Cultural Values through Photography: 2010

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

"I guess that's just the Cowboy in Me"

One day I walked into work at the Harman Building, and there was a herd of Cowboys, I mean real cowboys standing in the the hallway. They dressed like cowboys, walked like cowboys and even talked like cowboys. The first boy I ever dated was from Texas; he got me hooked on country music. He made me believe in Lyle Lovette's words, "that's right your not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway." I fully bought into that idea. Then when I got my job, and found out I would be driving a truck, I fell back into cowboy nostalgia mode. That's how I feel every time I climb into that truck and go to work with my hands. What makes it even more interesting is the guys I work with are cowboys too. "We ride and never worry about the fall, I guess that's just the cowboy in us all."

My Final-A Piece of Trash

I have always found pictures of garbage both sad and stangely beautiful. Its like modern nature, which is sort of a depressing testament to the human footstep. I wanted to take pictures of garbage in its unnatural habitat for my final project. Here is the final product.

This one looks like it is being reclaimed by the ground around it. The color is so faded that it has been a part of the landscape for an obviously long time.

I remember learning that the statue of liberty would decompose before a glass bottle would. Food for thought.

It's not a spearmint lifesaver, its a metal washer.

The three butts.

This is a plate in a river. I don't understand it either.

I like the abstract look of this one.

Garbage, garbage everywhere.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Whatif...

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don't grow taller?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won't bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

-Shel Silverstein

Everyone has whatifs... These are the ones of those closest to me.

JJ- Whatif I don't remember the things that are most dear?

Elise- Whatif I can never get pregnant?

Jimmy- Whatif I never hurt my shoulder?

Alexis- Whatif I can't learn my ii V I's?

Nat- Whatif my best isn't enough?

Asher- Whatif I go bald?

Anothony- Whatif deer eat my garden... again?

Amberly- Whatif my baby's poop blows out of her diaper?

Marianna- Whatif he breaks my heart?

Brandon- Whatif the world's crude oil supply is depleted by 2015?

Mora's Daycare

Have you ever watched little kids play? Have you ever noticed how they have fun at the silliest things, forgive instantly, enjoy every second of every moment, and love the simple things in life? Or how they are all friends and love each other no matter what? For kids life is just simple. I spent a couple of hours and Mora's daycare and I was reminded of how magical life is for a child. As soon as I walked in they took me in as if I was their age. They showed me drawings of their family, we built houses out of blocks, played with bouncing balls, ran outside to see the the road sweeper, and just had plain old fun!

Being at Mora's reminded me of my summer days in that same house, not because I was in her daycare, but because one day my siblings and I became best friends with her kids. I don't know how or when it happened, but for 11 years we have been inseparable. It is with my siblings and them that life is simple again. It is when we are together that sitting on the swing set, even if we are too big, or just sitting on the front lawn cracking jokes is the best kind of fun there is.

From Final Favorites

French and American Cultural Values through painting and photography

French painting is best done by the impressionists. They painted realistic scenes of modern life, but they focused (or de-focused) on overall visual effect instead of detail. They did not smoothly blend or shade, they sought for the image that represented an impression of reality. The impressionist captured everyday life, the little things that make a culture what it truly is. Photography seeks not to represent an impression of reality, but to capture some form of reality, be it contrived or coincidence. Although the shapes and forms may remain similar, the subtle changes or subtle similarities in that captured reality reveal an immense expanse of cultural values and identities completely distinct and separate from one culture to another.