Blogpost #2

Flusser’s assumption that the two major turning points of human history are the invention of writing and the invention of imagery strikes me as an extraordinary simplification. Their implication that writing was a negative for society also struck me as strange, especially since their theory is conveyed through writing. I did like the statement that “[images] are supposed to be maps but they turn into screens.” The activeness turned into passivity is a nice way to put it. Additionally, Flusser’s description of cameras as a black box apparatus is interesting, though I feel the language complicates the meaning. Most electronic devices and many other modern day technologies obscure their inner workings from their users.

I enjoyed Sontag’s section about the physicality of printed photos. A printed photo can fade and be torn and marked over time, and so itself becomes an image. I also enjoyed the transition sentence of “As photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal, they also help people to take possession of space in which they are insecure,” in reference to the family photos and travel photos respectively. I‘ve certainly taken tourist photos simply because people had agreed that this site was photographable, rather than really taking in the site and taking photos that end up more unconventionally attractive. Sontag also writes about voyeurism and how photography inherently requires distance. I‘d argue that the intimacy of the scene and implied trust is quite voyeuristic. Finally, I love the poignant written imagery of “Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”

Blogpost #1

For further back than I can remember, my family has been a stickler for taking family photos while traveling. There’s a photo of my family at a theme park, when I was young enough to need a stroller. My parents have told me that I was happily munching on a churro, and now I cannot tell whether I remember that far back or that the photo was visually stimulating enough that I can imagine the scene. That archive of a moment that I may or may not actually remember is fascinating to me.

After acquiring a phone with a camera in middle school and being exposed to Instagram photos of picturesque dishes and aesthetic outfits, I realized that different types of photos existed besides the posed family photos. I‘m most drawn to photographing the natural and built landscape. The gentle ombres of the setting sun and the layered textures of the clouds catch my eye while ‘m walking around. Taking photos makes me appreciate the vibrancy of colors I can see and the full expanse of the open sky. The limited frame of photos forces me to reevaluate my perspective and how I want to preserve the scene I'm capturing.

I have taken one digital photography class online. In addition, I keep an Instagram art account where I occasionally document my art or post photos. My summer UROP also requested that I take process photos of my bookbinding process. I‘d like to learn to further study the city by photographing the built environment and streetlife. 

An image that marked me most recently is one of the sun shining through clouds, framed by a wire fence. I was walking in the suburbs with a friend and was struck by the gloriously lit sky. We were crossing over a railroad and after a few snaps with the fence interfering, I decided to use the fence as a framing device.