Week 10 games

Rebuild
http://www.kongregate.com/games/sarahnorthway/rebuild

Hands of War 2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Djugan/hands-of-war-2-expanded-edition

The Dreamhold
http://eblong.com/zarf/zweb/dreamhold/

Castaway 2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/likwidgames/castaway-2

London Road
http://varytale.com/books/book/fox-london-road/info/

Choice of the Dragon
http://www.choiceofgames.com/dragon/

Assignment 2 - Photo Essay - By Nathan Sweeney & Jannat Dawra

Apologies for the late submission, there were difficulties with exporting the video!!

Photo Essay Rationale

By Nathan Sweeney (42457254) & Jannat Dawra (42457300)

The concept/intent of our Photo Essay is the overlooked and somewhat unappreciated environmental elements of the everyday aesthetic.

The decision to stick to a colour scheme (red) was decided after aiming to maintain a constant theme – sustaining the same colour through a range of objects and natural elements seemed a noteworthy one. Due to its dominant and energetic presence; Sydney’s city, China town and Darling Harbour were decided as the location for the shoot. We aimed to highlight the paradox of the colour’s primary and dominant nature; red stop signs, architecture of significance and natural environments seemed to be ignored in order to make room for expressions for and against economic desire depicted through powerful vehicles and-graffiti stained business buildings.

The colour also has cultural significance, stemming from the Chinese culture, which perceives red as a colour of luck and goodwill – decorating its landmarks, symbols and other cultural acts consistently with this colour.

Although bright and colourful, the landmarks and elements of nature become a motif for the true everyday aesthetic which is constantly overlooked and unappreciated in a economically-driven and arguably rushed world.

We chose to focus on these elements in order to uncover their true significance in everyday aesthetics.

Youtube Link:

http://youtu.be/p8fUWCgk20M

Jannat Dawra - 42457300
Nathan Sweeney - 42457254

The concept/intent of our Photo Essay is the overlooked and somewhat unappreciated environmental elements of the everyday aesthetic.

The decision to stick to a colour scheme (red) was decided after aiming to maintain a constant theme – sustaining the same colour through a range of objects and natural elements seemed a noteworthy one. Due to its dominant and energetic presence; Sydney’s city, China town and Darling Harbour were decided as the location for the shoot. We aimed to highlight the paradox of the colour’s primary and dominant nature; red stop signs, architecture of significance and natural environments seemed to be ignored in order to make room for expressions for and against economic desire depicted through powerful vehicles and-graffiti stained business buildings. 

The colour also has cultural significance, stemming from the Chinese culture, which perceives red as a colour of luck and goodwill – decorating its landmarks, symbols and other cultural acts consistently with this colour. Although bright and colourful, the landmarks and elements of nature become a motif for the true everyday aesthetic which is constantly overlooked and unappreciated in a economically-driven and arguably rushed world. 

Shadows; the Everyday Aesthetic.

Beau Quick
SID 42841402

We live in a world of light and dark where shadows occupy the remaining spaces creating fleeting moments often only capture through digital images. Over time photographers have been drawn to this evocative world where shadows play with notions of time and place. Photographer Ron Bigelow has suggested that "light is nothing without shadows." When used creatively, shadows not only give a sense of depth and form but also provide an additional point of interest to complement the main subject of the composition (Mahmood n.d.) In this photo-essay, I have tried to capture the everyday aesthetics of shadows in my local environment whilst accompanying these images with original music in an attempt to emphasise their subtleties and other worldliness.

Reference:

Bigelow, R. The Importance of Shadows. Retrieved from http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/shadows/importance_of_shadows.htm on 11/10/12

Mahmood, H. The Importance of Shadows. Retrieved from htto://acg2.fullcoll.edu/FACULTY/MAHMOOD/ACG170/shadows.html on 11/10/12

Murray, S. (2008) “Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics”, Journal of Visual Culture, 7:132-146.

StreetSCAPE - J.Barton, R.Combe

    Urban Connections

For many people, street signs reflect a certain degree of sameness and so are regularly dismissed and overlooked by passers-by as mere indicators of place.  Our photo-essay, however, seeks to effectively challenge these commonly held perceptions and thus has sought to present these commonplace and largely uninspiring objects in a new and interesting light.  In doing so, we decided to focus primarily on the various ways in which street signs can be captured in terms of light, texture, decay as well as highlight their unique placement in different locations.  Moreover, we attempted to inject these inanimate objects with an element of life by photographing them from various angles and perspectives.

As our photographs were largely captured in the inner city area and eastern suburbs of Sydney, they subtly reflect the changes in various socio-economic and cultural areas. Therefore, whilst some of the photographs depict a certain degree of rawness and imperfection others are evidently more polished and have been preserved by local councils. As well as providing us with these textual contrasts, travelling to different city suburbs enabled us to document how street signs are presented in an array of colours and forms. 

All in all, our photo essay titled ‘Urban Connections - StreetSCAPE’ aimed to transform and thus elevate the somewhat mundane and lifeless character of street signs so that they had the capacity to capture and challenge the reader’s imagination – and in essence, illustrate that there is indeed, beauty in the bleak. 

Lineas

Bianca Ellershaw (42865255) and Eleanor Bailey (42882311)

The images encapsulated within the video ‘Líneas’ were specifically composed to reflect the Everyday Image (Murray, 2008) through the unique theme of texture and a line sub theme. The textures that compose the urban environment are a mundane and overwhelmingly overlooked component of everyday life despite the frequency with which they are encountered. As such the images immediately draw the eye creating a path to follow and indicating the unseen details and unique patterns of everyday life that remain undetected.

The close up nature of the images used in ‘Líneas’ uncovers the true, and unnoticed, beauty of Everyday objects. As such it reflects the growing photographical trend of the Everyday Aesthetic, as described by Murray, in which photos are artistically composed to create unique images that demonstrate beauty in the ordinary and also hint at the every day life of composers.

The power of ‘Líneas’ is that the textures and lines captured hint at components of the everyday life that are simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar due to the frequency with which they are overlooked. Fences, object and other surfaces that are used everyday are suddenly transformed, detailed and surprisingly beautiful thereby capturing the splendour and influence of the Everyday Aesthetic.

Reference:

Murray, S. (2008) “Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics”, Journal of Visual Culture, 7:132-146.

Assignment 2 - Photo Essay - By Luisa Morris

MAS 110

Assignment 2 - Photo Essay

By Luisa Morris - 42457823

Theme: Doors and Doorknobs

Sub Theme: Old and New

I chose to take pictures of doors and doorknobs because we use them more than everything else everyday. I specifically wanted to highlight the character of both old and new doors. Everybody uses doors and doorknobs and often we don't pay attention to what they look like or what the history is behind them.The idea behind everyday aesthetic as Murray explain;s is to make the mundane or everyday extaordinary, "it priviledges.. the mundane".  With the subtheme of old and new I chose a song that features an intrument that can be regarded as both old and new; a violin piece from creative commons. The photos were taken over a month and the best were used. I imported the photos into "iPhoto" then edited them using different effects to simulate almost a polaroid feel to them, I then used "iMovie" to put them together and added music, then exported and uploaded the video to YouTube from iMovie.

References: 

Music by: VA "Crucify My Love" Used under Creative Commons License 

Murray, S. (2008) “Digital Images, photo-Sharing, and our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics”, Journal of Visual Culture. 

Photo Essay Michelle Cefai & Lisa Formby

'Glass'

Michelle Cefai (42797837) & Lisa Formby (42884489)

 

The everyday image according to Murray are types of images “that we can create or engage with on a regular basis that evoke or reference the more ordinary or frequent moments of our lives” (Murray 2008, p.151). For the purpose of this visual essay the ‘everyday object’ documented is glass; typically an object looked through it is being looked at. This as an everyday object is being challenged aesthetically both through photographic conventions and through the compilation of the images.

The increasing interest in the subject of the aesthetic of the everyday as discussed by Murray in her article challenges photographic conventions. The subject of a photo according to Murray “can be mundane or typically domestic” (Murray 2008, p.159). Murray suggests a new aesthetic and function within photography “one dedicated to the exploration of the urban eye and its relation to decay, alienation and kitsch, and its ability to locate beauty in the mundane” (Murray 2008, p.155). Photographing glass a typically overlooked object highlights its practicality, a material used in countless everyday objects, when damaged its usefulness is made clear. The photos are snapshots of some objects of glass and then looking at glass as a whole subject matter, reflecting the beauty in the ordinary or mundane nature of the everyday.

The compilation of the images again challenge photography in what Murray regards as photos needing to capture moments, in doing so a narrative is created. Murray recognises that there is now an “accepted temporariness” (Murray 2008, p.156) to the everyday image. This notion compliments the visual essay that there is no particular narrative to the series of photos, that through sound and vision a comment is made on the aesthetic of the everyday its temporary presence and beauty being “valued by the community” (Murray 2008, p.159).

Reference:

Murray, S (2008) Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture August 2008 vol. 7(2). 147-163.

 

Ben Ryan/42890500 Photo Essay

MAS110 Photo Essay

Ben Ryan - 42890500

'Lights in Anticipation of Dark'

It is the intention of this photo essay that streetlights be represented as a silent army, standing tall and waiting patiently to resist the onslaught of darkness. Framing images such that streetlights stand against an intimidating backdrop of darkening sky, and also the use of computer editing and appropriate music, allowed the generally unremarkable objects to be endowed with epic qualities.

The presentation of the photos in this essay, and their subject matter, are in line with the ‘shift in the engagement with the everyday image’; a shift that, according to Murray (2008) has given birth to a new type of photography that she dubs ‘ephemera’ (p.147, 155). This photo essay should be recognised as falling into this new category as it attempts to ‘locate beauty in the mundane’ through the artistic presentation of the usually unremarkable objects (Murray, 2008, p.155). Furthermore, it should be acknowledged that the insignificance of the objects would normally have been emphasised by the time of day at which the photos were taken, i.e. while it was still light out, but the use of computer editing and music reversed this, giving the lights more life than they perhaps would in the dark, further aligning the essay with the thoughts of Murray. 

Reference:

Murray, S 2008, 'Digital Images, Photo-Sharing and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics', Journal of Visual Culture, vol. 7, no. 2, July, pp. 147-163. 

Courtney Levin and Aastha Kapur Photo Essay

Photo Essay Rationale

In regards to our project, my partner and I chose to explore shadows. This is because we found it to be an interesting subject because of the way shadows change depending on the time of day and the type of lighting available. Shadows can be manipulated by natural factors such as the weather and water and thus, we thought it would be good to use it as our topic. Although it seemed like a relatively easy task, we had some problems when it came to finding a variety of different types of shadows. Originally we had a lot of photos of trees and plants, but we then decided to take some photos around our homes and local areas. We also had to take the photos with our Iphones since we didn’t have any available cameras, so the quality of the photos weren’t as good as what they could have been. After enhancing them in Iphoto, however, we slightly improved the quality. Overall, this task was enjoyable as we got a chance to work with both Iphoto and Imovie so we learnt how to use two different programs at once. It also increased our photography skills as we had to take a variety of photos before we could decide which ones were the best to use for our essay.

By Courtney Levin and Aastha Kapur