ELS+wk+11

Reflection on my VSP re: Malcolm and Ramage 5 _

"The Philistine who used to come to the museum of modern art and sneer, 'I could do that,' has been answered; the Philistine who comes to the Light Gallery, he observes, 'I have done that,' remains an unanswerable, threatening presence" (Malcolm 64)

Reading Ramage, I found myself answering Malcolm, that yes I have done that-- taking pictures is my own way of interpreting the world. However, the field of photojournalism brings an interpretation of the world to its viewers. These photos are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between everyday photography and art photography because they impart disorder on reality while still maintaining an artistically striking quality- they present truth. Therefore, the viewer must use the method of "discounting", a process like translation, to identify the meaning through the context of the photograph.

With the images I will use in my Visual Story Project (VSP), I want people to see past the startling images that I present and look at them in a new way. This process of defamiliarizing with the subjects will allow an open discourse for fresh ideas and new view points. The interpretation along with discounting and defamiliarization will help to build my story and create a distinctive message to my viewers. Much like a picture book relates its story to a young audience, my VSP will present an undeniable message to my viewers.

But how will I accomplish all this? Firstly, my viewer must understand the broad context that I am portraying with my photos- The end of the world. Then they must understand the sub-contexts of Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. To do this I must not only incorporate text, but I must explore different ways of presenting the photographs- which ones come first, second, and so forth. I must also convey that these photographs are a direct interpretation of world affairs. Once that is established, the method of discounting should flow out easily from the mind of the viewer.

With these goals in mind I must now consider more deeply such techniques as juxtaposition to create a flow of ideas from singular images. This will prove to be a difficult task, yet just as sequences of letters form words and words form sentences to convey ideas- so must a series of photographs. This is the task laid before me. Now I must find a means to execute my goal properly.