Ad Buster

Nike, a company known and loved all across the planet is also the source of one of the biggest controversies in my lifetime. Nike was known for their quality shoes that made you run faster, jump higher, and be better than the best you can be, but now, they are rumored to have employed young children in Korea to make their shoes. Thus, a parody of a nike advertisement I found seemed like a good place to start to make a subverted image. Originally the nike ad says, "Whats the secret of speed? Ask the master." By adding this text, the main idea that the audience gets is flipped 180 degrees. The message being put forth by this new image is very critical of Nike, one that directly accuses the company of employing small children in their shoe-making. The intended audience of the image is people who own Nike products, for it is informing them of where some of their beloved companies products once came. Since the accusations on Nike for using child-labor are so generally known, there a only a very small audience being left out, like those who are too young to know the controversy surrounding the brand. Lastly, this image's rhetoric is quite strong, tugging at the heart strings of the audience while employing a diabolical sense of humor, creating an emotional connection between the audience and the image.

Personal Photography

For the personal photography project, the subject of each of our projects is the body and how it can be viewed. In my case, I used images of bodies to represent another image, the way how I see the individuals in the photos. For my project, I decided to delve into a very controversial topic within the sports world. For years now, there have people players suspect of using performance enhancing drugs, like steroids, in the great game of Baseball. First off, I chose the subjects of each of the images based on their infamous reputations, like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Jose Conseco and Alex Rodriguez. These people have all been accused of using steroids in the sport, and I wanted to show my vision of them as I see it, and also my vision of baseball as a whole. The first image shows the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig surrounded by infamous players with the words “MLB? More like SMH” (SMH stands for shaking my head). This image shows the disappointment I feel every time I think about the use of steroids and how it makes baseball not fun to watch. The next images show players with appropriated images to represent how I feel about steroids enhance the performance of the user, which makes the game sort of unwatchable. Using the idea of objectification, I used appropriated images over the players, allowing the viewer to see the players through my eyes. These people in the images no longer have an identity, rather they are known as “users”. This idea is of interest to me because of the way I wanted to present my images. I want the viewer to, as I said, see what I see, and in this way objectify the person in the image. 

Documentary Photography

The pictures I have chosen for this project all represent the lighter side of life. Living socially is a thing that not only do all people do, but also also many other beings on this planet. This leads me to believe that taking pictures of things in my life connected to social events is a way to document the social behavior and events of an average American's lifestyle. Whether it is in California on the beach, at the football game, or even watching seals at a zoo, the social behavior of humans is unpredictable and can be comprised of anything. These photographs represent the moments in my life that are special to me, and I want them to be shared with any and all people so that they can feel the same way I did for that second in time when the lens snapped and a digital image of that moment was created. Oh, and the planking, that was just for fun!

B) Light and Texture

Light: 
I chose the element of lighting because of the shadows and lines created by the tree in my pictures. I added the AEPi letters around the tree to create more concrete and diverse shadows. I feel like the lines created by the letters add an industrial look to an organic environment, which adds interest to the photo. Also the way my shadow reflects on the tree adds an interesting touch to the picture, as if I were actually touching the tree.  Light is a very important element of photography because it adds a lot depth to the picture by diverting the eye away from the epicenter of the picture.

Texture:
I chose texture as an element to photograph because of the diverse textures found on a tree. The bottom picture is a better example of the texture concept, i feel, because the shadows allow for the viewer to get a better feel for the texture of the tree's broken branch. My approach to photographing the texture of the tree was to photograph angles that captured the depth of the crevices on the bark and broken limb. I feel like the textures i photograph add a tactile emotion to the photograph, giving the viewer the idea that they can feel the bark.

A) Perspective

I chose to take pictures of an Olive Tree in the back yard of my fraternity house. I thought it would be a good subject because of the shadows created by the leaves. I placed the AEPi letters around the tree to add color to the pictures.