Article

Summary:
America has an understated epidemic of young people being pulled into the prostitution industry, a problem that most people assume affects remote regions of the world only. However, there are rehabilitation efforts aiming to heal the abuses these victims suffer and reintegrate them into society with prosperous futures. These efforts would benefit greatly from people being generally informed and working with authorities to rescue the trafficked and persecute the traffickers.

Communication Problem:
Human trafficking in America is a subject most people are not aware of, and so they should be made aware to recognize potential victims and offer them an escape from their captors.

Image Ideas:
Because of the article’s emphasis on aiding and healing victims of human trafficking rather than the ugly realities they have endured, I feel that showing human connections is the best way to go in portraying the intent of the article. Photographs of individuals expressing care and love for one another as human beings and type that is a call to action to join the movement dedicated to turning the tide on these crimes.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/climate-change-will-accelerate-earths-sixth-mass-extinction-180955138/?no-ist

Summary:
Due to rapid climate change, animal species around the globe are going extinct. However, because of the diversity of life on the planet, predicting which species are at greatest risk is a difficult task. Some creatures will not be impacted severely in the near future, while others will disappear outright if measures are not taken to lessen the damage done to the global ecosystem. If patterns continue to follow their trend, the rates of extinctions will increase thusly, threatening all forms of life regardless given enough time.

Image Ideas: Still life of a globe, acrylic ice and water to simulate melting. Copy: “It’s Not Too Late”. Dire lighting, dark and moody and dramatic. Conversely, harsh light can be a metaphor for the unchecked heat trapped in the planet’s atmosphere and can be paired with effects done in post, such as backgrounds of burning forests and bodies of water that have been rendered dry due to changing weather patterns.

Materials

Paper towels, acrylic ice, water bottle (with water) globe

First Week Results:

I found that the globe was very reflective in this week’s shoot. Most of the shots are marred with a glare that has to be rectified for next week’s shoot. There are a few salvageable photographs that can be given a type treatment, but the idea still has some room to grow and be realized.

Second Week Results:

The reflectivity of the globe was mitigated this week through distancing of light sources and a more complimentary setup that allowed for more dynamic photography. The ice was used more effectively by being stuck to the globe, keeping the base out of the shot entirely while there was a greater emphasis on running water and falling ice. The use of colored backgrounds also make the resulting photographs eye catching and impactful.

Third Week Results:

The third week was spent pursuing the idea of photographing a polar bear and penguin without a preliminary concept as to how this would be done. After a thankfully brief period of experimentation, a concept of shooting the water in a tray with the ice and animals emerged and led to some strong results which utilize the strengths of still life photography. The water, ice and subjects warranted some interesting lighting setups and poses that ended up being very convincing.

Summary: e.e cummings ‘ poem is a metaphorical recollection of a woman losing her virginity as told from the perspective of an awkward narrator. He uses the imagery of starting a car and enjoying a ride to frame the tone of the experience, whereas Phillip Levine’s poem is more about confronting a grim reality through passing by its unfortunate effects day after day, as one would driving to work. In Levine’s poem, the figurative person written about wonders what has become of Detroit after returning from parts elsewhere, and realizing things have taken a turn for the worse.

Communication Problem: How does one take the same toy car and impart an awkward, youthful take on it, then reverse and show something very downtrodden and depressing.

Image Ideas: On the principle of tonality, brighter colors and high key lighting would best match e.e cummings’ work, while more dramatic low key lighting would fit Levine’s poem. I feel the camera angle and cropping would be closer and intimate with e.e cummings’ poem while the contrary would create a lonesome feeling for Levine.

Results: The car I brought in, a 1957 Chevrolet, had such a personality in the shoot. When going for something somber, the red paint was still vibrant where light fell on it, but it was the surroundings that really gave the image its connotation. Very rarely did the color become defused based on the settings of the camera. It was because of this, the bright positive images shined through almost literally. The photographs in shadow are strong in color contrast as well as light and dark, the red comes through in a very impactful way, and broken up by darkness, the car takes on a forlorn, lost quality, which I think lends itself to Levine’s work.

Summary: Technology in agriculture has advanced to the point that genetic information is as ubiquitous as software, and can be developed as such, turning plant life from actual “life” to a commodity that happens to be derived from organic processes, rather than manufactured ones. Caught in the confines of these advancements are the actual farmers who plant their seeds, at the consequence of having to endure great economic stress to maintain a farm in the first place. Genetically modified seeds can solve a myriad of problems that can cut down the expenses of being a farmer, but a farmer is then bound by laws and policies at the mercy of the people who engineer these plants, which can be just as expensive when it becomes clear that much of what these “copyrights” cover is outside of a farmer’s direct control.

Communication Problem:  How much control does a person have over nature? Can people lay claim to a technique of modifying life, and hold others accountable when life, true to itself, behaves unpredictably and results in an effect not intended?

Image Ideas: An ad for potatoes, as with any ad, is much easier to convey than an idea. There are common tricks in existing media concerning Idaho Potatoes. I have Denise Austin to thank for the connotation Idaho Potatoes have with sunshine and open fields because of those old commercials that used to play when I was younger. Shooting the potatoes lit by warm light, just slightly yellow to be pleasing to the eye and not overly so to be taken as a photographic mistake, is my first instinct. As for the book cover, I think something more neutral and questioning is in order, as the author does not rally against GMO foods, but he does leave a sense of foreboding at the end with the idea of corporate handling of the future of food production. Corporate to me brings up clinical lighting that’s pale and cool with some deep shadows, which means I will be going after some uneven lighting ratios.

Results:  The stations this week were very interesting exercises in how to use light and reflections and color to create interesting effects, let alone compelling compositions and moods. While I feel I only have one example of my original idea that I can’t really use because it does not fit the criteria of the website specifications, there are many unintended but pleasant photographs that I can use for this week’s project. There was also an interesting after effect of using a green filter over a green table, in which the table itself turned blue in photographs, which was very surprising and something to keep in mind in the future.