Identity Essentials

With these photos, I questioned what makes a woman beautiful. I asked men in particular and they all gave very stereotypical answers. I turned to the internet and looked on facebook and myspace to see how women presented themselves and found that they tended to show off features that men described as beautiful if they were single. If they were not single, the women tended to show pictures of them and their loved one or very lovely face shots. I had to consider where to take these shots and I chose the W.A.S.H. building girl's bathroom because it was the most impersonal place that did not offer a lot of distractions with color, etc. I also considered using a different person's body but I am the most readily available model that I know of.

Sontag Photo Analysis

Photo One: Me and Buck

A. The photo was taken by me so I could remember that my friend Buck and I went on the 3-D motion theater ride together so he could cheer me up right before my birthday. I keep it because I think it is a good photograph for the two of us and it has personal significance to me. It is of personal significance to me because he is like a brother to me and whenever I am upset, he talks stuff out with me.
B.He is like a brother to me. This influenced the way the photo was taken by having the two of us closer. I was more willing to act silly because it is a photo of the two of us and it didn't really matter what I looked like. It was definitely a fun feeling to the photograph. Buck was just having fun too. I will remember it in ten years.


Photo Two: Me and Aya, taken by my friend Aya

A. The photo was taken by my friend Aya when I was a senior in high school because we are close friends and she wanted to have something to remember our trip out to Taco Bell. I keep it because it is a good photo of the two of us. I chose it for this assignment because it seemed it is easy to describe why it is significant to me. It is significant to me because she is still a very good friend of mine and this picture just reminds me of that.
 B. We are friends. The picture is a lot more personal since we are both friends. Plus, since she herself is in the photo, she wanted to make sure she looked good in the photo too. Since it is taken by my friend, it is a lot warmer emotionally. It shows on my face and on hers.
C. The photo was intended to be viewed by us or by anybody that is close to us or by ourselves. The time this photo should be viewed is not really important. I will definitely remember this photo ten years from now because it is a picture of great significance to me.

Photo Three:  Random person vs. Random Person

A. The purpose of this photo was to exploit Michael Jackson's death and "inform" the readers on how Jackson really died. I keep it because I like collecting newspaper clippings and headlines and such. It really doesn't hold much significance to me.
B.There really isn't an emotional relationship between the photographer and the subject. The only thing connecting them is the photographer's profit. It effects the photo by not really caring how Michael Jackson looks in the photograph. It is less personal and it shows on Jackson's face. There really isn't an emotional attitude towards each other.
C. The photo is supposed to be viewed like an advertisement, trying to get sales on a magazine. It is intended to be eye catching and be looked at for a small time, only enough to make somebody want to look inside the magazine. I will not remember this photo in ten years.