at Apple Cellar. I love the way the paper and ink mix together to make an almost earthy scent, and the satisfying crispness of the folds makes me crazy giddy. I know; I’m special.
Regardless, while I soaked the sausage from my eggs in the syrup from my waffle, a headline on the front page caught my eye: A Family Divided by 2 Words, Legal and Illegal.
Immigration is a topic in my Italian Culture class this spring so I began to skim the article. The basic gist is that immigrant families are now mixed, meaning that at least one child from a family of illegal aliens living in America has residency. This article followed a family of immigrants from Ecuador: a father, his wife and their son and daughter. The parents have split since their move to the U.S. and the younger son, still a junior in high school, is a U.S. citizen. Their daughter, 22, has a college degree afforded by the law in New York stating that an illegal resident may pay a resident’s fee to attend a University, but cannot find the kind of accounting work her advanced, well educated brain is qualified for because she has no social security number. The mother also feels trapped, having given up a computer analyst position to baby-sit for children in cramped apartments and broken down homes in Queens, unable to obtain a driver’s license or a better position for herself. Tensions are caused by the mother encouraging her daughter to marry an American husband, by the son wishing to return to Ecuador and by the pressure felt by all four of them to succeed; to obtain the American dream.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/nyregion/26immig.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=immigrants&st=cse&scp=3

If the above link doesn't work go to nytimes.com and search for "immigrants." The article should be the third down or so.

For the last two weeks I have been struggling to capture moments on film for my Picturing the Other project. I am struggling; my pictures are missing a dynamic energy. I could describe the same photographs with words and be more effective. This story moved me; in so many ways I am living the American Dream and I do catch myself taking my life for granted from time to time. Not only did the story move me, but the pictures drew me deeper into their world; I achieved a different level of understanding by seeing them.
My favorite picture is of the daughter in her attic room; her hunched frame heavy in the center, bathed by the rickety window frame’s light. Her poverty is evident in the matted carpeting, narrow bed and hodgepodge of furniture. Her hope sleeps there too though, in the girlish knickknacks displayed on her bureau and the way she is poised to launch herself out the window, come flight or fall. The practicality of an illegal immigrant’s daily thoughts are in the pockets of her sturdy rain coat and serviceable hat; far from the plaid Burberry coat and smart matching cap that chase the asphalt between puddles in New York on a daily basis. I feel life in this photograph, despite that my first sight was of a smudgy news print copy that I accidentally spilt coffee on.
The family had only agreed to be followed and photographed if they could maintain their anonymity. As such, all of the photographs are of shoulders and the top of a head vanishing into a crowd, a blurred profile or a back lit, faceless shot. What caught my attention about this photo was the way the triangle at the top of the frame lined up with the square and the circle so well. The eye was carried up off the page; maybe that is why her hope seemed so strong to me here. I also appreciate the irony of the female archetype here, the damsel in distress. Too bad her hair isn’t long enough for some handsome American prince to climb up to rescue her. The light coming from the center of the page also seemed like a conscious choice on the part of the photographer. This is a faceless portrait that tells more than story; it tells a life.
I don’t know much about photography; I am learning though. I do know that this story and these pictures moved me. Here is an example of Picturing The Other on a daily basis. Here is a story, diametrically opposite of my own, presented with grace and dignity. Not only that, but here are people who really are working to live. Maybe only having one morning a week to myself isn’t so hard after all, or maybe I should remember to just be grateful every day that I wake up, go to school and be surrounded by people I love. Maybe by picturing the other I am really re-picturing myself.

Items in Picture: lung, tree, ruler, fingers, table top.









http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/world/20763.html

As a female I find myself checking for growths and oddities in my body on a regular basis; cancer runs in my family and is one of those back burner pressures in my life. The thought of actually finding something makes me sweaty and uncomfortable, like waiting at the dentist’s office or doing my taxes. I’m not sure which would horrify me more, having my body invaded by a tumor, or believing I had a tumor and later discovering my body had become a private arboretum. On Wednesday of last week a man in Russia, who believed he was suffering from a cancerous tumor in his lung, discovered a five centimeter fir tree growing inside his chest instead.

My big brother once told me that an apple tree was growing out of my stomach. At the time I believed him, but my mom assured me later that stomach acid would kill any seeds that made it to my internal nether regions. Inhaling a seed never occurred to us as a possibility. I still feel a little creeped out by this; am I going to have to wear one of those doctor’s masks outside from now on? There is enough to worry about between cancer and terrorism and midterms and the economy……now I have to think about the fertility levels of my lung tissues?

Start of Picturing the other

I think this photo could have been more effectively cropped in the taking process, but the scene was soon disrupted by two unruly dogs. There is something cute and vulnerable about her face, and not seeing his makes hers more effective I think. 
I really like the light in this one, but I feel like a close up of her face may have been good as well. I like that her eyes take us away from the scene, as well as the shadows on her face and hand. 

I like the closeup of the face because the shadow and the little bit of negative space at the bottom right work well together and I feel like the frame is used well. The second one is split in half by the negative space between the hand and the face as well as by the light source.

Alphabet soup: I

Fan-friggin-fabulousness in photoshop
This is my I; the fence post in the middle is the letter. I stumbled across this fence taking the dog out to Four Corners last week; I'm pretty sure it's new since last year. I think focusing more on the foreground would have been better when taking the picture I think. 

Alphabet soup: C

I cropped the photograph and increased the hue saturation here.
This is my C; the edge of the road and the drop off form the letter. I like how the road goes out of the frame and comes back in, as well as the way the cut off edge and the tree truck frame the letter. I think some tricks with light may be good here.

Alphabet soup: L

This is my L; the top of the tree and the smaller tree branch form the letter. I do not feel like this is necessarily the most technically advanced photograph. I feel the tree more isolated could be more effective, but I chose to keep the foreground for interest. The shadows on those hills never cease to dazzle me in late afternoon, but somehow a picture doesn't capture all of the interest for me.  Maybe focusing on just the tree and the smaller town would have been less busy but again, I needed the picture to remain interesting. I have heard less is more however....

Alphabet Soup: O

This is my letter O; the side mirror is in focus the reflection is clearly a circle....right? I guess the O is a little squishy, but I liked the idea of a reflection of a reflection.

Alphabet soup: T

This is my letter T; The statue and the fence rung meet at the upper portion of the middle to form the letter. I really like the light on the ball though.

consumer awareness

I ride my bike around town as much as possible—by the end of summer my calves will be bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. I also try to buy my produce at the farmer’s market and to support local businesses as much as I can. I buy modal cotton and other more sustainable textiles like hemp; I recycle and have a compost heap. With that said, however virtuously I attempt to live, I am still a big time consumer. I have heard the word “consumer” bantered around quite a bit lately, with fingers being pointed at the oil consumers and overzealous expensive shoe addict consumers and Mr. Biggest-house-on-the-block consumers, and the label has become an ugly, heavily connotative one. My belief is that no matter how much or little we consume and no matter where we point the finger, all living beings are consumers. To take away the negative connotation on this state of life imposed by birth humans must simply become aware consumers.

With the context of my rant set I would like to explain that I have been trying to observe my own reactions to advertising, specifically television commercials. I wouldn’t say that I watch an exorbitant amount of television myself, I would much rather read a book, but a good portion of my day is set to the soundtrack of Sports Center. (Once you know me even a little bit this should be funny in the heavily ironic sort of way). There have been a few commercials within the last month or so that have stuck with me—one of which I don’t even remember the product to (insurance or a travel agency or something?)! I just think it’s cute the way the little girl loves her daddy in the commercial. Another one was the Hulu.com commercial with Alec Baldwin—I was sideswiped by 30 Rock and have been on an Alec Baldwin kick ever since. The commercial I want to focus on however is a Verizon Hub commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geHh9y28drg is a link to the specific commercial, but you could probably find it right from youtube easily as well. I just did a basic google search and found it that way too. The first time I saw this commercial I said, “Awww, how cute! That hub thing is really cool!” My friends cracked up. See, I already have Verizon, but I’m unhappy with their service. That product, in conjunction with the “super cute” commercial, almost convinced me to stay with Verizon. It got me, so to speak. I don’t need to spend money on a new phone and I have no need for any type of fancy high tech gadget, however…….

Why did this commercial make me feel good? The kitchen setting is light and airy with expensive, stainless steel appliances. Light colors in combination with what is a dream kitchen for many, implies security and safety. There’s a French press partially full of coffee and dishes on the counter which implies that despite the wealth, the character on the screen is still relatable. He still loads his dishwasher from the front and shaves his face in front of the mirror every day. I think that the intimacy implied by the character “sending his wife a new route” while he drank orange juice from their carton was the part that got me, along with the cheesy background music. The commercial is set to the apparently new pop classic, “I am yours” by Jason Mraz. I didn’t know that until I looked it up, but the song still made me a little gushy. I drive myself crazy—why do I have to go and be a girl all the time?

I also like things to be ordered; as much as I want to be a hostel hopping, rinse-her-underwear-in-Woolite-every-few day’s kind of gal, I just can’t. I like to plan ahead and see where I am at all times. Yes, I do know that this is impractical, especially for an aspiring travel journalist….or really for a human being for that matter. I am working on it, although I doubt I will ever be anything other than a buy-a-new-pack-if-there’s-no-washer kind of girl. Having a schedule with a route and a house full of nice stuff and someone to forget to pack your umbrella….that is what U.S. American culture has raised me to think of as the state of fulfillment. I am aware of this, I am also aware that I don’t really need all of that stuff to feel secure. I have been comfortable and safe my entire life and I am still an insecure basket case. Security is something only I can provide for myself. As such I will continue to enjoy the soppiness of the commercial, but I will not let myself be sucked into their fantasy world that they are peddling. By being aware of how the commercial makes me feel, I can do my part to really ascertain whether I need a product, or if I am just being a girl. Most things, whether I understand how the commercial makes me feel or not, I don’t need.

I found this fence on the way out to Four Corners and I was compelled to take a couple snaps. Not only does the fence lend itself well to my alphabet soup assignment, but I keep coming back to the contrast of metal and wood also. The animals I copied and pasted in from other P.S. documents and I did a slew of other things that I may not be able to repeat readily.....but this is why I pride myself on my note taking abilities. 

Escher

Personal perspective: I have always been a dreamer, more satisfied in an imagined reality. My parents used to have to tell me not to bring a book with me when we went out to dinner. In one sense this has been neat because I have a highly developed imagination. In another sense this is sad—as Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you might miss it,” or something to that effect. I have realized that this world of ours is beautiful and mysterious, vast and microscopic. I am grateful to be here, but fantasy still has a special time and place for me. Regardless of my acknowledgment that I need to have a firmer foothold in the real world, I have always loved the alternate reality this Escher piece proposes; knights, ladies, fairies and a floating castle in which there is no up or down. One of my close girl friends in high school had this poster on her wall and in the summers we would fling both doors open and sprawl across her faded chenile bedspread, the swamp cooler sputtering coolish air on our faces. This was the perfect vantage point to gaze up at Escher's world and talk or not, or read or just be. This image is a piece of home to me.

List of objects: castles (2), towers (9?), bridges, stair cases (2), Mountains, river, trees, cobblestone floor, clouds, grass, vines, windows….

Molly Bang’s Principle’s: This is a very dynamic piece that defies gravity in a sense and unsettles the viewer. The bottom half of the sketch is dynamic because the castle is made of vertical rectangles and triangles for the most part and imparts a sense of moving upwards. This section is heavier than the top half however and appears weighted down. According to Bang the bottom half of the page has this effect on images. The castle atop the castle will also lend itself to the squishing, diminutive effect of the lower half of the image.

The top half of the image is made up of similar lines and triangles except everything is at an angle. This is the most dynamic type of imagery according to Bang because angles imply instability and uncertainty which may create tension or anxiety in the viewer.

The center of this piece, which according to Bang’s principles is the most important, is where the two castles or realities merge. In a way this center could represent my attempt to combine my fantasy world and the one I am supposed to be in. This is the greatest place of attraction for the viewer, but it is the place where the image makes the least sense. Viewing the top or bottom halves separately is okay, but trying to combine them is where the energy of the piece really lies. This demonstrates that the image was meant to create a sense of altered or unsettled reality.

Bang ruminates that lighter backgrounds feel safer than dark because humans cannot see in the dark or night time. The background of Escher's image is light but is in a transition either from light to dark or dark to light. This is noticeable in the luminescent quality of the clouds. This also creates tension because the world is poised on the brink of change, just as the two castles are poised on the brink of transitioning into one another. The light background in this case does not offer the sense of safety to the viewer that it would if the transition of time was not implied. Also, the towers themselves do not continue off the top of the page, but the clouds do. Also, the bottom of towers on the base castle and the top of towers on the upper castle both continue onto the left and right sides of the page. This creates a sense of spreading, like there is more known to the right and left, but only the unknown sky above. Escher used the edges of the page to create a sense of a larger picture we cannot understand, just as Bang’s principles dictate.

Here is my scratch from lab 2. I made selections using the lasso tool and then erased out from them. I did a new design and erase on each layer so that the designs built over each other. 

Personal Impact Asessment

Object: Adjective: Association:

clothing dirty poor

woman mother concern

baby sleeping unconscious

family intimate love

face wrinkled worry

skin weathered hard work

shoulders strong support

back of heads tousled exhaustion

photograph black and white historical context

tent shabby instability

fingers slender grace

fingers curled dependence

hand poised thoughtfulness

eyes distant sorrow

mouth set determination

hair unkept hurry

wrinkles deep age

necks exposed vulnerability

So what I gleaned from this photograph was that a mother aged by lifestyle, hard work and the worry of farming, was the pillar of strength in this family. The father figure, whether he exists or not, was inconsequential in the frame of time captured. The mother's eyes look to the distance while her children's eyes are buried in her shoulder. This implies that the children's world does not extend much farther than their mother; they look to her to absolve their worries. Her eyes trained on the distance imply that she was looking for external sources of help; she was questioning whether her sole strength was enough. This woman was strong and determined and managed to find resources in unexpected places. Their poverty was evident, especially given the historical context of the dust bowl and the amount of farmers who found themselves in similar positions.

Just a slight addition: I had a "trick" suggested to me. Blow up the image and focus on the woman's face. Try covering half of her face and viewing one side and then switching and covering the half you just viewed. The effect is like seeing two very different photographs: one side is the extreme sadness and desperation--the calling out of the eyes for help. The other side is determination--her mouth is set, her eyes sharp. This is kind of a neat experiment that I want to continue with photographs of faces.

Sketch two

Here is my second attempt at working in photoshop...... that is supposed to be a flying leg but it kinda looks like a lumpy something...... and FYI that was supposed to be a nose with wafting smells in the nostrils but it kinda looks like a stylized L..... I had fun at least and I am a little more comfortable with the program. 

List of Objects:

Marlene Dietrich, elegant love seat, a pack of Lucky Strikes, green carpeting, pinkish wall paper, a burning cigarette and cigarette holder, a fancy dress and corresponding accessories

When I look at this advertisement my eye was initially caught by the pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes displayed prominently in the foreground and then traced back up to Marlene's face and then to the text at the top. Interestingly enough the main element, the cigarettes is not in the center of the advertisement; the center is taken up with the white party dress which is of little consequence. The most important parts of the add, in my mind, are the picture of Marlene and the corresponding quote. It seems as though the light in the advertisement is coming from my left because of how the shadows are falling, but I do not feel that light is the primary component here. 

The function that this add served in the fifties was to promote Lucky Strike cigarettes through the use of a commonly recognized sex symbol. The audience was Americans but more importantly the audience was Americans who were discontented with themselves and their lives. Movies and their subsequent "stars" were and are easy forms of escapism and using Marlene for this advertisement told Americans that smoking was one doorway into that world of escapism. Not only that but this advertisement seems to have been made before the public began to question the validity of "science" in advertising-- no source of the "scientific fact" stating Lucky Strikes are the "most smooth" cigarette was provided, only the bald statement. The Pack of Lucky Strikes in the foreground does seem to compete slightly with some of the other elements, but that competition does not appear to take away from the effectiveness of the advertisement. Marlene's picture however, along with her sexy and languorous expression and her red lips framing the burning cigarette in hand lead the eye right to her quote and the claims made by the Lucky Strike Cigarette advertising division. The words used in the advertisement, such as "prove" instead of suggest and to describe the cigarettes themselves, such as "round", "smooth" and "fully packed" suggest to me deliberate thought. Everything in this advertisement was intended to take the reader out of their reality and deposit them into one they like better.

List of objects:

A camel, fedora, tie, trench coat, mostly burned cigarette, sunglasses, table top and text.

My eye is first caught by the word cancer where one would typically expect to see the word camel. Then I was caught in the very familiar image of Joe camel with a refry in his meaty hand. this advertisement was much more simple-- there were less elements and the graphic design element was intentional as opposed to a reflection of the resources of the time period. The illusion of depth was created by the spot of gold in the center of the mahogany background that fades outwards. 

When analyzing these two images the personal, cultural and ethical perspectives seem critical. First of all let me just explain that I quit smoking three months ago after almost seven years of smoking pretty close to a pack a day at the very least. I feel better than I ever thought possible. These advertisements are important to me because the represent both what I loved and now resent in cigarettes. I never really felt like I had  niche as a kid and being a smoker became a part of my personal identity. I didn't know who I was but I sure as hell knew I was a smoker. I don't think this is uncommon. People in the 1950's who didn't have a clear identity or who were discontent as a father and businessman or housewife and mother or cheerleader or greaser may have wanted to be like Marlene Dietrich or audrey Hepburn or Humphrey Bogart-- all of whom smoked. The second, more modern advertisement also utilizes "star power" to represent a universal personal identity but in an entirely different manner. Joe camel, who was once the coolest camel in the desert, has become a symbol of sickness in America. So much controversy surrounded the attempts of Big Tobacco to advertise to children who would become their customers in ten years that Joe because indicative of something else entirely. Joe now represents the fun party favor of cancer and the identity that he relates to people has become "non-smoker." I have found other niches in my young adult life and am now proud to use the title of "non smoker" when defining myself as an individual. 

I don't feel that advertising played a part in my smoking as much as other personal history that quite frankly I don't feel comfortable spewing... plus I really don't think anyone would care that much. But I know that research has suggested that cartoons aimed at garnering lifelong customers have been used in campaigns created by cigarette companies and fast food chains. Cigarette companies rely heavily on brand loyalty of their customers and in the 1990's Joe Camel was one of the most commonly recognized cartoon characters among kids. The advertisement for quitting smoking that I posted does seem to be concerned with ethics. Telling people that smoking causes cancer is a good thing-- but this add does seem to imply that smoking is an automatic cancer sentence. That may not be ethically sound.... like the "scientists" cited in the Dietrich add the advertisers are relying on people not taking their lives and the information available to them into their own hands.

When Dietrich's advertisement came out in the fifties cancer had yet to be linked with cigarette smoking. Using a star to sell a product is not, in my opinion, ethically irresponsible. If people are not willing to take accountability for researching a product before they buy it or for creating their own sense of self then that is their business. if a movie star wants to associate themselves with a product of questionable nature that is agin, their business. Citing scientific fact however, was and is ethically questionable. I have to cite sources in my term papers--shouldn't advertisers do the same? Ethics are difficult for me because I am a big believer in personal accountability. If we were all accountable for ourselves and to ourselves i think issues of ethics would come up much less frequently. 

Culture is constantly evolving, or so my anthropology professors tell me. How has culture evolved from the fifties until now? Technology is an obvious answer, so is pointing out the shift from a nuclear family dynamic to the belief that " we create our own family." Movie stars are still popular, but their weights, hair colors, cup sizes and style of dress have changed dramatically. Smoking is no longer cool in the mainstream, but there is a new component to the world of fantasy. The fast paced, drug addicted world that many stars are afforded due to too much time and money creates a niche that is smoker friendly. I am stunned by the number of kids my age in college who smoke. Enter a bar in Oregon before January 2009 and the smoke would slap you in the face like a low grade pimp who just lost a bill. So in the fifties the culture dictated that mainstream stars advertise smoking and the culture now dictates that the mainstream stars advertise quitting smoking while the underground scene is continuing to explode with cigarettes and other personal physical abuses. Where does that leave me? I'm not sure. I don't know that smoking will ever completely lose it's cool because kids will always feel invincible and adults will always find themselves craving a world just beyond their reach. (Obviously not everyone-- this is a generalization).