Santa's Gift!

To look at this image nowadays most would be disgusted by this image, but in earlier times this was the standard around the holidays. I decided to find an image of an old smoking ad because I know I could pull good material, when I stumbled upon this one. The plain and simple of the this ad is try to get the viewer to buy cigarettes because Santa likes them. For the most part this ad was targeted at adults of legal buying age for cigarettes but who loves Santa more than kids? So unfortunately this image would be appealing to almost anyone. Although cigarettes are known to be only available to adults the image of Santa Claus attracts children's interest. Now back then, most would see that Santa is delivering gifts of cigarettes but we know that cigarettes cause cancer so a little text adjustment seemed to describe the reality of the image. Utilizing people's love for the jolly saint this ad is able to draw a viewer into buying cigarettes, but what Santa is bringing is not a gift!

The body: the reactions of a video gamer

Curiosity. How often do we get to see the faces we make? What brings them on? I have always wondered this, especially when playing video games because that is when some of my more interesting reactions come out.  It is quite interesting how the movements of the muscles in your face can truly change the way you look. These movements represent the emotions that we go through. From the subtlety of a blank stare to the constricting of the muscles to show a flash of anger, the face is the first part of someone you can read in order to understand what they are feeling. My interest about people’s reactions is what brought me to this idea for this project. I wanted to capture people’s reactions to different things but I had no idea how I would accomplish this and by what means. Then the idea of reactions from playing video games popped in my head. I have been playing video games all my life and have seen the reactions my friends have always made, where it be the reaction to scoring a point or being killed, the reactions all provide for some entertainment, but I was curious as to what my reactions were. Of course I have never been able to watch myself play video games. I know that I do tend to be a bit dramatic when playing games so I figured it would be fun snapping shots of me playing video games.  I have known that many other photographers have used themselves as the subject in their images so I figured why not me? Utilizing a fast shutter speed and a patient friend willing to push the button whenever he felt it necessary, I was able to capture numerous emotions while playing one of my video games that is notorious for ticking me off. After playing for around two hours and going through roughly 150 pictures I narrowed it down to the best four representations of my emotions while playing video games.  All four stood out as my basic go to reactions when playing this game, as to what I thought they were. All cracked me up because I have never been able to view myself in this way, been able to see what faces I make.  I also decided to put these images in black in white in order to cut out all distractions of color in hopes that the images would focus on my face. All in all I had a good time with this project and felt that photographing the face and the emotions it can bring it out was quite interesting, especially when you’re the subject.

A road trip

I decided to document my road trip because I felt that it is something that every person could relate to it. I took photographs of the things we are accustomed to seeing but being able to see these pictures we can bring different memories and emotions that come with each leg of the trip. A trip that sometimes can feel like a lifetime depending on the distance! Something I tried to put into perspective was time, the time I woke up to leave and the time I finally arrived are present in these pictures. Its just a small touch to give weight to the pictures and give another element people can relate to. I really wanted this project to be used as a tool for conversation about road trip stories. Where if the picture of filling up at the pump brings up a funny story at a gas station or the memorable feelings of taking the first stretch after being in the car for a while. For me, 8 pictures wasn't enough for I feel like I could document every aspect of the trip which would make a great story and conversation piece but I felt like these images were the strongest and confer the main points of the feeling of a road trip!

Perspective of the Hookah

Texture

I decided on texture because wanted to try and capture images of the hookah so one when someone looks at them they can almost feel the hookah hose or the vase. It was kind of difficult to capture images with the camera I had but I felt the image of the hose was really good because you can almost feel the fabric on the hose. The other I really liked was of the stem because the ripples that roll down at are clearly visible. In the last one I wanted to capture the other ends of the hose because they have distinctive texture as well.

Shape

The hookah itself has a lot of curves, not very many straight edges. I wanted to capture the curves of the stem and the roundness of the bowl. A overhead shot of the bowl and ashtray creates a double ringed circle. On the stem you get the bulging roundness of the stem and the hose ports have a interesting almost mushroom shape.