Prompt #4

#19. Can you think of anything that:

1) should not be photographed? Why?

     I think that parts of people's private lives that they want to keep private, 
should not be photographed without permission.  For instance, the way that 
the paparazzi and media stalk celebrities or maybe are invasive into their 
lives is wrong. I know that to some extent, celebrities should be prepared 
for this because it is their chosen career. But I think that the media can go 
too far. 
2) cannot be photographed? Why?

     Maybe some things cannot be photographed because technology has 
not advanced that far -- like the deepest part of the ocean. In general, I do 
not think a lot of things cannot be photographed, maybe they should not be,
 but I do not think their are a lot of boundaries anymore.
3) you do not want to photograph? Why?

I would not want to photograph anything violent -- like the front lines of
 war or a battlefield. I just really do not have the stomach for that. I think 
that takes a lot of courage and dedication, and I do not know if I could do it. 

#20 Describe at least one photograph that you could take for each of the 
following “place” prompts.

An image of a synthetic “place” such as Disney World, Las Vegas, 

a Hollywood set, a diorama, etc.
I think it would be very interesting to take photographs at Disney World. 
It would be really cool to try and take pictures if the insides of rides, or to 
do a series on the characters that walk around the park. 

• An image of a fantasy/fictitious environment concocted from your imagination.

I would like to construct an alien environment -- like a planet or living creatures 
from a new planet.
An image of a placeless space such as the Internet, cell phones, e-mail,

 e-bank, surveillance, etc.
It would be fun to recreate surveillance tapes, like the artist did in the movie 
we watched in class -- they looked at the video at the ATM machine. 

• An image of a public space.

It might be interesting to take photographs of a bathroom at its 
busiest -- in stores, restaurants, bars, etc. I think this not only tells a lot 
about the place, but also the people -- from their facial expressions and 
body language. 

• An image of a private space.

A private space that I might photograph is people while they are sleeping. 
People sleep in so many different ways and have so many different habits 
in this private place. 

• An in-between space that brings to mind one of the following ideas: 
• nomadic lifestyles, displacement, rootlessness, out-of-placeness, 
• boundaries, movement, expansion, etc.

I think it would be great to go back and time and do this -- as there are so
 many examples that would fit this -- such as Native Americans, immigrants,
 and war. But in current times, it might be interesting to take pictures on the 
border of Mexico and America to document and try and understand the daily
 struggles that people face. 


#21

A. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “news”-related photographs.

     News related photographs are often of natural disasters, celebrities, 
or breaking news -- so I think they can be highly edited or manipulated.

B. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of “snapshots”, including family photographs, cell-phone shots, 
photos posted to facebook.

     Snapshots are more candid a lot of the time -- maybe more staged. 
News pictures maybe consist of the camera being in the right place at the 
right time. Family photographs are set up, but they are more effective at 
capturing emotion and a feeling of the environment (intimacy).

C. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of advertisement photographs, 
including fashion photography, product photography, etc

     There is often high contrast, a lot of manipulation -- you can tell people 
have been airbrushed -- there is often a lot of texture, detail, bold colors. 

D. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of film/movie and television stills.

     Film and movie stills could be in black and white, they capture movement,
 a moment in time, tell a story, and point to what might happen next.

E. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of yearbook photos, senior pictures, 
and team/club/sports group shots.

     They try to record stages of life and history, but they do so in a way that 
sometimes is artificial. For yearbook photos, you basically get a click, 
one shot, and you are on your way out. So whatever happens, happens. 
I think senior pictures try to capture the personality and character of a 
person, but they can sometimes feel forced. The most effective are the
 portraits that capture the personality in a genuine way. And team photos 
can often reveal something about the team through body language, but 
I remember that they are kind of artificial too -- they do not capture the 
friendships, and bonds that people may have together because they are 
so regulated.

F. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of stock images. http://www.corbisimages.com/ http://www.gettyimages.com/

     Stock images are of things that are commonly photographed. I think 
sometimes they can be a little like an outsider looking in. You might get a
 part of what is being photographed, and they are quality photographs, but 
they are not always intimate and can be vague so that they can be used in 
more then one context. Also they can be staged.

G. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of fashion photography.

     High contrast, bold colors, shadows, textures, women.

H. Describe some common aesthetic aspects of paparazzi shots or celebrity 
photographs.

     Sometimes they can be candid, invasive. Often they are of a celebrity
 on the go. Celebrity photographs can also be very glamorous and impersonal, 
because you are only focusing on the outside beauty of the person, not 
necessarily who they are.