Hogwarts or DU? 23 September, 2010

I thought this shot was absolutely breathtaking, even though the photograph doesn't capture how the sky looked at that time. The sky looked so amazing lit up by both the setting sun and the law building in the center of the shot. The clouds were completely illuminated from below and as my friend mentioned before I took this picture, it looked like a building straight out of Harry Potter.

Picnics; 22 September, 2010

Generally, I haven't been a huge fan of the dorm food but the best day, by far, was when we had a picnic of barbecue chicken and other typically "southern" foods. Not only was the food great at this "picnic", but I had interactions with many bugs including this ladybug that enjoyed climbing around my empty plate. I tried to capture the moment where there was not just a ladybug, but a yellow jacket, and spider on my plate, but the only photo that turned out was this one with just the ladybug.

Working Hard, Hardly Working; 21 September, 2010

One of the great things about college is that there are always people around, in the hallways, in their rooms, and especially in the lounge. The downside to that, is that its very difficult to get work done as everyone is always around. I took this photo when my friends were trying, unsuccessfully, to get reading done while the rest of us were just hanging out as our work was finished. The table shown in this picture has been moved many times a day for people to use, not just for their books and other work, but to be used as a footrest for those attempting to do work. In a way, this table kind of represents college life, as everything is always being changed and moved around, but overall it stays the same and always ends up back where it started.

Denver Sky; 20 September, 2010

My favorite thing to take pictures of is the sky, and Denver has had some awesome skies while I've been here. I never liked the sky back home as it was generally devoid of clouds and when there were clouds, it blocked the entire sky making everything gray. I loved the sky this day because the clouds were just so vibrant and white, but you could still see the blue behind them.

Water; 19 September, 2010

Last Sunday was the Pioneer Leadership Program barbecue. Because it wasn't particularly warm with the breeze, a bunch of us decided just to sit by the edge of the pool with our feet in the water. I loved the way our shadows were falling in the water and were rippling in the water. I also like the bright reflection of the sun in the water that's lined up with the ripples. I think that this photograph turned out really well even though you can't really tell who's in it.

A Rapid Revolution; 18 September, 2010

Last Saturday, I attended a Colorado Rapids soccer game against the New England Revolution. It was my first time in Dicks Sporting Goods Park, and I loved how the seats across from my section were colored so that the white seats spelled out COLORADO. Its difficult to see here as some seats are occupied but I thought it was cool nonetheless. I also really like the architecture of the stadium, as shown in what looks to be solar panels above the seats. The stadium looked a lot smaller than the Home Depot Center (where my team, the Los Angeles Galaxy plays) which gave it the illusion of being fuller as there are often tons of empty seats at Galaxy games. I had a great time at the game, and it was quite entertaining when the Revolution players were warming up at halftime and the sprinklers turned on. :)

In Plato's Cave

            “Today everything exists to end in a photograph.” (p. 24). With today’s digital age, this has become increasingly true. Instead of seeing the world through our own eyes, we’ve begun to see the world through a computer screen. Society is living in Plato’s Cave, and yet seems to have no idea that it is stuck there. People are not comfortable going out into the world to take in all it has to offer. Instead they are content to just capture the basic form and shadow of the world through a photograph. According to the world, as Sontag puts it, “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed” (p. 4). So through seeing something, however briefly it may be, if you take a photograph of it, then it is forever yours to have in print or as a digital file stored away on a hard drive. It seems as if the world is trying to replace experiences and memories with a crude snapshot that doesn’t even come close to the actual sight. People travel the world not to immerse themselves in local culture and experience all a new place has to offer, but to walk through a town with video camera in hand, recording every second as if filming a documentary. When I see such tourists, I often wonder if those videos are ever seen again, or if they’re stored off in a corner to only be forgotten.

            In her explanation of the extent that society is stuck in Plato’s Cave, Sontag compares today’s cameras to a car. In this day and age, everyone attempts to take the easy way out, with absolutely everything being completely automated. Cars can now start with the push of a button without the driver even being in the car. Documents are automatically formatted on a computer, and our words are finished for us in even the shortest of text messages. Cameras are no different, now with the capability of waiting to take a photograph until everyone in it is smiling with their eyes open. No thought is needed anymore when taking a photograph clearly separating photography as art, a true representation of the world, and photography as a means for immortalizing a memory. This has extended past mere automation to a lost of interaction with the subject of the photograph. Like the automatic check-out lines and ATMs which take away the need to interact with actual people, the simplicity of “just aim, focus, and shoot” (p. 14) that cameras provide allow amateur photographers and tourists to just snap a shot. People very rarely take the time to interact with the world around them, taking the time to set up a photograph, examining a subject at all angles before moving on to the next sight.

            Sontag classifies photography as “a neat slice of time, not a flow” (p. 17). It is a single second that only happened once, and will never happen again in the exact same way.  Much of modern society is failing to see the world this way and taking for granted all that they come in contact with. To be a true photographer one must actually be seeing the world around them, not simply looking for a brief moment before moving on. Photography is having a relationship with your surroundings, immersing yourself completely before stepping back to capture the elements. Just as a concert attendee will better appreciate a piece of music if they have prior knowledge of the piece, knowing what to listen for, one is only a true photographer when they don’t simply see what they are capturing, but become a part of it and know where to find all the small details. Through photographs we can know about the world, granted we “accept it as the camera records it” (p. 23). The current generation that did not live through the Holocaust and both World Wars can see the horrors that were created through the photographs taken of barren battlefields and liberated concentration camps. Future generations will know about the destruction that took place on 9/11 but see the hope and unity it brought to our country through photographs of Ground Zero and the subsequent memorials to the lost. But just as history is told by the victors, photographs can be one-sided and deceiving, defying what Sontag refers to as “narrowly selective transparency” (p. 6). During the Westward Expansion period, very few photographs portrayed the Native Americans in a positive light, only depicting the several instances when they were victorious in a battle with American soldiers. Tabloid magazines take advantage of misleading photographs to start a scandal in order to earn money, and political campaigns will take anything of their opponents and spin it in their favor.

            In Plato’s Cave, society was ignorant of their surroundings, in The Phantom Tollbooth, author Norton Juster described a town that essentially was nothing, because the townspeople were too busy running from place to place to look up and notice their surroundings so it just simply disappeared. With our society going the direction it is, soon we will lose all appreciation for the world and the things it has to offer. It is only through photography and the taking of photographs that this world will be preserved and we will retain what has already been lost.

Destinations; 9 September, 2010

As I said before, I really enjoy taking indirect pictures. This one, taken in the Denver Art Museum, was almost accidental as what I was originally trying to do wasn't coming out as I had hoped. But when I moved just a little bit to the side, I noticed that the capitol building (at least I think that's what it is) was perfectly reflected in the patterned window. After snapping a few shots of it, it looked like it was a double exposure, with one being a photograph of the window and the other of the building itself. I am really proud of this picture and how it came out.

Light; 8 September, 2010

While sitting on a bench on campus, I noticed this tree and for some reason, really liked the light around it. It was a pretty harsh light, but I liked how it essentially turned the sky white and brought out the more neon yellow in the grass. The backlit tree also looked really cool to me and even though its a fairly uninteresting tree, I think the photograph turned out really well.

Reflections; 7 September, 2010

One of my favorite things to do is take indirect pictures. So often people photograph something head on, looking straight at it, but I love taking pictures through something else, or reflected in something else. So not only was the lighting of the building great, but it was also perfectly reflected in the window. I absolutely love DU's campus and I have really enjoyed finding good places to take photographs around campus.

Sunrise; 6 September, 2010

Move in day was extremely exciting for me, and it started out the perfect way, with a beautiful sunrise over nice puffy clouds. I took many, many photographs of the sunrise but what I loved the most about this one, is that the orangey-yellow filled up the entire frame, like the light was reaching everywhere. While I originally wanted nothing in the photograph but the sunrise and the clouds (not the trees around me) I ended up really liking how it was all in silhouette.

Monument: 5 September, 2010

The weekend before move in day, I was staying with family friends in the hills (mountains I guess) just above Monument. We went out exploring behind their house as it is completely surrounded by rock and trees, and When we got to this spot, I loved how the one rock was balanced on the larger rock and how the light was just streaming in above it. The sky behind was just so beautiful and I loved the sun just creeping into the corner. Unfortunately, with the mountains to the left, we couldn't really watch the sunset which is something that I really miss from California, as the sun sets perfectly over the beach.

Garden of the Gods; 4 September, 2010

Sorry for the delay/gap in posting pictures, I've been so extremely busy packing and getting ready for college!! But now that I have some time, here's a couple more photographs. This one was taken at Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs. While this particular rock wasn't all that special (there were some that looked like faces and other shapes) I loved the way the sun was just peaking up over the edge. One thing that I love about Garden of the Gods is that you never see the same thing when you go multiple times because the light is always hitting the rocks in a slightly different way. I only wish I had a car with me at school so I could go at all different times of the day just to see how what rocks are highlighted and what photographs I can get.