Project Project Blog-Round 1

At first, the final project for Writing with New Media seemed like this big pile of confusion. I completely misunderstood the entire project, I was lost in translation. I started to toy with a few ideas and then I went off the wrong path and landed into a ball of confusion and frustration. My initial project proposal was surrounded on the idea of visual rhetoric and culture and new technologies has led to the creation of various online communities which play a role in shaping visual rhetoric and culture. I wanted to examine how many individuals used photos as a way to use visual rhetoric/ visual storytelling to quantify themselves. I wanted to explore if photos needed content and if different cultures play a role in how we interpret images. Specifically, I wanted to probe the question “Has our cultural beliefs affected the way we interpret a image and why does it affect the way the see a image? I believe that many of these images has shaped the way we see the world and it has been reinforced by new media and leads to misinterpretation. My contention was that phycology, environmental factors, traumatic events, fear, and age are major factors that play a role in how our psyche interprets an image.  Although this seemed like a phenomenal topic to explore, it was not what the project asked for. What I was imaging was a complex psychology topic which would require world class psychologist and a massive research center. Again that was not the project. I started to get frustrated and shut down.

Then take 2. For the second revision I tried to revise the project using the same idea– not a good idea. In revision number two, I approached the question “Can Photojournalism Changes Our Biases?” This was just like the first proposal, it was more of a proposed theory, there was no practical deliverables for the project. This one was even more emotional based because it would require a psychoanalysis of what happens to me when I review a image and if it changes my biases. Again this was not the assignment.  Slowly but surely, I realized that I wanted my project to center around the ideas of photojournalism and storytelling. Once I discovered that these ideas could potentially blossom into something unique, I ran with it. The next stop of the project was to find sources that supported my idea that I was still nurturing. The annotated bibliography gave me a chance to dig deeper into research that would support my ideas. Within my research that I composed because of the annotated bibliography, it was made clear to me that I wanted to explore how individuals are able to successfully share their stories via new social media platforms and have a voice for the first time. This project is meaningful to me because by learning what makes a story successful will contribute to my memoir. I intend to publish a memoir in my early 40s, and if I can learn the ins and outs now– it will be very successful.

Now that I have gathered together my proposal, I am waiting for it to be approved and then I can get moving. Looking forward I want to begin my work on the week of the 15th because I am very much behind. I need to begin researching the photo blog Humans of New York and clearly define its mission statement. I will analyze a image that successfully captures the ideal storytelling in a photo from the blog then analyze it deeper by using the visual literacies guideline. Also, I’d like to begin writing parts of my reflection piece.

Goal checking- to successfully stick to the timeline that I’ve carved out for myself.

Storytelling: The Road to Success *Revision*

Project Proposal

Topic: What Makes a Story Successful in Photojournalism?

 

Overview

All of us have a story to share, however, not many of us are afforded the chance to share their stories. Often times, many of us are silenced because of religion, sexual orientation or out of fear. And then there are those who find courage to share their stories. What makes these individuals share their story and how it provides them an opportunity to have a voice? Is there a successful way to share your story?

The development of new technologies has changed the way individuals share their stories. Traditional ways of sharing stories by publishing memoirs or being interviewed are not common these days. One of the way individuals share their stories is by participating in photo blogs such as Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton and StoryCorps by David Isay which has changed the narrative of photojournalism. Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that employs images in order to tell a news story. By exploring photojournalism within the blog Humans of New York, I will look specifically at how individuals share their stories on fear. I will look at the response viewers, commentators engage in within the platform of Instagram.

Objective

For this project, I will examine the blog Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, a blog that shares stories which provides a new light on photojournalism and cultivates a new type of visual experience. Another blog I will examine is StoryCorps, a nonprofit that provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve their life story. I will review photos from Humans of New York and videos from StoryCorps that sheds light on fear. I want to analyze how they share their story because it will help me to write my memoir.

In this project, I will explain the following:

  1. Why do people share their story?
  2. What makes a story successful?
  3. Can anyone make a successful story?

Other elements to explore:

  1. Create a image similar to Humans of New York with a person and a quote about their life and post on Instagram and Twitter.
  2. Compare my attempt to try to create a image similar to Humans of New York with a success image from Human of New York, the image will be tracked on Instagram and Twitter via those networks analytics.
  3. A blog post on my personal blog to share the image and write a reflection piece.

 

Definition*

Photojournalism-is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that employs images in order to tell a news story.

Storytelling-is the conveying of events in words, sound and/or images, often by improvisation or embellishment

Visual storytelling-is a story told primarily through the use of visual media. The story may be told using still photography, illustration, or video, and can be enhanced with graphics, music, voice and other audio.

Success-the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Image- a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.

Visual literacy– is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy, which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text

 

Multimodalities:

WordPress Blog, Instagram, Twitter, Prezi, hyperlinks

 

Topics and Projected Timeline:

Week of the 15th 

Explain what is photojournalism and visual storytelling.

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of Humans of New York.

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Select a image from Humans of New York that “successfully” captures a story on fear

  • Examine the photo with the listed Visual Literacy Guideline
  • a. Defines the purpose of the image within the project (e.g., illustration, evidence, primary source, focus of analysis, critique, commentary)
    b. Defines the scope (e.g., reach, audience) and environment (e.g., academic environment, open web) of the planned image use
    c. Articulates criteria that need to be met by the image (e.g., subject, pictorial content, color, resolution, specific item)
    d. Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the needed image
    e. Identifies discipline-specific conventions for image use
  • How did the image and content successfully or unsuccessfully tell the story?

Week of the 22nd

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of StoryCorps

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Review videos from StoryCorps that “successfully” captures a story on fear

Examine the photo with the listed Visual Literacy Guideline

  • a. Defines the purpose of the image within the project (e.g., illustration, evidence, primary source, focus of analysis, critique, commentary)
    b. Defines the scope (e.g., reach, audience) and environment (e.g., academic environment, open web) of the planned image use
    c. Articulates criteria that need to be met by the image (e.g., subject, pictorial content, color, resolution, specific item)
    d. Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the needed image
    e. Identifies discipline-specific conventions for image use
  • How did the image and content successfully or unsuccessfully tell the story?

Week of the 29th

A.) Create a comparative analysis of Humans of New York and Storycorps

B.) Prospect

  • Interview a prospect on the subject of fear and share a photo with a caption similar to Humans of New York which will we shared via Instagram
  • Instagram– The image will be tracked daily on Instagram, by recording how many likes it received, how many comments it received and whether it was remixed.
  • Twitter– The image will be tracked daily on Twitter by recording how many times it was viewed, how many retweets it received or how many times it was favorited.
  • WordPress-The image will be tracked daily on Black Attire Aficionado  by recording how many times it was viewed, how many times it was reblogged it received and how many times it was favorited.

Week of the 6th

A.) Explain the findings on what makes a image successful

B.) Write a reflection on the process of creating the image, was it successful or not?

  • What would I do differently?
  • What other platforms should I have used?
  • Reviews on the image from classmates
  • Was it hard to circulate the image?

Deliverables

  1. A comparative analysis of Humans of New York and StoryCorps
  2. A image created that mirrors Human of New York, this will be located on Instagram, Twitter, and Black Attire Aficionado
  3. A reflection of my success or failure with creating a image
  4. The end-result will be presented in the form of short short film/video of some sort which will be posted to Jodieann Stephenson’s e-portfolio site TBD

 

Jodieann’s ePortfolio

I love the simplicity of my ePortfolio site. The photo that is currently on my site is from year ago, its of my favorite flowers, peonies– a rare beauty. I made minimal changes to my ePortfolio because I like a minimalistic approach to themes and a did not really understand the nuances of WordPress on OpenLab. Surprisingly on my personal blog, I have not explored creating new tabs or other sections. I always feel the less is better. As my favorite color being black, I kept the background in black and then the peonies splashed across the screen in pinks and white. It looks beautiful.

I like writing about myself, strangely I think it gives you a chance to express who you are. It’s not often where you get to write about yourself and play around with creating your own website and a fun layout. I really enjoyed it. Also, I really enjoy stepping into the shoes of a designer, you get to see another aspect of creating a unique user experience. I believe there are OpenLab classes to learn how to maneuver around the site and create cool fun things and I’d like to do that. It’s important not only for class but also for job seekers if you want to showcase your academic portfolio– it can make a very big difference if you get the job or not.

My ePortfolio is not quite where I’d imagine it to be but in the coming weeks I will be sure to work on it, it will be a completely different site by the end of the term. Originally, I first used the ePortfolio site in ENG 2700 with Professor Patrick Corbett to create a blog where we wrote many reflection pieces on our transformation over the semester. For my portfolio site I also created a few new tabs Jodieann’s Fashion Tips and updated my career section. I will try to regularly contribute to the new tabs created.

What Makes A Story Successful in Photojournalism? *Revision*

Project Proposal

Topic: What Makes a Story Successful in Photojournalism?

By exploring photojournalism and visual storytelling, these two disciplines can potentially aid in how individuals share their stories in various new media platforms, which can offer insight in what makes a successful story. I intend to introduce three types of images from the blog Humans of New York and Storycorps that successfully captures the narrative of photojournalism and how it presents an opportunity to give individuals a voice. 

For this project, I will examine the blog Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, a blog that shares stories while offering a new light on photojournalism and cultivating a new type of visual experience and StoryCorps, a nonprofit that provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. I will view 3 photos from Humans of New York and 3 videos from StoryCorps that I find visually captivating and content that sheds light on the individual in an effort to chart what makes a successful story.

In this project, I will explain the following:

  1. How can you successfully tell your story?
  2. How does reading or watching a story transforms an individual?

Other elements to explore:

  1. Create a image similar to Humans of New York with a person and a quote about their life and post on Instagram and Twitter.
  2. Compare my attempt to try to create a image similar to Humans of New York with a success image from Human of New York, the image will be tracked on Instagram and Twitter via those networks analytics.
  3. A blog post on my personal blog to share the image and write a reflection piece.

 

Definition*

 

Photojournalism-is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that employs images in order to tell a news story.

Storytelling-is the conveying of events in words, sound and/or images, often by improvisation or embellishment

Visual storytelling-

Success-the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Image- a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.

 

Multimodalities:

WordPress Blog, Instagram, Twitter, Prezi

Topics and Projected Timeline:

Week of the 15th 

Explain what is photojournalism and visual storytelling.

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of Humans of New York.

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Select three images from Humans of New York

  • Examine the photos, critique the photos using the visual literacies guidelines
  • Discuss the process of this via online journal
  • How did the image and content successfully tell the story

Week of the 22nd

A.) History of photojournalism and visual storytelling, the new technologies within the world of new media and the platforms.

B.) Write out the history and mission of Storycorps.

C.) Explain its best practices and strategies that are successful

D.) Select three images from Storycorps

  • Examine the photos, critique the photos using the visual literacies guidelines
  • Discuss the process of this via online journal
  • How did the image and content successfully tell the story

Week of the 29th

A.) Create a comparative analysis of Humans of New York and Storycorps

B.) Pros and Cons

C.) Prospect

  • Find someone to try and successfully create a photo similar to Humans of New York and shared to Instagram and Twitter
  • The image will be tracked daily on Instagram, I will also use hashtags to help circulate the image on Instagram and on Twitter.
  • Perhaps embed this image and write a blog post on OpenLab

Week of the 6th

A.)Explain why it is important to create  successful story in photojournalism

B.) Write a reflection on the process of creating the image, was it successful or not?

  • What would I do different?
  • What other platforms should I have used?
  • How should I promote the image?
  • Reviews on the image from classmates
  • Was it hard to circulate the image?

 

Deliverables

  1. Analysis of Humans of New York and three images
  2. Analysis of Humans of Storycorps and three images
  3. A image created by me that mirrors Human of New York, this will be on Instagram on my personal account because I have a decent number of followers
  4. A comparative analysis between the two sites.
  5. A reflection of my success or failure with creating an images
  6. A recommended guideline TBD
  7. The end-result will be presented in the form of short short film/video of some sort which will be posted to Jodieann Stephenson’s e-portfolio site.

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

Hariman, Robert and Louis, John. “Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism, and Democratic Public Culture” Rhetoric Review. Web. Indiana, 2001.

The article “Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism, and Democratic Public Culture” by Robert Hariman and John Louis analyses how Rhetoricians have traditionally directed their attention on the power of  words in a ever-changing digital space. The assessment provides an insight to the role that iconic photographs are portrayed within American culture. Many photographs reflect a unique visual literacy, which shape our understanding towards specific events in each of our lives. By doing so, visual images tend to influence behavior, identity, but they are paramount  in photojournalism as we shift into the Age of New Media.

The article is useful for providing a unique perspective on photojournalism and suggest how iconic images can affect the viewer’s emotional reservations. Although, visual images intensifies the visual experience of a viewer, it can present an unwarranted challenge. Perhaps this could be useful to think about the visual structures and their positioning in American culture and how it shapes our perception of certain individuals and events.

_________________________________________________________________________

Abbott, Tristan. “The Importance of Storytelling, Big and Small.”  Econtentmag. Web. August 2014.

Econtentmag’s writer Tristan Abbott, provided an in-depth look at the importance of storytelling for the reader and the writer regardless of mediums. The ability to tell a good story is paramount for a writer to be heard while getting their opinion out. The article claims “large, macro-level facts supporting stories, such as nation-wide economic data, are effective in demonstrating large problems, but can often feel empty and leave readers or consumers of content feeling like the story lacks a personal touch.” http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/Editorial/Commentary/The-Importance-of-Storytelling-Big-and-Small-98660.htm

This article is relevant because it mentions the importance of storytelling which is key to understanding in the creation of content. It is the writer’s discretion for the type of style they use to tell a story but effective storytelling is prefered. This is also useful for anyone who wants to learn the basics of telling a story whether for their personal use or for their professional careers— it’s an important skill for all.

____________________________________________________________________________

Riesland, Erin. “Visual Literacy and the Classroom.” John Hopkins School of Education. Web.  http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/literacy/articles/visual-literacy-and-the-classroom/

The article “Visual Literacy and the Classroom” is a thoughtful article that explores visual literacy within education while also shedding light on what it means to literate in the new of technology. The shift to mass technologization has led to unprecedented shift to new media and multimedia applications being used. Erin Riesland suggests we should redefine visual literacy while accounting for the new types of technology that have visual literacies embedded in them.

Understanding and exploring new technologies that can help redefine visual literacy in the classroom and beyond is key to progressing in the new age. This content of this article is useful for professors, teachers, educators who work with students in higher education and in traditional schools because they can reshape their curriculum to integrate more visual literacy modules and best practices for their students. While some techniques may not work depending on the course description or the professor’s discipline, it does provide students a chance to become familiar with the changing world of new media from earlier on so that they know what to expect.

____________________________________________________________________________

“What is Photojournalism?”wiseGEEK. Web

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-photojournalism.htm

wiseGEEK, is a team of researchers, writers, and editors who offer clear answers on a variety of questions.  The wiseGEEK researchers offer a snapshot explanation of photojournalism,  it’s the most direct and clear explanation on the web. They describe photojournalism as “a branch of journalism characterized by the use of images to tell a story. Photojournalists are scattered all around the world within various careers such as documentary photographers or wedding photographers all with the purpose of capturing that kodak moment to tell a story.

wiseGEEK is a site used to simplify complex questions by provide clear and concise answers. This website is useful because it is easily accessible and the information is straight to the point.  Not only does wiseGEEK provide you with answers, it also provides you with hyperlinks to get more information and other similar interests. This can be a fundamental resource center if someone needs a simplification on a topic.

____________________________________________________________________________

Jones, Corrine. “Brandon Stanton’s New York Stories.” The Guardian. Web. November 213.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/03/brandon-stanton-humans-of-new-york-pictures

The article “Brandon Stanton’s New York Stories” by Corrine Jones successfully paints a candid assessment of Human’s of New York’s Brandon Stanton. It highlight the popularity of Stanton’s blog which he refers to as “more of a storytelling blog than a photography blog.” The story of Stanton’s discovery to his passion is very organic and commendable. He took a chance and tried something that was never done which worked out in his favor. This approach to storytelling is different, perhaps we are all a combination of the stories we have read or seen.

This article successfully showcases the ideal storytelling blog. It is a blog that with stories from people all around the world wanting to be heard. It gives these individuals a chance to have a voice, which is all most people want. Also, it is very useful because he asks his prospects very important interview questions. For beginners this may be a source to reference to for a few thought provoking questions.

________________________________________________________________________

Choi, Amy. “The Art of Storytelling According to the Founders of Human’s of New York and StoryCorp.” Ideas.TED. Web. July 2015.

http://ideas.ted.com/the-art-of-storytelling-according-to-the-founders-of-storycorps-and-humans-of-new-york/

TED Talks and TED Ideas are a division of TED, a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas around the world. The article examines the success of two powerful storytellers such as Human’s of New York’s Brandon Stanton and Storycorps’ Dave Isay. These two pioneers have successfully give a voice to many once voiceless individuals and a chance to share their stories. One of the claims in the article from Dave Isay is to “create an intimate culture where trust is paramount.” By doing so, interviewees are in a comforting ecosystem where they are truly able to be themselves.

This article is useful for formulating your own storytelling channel. It can provide a general guideline of how to engage in thoughtful discourse while you interview someone. From an ethical standpoint it reminds interviewers to remember that they are building report with their interviewees who require an organic, comforting and trusting environment to successfully share their stories.  ____________________________________________________________________________

Cohen, James and Kenny, Thomas “Producing New and Digital Media- Your Guide to Savvy Use of the Web.” Chapter 6: Multimedia Storytelling. Focal Press Taylor and Francis Group 2016

The authors Cohen and Kenny successfully introduces multimedia storytelling to novice individuals. The chapter goes into details about the ever-evolving storytelling ecosystem, the current age of multimedia storytelling medium. In the chapter, they introduce the idea of “the beta person,” which is “you,” someone you can relate to in the image. It give the beta persona a chance to connect through an image or traditional broadcasting. There are humanizing characteristic that makes the beta persona relatable. This provides an interesting look at a phenomena that no one discusses. It leads to “are we searching for ourselves in other individuals? The “ beta persona” is important to keep in mind because it can be used as a theory of how we relate to and interpret other individuals. Perhaps, examining this beta persona can shed some light on how it could possibly help reconstruct our biases.

This chapter is useful for various reasons such as the early stages of digital storytelling, the new age of digital storytelling, how to create a successful narrative within the new space, the personalities that are created within the new space, the virality of these online personalities, and businesses demand for successful multimedia storytelling just to name a few. In addition, it offers content composers a new perspective on the ever changing world of new media. This book will already be outdated because technology and information is instantly changing.

________________________________________________________________________

Blais, Caroline, Caldara, Roberto, Fiset, Daniel, Jack E., Rachael,  and Scheepers Christoph. “Culture Shapes How We Look at Faces” Plos. Web. August 2008

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003022

This article is incredibly insightful, it provides an exceptionally candid look at how culture has shaped how we look at faces. Over the span of our lives we have come into contacts with thousands of individuals of various background which has led to a categorization of those communities. A major factor that has led to this reinforcement of categorization is culture. Culture plays an unfortunate role and adds to our biases. Humanity has consciously and subconsciously conditioned ourselves to recognizing individuals based on their faces and in turn we have given them labels to make the categorization easier, which causes biases.

This article is useful for people who are interested in learning about the history of face recognition tools, the different face structures of certain cultures, why we are fascinated by certain traits of an individual.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Annotated Bibliography Reflection

The exercise in creating our annotated bibliographies was surprisingly useful. At first glance, I thought it would be a daunting task however, it was more useful and provided me a new way of how to accurately source information and look at it the content and context from critical point of view. Now I am a strong believer in annotated bibliography, if I knew this earlier in my career it would have changed a lot of things. Through annotating sources, I started to hone in on the idea of my project, the work, the research all became more meaningful. It eliminated a lot of my junk sources and forced me to look for more thoughtful resources to incorporate in my project. Each of the new sources I found, it created a more thoughtful approach to find other sources to connect all the ideas. With each new source, I started digging deeper into my mind to get clarity on what I hope to achieve with this project and especially why I am doing this project. This is not only a project but perhaps it can lead to a fully funded project or a dissertation topic or a TED Talk but essentially it allows the chance to communicate and bring new light to a topic by demonstrating that through storytelling we can begin to reconstruct our psyche and change our biases on certain individuals, if done well.

This is quite a task! Moving forward I would suggest doing this much earlier on because it really helps to mold your ideas and you look for sources that will successfully contribute and support your idea. 

Critical Evaluation of Visual Rhetoric

Hariman, Robert and Louis, John
Rhetoric Review, Indiana, 2001
Web
Summary:
The article “Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism, and Democratic Public Culture” by Robert Hariman and John Louis analyses how Rhetoricians have traditionally directed their attention on the power of  words in a ever-changing digital space. The assessment provides an insight to the role that iconic photographs are portrayed within American culture. Many photographs reflect a unique visual literacy, which shape our understanding towards specific events in each of our lives. By doing so, visual images tend to influence behavior, identity, but they are paramount  in photojournalism as we shift into the twentieth-century.
Critical analysis:
The article is useful for providing unique perspective photojournalism and suggest how iconic images can affect the viewers emotional reservations. Although, visual images intensifies the visual experience of a viewer, it can present a unwarranted challenge.
Perhaps this could be useful to think about the visual structures and their positioning in American culture.

Can Photojournalism Change Our Biases?

Overview

In an exploration of photojournalism, visual storytelling, and how it can potentially reshape our understanding of certain groups of people it offers insights which can potentially change our biases. I intend to introduce various types of images from the blog Humans of New York that can elaborate on how photojournalism presents an opportunity to change our biases beyond online mediums. Throughout this experiment, I will engage with images on a superficial sense, and on a practical level where I can probe certain visual literacies of an image within the context of Humans of New York.

Problem

Since the emergence of new media sites, it has given birth to various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram which has offered individuals a way to express themselves in unique discourse communities than before. In doing so, many individuals use photos with or without content as a way of to give a voice to voiceless individuals. Does photojournalism paint a fair picture of our culture today? Specifically, can photojournalism reshape our understanding of certain types of people and offer insight, which can possibly change our biases?

Solution

Over the span of all of our lives we have digested millions of images. Many of these images has shaped how we perceive the world and it has been reinforced by mass media. My contention is that photojournalism offers individuals a chance to offer new understandings of certain kinds of people and perhaps in doing so we can end our biases about certain groups of people. For this project, I will examine the blog Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, a blog that shares stories while offering a new light on photojournalism and cultivating a new type of visual experience. I will view 1,000 of out 3,530 photos and explore 3-5 that I find visually captivating and content that sheds light on the individual in an effort to chart how I am transformed through this experience. 

Deliverables

  1. To create a comparative analysis which I write about my emotion about a certain image and then write about my emotions are reading the content of the image and write about the emotions I feel after the image. This will be executed by leaving a comment on Instagram/Facebook below the image.
  2. A PowerPoint/Prezi presentation with images that carefully assess each photos for the overall image, the image point of view, the quality of the image, the subject matter of the image (if there is any) whether it is environmental, controversial, or presents a challenge to ethical values.
  3. A blog post to my personal blog Black Attire Aficionado that I can reflect on the success, emotions, and revelations of how I was affected by the images and contents of the Human of New York and if I was changed by the visual storytelling. (Hyperlinks to ePortfolio, to Black Attire Aficionado, and to OpenLab)
  4. Create a image that mirrors Human of New York and tracks its success on Instagram and Facebook. (Use hashtags on Instagram and Facebook)

Objectives

The visual language/ visual rhetoric, multimedia storytelling, and how our cultural beliefs leads to misinterpretation of an image has affected how we quantify ourselves and the people around us.

Questions to Probe

  1. How does cultural beliefs affect visual storytelling?
  2. Can an image stand without content?
  3. What factors play a part in interpretation?
  4. How does culture affect the way we interrupt an image?
  5. Why does culture affect the way we interrupt an image?
  6. Can we un-train our eyes?

Goals

To successfully chart my discoveries and offer insight on how we shine a new light on the ways in which photojournalism plays role in how interpret images and perhaps how we can begin to un-train our eyes.

Timeline

11/12 View 100-500 photos

11/15 View 100-500 photos

11/18 Narrow down on 3-5 photos

TBD

 

Methodology

TBD

 

Sources (subject to change)

Humans of New York

Photojournalism 

The Importance of Storytelling 

Visual Narratives 

Forbes 

Photojournalism and Rhetoric

Class Notes 11/10/15

Cohen & Kenny

Online Brand-

Important of using your real name

Open honest/ authentic presence-voice

Maintaining control of your brand

anonymously brand:resonate

Professional– “public you” or ” professionalism”

Professional profile, voice professional , recreational

Branding (slogan)

representation, business, celebrities, characteristics, devil, capitalism

Free-write (5 minutes)

Your online brand is “focused”

Take a  look at your ePortfolio and update your site/ your homepage of the website for professional things

JILL want you to update your ePortfolio for next Tuesday

About page, images etc. . .

Check Dashboard etc.

 

TO DO

Next steps for the project

Revise your proposal and find new reaserch

Develop your research question

Respond to the targeted feedback

 

What new media composing, live tweeting, blog, etc.

Present 3 new media composing experiment

5 sources

Clarify the projecttttttttttttttt!

 

 

The Online Jodieann

Creating a online brand is almost like putting on a Halloween costume and becoming the person you’ve always aspired to be. Online sites afford many individuals a chance to escape their drab life and become their alter ego or a exaggerated person. This may be true for most people and myself as well. I am on several social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, OkCupid. With each social media sites there is a certain type of image one must uphold to be able to engage within that community. I portray myself online as a very well-put together individual who engages in thoughtful discussions regarding politics, current events, quotes, fun things that happen in my life aka shareable moments, rants, etc. My positioning online gives the impression, which is true, of a progressive, fashionable, savvy, and holistic thinker who likes coffee and inspirational quotes. In many ways I am proud of my digital story telling ability because I know I could represent various brands successfully and I will uphold the image of the brand. Also, I have started a lovely series which I call the Daily Takeaway, each day I write 3-5 inspirational quote or takeaway and use the hashtag #DayNumberoftheDay. It’s been pretty cool, I hope to look back 365 from now and have a transformative outlook on my growth as an individual. I’m not quite sure why I started the series but I love doing it.

Does your online identity convey to the audience your future goals and ambitions?

My online personality perfectly explain who I am and who I want and will become. I do a very good job of creating my personal online brand. I have realized that it is what you physically put online that gives people a certain impression of you. In a way you have to create the ideal persona that you want to sell to people— its sort of genius. I do think people realize that I am genuine online as I am in person.

Does it tell the audience what you do for a living or hope to do for a career?

Yes, in my blurb section I give a nod to my profession as a writer. If someone was to stalk my Twitter timeline and come across posts from 11 months ago they would find links to press release that I wrote on CUNY Newswire. I am very much professional online but I know that my idea of professional and someone else’s interpretation are very different.

What assumptions would someone make about your personality?

The “Online” Jodieann is just as lovely as she is in person. My online persona is the girl you could imagine sitting with in a coffee shop, engaging in conversations of all sorts. The persona is relatable in many ways, the candor, the wit, the easy going personality, the professionalism, graciousness. My online persona embodies all my real life traits online very pleasantly. One of the key takeaways I hope my persona conveys most of all is that Jodieann is an intelligent young woman with a strong voice and a clear mission of achieving all her goals.

Visual Rhetoric and Culture

Since the emergence of digital media, it has led to the creation of how various online communities play a role in shaping visual rhetoric and culture. An online community is a group of people with common interests who use the Internet (web sites, email, instant messaging, etc.) to communicate, work together and pursue their interests over time. Each of these communities has attracted individuals of all kinds to participate within that community of shared interest. Some of the communities are within platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, OkCupid, Buzz Feed, and Flickr to name a few. When I examined all these communities there was one common thread, many individuals used photos as a way to use visual rhetoric/ visual storytelling to quantify themselves. This had led me to several question, Do photos need content? Are images cultural? How has multimedia affected visual storytelling?

The key elements of my project are:

*Visual language

*Are images cultural?

*Multimedia storytelling

I want to explore the following questions “Has our cultural beliefs affected the way we interpret a image and why does it affect the way the see a image?” Over the span of all of our lives we have digested millions of images. Many of these images has shaped how we perceive the world and it has been reinforced by digital media. The visual language/ visual rhetoric, multimedia storytelling, and how our cultural beliefs leads to misinterpretation of an image has affected how we quantify ourselves and the people around us. Perhaps culture does not only play a role in who we are but severely affects how we see the world. Often times the media reinforces their interpretations of an image and try to feed it down viewers throats. This can have many affect on the psyche’s development, whether for good or for bad.

For this project I propose an experiment in which I will research 5-10 images with and without content and interview people to see how they interpret them. These images will stem from online sites such a Human of New York, famous paintings, images that have been remixed into memes. In my research I hope to identify how different cultures interpret visual images with and without content. Secondly, by . I want to examine the phycology, environmental factors, traumatic events, fear, and age to chart how those factors play a role in how our psyche interprets an image. I hope to shine a new light on how we interpret images and perhaps how we can begin to un-train our eyes. I want to provoke the questions, are we an extension of all the images we have seen throughout our lives.

Questions:

  1. How does cultural beliefs affect visual storytelling?
  2. Can an image stand without content?
  3. Is age an important factor when one views an image?
  4. What factors play a part in interpretation?
  5. How does culture affect the way we interrupt an image?
  6. Why does culture affect the way we interrupt an image?
  7. Can we un-train our eyes?
  8. Are your mind and body performing better?

 

Sources

“Producing New and Digital Media”-Cohen and Kenny

“Writing & Editing for Digital Media”- Carroll

Wikipedia