Mystory

Miami Beach, FL 2007. Lassie saves tree branch from drowning in the ocean

(1) INTERPRETATION

Why did you take the photo? Because I love dogs and thought this one was adorable

What decisions did you make in composing it? I took the picture as the dog was returning a stick a to me

How did your experience, background knowledge, or assumptions shape

this photo? Having pet dogs all my life made me want to take a frontal picture of the dog because I think its the best way to capture them

[REFLECTION]

Try to imaging what kind of photograph the person in your picture might

take of you. If it were possible for a dog to do so, they would probably take a picture of me in the ocean.

What caption would that person add to such a photograph? Dumb human drowns in the ocean

What assumptions would "the other" make about you?

(2) INVENTION

How might this exercise change the way you take travel photographs,

how you represent others, or what you assume when you snap pictures

of other people? I don't take very many photos but it I will probably now think about what kind of pictures they would take of me.

Can you conceive of a different way (or method) of representing

others in photographs? You could represent others with symbols that signify their essence

Photoshopping

The picture of me seen above was taken last year at a friend’s birthday party. Instead of altering this image, I decided to crop my head out of the photo and use it to alter another photo.  By placing my head on top of Vladimir Puten, I made it seem like I actually met President Bush. I thought it would be funny to have a picture like this because President Bush will always be remembered for all of his shortcomings as president. By having a picture of us together it seems as if I was a big Bush supporter, and I endorse a lot of the things he has done in the past. However, when you look at the photo closely, it becomes obvious that the image is false. I have no ties to President Bush nor have I ever been anywhere near the vicinity of the man. Notice how the different lighting on both of our faces gives away the fact that my head was digitally added on top. To alter the image further, I took the second image, made it black and white, placed it within the borders of a Polaroid, and made it seem like it was pinned to my bulletin board. By drawing less attention to the photo and making it harder to see, it becomes harder to tell if it’s fake. By adding on layers like I did in this example, it becomes apparent how someone very skilled could fabricate any image they want.