I am the main subject of my photo series, Anger Management, portraying how I deal with my anger. Each photo contains a unique setting apart from each other. I chose to do my final project in a digital medium as it is what I am most comfortable using. Every cut image has been neatly put together and altered further through Photoshop. Initially, I wanted to make a single collage of my work, showing my self-help journey; but then I made it into a photo series, expanding each of them individually. I categorize my work as a digital photo series. I went to a boardwalk near Bayonne where I took multiple roaming selfies, relating to Carrie Mae Weems. I made several poses and expressions, narrowing down the ones I would use for my final and using smaller assets from others that I took. Each emotional or physical expression was vital in capturing my arduous journey to getting better, through confronting my inner self. According to Berger, “If we accept that we can see that hill over there, we propose that from that hill we can be seen. The reciprocal nature of vision is more fundamental than that of spoken dialogue. And often dialogue is an attempt to verbalize this – an attempt to explain how, either metaphorically or literally, ‘you see things’, and an attempt to discover how ‘he sees things’,” (Berger 9). The first photo depicts two of me fighting in a digital realm, like the MATRIX franchise. This represents one of my ways to relieve my anger, watching shows, playing video games, and scrolling through social media. The next one presents another fight, more dangerous than before as the sun explodes and both of me are fighting; where one shoots, and the other creates a force field for protection. This conveys me getting my stress out through physical exercise and expression, getting all the negative emotions out of my system; all while not trying to hurt myself. And the last image shows a more peaceful approach to dealing with my anger. In this beautiful, ethereal plane, I simply nap; allowing myself to calm down and prepare for the next day.
The artists that inspired my photo series, were Carrie Mae Weems and Cindy Sherman. Weems' "Roaming" photo series was the base for my landscape, and Sherman's bizarre self-portraits affected the themes for each photo. My photo series conveys the internal struggle of someone fighting for a better life, revealing the steps taken on my self-help journey. My first two self-portraits reveal similar underlying themes of my internal struggle. But the only difference between them and my final is that my final shows a progression of me taking steps to get better. At the time, the first two photos portray single images; one telling the viewers I want to get better, and the second week conveys my desire to relax in my room. The other major difference that exists, is my Ana Mendieta photo recreation, a photo of a chopped tree relating to Imágen de Yágul (Image from Yagul) 1973. Before starting, I planned to make my final project into a collage, presenting different variations on how I would approach it. However, after receiving some recommendations, I decided to expand on each key part of my project’s story, as a multiple photo series. I have pushed myself more to convey my message within this photo series, especially from Carrie Mae Weems’ Roaming series. A deeper understanding of the artists I learned from this class allows me to acknowledge and better myself on what I need to do to live my life.
The images and messages we see in the media shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. They can influence our sense of self, values, and beliefs. In today's world, social media platforms have become a powerful tool for self-presentation. People use these platforms to create a specific persona or image of themselves. They carefully curate and select images and messages to present themselves in a certain way. This can lead to both positive and negative consequences. According to Mirzoeff, "Media no longer prize form so much as content. A book might be available as an e-book, an audiobook, a video, or a Braille text, as well as a printed volume. Broadcasting itself has largely shifted to “narrow casting,” organized around content rather than form. Broadcasting was a mass medium, in which the audience was given very limited choice over content but was able to receive the form very widely and usually free or at low cost. Narrow casting aims at specific audiences organized around preferences for content, such as channels devoted to specific sports, independent films, home decorating, and so on. The audience may be substantial but are more alike than different. Narrow casting usually has to be paid for and is often expensive. Truly mass audiences now tend to gather for ritualized media events such as the Super Bowl, the World Cup, or the Oscars, whose content is not wholly known in advance but has very few variables,” (Mirzoeff 52). It can be empowering to have control over one's self, however, it can create unrealistic expectations and contribute to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. According to Berger, “Publicity speaks in the future tense and yet the achievement of this future is endlessly deferred. How then does publicity remain credible – or credible enough to exert the influence it does? It remains credible because the truthfulness of publicity is judged, not by the real fulfilment of its premises, but by the relevance of its fantasies to those of the spectatorbuyer. Its essential application is not to realty but to daydreams,” (Berger 146). You may believe you’re seeing a person present themselves as their true selves, but that online persona could be a fraction of who they really are. The relationship between the spectacle/media and identity is complex and multifaceted, and it is important to understand how these forces shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us.
Works Cited
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World: An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books, 2008.
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