Sublimation Object #1

Journal #1: The Role of Photography in Modern Life

It has been established that the acceptance and availability of cameras in society changed the way people perceive reality (expansion/distortion). Reaching further into the present, photography has become even more widely available, which has further changed the dynamics of its role in every-day life. Society as a whole is becoming more visual. I have found that the public world is scarcely populated by photographic images in the form of advertisements and regulations. In fact, despite the ubiquity of cameras, most of the resulting images reside within electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, phones, etc.

Susan Sontag reasons that the ultimate realism of a photo makes it seem like a magical object, which can be thought of as replacing the actual subject (Wells, 62). As insightful as it was at the time, I believe the changes brought on by the proliferation of digital electronic devices have further altered the landscape of photography in society.

Images have transitioned from physical representations to less tangible digital representations. Thus the environment encountered in daily life, driving down the street, working in an office, running errands at the grocery store, or the bank or any number of other public institutions, the primary source of photographic imagery encountered is almost entirely advertisements. These images are highly edited, and rank with a message that we must all unwittingly have echoing and burning in our minds: “Buy this.”

Despite the ubiquity of the camera, and no lack of using said cameras, I feel the physical world is an artistic wasteland. This is because, if each source of images was a stream, each would ultimately flow into the ocean of the internet, and very rarely be printed into reality. One must therefore access the internet to reach any of the photography that was not inherently driven by capitalism.

Sontag goes on to suggest other effects of photography to include the notion of the photographic seeing, which suggests an intricate relationship between the photographer’s identity and the subject of the photographer’s images - an unending cycle of seeing and being (61). It takes only a single glance at Facebook to see that this is as true today as ever. Among the people that I know, the vast majority use photography explicitly as a means of praising a moment. When my wife and I go somewhere without the camera, she is likely to be angry with me and I joke with her about it. She, realizing the ridiculousness of the situation, openly admits that the day is ruined without the camera. This example demonstrates another aspect of seeing photographically mentioned by Sontag, that perceiving the world as a series of photo opportunities dissociates us from reality (63). This is a notion that creeps into many other aspects of society, and it is my opinion that the most precise explanation of this phenomena must come from a psychological perspective. It is my understanding that, in some way, most of us are dissociated from reality, whether by wealth, or status, or misinformation.

In psychology, the Self-Reference Effect refers to the tendency of people to perceive things that relate to their values more often than things that do not. When considering whether I see photographically or not, I believe that I do. In between appointments, I enjoy taking in my surroundings, and try to find the beauty in them. Sometimes, I endeavor to find a sight that is worth sharing, and take the time to capture, and transform the moment into something shareable. 

Watching people pass by through the reflection of the drinking fountains.

Under a large tree by a busy road, a dried and flattened roadkill is laid to rest.

Journal #4 Part 1

Remember: no rule is worth anything until you have discovered it afresh for yourself.

Journal #4 Part 3

Journal #4 Part 2

Journal #3: The Performing ‘I’

10 November 2014

The methods by which we define ourselves can be very interesting. Generally speaking, our sense of self is greatly impacted by our environment and the social pressures, attitudes and beliefs which make our specific culture.

My feeling of being myself seems to be related to the number and activity of people around me. In crowded areas, my identity seems completely obscured. I feel most like myself when I am alone, especially at night or in a place far from the populated city.

I might be commonly referred to as reclusive or anti-social. In fact, I enjoy the company of intelligent, thoughtful people but such people are rare. The concept of social roles offers insight into why people might feel most comfortable when they are alone, as I do. Psychological studies have proven that most people adapt to situations by assuming social roles, by which they begin to define themselves. The most famous study is Dr. Zimbardo's Prison Study at Stanford University, in which a random selection of students were assigned to be either a prisoner or a guard. Zimbardo discovered that the prisoners adopted a passive, defeated demeanor, while the guards became progressively authoritarian and abusive, inflicting more and more terrible punishments against the prisoners. 

In social settings, I have become accustomed to focusing on maintaining my identity. I have noticed that this makes me socially ignorant in many ways and slows down my reactions. Because of this, I must also spend a great deal of effort trying to convince others that my words are worth listening to. This struggle for some measure authority is exhausting, and ridiculous, but it is part of our culture to streamline our thoughts so that we do not need to think more than necessary, and so we shut out all distractions, including each other.

When I was young, I remember how often kids would reply to each other with "what?" as if they were pretending not to hear each other speak. The most common role that I end up playing in a social setting is one of being knowledgeable. Our culture is a terrible game of denying each other consideration. We are all worthless until proven valuable. We are thus forced to show each other that we are valuable in order to simply be heard.

Most of my public identity in a populated setting is defined by this struggle, unfortunately. I know there must be a culture somewhere in the world that does not hold everyone to such unfair initial judgments.

Sublimation Object #4

This memento has adorned the rear windshield of my car for several years. It seems rare to find a whole sand dollar intact. I believe superstition holds that they are lucky. I could be wrong. Yet, the symmetry and odd markings have always reminded me that this was once a living creature.  This concept endeavored to reveal the sand dollar's animal origins. When the light shines at a shallow enough angle, it appears to have flesh-like ripples along the veiny ridges on its back. I wish I had had a macro lens to get closer to it.

Journal #3

Performing identity