Friday, December 27, 2013

ASG1: Proposal Brainstorming

Post 1

Alright, so I have written down a couple of questions I think that are worth questioning.

1. Why are tech-savvy people are so obsessed with sharing their content over the internet?

2. How real is a hologram or a digital moving character? Could something fictional be treated equally to a real person when brought into the real world with interactivity?


Recently I paid a visit to Universal Studios Singapore and had an opportunity to experience 'Donkey Live'. Initially, I thought the whole show was pre-recorded as the Donkey in the screen was 3D rendered. One more thing that made me think so was that the voice of the Donkey itself was really close to the one in the movie, almost indistinguishable.

However, the characteristics, movements, lip syncing and noises were all live and are able to interact with the audience. I thought about it awhile and realized some of these effects are available on webcams in laptops where users could wear a pre-intstalled mask that would close and open its mouth when the user does.

More holographic concerts with deranged fans screaming over a bunch of uninteractive, pre-rendered and choreographed characters. Could this be the same with just watching a regular video at home?

3. How important is identity to a person? Why are they willing to change it if given the option to do so online, like say in RPGs?


Monday, August 5, 2013

Wrapping it all up in a bow.

Post no. 15

So I've decided to use this post to properly annotate the links I've used throughout the 14 blog posts that I have done.

Post 14 - WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
1)  The British Journal of Photography, "Startups battle for rights to smartphone images"

 I have extracted some important data on the licensing of smartphone images, which could be one of the effects of photo taking apps like Instagram.

2) The British Journal of Photography, "BEYOND INSTAGRAM: Should photographers accept the risks inherent in social networks?"

This article discusses about the ownership of images on Instagram. Through this article, I have seen that there are still many worried photographers out there.


Post 13 - THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
1)  The Future of Photography , Neal Matthews

     Neal Matthews has summed up the future of photography by predicting future technologies that could happen in the years to come base on the advances of technology today. It opened my eyes on the various possibilities of technology potentially becoming a permanent part of ourselves and how mobile phones are just another technological stepping stone.

2)  The Future of Photography , Ricardo J Motta

    This article lists out how the digital revolution has come to be.

Post 12 - MIND MAPS & CONSULTATION

Post 11 -  iMAP

Post 10 - THE PAST AND PRESENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY
1)  Roland Barthes, “The Photographic Message, in “Image Music Text”.

    In this e-book, I have identified proper terms to describe my points for the essays. Such as connotations and denotations. 

Post 9 - Articles that talk about Professional Photographers and Instagrammers.
1) Digital Trends - Photographers tussle over whether ‘pro Instagrammers’ are visionaries or hacks.
An article by Molly McHugh

This article provided me with some lateral thinking, when it discusses on how Instagramming could be considered a profession.

2) PhotoShelter - Why Instagram is Terrible for Photographers, and Why You Should Use It
An article by Allen Murayabashi

This article stresses my points on how Instagram is beneficiary for amateurs and celeberties but not for photography professionals.

3) ReadWrite - How Instagram Remade Photography ( And could do the same with Video)
An article by Nick Statt

Nick Statt has really opened my eyes with this article on Instagram photos being on mainstream media. As much as I love the app, I wouldn't want to see them in newspapers, magazines or billboards as those photos lack denotation. Just hope it never has to come to this.

4) TheGuardian - Instagram is Debasing Real Photography
An article by Kate Bevan

Miss Bevan writes a very critical article, bashing the use of Instagram. Through this article I get another more honest view on Instagram.


Post 8 - MORE PROFESSIONALS!
1) Nate Benson - Instagram or Latergram – Pro photographers potentially ruining a fun photo sharing community?

He talks about how photographers use Instagram for exposure as well as his own experiences. From this blog post, I collected some important opinions on Instagram.

2) Geoff Livingston - Is Instagram ruining Photography?

I have read and analyzed his blog post to get more feedback on the app.

3) VoxMagazine - Instagram goes pro: What Columbia photographers think of Instagram. 

This site contains four more professionals with their opinions on Instagram. They all said they love the app, which makes me doubt their answers.

Post 7 - Who,what,when and where did Instagram come from?
1) http://instagram.com/about/faq/

This faq page on Instagram really laid out all the questions and answers that I might or might not ask about Instagram, which I found quite helpful and resourceful.

Post 6 - Creative Professionals in the Photography Industry. What are they saying now?
1) Annie Leibovitz

Annie has provided me with a professional opinion on Instagram which I will use in my collection of feedbacks.

2) Frank Desantis

I found Frank's professional profile via a Linkd in forum discussing the effects of smartphone technology.

3) Fred Ritchin

Mr. Ritchin wrote a book on Photography and there I have extracted some data on what he thinks how photography would be in the future.

Post 5 - FEMINISM HO YEAH...?
1) Miss Representation

This YouTube video exposes how photography and advertising has changed our views on beauty today. I have studied the effects of social media and what they deemed beautiful. This post might be helpful at some aspect.


Post 4 - Jawaharlal Nehru - A tryst with Destiny 
1) Analyzed Speech

The video has aided my groupmates and I in analyzing his speech in further detail. In this video we cam to know Jawaharlal Nehru's flow of speech. However, this information will not be used in my essay as they are not related.

Post 3 - Media Culture : Brainstorming 3

Post 2 - Media Culture : Brainstorming 2

Post 1 - Media Culture : Brainstorming 1


Saturday, August 3, 2013

What's happening now?

Post no. 14

Article 1: The British Journal of Photography, "Startups battle for rights to smartphone images"

This article finally gives me a more appropriate label for Instagrammers/Facebookers and such. They call them Social Photographers. Does this make them a whole new profession? To call it a profession though, should one earn a certain amount of income from that profession to call it an official profession?

So what this article basically argues on was about how Instagram/Facebook/Flikr (insert social media website here) provides millions of royalty free images online. This reduces sales on sites like iStockphoto and such as free quality images are available by just Googling them.

Although famous in use for news coverage, smartphones' images are occasionally doubted on the authenticity of those images; according to that article I've linked in the title.

It's quite a massive effect on how buyers of images would buy licenses for the images at 5$ rather than the original price of 20$ just after 48 hours the content is posted. It's really based on what's happening in real-time. If you were too late, you're old news as the demand just isn't there anymore.

What the publishers are trying to do to fix this is that they have 'authenticity ratings' to ensure quality and speed for those images. They introduced an app called 'FOAP' which allows any smartphone users to sell their images with the app. Now could this be a profession?



Article 2: The British Journal of Photography, "BEYOND INSTAGRAM: Should photographers accept the risks inherent in social networks?"

A photographer by the name Van Houtryve mentions that he uses his smartphone to experiment ideas by capturing it via mobile device before actually doing so with a professional DSLR. The article also mentions on how photographers lose ownership of those images based on the Terms of Agreement conditions set by Instagram. The effect of this agreement change resulted in many Celebrities closing down their Insta accounts.

Ben Khelifa argues, "..We might be the authors of our work, but without an audience, we're nothing."


The Future of Photography

Post no.13

I found this article very very very Interesting.

The Future of Photography , Neal Matthews Article 1

Now what will professionals in the creative Industry do then?

In the year 2015, 2020, 2030?

Throughout the whole reading of that article, I could conclude that technology is slowly becoming a part of us. Or I could say it in an 'arsty term', that technology is slowly taking its place as a more permanent and necessary extension of ourselves. It's prediction mentions on how cameras slowly becomes an additional 'organ' to our bodies, a helper in our daily lives.

Us humans in the Information age love being around information, and learning new things everyday. I saw a youtube video by a famous Youtube Science Sensation VSAUCE, saying that us humans have this urge to know more about any sort of thing in order to keep our species alive. That risk has diminished in this age, therefore humans now do it on computers, going through endless feeds and videos in order to educate ourselves on current situations.

The Future of Photography , Ricardo J Motta Article 2

Why the digital revolution?

Instantaneous feedback : Consumers can evaluate their photos in an instant as the outcome is instant, like Instagram. They could retake the photo immediately if they weren't satisfied with it.

Automatic Operation:  People desire lesser control and to have more automated results. Ie; filters. In my words, people get lazy, they want the maximum results that requires very little effort.

Non-sequential operation: No hassle in uploading photos, there is no need for developing them in a shop/themselves.

Sharing and Distribution: Consumers could share and distribute their content quicker and to a wider audience.

It's small size : Granting consumers convenience.

Low Cost: There is no need for the consumer to fork out any money to get their content on the web and shared to the public. (well, except for their monthly data plans)

Fair Quality: The quality from the photos are acceptable enough to convey messages.

Organizing : Instagram's tagged photo feature allows consumers to access the album which contains photos that have been uploaded by other users that has tagged the person. It's rather easy to organize and viewed when needed. Old media needs to be mounted and filed, however this does not.

"Now technology is shaping the business itself, forcing photographers to re-think what is the core set of skills and services they should be focusing on." Quoted from the article by Ricardo J Motta.

No more fashion models?
It says in the article that Motion Graphics would soon effect the demand for models as they could be easily computerized with little flaws unlike using a real life model and photo shopping her into what they found acceptable, and settling for the result.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Consultation/Mind Maps

Post no. 12

So these are the mind maps I produced before consulting with Mita, my lecturer on my essay.




I realised, while drawing out this mind map, I took 'professionals in the creative industry' too literally. The moment I saw the word 'photographs', I immediately thought of photographers. However, other professionals in the creative industry could be Celeberties, or companies which use Instagram.

For example, celebrities use Instagram to get in touch with fans in a more personal level. They appear more real and open with their posts on Instagram. Making them more approachable to fans that are from different parts of the world. Other than that, like some points I've mentioned before, they use the app to market themselves, and promote events. Celebrities post behind-the-scenes pictures of them on set as a more personal teaser to fans on upcoming projects. Humans are more visual compared to reading texts. Maybe those are the reasons why Twitter/Facebook links itself to Vine and Instagram?


I stalk Ian Somerhalder's Instagram alot, and he posts quite a number of behind-the-scenes pictures that are about the Vampire Diaries series which keeps me reminded that I have to watch their next season. He also post pictures on Instagram about his causes on helping the environment an such, which is a good thing as he has the influence. I just needed to think more laterally when it comes to 'creative industry.'

One more thing, I kind of thought what if those professional photographers said what they said to maintain a good image so they could obtain more projects? Do they genuinely like the app? Or are they just saying so to appear mature, and educated and up to date? Questions. Questions.

I researched sommore on Instagrams' statistics when they introduced the video recording. The shares of Vine plundered a massive 70%!
Instagram only had 30 million users when they launched the app only for IOS users. The number increased to 130million when they had the app on the Android device, 100 mil being Android users!

In total, there are about 16 Billion photos, and 1 Billion likes per day.
Flikr however, only have a total of 8 Billion photos, half of Instagrams'. Speed really wins quality.

There are accounts dedicated on posting positive and inspirational quotes as well, but I'll not go astray from my topic.

ANYWAY, the outcomes from my consultation were:

1. To look for more academic sources. (articles and interviews are not legit enough)

2. Get more 'book' opinions.

3. Have more depth in my research, by exploring the history of photography.

4. Look at some photographic magazines, they might have some delicious arguments there.

5. Would Instagram be a long term-big thing, or will there be the next big thing?

6. Will it complement photography professionals?

7. Try to stick with one profession, either pro photographers or Celebrities. I can always throw in bits and pieces of other professions right?

8. Flikr and Vine. What's gonna happen to them?

9. Speed over quality? Elaborate.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

My little iMap

Post no. 11


This is my current imap, I'm leaving in some extra space for the points of my remaining 4 posts.

The Past and the Present of photography

Post no. 10

"A photograph is a message without a code.."

"Certainly the image is not a reality, but at least it is its perfect analogous and it is exactly this analogical perfection which, to common sense, defines a photograph."

pg.17 Roland Barthes, “The Photographic Message, in “Image Music Text”.

Basically what this book is trying to say is that the connotations determine the denotations of a photograph. The color schemes, arrangement of elements and composition all determine the meaning of its reality. Like Instagram, with its provided filters, one can insert a false sense of nostalgia and dating into their pictures although just taken a few seconds ago. This changes the denotation of the image from what its original was. Therefore, drifting further apart from its analogous similarity with reality.

This argument is mentioned by one of the professional photographers I have analysed, who too had mentioned about how all Instagram photos that have a filter on them no longer have a meaning as they all have the same look and denotations.


Monday, July 15, 2013

Articles that talk about Professional Photographers and Instagrammers.

Post no.9

Digital Trends - Photographers tussle over whether ‘pro Instagrammers’ are visionaries or hacks.
An article by Molly McHugh

What interests me most is about how this article summarizes itself on how Instagram is a complementary feature for professionals. The app provides an extension of their work, ie. behind-the-scenes footage or by just being paid by large companies to run their Instagram accounts.

Other than that, it mentions its disregard toward being a professional or not, as to them, talent and attitude of any person gets the job done. Very diplomatic.

PhotoShelter  - Why Instagram is Terrible for Photographers, and Why You Should Use It
An article by Allen Murayabashi

Why is Instagram good for us, but horrible for photographers?
- There is royalty free content all over the app.
- The quality in these photos are not as high compared to digital cameras. There would be pixelation and motion blurs as well as color distortions.

Basically, this app is aimed toward unprofessional photographers and its content are mostly focused on documenting life events. Therefore, it just a simple picture diary that delivers simple messages.

ReadWrite -  How Instagram Remade Photography ( And could do the same with Video)
An article by Nick Statt
What shocked me when I was reading this article was the immediate shocking truth at paragraph two where its states that a daily newspaper with their 65 years of history, dissolved their photography department and started handing out iphones as replacements to cover live feed. The Sun-Times said that they would only rely on freelancers rather than permanent photography employees for professional photographs.

How soon will it be when Instagram photographs grace the pages of the front page of our daily newspapers?
Personally, although I favor the app, I wouldn't want to see Instagrammed photographs on my newspaper.

The article then states with this app, everyone is now a photographer. A professional photojournalist Scott Strazzante says that using his iphone to take pictures are much lesser of a hassle compared to lugging the heavy DSLR around especially in more challenging, and tight situations, it is way more convenient. However, professionally, he doesn't agree on Sun-Times actions to hand out iphones to photo journalists as it does not appear 'professional' or 'serious' enough.

Instagram all in all isn't anything to compete about, it's just normal day to day documentation of life.


TheGuardian -  Instagram is Debasing Real Photography
An article by Kate Bevan
This article butchers Instagram when she mentioned on how Instagram has provided an outlet for amateur photographers to post images that spoils a photo with the provided filters in the app. She says that all the images have no meaning all look the same as they were given a faux aged look to them. She thinks with the technological advances we have today, we shouldn't be degrading our images making them look dirty and old but thrive on the high megapixels we have on our mobiles.

In my opinion, she might have had a conclusion that these filters only belong to the 60's where photographs generally fade off to that effect. She just couldn't see it in our current era on why would people bring their images to the past when it is currently in the present. She isn't totally wrong, but users who are not able to judge which filter complements and enhances the photo destroys the image and then makes it unrecognizable. However, they do learn over time after viewing their feeds of other users who do know how to use those filters.

Onto the part where she says all of the Instagram photos look 'the same', I had to disagree because those filters give very different color effects and feel to the image. Filters like Brannan, make the image appear more white and contrasted unlike the Kelvin filter which turns the image to a more yellower tint to give a warm feel.


More professionals!

Post no.8

Analyzing three professionals is just isn't enough to give a more overall conclusion to the argument. Gonna be analyzing six more!

A freelance photographer -
Nate Benson
Blog: Instagram or Latergram – Pro photographers potentially ruining a fun photo sharing community?

Alright, so far what I've picked up from his blog post was about how he rejects the idea of professional photographers uploading their high 'resolutioned' DSLR shots onto Instagram just to get noticed. He mentioned that there were other social networking sites like Flikr which it's sole purpose was to serve this purpose. I totally agree with this statement because Instagram, is instant like he said. It's quite pointless to upload your professional photographs onto Instagram where this app is connect people on a more personal level.

Having professional photographs on Instagram defeats this purpose. Viewers might just be looking at another magazine. However, certain photographers are desperate for recognition these days where they put their work everywhere in order to gain more 'exposure'.


A former journalist who has authored 3 books, advised more than 10 members of the Fortune 500 -
Geoff Livingston
Blog: Is Instagram ruining Photography?

In Geoff's blog post, I have realized that he was actually quite pleased with the app. However, he started off the post critiquing critics on their critics. I'd have to agree that Instagram  is being used by many shop accounts that try to sell their products as well as spam accounts.

Instagram to me, does not degrade the quality of photographs. It somehow teaches users some basic fundamentals of photography like he said. Given the limitation of the cropped-square image, users are forced to fit their content into the provided space where it could give the most information. Users can get inspired on the different angles and ways of taking their photos through other popular photos on Instagram. They learn more and more every time they use the app. But does that make them a professional photographer? No. So critics and skeptical pro photographers shouldn't be so worried about their jobs being in jeopardy,

VoxMagazine
Article: Instagram goes pro: What Columbia photographers think of Instagram. 
Professional Photographers:

GERIK PARMELE
Parmele mentions about how Instagram is a creative outlet for him. He thinks its a space where he has freedom to take whatever photographs he wants to without to answer to a client.

His opinions on professional photographers and Instagram were that professionals need to adapt and evolve with the fast paced technology. He said that we are a strong visual culture that thrives on images. *which makes 9Gag and tumblr so successful and made Facebook change it's layout to a more picture friendly preference*

GREG KENDALL-BALL
Kendall too uses Instagram as a visual diary. He says he does mix his work with Instagram where he covers events and posts live feed photographs directly to the social networking site. He seconds his notion where he brings in examples of companies like Time and The New Yorker encouraging professional photographers to post their images immediately on Instagram.

He basically describes how a person can view the users personality through their photographs. Therefore, he says some of his employers actually requested to view his blog and Instagram photos to evaluate his character.

He then said Instagram was a tool that will be used well or poorly and is very excited on the whole 'ecosystem' of Instagram users. Therefore, he thrives in it.

DAK DILLON
For Dillon, Instagram is a space where he could explore for abstract photographs. He prints them out and uses them as decorations at his professional work space. He thinks Instagram is a great idea to help aid pro photographers so that they could be updated with the current events.

CATHERINE RHODES
Rhodes however uses Instagram as an extension of her professional work where she provides behind-the-scenes photos and such for her clients. As a professional, she says she could use Instagram as a link between her and her clients.

Generally, she thinks its a great app to be used for personal documenting.

In conclusion, these professionals actually like the app and aren't rejecting it.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Who,what,when and where did Instagram come from?

Post no. 7

I could go all lazy and just paste the FAQ's from their site, but I won't. haha.

Okay, back to Instagram.


What is Instagram?

The name of the app itself is a combination of two words, which are 'Instant', and 'Telegram'.

According to their site, they mentioned about the world's ability to be more connected through photos. Which I find quite true since pictures do speak a thousand words as well as our eyes do tend to recognize an image quicker and reading regular texts.

Instagram is an app available on Iphones and Android devices (not yet Windows Phones) for free.

These images are said to be a way to share meaningful experiences instantly while giving the user a choice of a list of filters to help enhance the photos to give it a more 'seasoned' feel. They said that pictures that are uploaded online are quite mediocre.



 This platform also provides a more quicker, and efficient way to upload your images online as it is linked to various social networking sites like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Flikr. This social networking service launched in 2010 and has over a 100 million active users.

The app has recently released a video function where users are able to record a 15 second video instead of the traditional static images. You are to hold down the video record button and let go if you would like to cut the scene. Another senior app to have this function is Vine.



Users that have this app on their mobile phones are able to 'Follow' their friends or famous accounts to get updates as they are subscribed to their images.
They can 'Find Friends' on Instagram that connects to your Facebook account. By tapping the Explore button a.k.a the star icon, users are able to view famous photos of the day.

To upload the photographs, users are to tap the blue camera button in the center of the lower column. They then can choose whether they would like to have a video or an image uploaded.

Users are also able to like each others' photos by double tapping the image. They could comment on them and tag their friends when uploading the images onto Instagram. The orange pop-up is an alert on the current activity that's happening in your profile. The speech bubble signifies the unseen comments, the heart icon would represent the likes on the photos and the head icon would be the number of followers that has recently followed you.

When your followers like a photo, it would be shown like the image below under the News tab. You would able to know which images are liked or commented.


And of course, the users are able to view the number of likes under each photograph. When the number of likes exceeds 10 however, the usernames of the users will no longer be shown and will be replaced with a number.

The last icon which looks like a name card would be the profile tab for the users. As a user, you are able to change your profile picture, edit your 'About Me's' and manage your photos. The home button would be the live feed of all the photos from the people you follow.

Other than that, users are also able to share their location, which then could be located through another social app called FourSquare.

When Users upload their images, they are able to 'Hashtag'/# their photos so that they could be manually categorized in a list of other photos that are similar from different users all over the world.

Examples of famous hashtags,

#yolo  (you only live once)
#selca (self-cam)
#ootd  (outfit of the day)

Users also use hashtags to achieve more likes and followers.

Instagram has been a phenomenon on the internet world as well. Here's a video that basically summarizes what users do with their apps.


As for privacy settings, users can set their profile to public or private. The difference between the two is that the private settings do not allow other users to follow their Instagram account without their approval.

So, there's Instagram in a wrap.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Creative Professionals in the Photography Industry. What are they saying now?

Post no. 6

In this post, I'd be blogging about statements from different professionals on their opinions of the industry of photography today. There's three for now.

The first professional I analysed:


ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

I've linked her name for the article she was interviewed in. Big fan of her Disney Inspired works.

"I think photography is stronger and better than ever before. Those of us who are photographers, the difference between us and everyone else is that we take what we do very seriously.

..What is going to happen now is that we are the sensitive matter. You, the photographer, are the sensitive matter."

From what I understand from her statement in the interview is that she is actually happy on the the advancement of technology on photography. She takes it seriously as something she would like to see flourish and grow and it is up to these passionate photographers to maintain their art and professionalism to go along the fast-paced world.

Her views are a little bit more optimistic compared to the second professional I analysed.

The second professional is:





FRANK DESANTIS (a link to his Linkd in profile)

What he said about the future of photography is in the Linkd-in photography group forum right here.

I copied his comment over here from that link:


"Ah, change. It doesn’t look too hopeful to me. I see it going the way of the typesetters, the pre-press houses, the printers. Even this new generation of computer graphics will take care of that photographer or client wanting to do the “big budget” shoot.

Why would anybody need a photographer? Very soon the whole world will be cataloged. There will be a picture of everything, for everything. Like Google knows words and websites. When I look around I see that only web designers have work. And that I think is because people haven’t figured out how to do it on their own. Soon, with enough templates being made and made easier; web designers too will be out of work. The client who turns me away because “we can do it ourselves” will soon find they are without clients because their clients don’t need them either because they “can do it themselves.”

Anybody remember having to borrow a tool from a neighbor? Who does that anymore? Everyone has their own set of tools. There is no longer a dependence on anything or anyone else. It looks grim, because less and less people are seeing the importance of craftsmanship. Respect for the artist or professional is becoming non-existent. We will all need to find new meaning in the word “work” not just photography.

We all need to help each other find that new meaning.
Like Diane says we need to move with it not against it."

Okay, from his comment, I could already tell that he isn't too comfortable with the advances of photography these days. However, he is not completely against it, but more so aware that he should be adapting to the change and improving himself with the current technologies instead. He might be concerned with the demand for photographers these days as everyone could do so themselves through the convenience and availability from digital cameras and phone cameras which could instantly be connected and uploaded through social media accounts to provide live feeds for the user.

Hmm. There are more self-thought photographers out there, with the help of professional photographers that provide tutorials online. So, in order to truly protect the industry, should professionals be selfish and hold hostage of all these tips from armature photographers? One flaw about this 'technique' to preserve, is that professional photographers too, need exposure and income. They are able to do so through these tutorials and by building softwares and machines that make photography editing easier. They then sell them to amateur photographers that are not able to replicate the works of professional photographers. The industry is always growing, and the internet, provides open-source content.


I found this article on an e-book which actually mentioned some of the points in my brainstorming session posts! Yeay! Now I have professional back up on my points!

The Third professional:



FRED RITCHIN - After Photography

I'd like to highlight points 3 and 4 in the link I embeded under the highlight reels.

3.On how digital and cellular phone cameras break down limits on who can get images out into the world. :

This gets a little bit controversial when the summary talks about how amateurs have more interesting content compared to professionals when it comes to news. They talk about prisoners putting up videos pleading for help, but get murdered instead. These videos are put up and therefore gaining a lot of popularity in content. By using their telephone devices with their built-in low resolution cameras, anyone would be capable of having footage even more significant compared to professionals. Lets say, the Tsunami or hurricane footage that has been taken by the public would then be bought by news channels. It could be viewed as live, in-your-face action as timing plays a crucial role in these one-time events.

4. The everyday uses of digital photography in the future:

He describes the cyborgization as something that affects users today. Everyone seems to be attached to their devices, having them at a close radius around them at all times. What he also says is that this new media, for example Instagram is the current medium of photography which matches the fast-paced, learning world. It is forever evolving.


Overall, these professionals have their doubts, but are actually quite supportive of it in the end.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

FEMINISM HO YEAH...?

Post no. 5




Alright, before I start critically analyzing this, check out the video I embed above.

The question today is, in what way does digital photography sexually idealizes women to appear in media and how are they perceived today?

But first, how are women portrayed in the media I consume?

Of course, Victoria Secret models.


Something I noticed when I googled perfume ads were that majority of the women in those photographs were nude.


Or somewhat nude, in this case this ad appears to have a little hint of 'women empowerment'. However, she being in a cat suit is a sexual innuendo all by itself. 


That video up there pretty much explains the matter on a one side type of view, but I have to agree on what it said about photographs that portray women like this get sales as it supports the idea of 'sex-sells'. We were already exposed to these ads at a very young age. Therefore, it molded and 'brain-washed' us to think that the women in those photographs were the perfect embodiment of that a female should be. Hence, insecure girls get make up and plastic surgery to look like those photo manipulated models in those images.

We could look at this from two points of views.
We could either blame the media from molding this idea of perfection or blame the public for wanting that idealization of perfection in the media.

Humans strive for perfection. And when they do see a product that would help them achieve that, they would get it. I've watched a recent documentary on the science of Lust in Discovery Channel which says that both men and women unconsciously succumb to lust whether they like it or not. Of course there's that 1% of 'asexuals' that are not affected at all. So, through these digital photographs, photographers are actually exploiting the existing dopamine in our brains that helps them sell products. Even you, briefly glancing at those images I have uploaded in this post, had already ignited your dopamines, therefore increasing the chances of you reading the whole post even though it's so wordy compared to the times when you were all 'too-long-didn't read'. Photographs like these sparks energy, increases your heart rate and patience for any activity according to one of the science researchers in the documentary.

The message in these photographs mention on how if you buy this product, you will look as perfect as the model, or that you would be wanted. Somehow if you gave me an un-photoshopped, out of shaped woman selling me dresses in the ad, I would find it a total turn off as I would not want to look like her. Shallow as it sounds, the industry indeed is very superficial and shallow. That is what the media shows, and that's how we perceive it.

If I were to be very honest, I'd pick the Victoria Secret Love My Body Campaign's photograph  compared to Dove's. I do appreciate the initiative and message Dove is trying to give but, the photograph above is definitely nicer to look at. However, if I lived in the 1600s, I would have chosen the Dove's campaign photograph as that was how beauty was popularized in those days. I would have said the Victoria Secret models were scrawny and ugly because they looked like lacked fertility and health. However, that's how the idea of beauty evolves. Who knows? Maybe in the near future the idea of beauty now reverses?


Well, to sum it all up, you can't really put a blame on the media or the public. Both contributes to some aspect.

How do I portray women in the work I produce?

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Angels/4573285

This is some of the foundation work I did, I think I have portrayed the model in a more demure way emphasizing the story more than the model's beauty itself. I guess I could get a little bit feminist without knowing so.  OR, it could be my Asian upbringing where conservative = good.

Where do I get these ideas from?
Photoshopped perfected models from digital photographed ads and digitally designed 3d characters from games.



Monday, June 10, 2013

Jawaharlal Nehru - A tryst with Destiny

Post no. 4

Our group which consisted of Wilson, Shabu, Carmen and I did a presentation on the analysis of Jawaharlal's famous 'A Tryst with Destiny' speech a couple of weeks ago.

The presentation went great, with no nerves and such- but we missed out a VERY KEY point. We did not explain the title of his speech. So, here it goes.

A 'Tryst' basically means a private rendezvous, a date or some sort between lovers. He used it in another context though. Instead it was about a rendezvous of India with her future destiny.

Why did he use the word 'tryst'?
According to its definition, it was about a private occasion, secretive. In contrary to the situation he delivered this speech in. However, it may also mean precious and meaningful as India has fought hard for a hundred years for that single tryst with destiny.

I have embed a video that is one of our main sources for analyzing his speech.


That video is pretty much explanatory. 

The feedback and questions we had during the presentation were:

1. What if Jawaharlal spoke in Hindu, instead of English? Would it yield the same effect? Or even a better one?

Our answer was that, the people in India already had proper English education provided under the British rule over them over the stretch of 100 years. Therefore, it would not be a hassle for them to understand his speech. However, this speech was specially targeted toward the members of the Constituent Assembly, as well as the SAHIBS. (Sahibs are used to address European men that live in colonial India.) 


Here's a link to our presentation.


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Media Culture : Brainstorming 3

Post no. 3

INSTALAGLAM


When I think of Instagram, I either think of overused filters that distort perfectly decent pictures, or pictures that actually become more pleasant after a filter is layered onto them. What bugs me the most when I started using instagram, was the fact that it had a limit of resizing every picture I take into a square. Does not require any type of specific skill as anyone who has a smart phone can use it and master it in a matter of seconds.

As an unprofessional (professional soon to be), I do think this app, along with other photo apps could endanger/help the professional world in their own ways. Although it favors more to the endangering aspect, I still think there is some kind of benefits of these advancements to creative professionals.

How could Instagram aid creative professionals?
Other than the creative professionals that actually invented the apps, future professionals could also get a current update on how a user interface is best portrayed. This way, future apps could get a better understanding of what interface is easier for users to learn, hence increasing user experience and avoiding too much misunderstanding and frustration. The apps would be more uniformed and simple.

Now how do apps like these 'destroy' the creative professionals?
Because of the many filters they have provided in the app itself, there is no longer a need for a professional with special skills to Photoshop them. The convenience of photo taking on personal devices puts professional photographers out of work as well as people would like to take the photos themselves rather than spending the extra cash to hire a professional.

Therefore, professionals are only in demand in a professional market, which is quite a narrow range compared to the public market. They face difficulties in duplicating the effects that are easily achievable by apps and also the fact that photos from apps like Instagram could be instantly updated in social networks would attract investors for advertising away from print media toward a more non-professional but widely spread medium.

Investors that fled to these customary apps will reduce revenue for traditional professional photography. Even sites like National Geographic are advertising themselves in Facebook as well. Photos get published faster and in bigger quantities through these apps rather than professional photographs because there is a  need to touch up those high resolution photos. Users want instant information, they would prefer a decent picture with live speed rather than a very high-quality picture that only gets developed a day after.

After these app photos are published, the demand for photographs taken by professional are fewer.


Monday, June 3, 2013

Media Cultures: Brainstorming 2

Post no. 2

Photoshop.


Now how does the popularity of Photoshop impact creative professionals in the industry?

The most common perception that people have most of Photoshop,  would be Photoshop's main purpose were to 'improve' wrinkly faced elderly or to make fat people skinnier on magazine covers.

This software is definitely very popular among designers nowadays. Personally, it is one of my favourite forms of expression when it comes to the output of my creativity and work. It just seems so easy to learn and comprehend. Once you've learned the basics, you could pretty much operate Photoshop to achieve the result you want.

How does this new technology affect creative professionals? I think since Photoshop mainly deals with digital graphics, or graphics in general,  (some animation could be involved as well ex. Gifs that could be made by Photoshop) we could break it down to two types of creative professionals that might be affected the most in this area.

The digital graphic designers as well as the traditional media graphic designers.

Lets talk about the digital graphic professionals. The rise of Photoshop provides tons of opportunity to amateurs to gain basic knowledge of graphic design through Photoshop tutorials that are easily accessible online. This can be a threat to the professionals that are already using this media to execute their projects. Young designers have fresher ideas, and ways to solve problems compared to those who have been in the industry for a long time and no longer have the capability of thinking of new concepts.

 If the digital professionals are updated however, this would be a threat to the younger graphic designers or photographers who do not possess the skill to execute a well polished, finished piece that could only be acquired through years of experience. (Kinda like what I've mentioned in the earlier post).

On to the traditional graphic professionals, Photoshop has definitely robbed a great amount of professionals from this line of work. Photoshop has presets that could duplicate the brush strokes that could be done by traditional media easily. Its also much more easier to produce a more clean finish as the designers are able to undo their mistakes and have a more variety of colours and effects to choose from. Plug ins like kuler aid the digital 'Photoshoppers' in their color schemes and choices, therefore depleting the need for designers to really experiment with colours which takes time and effort and tons of mistakes to accomplish. Traditional tyographers also fall under this category as there is no more real need to even pick up an ink brush or a pencil. Photoshop has made it simple for everyone to use.

However, experience and skills combined with the  right set of technologies like Photoshop could birth an artwork so godly that not even the slightest breath of an amateur could dwindle its place at the top of the designer food chain.
(Exaggeration getting out of hand here)

Next post, Instagram.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Media Cultures: Brainstorming 1

Post no. 1

I was told I could regurgitate anything I could get from my cranium that relates to Question 6 and it would count as a post.

Alright, the popular uses of Digital Cameras and how it affects creative professionals in the   industry.

Notice how I didn't put up Canon branded cameras. I'm unbiased like that. Plus, the rivalry between the two brands annoys the hell out of me.



When I think of Digital cameras, I think of the two types of cameras which are used by both amateurs and professionals; being the ever so popular compact digital cameras and the more Professional DSLRs (a.k.a a Digital single-lens reflex camera. Prior to owning one, I actually had to Google the acronyms. Aren't I ever so qualified to even call myself a designer.) Also, you have the semi-pro DSLRs, but I pretty much always categorize them under the cameras-that-amateurs-get-to-look-professional category.

Manual cameras, I'd just think about people who are extremely talented just like the Human Camera, Stephen Wiltshire. And of course your traditional film cameras that takes ages to develop.
Speaking of manual cameras, INSTAX cameras have been rather popular lately. Although it's expensive, people still want them. A sense of nostalgia, I guess?

Anyway, from what I know about both types of digital cameras are that some of them contain presets like effects, color correct, blur and such. This way, allowing lesser professionals access to greater photos. This definitely dangers the industry as polished photos could be taken more easily with lesser effort and cost. Amateurs that have the capability of owning a DSLR however, but take really bad photos..hmm okay I shall not get into that in case it gets too personal.

But if I were to critically look upon the use of DSLRs, real professional photographers do not really have a lot of competition. So far in my entire life of living (I may be exaggerating a wee bit), I rarely come across a real polished, unphoto-shopped picture that could have the same, or even higher qualities as the top photographers that are in BEHANCE or any professional site for that matter. As long as the super professionals are updating themselves with new ways and software to improve their work, I don't think they should worry about the rise of the digital cameras because compact cameras only takes one so far.

Photography acquires skill, precision, and long years of practice to perfect. And through experience, comes awesome results. Even though I do posses my own personal DSLR, I'd still go to a professional to get my portrait, or even my passport photo taken. Oh, it's sounding a lot like blabbler now.

Of course, people nowadays rather purchase compact cameras due to its durability and size and such. Maybe increasing the demand for compact cameras being used by ammeters and hence, decreasing the supply of professional photographers in the market which then would increase their demand instead?

Oh.. I think I miss my business studies.

So far I have been comparing of the advancements of digital cameras would affect the professional photographers in the market. Notice how the question states 'creative professionals'. Abstract. Could be anyonee.

Okay, the rise of the digital cameras may also affect videography professionals..which are also photography professionals.. hmm. Excuse me for my uncertainty, I just needed to do some lateral touching around the question before zero-ing in on my choice, Instagram.

Okay this just dawned upon me, if there were more people uploading their data from their little digital cameras, somehow it would give professionals more inspiration and ideas from the varieties of photos that are immediately shared on social networking or photography sites. These opens up a whole new library which they could get their ideas from, not only photographers but all creative professionals alike.

They could do some data mining from these digitally taken photos and therefore enhance their professional business. Companies could observe the behaviors of their customers to reduce costs and plan for future promotions and deals. For example, clothes boutiques? People on Facebook take photos of their outfits and call them 'OutFit Of The Day' aka OOTD and post them up. (people actually use their mobile phones more than digital cameras now) Therefore, giving a heads up on what the target audiences really want in their woad robe. As for creative professionals, these work the same way like.' what effects should come up next', or 'what design should be best implemented on a product'.

Photographs, do paint a thousand words. And with millions of them, they paint billions. Just enough info for all creative professionals to take advantage of.

Will be brainstorming on PhotoShop and Instagram in my next post.






Monday, May 27, 2013

2013 Media Cultures

It's blogging time again!

Huarrah.

I'll be picking question 6, which asks me to 'Critically examine a popular usage of digital cameras, Photoshop, or INSTAGRAM (It just looks as if this question is BEGGING me to do it), and it's impact on professionals in the creative industry.


Let the blogging and over-analyzing begin.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

References for Nightmares assignment

Blog post no. 10

Bicycle dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=bicycle

Buffet dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=buffet

Carnival dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=carnival

Tsunami dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=tsunami

Teeth dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/teethdreams.pl?method=exact&header=dreamid&search=teethintro

Waking up dream
http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreamdictionarysearch.pl?method=exact&header=dreamsymbol&search=waking+up


Self Evaluation of the project

Overall it was quite a good experience as photo manipulation is my forte. I was a little disappointed when we couldn't implement any animations or any sort of effect to make the project more impressive looking/sounding. However, this limitation challenged me to have more effort into producing better quality sounds to make the slideshow less static. The feedback given by my lecturers and peers were constructive and helpful as well. I did not experience any stress whatsoever as I have managed my time carefully.

The end product was quite satisfying to say the least. But of course, it could have been much much better.

IT'S SUBMISSION DAY!


Presentation and Feedback of Visions and Nightmares

Post no. 9

okay, so this is my finished product of from the Visions and Nightmares assignment.


I figured that since the majority of the content consisted of nightmares, I might as well focused on it. Therefore, I scratched out any 'visions' that I had mentioned.

Feedback before this output:
- to make the script more poetic
- put more emotion into narration
- remove the brown long thing at the last panel
- adjust fade in and fade outs with with the Tsunami panel

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Progress of Visions and Nightmares

Post no. 8
Nightmare: Bicycle

 Nightmare: Buffet

 Nightmare: Carnival

Nightmares: Teeth
 Nightmare: Tsunami

Nightmare: Waking up

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Project Progress Refinement and Audio Slideshows

Post no. 6

Refinement of Nightmares

Nightmare: Carnival_30%

I will be changing up the compositions and adding more life to it. Gonna be adding some character, someone  pulling me in or something.
 Nightmare: Bicycle_30%

Going to be adding more dreamlike features, other cyclists. A more surrealistic forest.

 Nightmare: Teeth falling out_80%

Nightmare: buffet_60%

Gonna be adding more character. To make the first person perspective obvious. Reflections need not be too literal ie. in a mirror, it could be in a kettle, or glass.

 Nightmare: waking up_40%

Need better story telling, right now image leaves viewer confused. Probably gonna add a couple of transparent myselves doing daily routines and chores at the side. This dream is supposed to be me waking up  multiple times right?
 Nightmare: Tsunami_20%
Add first person elements, like hands. 

Audio Slideshows

Below is an example of an audio slideshow.
Albania's Chestnut, cheese and pasta workers

It's somewhat similar to my project, it is sort of a narrative vlog as well as the involvement of photography.

The transitions between images in David Levene's audio slideshow are mostly fade ins and outs. His photographs are color corrected and dully narrated. He manipulates natural light and uses it to photograph the subjects in detail.

Planning of working days

Post no.7

Recording dialogue on Lesson 12

I'm editing sounds on the same day, 7th of Feb.

I will be refining my images throughout the whole lesson 13 and 14 which is a week after the 7th.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Execution of Project Progress 30%

Post no. 5

The final outcome of the rest of the images mostly would be alike the first nightmare about the teeth. Right now I'm just overlapping the rest of the images in photoshop and blending them. The sketches are provided in my sketchbook.


 (a) Nightmare: Teeth Falling Out




(b) Nightmare: Tsunami



 I used this:

 And This:


And Overlapped them.



(c) Nightmare: Boyf





(d) Nightmare: Waking Up


(e) Nightmare: Buffet





(f) Nightmare: Carnival






(g) Nightmare: Bicycle