Globalisation
Max Cavallari
The Italian photographer Max Cavallari names this work loneliness. He names it this as he feels as if social media is deleting the social relationships we have with our friends and family. He focuses on creating images to rectify many problems the use of social media is creating and how it impacts each of us in a negative way on a daily basis. He describes it as a whole new dimension that is quicker and more addictive and creates a sense of our actual world being dull. Cavallari focuses on capturing a person being sucked in by the technology as though it is taking your life away by editing the face being pulled in by the technology. This links to globalisation as the rise of interaction and integeration of people through social media has resulted in heavy socialising problems and addictions that if taken away can cause conflict between families or friends.
First Response:
For my first response, following my research on Max Cavallari, I decided to head out to highgate woods park to capture my images. Initially i took images on the field while the subject of the image sat down and was on his phone. After trying this I realised that it was not working as effectively as I wanted it to as there was not enough people around him that were just living their day to day lives. I then decided to go to the cafe is there were many people in the location. I focused on placing the subject in the middle of the image while having everyone else in the background. This image worked well as it followed Cavallari's work very well by having the face sucked into the phone representing the addiction problems that the globalisation of social media has resulted in. Another way this was composed well was the use of having the subject as a young person compared to everyone else who was generally of an older generation. This indicates how this type of globalisation has become a new world for the younger generations and how it takes them away from the real world. I chose to have it in black and white as I feel this topic i a negative representation as a whole so having these darker shades of black creates that sense of negativity towards social media. As this was my first response there are still many ways in improving my piece. Firstly, I need to use more of my inspiration taken from Cavallari and use it in my work. For example, I need to improve where the different shades of colour are presented in the image. I need to have a more dull background and emphasise mot of the bright white sahed from the light of the phone the subject is being sucked into to. This will depict how the light represents the persons life and how the real world means nothing to him.
Second Response:
For my second response I focused more on using a wider variety of locations and using my to improve remarks as stated in my first response. I decided to head out to different locations in London where there would be a larger amount of people in. So I went outside train stations, on buses, in the train station and on the train. I managed to capture a wide variety of images without people noticing. (Below my second response is how I captured people on the trains.) Throughout the sets of images I focused on making sure the editing of the face being sucked in was better executed, for example having a light come out of the phone to make it seem more clear that the phone is sucking the people in. I made sure the exposure was done correctly specific to each photo as some areas of the image needed to be brighter so a slower shutter speed was needed to more light was exposed. The aperture settings were also done specific to the images for example if I needed a person to be unfocused compared to the rest of the image which was done by having lower aperture number.
I took the same approach for these two images. I focused on creating the sense of loneliness that social media can leave you in. Both subjects are by themselves with empty seats around them. I made sure this was possible by using the rule of thirds, having them both centered in the middle while having empty spaces around them to represent that when you become addicted to this type of globalisation, it will leave you isolated and dependent on it to make you feel positive. In both images, what's in front of them are darker shades of black and grey whereas what's behind them is brighter shades of white. This is done to represent that before the rise of social media people were not dependent on this one source to make them feel better but rather had social relationships with their family and friends for that. But as we've detoured into the new age of technology, it has left us negatively attached to it wiping away the true interactions that bring us together as humans. To further improve these images, I will need to experiment in using more than one person to create an even deeper meaning to the image and message behind it.
As I could not take pictures of people as it would have been too obvious, I was resulted to take videos of them. I found people on their phones many times so I started recording before I got onto the train so it was easier to manage, I placed the camera on my lap and kept it steady as the train moved. After I got the video, I managed to get good screenshots of people focused on their phones and edited them on photoshop to create multiple people with their faces sucked into their phones.
|
|
Third Response:
For my third response I wanted to take a different approach to the topic. I wanted to combine Cavallari's work and add my own ideas as well. By doing so I went out to capture images of people on their phones again for example like above. I then edited those images on photohop to make sure the subjects face was being sucked into the phone. I then decided to find newspaper articles reflecting the negative effects social media can have on you. By doing so I created two layers of different photography to emphasise the effects it plays on our day to day lives. This worked well as it does not completely take Cavallari's work identically but adds more definition to how much the globalisation of ocial media has impacted our generation. The use of having not just one person but many people being sucked in again creates the idea how in depth this topic effects our human race. The use of having the contrast of a source of information in the past being covered by what everyone uses as information now indicates how impact-full social media has made our lives in a negative way. Using these examples, I will continue to come up with different ways in presenting my thoughts of how much social media has effected our generation. For example, having different perspectives such as the subject being sucked in point of view.
Brief
Globalisation is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. It is also the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The rise in integration and interactions have played a negative factor in peoples lives, for example socially. The rise of social media has led to STRESS, MOOD SWINGS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, LONELINESS, and many more. Other topics around globalisation also play a major part in degrading our wild such as climate change. The selection of pictures will present a clear idea of what and how globalisation has changed our world to this day.
Fourth Response:
For my fourth response, after having some thought, I decided to take a whole different aspect to how social media is portrayed in my opinion. Doing so I wanted to create a personal feel for the viewer allowing them to feel involved in the image, I wanted to create a concept where you could see the reflection of the subject holding the phone but instead of just the reflection I wanted to destroy the phone to resemble the negativity social media rings to young peoples lives. I decided to head out into London and capture images of people i knew of to start my creation of these images. I created the images by firstly:
1) Capturing an image of the subject looking directly into the camera using a low angle shot as if the camera was the phone.
2) Capturing an image over the shoulder of the subject in the same position, with him holding his phone making sure his phone was off and this being a close up shot.
After capturing the images I used Photoshop (below) and put the images together.
1) Capturing an image of the subject looking directly into the camera using a low angle shot as if the camera was the phone.
2) Capturing an image over the shoulder of the subject in the same position, with him holding his phone making sure his phone was off and this being a close up shot.
After capturing the images I used Photoshop (below) and put the images together.
For my set of images, I captured each of them in different locations but instead of keeping the background in shot, I found the main colour from each image and made it the background of them so the focus was entirely on the phone. Each image were effective as they clearly presented a way of showing social media in a negative way. There are different ways this presents social media in a bad way. Firstly, the way the picture is distorted is very specific. I made sure not only the face was distorted but the whole phone plus anything that came in contact with the phone ( this being the hand). This was key to the idea behind it as it meant that social media as a whole can affect you as a person and alter who you are ( eg depression /anxiety, addiction etc) which is shown by the distortion of the subjects hand. I also purposely added a grainy texture to areas of the faces and left some areas normal. This was done to create a sense of normality vs abnormality where certain areas of the face are kept normal to represent that there is still that chance of escaping the negative impacts it could lead you to. This comparison with the grain illustrates the blur of reality social media sucks you into. Throughout each picture, they are composed well making sure the face to distortion ratio was good enough to understand what the image was representing. The use of the blue and red in the distortion adds a cool effect making it look like a real distortion. I managed my aperture and shutter speed settings correctly making sure the close up was not blurry and that enough light was let in to see all the small details ( used a larger aperture number and a longer shutter speed as it was a cloudy day with not enough light). To further improve my images I would need to research more photographers and find different techniques in distortion for example pixalating the face. I would also need to come up with a new concept that could be similar to this response just not the same as I would like to discover new ways in creating an effect to present social media negatively.
Heitor Magno
Brazilian Heitor Magno is a visual artist who focuses on using the human body and combining it with other elements such as glitching. He takes focus on exploring identities through self-portraiture by taking his passion of technology and finding out how it affects our behavior as humans specifically the continuous repetition of imagery on social media and how it effects us psychologically. He uses a double exposure technique that allows the people in the image to be cloned and appear alongside themselves in most examples of his work. He then adds glitches on their faces to convey an unknown face that presents their emotion. The pixelated image results in an disguised expression which questions their intentions and identity.
Final Piece
For my final piece, I decided to further develop my previous response but in an alternative way due to my inspiration of Heitor Magno. Using my inspiration of his work I decided to create my own idea of how social media presents a negative outlook in peoples lives. Following my previous response, I wanted to add more than one person to the image so I used two young people sitting next to each both portraying a sense of fear, dullness and discomfort. This was done to represent how young people are the main victims of social media addiction as it is the new age of technology for their age group, also how they are young makes them easily vulnerable to peer pressure that if they are not owing an accustomed device then they may get bullied for it. However I altered the image to suit what I believe would create a greater effect which was by adding the piece of technology that can allow young people to access social media. I decided to use a computer as I wanted it to be placed behind them and be large enough to emphasise that they're being sucked into it. Which leads on to the glitching, and I decided to follow my previous technique as I wanted to have the subjects faces visible as well as distorted so their emotion can be emphasised to help create that negative feeling of social media. I followed the same tutorial as stated for my previous response making sure the areas that were added with the grain texture (noise on PS) were interlinked with the fact that the whole device behind them is grainy creating the sense of innocent lives from the subjects being sucked away. However for this example, I wanted to make an even more explicit addition to let the audience understand what exactly is the cause for all the distortion, by doing so, using the "Liquify" option on Photoshop, I dragged parts of each subjects face sucking them in to one center point relating social media to a black hole sucking them away. The composition of the image worked very well as both subjects are level with each other to create the idea that every young person addicted to social media are not different to each other and are all innocent. I made sure I used a quicker shutter speed as I did not want the white backdrop to be too exposed and bright as it may of taken away the focus of the image. The aperture was left at a high number ensuring both the subjects and technology in the background were in focus. However to further improve this image, if I wanted to take an approach of glitching different to my current example, I could add more detail in the distortion of the face by creating something more similar to Heitor Magno with more of a variety of colours, but I believe that would take the focus away from the emotions of the subjects.