Photo Project

Nia Bolden

9/25/12

Tatted

 

          The word tattoo derives from the Polynesian word ‘ta’ which means to strike something and the Tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means to mark something. To tattoo someone is basically inserting colored materials underneath the skin. Tattooing is over thousands of years old and was first introduced to the western world by the Polynesians during the era of European colonization. At first tattooing was done among some of the explorers as a way to remember their explorations. Then tattooing became popular with the aristocrats and elite. But back then people had to get their tattoos in concealed areas on their bodies. Rarely did one walk around covered in tattoos unless they were a part of some type of show or circus. Then, technological advancements in machinery lead to a unique style of tattooing in the United States. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tattooing slowly became a part of the American culture especially for sailors and military servicemen. But even with its newfound popularity, tattoos were generally viewed with great rejection in most of society. Many people who had tattoos got them in places that could be covered so they wouldn’t be shunned or deemed as of low class.  It was hard to be taken seriously because people looked at tattoos as destruction of the body not as a respected form of self-expression. The origins of tattooing in the western world can be traced back to indigenous cultures, so it was affiliated with being uncivilized. Tattooing has grown relatively popular over time, but still it has always been seen as negative because in a way it’s very rebellious. This view point about tattoos still holds steady in society today, but with the emergence of new generations the tolerance levels for body art seem to have increased. It’s becoming more and more common to see young people “tatted” (covered in tattoos). Tattoos aren’t just a fun rebellious thing to partake in anymore. They are becoming a new form of communication. And so in the future, tattoos will be accepted in society as valid art forms of self-expression and self-identification.

          The forms of visual rhetoric that I chose are filters over my picture, blurry focus, and locations of the tattoo on the person’s body. For a majority of the pictures I used a filter over them. I thought the filters made the pictures look cooler and the colors more vibrant. I really wanted my pictures to bring all the audience’s attention to the tattoo and nothing else. For this reason I used a blurred vision over many of my photos. Almost all of my pictures, especially the ones that have a lot going on in the background, have everything that surrounds the tattoo blurred out. I wanted the focus to just be on the tattoos to show the tattoos significance to that person. I also did not show anyone’s face in the pictures. I deliberately did this again to show the importance the tattoo has to the person. Tattoos are not just markings on someone’s body, they’re apart of the person like any other body part. They are the ultimate form of self-expression because tattoos are the most permanent. Tattoos mean so much more too people than others realize, especially for my generation. Tattoos are a way of controlling our bodies and finding pieces of who we are at a time in our lives where control and self-identity seem so unattainable. And that is why I used the filters, focuses, and no faces in my pictures to really hone in on the tattoo. I chose to take pictures of tattoos that I felt were in obvious places and not easy to cover up on the body. For example, a majority of the pictures within my set are pictures of people with hand and wrist tattoos. I chose these pictures and put them together on purpose because I feel like they help to prove my argument. These kids have tattoos in places that the whole world can see and too them, this is normal. It’s not out of the ordinary to see our generation with sleeves, wrist tattoos, hand, an even face tattoos. I think this says a lot about what the future entails and a huge possible shift in our society’s opinions of a tattoo’s true significance.

          As previously stated, the negative mindset about tattoos is going to change for the better in the future. As our generation gets older and the next generation comes along, there will be more middle-aged adults with tattoos and even younger kids with tattoos. In all aspects of everyday life, it will be common to see people with a lot of tattoos and in less discrete areas. From the workplace, home, Neighborhood Park, school, etc., not just in urban areas, tattoos will be seen more frequently than before. This means tattoos will not only be looked at as just damage to the body by society, but as actual artistic outlets as well. To dig deeper, this acceptance will also add to the types of communication. Tattoos are obvious forms of self-expression too some, but with a wider acceptance, new doors will open in terms of how we communicate with one another. Being tatted or having a tattoo uncovered will be acknowledged as a way of expressing ones inner feelings. Tattoos will no longer be shunned or seen as savage-like, but rather a new way for people to communicate their emotions with others. Tattoos will also be seen as normal ways of identifying one’s self. Rather than seeing someone that has a lot of visible tattoos as someone with no self-respect, that person will be seen as someone using their tattoos as symbols to make up part of their identity. They’re telling the world how they see themselves regardless of what anyone else thinks. The use of tattoo art as new ways of communication and self-identification is significant for us a culture because it shows progressions in our society. This is progression because it says that our society is becoming more open-minded as far as how people choose to express themselves. Tattoos aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, tattoos are taking part in freeing up the limitations of what’s acceptable and what’s not, thus moving toward a more modern society.

          It is often said that everyone is different and argued how important it is to hold on to our individualism, but never is this idea truly practiced. For a long time and even today people try so hard to fit in with everyone else. People are still afraid of being seen as different. Tattoo art is helping to break this pattern because it separates us from each other by displaying our inner selves. Also, by getting covered in tattoos one takes the risk of possibly being looked at as an outcast with no future. But with the popularity of tattoos and this movement among younger generations known as “getting tatted”, our society is definitely moving forward in terms of tolerance levels. We’re becoming less conventional when it comes to outward appearance and what are proper forms of self-expression. This time period and the influences of today’s cultural icons are the causes for this progression. The younger generations aren’t looking at getting tattoos as terrible, but instead as unique ways to convey their individualism. Having tattoos is just the cool thing to do now. And when this phase passes, having a lot of tattoos won’t be a huge deal in the future just another art form.

Link to set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nialenee/sets/72157631605280932/show/
Link to stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nialenee/show/

Photography: Truth or Lies?

I'll admit that I didn't think much of photography the first time I read Susan Sontag's In Plato's Cave. It took for me to go back and really read the text to understand what Sontag was fully trying to say. To a certain extent I do agree with her opinions about photography, but to another degree I have my own opinions about the subject. Well first off, I do believe it is hard to find truths from just a photo and I didn’t understand what this meant until I deeply analyzed the argument. In a sense we are blinded to what’s behind the meaning of a photo just like the metaphor of Plato’s Cave. We automatically assume that because a photo is a photo (an actual event captured on camera), that what we see is real. A photograph isn’t like a painting, a sculptor, or even a written piece where the artist/author gives us their own interpretation of an event. It’s hard for us as viewers’ to find these things credible because we think of them as someone else’s point of view. But when it comes to finding credibility within a photograph it’s easy for us to trust that what we see is real. We assume a photo is reality when in fact it isn’t. A photo is no different because it is still someone else’s, in this case the photographers, interpretation of reality/life. Without knowing the full background and the context of what is being photographed, there is no real way for us to tell if what we’re seeing in the photo is a truth or just a portrayal of truth. I disagree with Sontag’s opinion that everything that someone takes a picture isn’t reality. I think it just depends on the person taking the picture. There are some photographers who don’t try to portray anything when they take a photo. They simply just capture life as it is. I think it also depends on what’s truth to the photographer. You can’t just tell someone that what they took a picture of wasn’t real. If they were there and they witnessed the event happening first-hand, then it is reality. It may not be a reality too us, but it is too the photographer. It doesn’t really matter what the audience thinks just like with an artist’s artwork. The viewer/listener is entitled to interpret the artwork any way they want to (and that doesn’t mean that their interpretation is necessarily right or wrong), but too the artist no matter what the audience thinks, what they’ve created is real. It’s their reality and their truth not the audiences. I think this says that reality isn’t just this broad idea about what is life. Every being has their own individual reality because we’re all different people with our own thoughts about what’s real and what’s fake. Despite the fact that there are great possibilities that what we see in photos isn’t real, I think people still take photos for enjoyment. Also, people like to feel a part of their environments and what’s going on around them. And once time passes there’s no way to ever get it back. The easiest most reliable way we can control passing time and hold on to memories is to take a picture. So no matter what Sontag says about how photo’s don’t display actual truth and we’re all confined in Plato’s Cave due to the limitations that photos have on our truths, I don’t think people really care. In our society nobody thinks that deeply into the truth behind a photo. Taking photos/photography has played such a huge role in our modern society that it’s become engrained in our culture. And with that being said, I strongly believe photography is here to stay.

What is America?

I found the piece that consisted of many photos by Martin Hyers and William Mebane, titled American B. 1964-1972 (I think it was called...),  to be the most intersting. Well on the surface, I liked the varitey of colors that were used in all the pictures and how they came together to create a very visually interesting sight. I also like that there were two different people taking pictures of totally different things, but some how they managed to intertwine their work so well. It was almost like only one person created the work. It was strange too because looking at the pictures really made me think about being back home at my grandparents house or at my aunt's and uncle's place. It made me feel like a little kid looking through all their old trinkets and photos from back in the day. And that's when I realized that these photos were supposed to represent American culture at a certain time period. My grandparents had just began to start their families around that same time. They have been living in those same houses since they got married and had my parents. So looking at the pictures sort of gave me feel of being back home with my family.

At first, I was trying to put all of the photos together and figure out what the artist was trying to communicate to the audience. I started off small by pulling out themes and relating them back to the topic. There were various pictures of religious symbols, t.v.'s and radios, scences from public schools, sports trouphies and medals, office tools like stapplers and paper clips, family pictures, car parts, and police stations. Each one was different, but they all spoke to eachother and helped portray the topic more clearly. Some of the themes I got from these pictures were the emphasis placed on religion, technology, public education, sportsmanship, blue collar workers, family, automobiles, and the law/lawenforment.

The theme that was most prevelant to me was religion because I could connect it to so many other ideas. There were a lot of religious based photos like the bible, a manorah, church pughs, and crosses. This made me think about not only religion being something extremely dominate in our culture and especially at that time, but I also thought about the many different religions that are practiced in America. Then I tied some of these religions back to the many different races and ethnicities that make up our population like Judism, White Protestants, Hispanics who are often associated with Catholism, and the Black Baptist church which is what I grew up in. I think the artist were trying to say that America doesn't consist of just one race. There are many different races, religions, and ethnicities that are the heart of the American culture. There's a complexity in our culture which makes us so unique. But even with that being said, no matter how different we are from eachother we still are connected because we're all American.

 I think an important issue that stood out to me was the importance placed on commercialism and capitalism at the time. There was a picture of a Christmas tree and of a plastic Hannakah monorah. I think the photographers were not only trying to bring up religion, but commercialism/capitalism as well. As we all know Christmas and Hannakuh are huge holidays in America because so many people celebrate them. But at the time (and even today) there was way more signicance placed on the commercial aspects rather than the religion it self. By this I mean more people went out and bought Christmas and Hannakuh decorations and presents, but didn't actually celebrate the true meanings of the holidays. These celebrations are more of a show for people. Something for others to make money off of. And what is our country based off of? Capitalism. Everyone wants to make money. Basically, I think the artists were displaying the issue/idea of how important commercialism and capitalism are in our society.

Even with all the themes, ideas, issues, etc. brought up in these photos, I don't believe there is ever a way to sum up what America actually is. It's even impossible to do in one time period. Like I said before our culture is way more complex and difficult to describe. And I think that's what the artist were trying to say too.

M.A.C. and Barbie Advertisement

Every year or so M.A.C Cosmetics teams up with an iconic figure in pop culture. This ad was launched January 26, 2007 and the line included everything from lipsticks, foundations, eye shadows, and blushes all created based off of M.A.C's interpretation of Mattel’s Barbie.

Throughout history, Barbie has played many different roles in her work, love, and domestic life. She's been portrayed as a physically and intellectually perfect woman. A woman who can do it all from Pilot Barbie to Fire Fighter Barbie, and who can have it all; the pink corvette and the matching dream house. Barbie is a woman who one would think to be the ideal role model for girls, young and old, considering the fact that she's smart and independent. But Barbie has also been seen as a rebellious figure. She was created in 1959, a time where women were only viewed as homemakers not career women. And over the years there's been great controversy over Barbie's perfect appearance and unrealistic body image. Due to the many achievements and controversy surrounding her, Barbie’s considered a role model and an indirect rebel too most women. Barbie is what society believes every woman wants be: extraordinarily beautiful, thin, intelligent, independent, and rich in material items. M.A.C. is a brand similar to what Barbie is in the sense that M.A.C. is a classy high quality cosmetic line, but known for its vibrancy and bright colors M.A.C. is also a line with an edge.

 

This advertisement uses all three forms of rhetoric. Ethos because Barbie is a credible figure within our society for what is and what is not beautiful, (despite the fact that she's fictional). Since Barbie is a toy that a lot of women played with as girls, she can bring out an emotional/sensitive side within many people. Barbie brings people back to a happy and innocent time in their lives, which was childhood. Therefore, this advertisement is a form of Pathos too. And finally, logos is used as a form as well because everyone knows Barbie is smart and beautiful. She's done almost anything one could imagine so obviously Barbie knows which cosmetics are best. The statement "Barbie Loves M.A.C." basically means, Barbie uses M.A.C. and she loves it because she always looks amazing. And if you want to look like Barbie, you need to use M.A.C. too.  Logos ties into the underlying message which is: you, the consumer, should love M.A.C too because Barbie knows best when it comes to beauty. The corporations behind Barbie (Mattel) and M.A.C. (Este Lauder) are the senders of this message. They're huge companies looking to make sales. They don't care about what type of psychological message they're sending to women with the phrase “Barbie Love’s M.A.C.”, or that a doll rather than a real woman is their spokes model. They're telling woman to strive for an impossible standard of beauty. The receivers are mostly young girls or older women trying to stay young. Because M.A.C. always sells such bright colors they tend to get a lot of younger consumers who are more daring and into the latest trends. On the other end of the spectrum of consumers, there are older women who want to keep up with the young. The model is of course young, Caucasian, and blonde. She’s made up to look like a doll, another form a visual rhetoric. Everything about this ad just shows how extremely shallow our society is when it comes to beauty. The only way to truly  be acceptable in today’s world, is to make yourself look unreal, like a Barbie doll.

Purpose

Nia is the fifth principle of Kwanzaa. It means purpose and I believe my name fits me perfectly. I come from a small suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio called Shaker Heights. I love where I come from because it made me who am today.  My mother and sister are there whom I am very close to, my best friend of over ten years attends college there, there’s the spot by my grandparent’s house where I cut my knee learning to ride my bike, the place in front of my high school locker where I got my first kiss and my first heartbreak, and my church home where I used to sing and perform as a child… my entire life is there and for a long time that was all I knew. But with that being said, I've always seen more for myself. I had a vision that was bigger than my surroundings. I know I have a great purpose. I believe we all do and it’s our destiny to fulfill that purpose. So when I wasn't getting the party started with my girlfriends, listening to my favorite smooth tunes like the Weeknd or Sade, up at the mall in Guess buying every pair of jeans they had on sale, constantly checking my Instagram, or just struggling to maintain a drama-free carefree life; I had my head in the books because I knew that was my only sure way out of my situation. Now I’m here living in the AMAZING city of Chicago as a freshman music major at Columbia College. I'm so excited, anxious, nervous, overwhelmed, happy, etc. because there is so much opportunity around me. I can feel it! I know being here is going to change my life forever and I cannot wait to fully grasp everything around me. For once I'm actually thrilled about being in school and learning because there's so much freedom and encouragement for students to be who they are. Already I'm loving this class because I’m creating my own blog as my first homework assignment ha! (How sweet is that?) I love writing down how I feel so I don't really see this as work, it’s more therapeutic. To wrap this up, I'm just completely over joyed. I'm looking forward to learning a lot of new things, improving my writing skills, and just writing any and everything period. I know this is going to be a year to remember for me.