Two Self Portraits

I feel as though this self portrait describes me pretty well.  I enjoy symmetry and theatrics.  I feel as though this describes more of the professional side of my life.  I enjoy photography very much and take it seriously, but I also like to make the images fun and interesting to look at.

This is me:

This represents me:

My self portrait, which is made up of symbols, I feel represents my personal life.  I chose these particular symbols because they represent my favorite things in life.  It is the outline of a shark obviously, which has been an obsession of mine since before I can remember.  The Linkin Park (my favorite band) logo, make up the eyes.  The batman sign from The Dark Knight makes the mouth, represents my love for movies, The Dark Knight especially because it is my personal favorite.  As a photography major, I love taking pictures so camera lenses make up the nose.  Lastly, I am an Apple fan, so the Apple logo makes up the gills of the shark.  I feel as though this describes me perfectly.

48 Hours

I kept track of my media consumption from various different mediums such as the phone, computers, TV, and video games to see how much time I was actually spending doing doing these different things.  Some of the results surprised me, and some didn't.  The form of media I used most was probably the computer/internet, which added up to about 4-5 hours.  The form of media I used the least was reading magazines, which I really only did for about 5-10 minutes.  I probably spent between a half hour and a hour communicating over the phone with friends and family.  As far as my monologic media, I spent about 3 hours watching TV/movies.  I was really surprised with how much time I spent on the computer, especially on Facebook.  Facebook is such a pointless thing, and there isn't really much you can do on it, so it was surprising to see how much of my day was spent using it.  If I were to choose something to change about the way I use media, it would probably be on Facebook less just because it doesn't better me at all, and I don't learn anything of value on it.  For the most part it is just a big waste of time when you actually stop to think about it.  This was an interesting experiment and it really opens your eyes to how you are really spending your time.

Appropriation

Appropriation, or "the taking for ones own use" has become wildly popular in modern society.  Taking a popular advertisement or political poster, for example, and twisting it into something satirical or negative, is something a lot of artists are taking too.  Here is an example.

This particular appropriation is poking fun at President Obama's "Change" campaign.  A lot of artists have used this campaign for their own pleasure.  This one I find rather funny.  While many may consider it copying someone else's ideas, it is effective at getting the point across.

I tried my hand at an appropriation.  I took Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and made a advertisement for a butter company.  Here it is...

Icons In Our Society

Sex appeal has become hugely important in modern society.  It really goes to show where America's values lie.  This particular ad for Axe Body Spray suggests that their scent lasts so long, that even after you are gone, the scent will linger and women will do practically anything to get to you.

I have to say that I think the Axe advertisements are clever, and I enjoy the humor every time I see one of their ads on television, but I can't say that I'm swayed to purchase their products.  The idea is that if you wear Axe body spray, you will suddenly become more attractive to the opposite sex.  Which is obviously untrue, but you know what they say.  Sex sells.