1) Pose; relates to the stuff talked about by Barthes. When a lens looks at you, you immediately "imitate yourself" and "make yourself an image""I pose. I know I am posing. I want you to know I am posing, but this must not alter my individuality." Here we see two people posing obviously. They smile and hold the camera in a "selfie" way, slightly above (which is more attractive.) They know they are posing, we know they are posing. They present themselves as "they want to be seen"
2) Links to selfie; inter-texuality to other texts/context of time. Selfie is very much of the time. This shows how the way we photograph is dominated by attitudes of the time. Many of the photos I received were in this similar style.
3) We put on a public image; this is the pose, the selfie, but also the smile, the closeness. They are sending out a public representation to the world that they are happy, in a for-filling relationship- they are "anxious about the cameras disapproval", and so pose in a way society approves of, and put on a wishes expression and representation.
4) This links to how society is now. We are always filmed and represented on social media and surveillance cameras. Because we do not have control over it, these images of self (like above) are on the rise. This is the "symbolic I", ourselves as we think we should be seen and represented. This couple chose to take a photo of themselves with no other input of a photographer; no one can impose attitudes or thoughts on them. This is "their" view, as many people chose to take the photo.
5) On a strangely contrasting note, the constant photographing and representing of ourselves on media has led to a strange relaxation in our attitude to image and identity. Susan Sontang; talks about how worried she is about "possession of self" in an image. These people interact with a camera, without knowing who the public is, and don't even want the picture. This suggests a very much relaxes attitude to who owns our image; it is disposable and can be repeated and repeated many times in many places.
6) photos have therefore become less precious and more disposable. Then why take them? Why would these people take photo with a random camera? This is another difference to past times; photos are now a way to say that they were here. "photography is a way to experience things", and once you start using photographs to experience things, they become a way to remember the experiences, and after they become the memories of experiences, if you do not photograph something, then you can not be sure it happened. These people interacted with a camera because they wanted to document that they were here, in this moment. They wanted an unlimited amount of people to know.
7) This is a very personal moment, they include no one else, they lean close together, they seem happy and in the moment. I felt like a vouyeur looking at this, and yet the had specifically given me this image of themselves. This suggests a change in the public/private sphere; before such personal moments were only held by people who "use" the photo, they were "hung on family walls", within a context. Now, with the impossible amount of representation and images of our identity, such moments are taken from their personal setting, and given to the public; this links to the idea that our identity and what makes us "us", or gives us meaning, is much more malleable and flexible- it can be represented, disposed of, represented again.
so, for presentation:
This is a street photography project, told from the eyes of the people on the street. It will investigate the way the public behaves when asked to photograph themselves. It will particularly look at how we behave in front of cameras, and how the way we photograph is informed by the hyper-real, photo-mediated society. It will look at how this has changed the way we view the real and our own identity.
1) Poses, as we want to be seen
2) Intertexuality and context, informed by other texts
3) Public image
4) Control over images- symbolic I- have to create lots of images.
5) Contrast; possession of image not a problem, identity can be constructed/changed/malleable.
6) Photos more disposable, but why take? photos as a way to experience things.
7) Public/private
For display:
I want to put all of the boots photo booklets in expensive art frames and hang them up. I will have 50 plus booklets, and they all have the photo on the outside, of the "public" image, the desired representation of self. people can interact with the photos, and go and explore them. Found photographs. Also can see hundreds of people all posing similairly; suggests the context of time, how we THINK we should look, as well as the endless repetition of them and similar representations. Also people can look at how people have given me images, disposibleness.
No comments:
Post a Comment