Category Archives: Uncategorized

For my choice part of the ISU I have decided to look back on some of my favourite photos I have taken with my Rebel T7 camera and compile a portfolio

This photo changed my attitude around my image of soldiers. I am very against war and I think it is sheer stupidity and just justified murder, but this photo showed me that there is humanity in everyone. It is the sad reality that in war soldiers are killing other young soldiers who in another life they may have been friends. This photo of this man stopping to play a song on the piano shows our collective humanity, and under the rough image of warriors they are simply human.

1. All Media are Constructions

This photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and it was his mission to capture a story telling moment. Following shortly after the war he could have focused his photography on all the pain but he made the choice to capture joy and love instead.

2. The Media construct a version of reality

The meaning captured in this photo is raw emotion and a loving moment between a couple. In reality though, this photo isn’t a couple at all but a sailor kissing a near by nurse. Although there are different realities surrounding this photo, they all spark feelings of emotion, joy and love.

3.  Audiences negotiate meaning in media messages

People can view this photo differently based on their own personal views. Due to the sailor not asking consent from the nurse and just kissing her some may view this as sexual assault rather than a spontaneous moment.

4.  Media have commercial implications 

Although I could not find much information on the money aspect of the photo, I can assume it was a factor. The photographer was hired by LIFE magazine, so he was making money off of this photo and the others he took for the company.

5.  The media contain ideological and value messages 

This photo shows a lot about the lifestyle of the individuals at the time. The man wearing his sailor uniform shows that many were still in hard professions following the war. The women also wearing a nurse uniform can allow the audience to assume she had a role in the war. You can also see that love and relationships were regarded highly because everyone in the background is happy for the young pair kissing.

6.  The media have social and political implications

This photo really lifted peoples spirits. After the war being so hard and loosing many people, society was desperate to focus on more positive subject matter. This spontaneous kiss in the street became a cultural icon and was represented as a victory celebration from the war.

7.  Form and Content are closely related 

This photo could have turned out differently for many reasons. A main one I can think of is if the nurse was not into the soldiers advances and for example pushed him away the photo would have a very different meaning than it does.

8.  Each medium has its own unique aesthetic form 

I appreciate how this photo truly captures a moment in time. The people in the background are slightly in motion but the couple is stopped in place, as if fate. Also how the woman is truly swept back and the passion seen from the kiss also adds to the overall impact this photo had.

V-J Day Kiss in Times Square: The story behind an iconic photograph, 1945

2a. Portfolio

2b. Being a Teen in 2022

1a. My Favourite Photo

This was my favourite photo from the list because it shows so much emotion from something that cannot usually express emotion. With the undamaged trees in the back, the broken one stands alone representing emotions of pain and being an outcast.

This is the most important photo in my opinion because it represents years and years of pain. The death of George Flyod was the tipping point for the BLM movement but this photo shows that he was not alone and these murders have been happening quietly for years.

1b. Photo Analysis

I have chosen to do my photo analysis on the palm tree photo because the image grabbed my attention right away. The broken tree is perfectly in focus that it made me wonder what the story was. This photo also goes beyond just the surface level of what happened, it can represent much deeper messages of pain and brokenness.

This photo perfectly uses contrast to display the subject. The rows of untouched symmetrical trees in the background makes the broken focus tree stand out immensely. There is also a contrast in the colour of the sky which really works in this piece. Right above the broken tree the sky is slightly lighter in colour, which draws the attention in even more.

The use of lighting is very influential to this piece. The destruction was caused by the storm and they dark, cloudy, grey atmosphere created in this photo really represents this narrative. By keeping the lighting dark in this photo the photographer wasn’t only able to capture the subject at the time but also the emotions felt from that time.

Juxtaposition is also used very well in this photograph. The photographer could have simply focused on the damaged tree, but by putting the unbroken trees also in frame it tells more of a story and allows the audience to visual what the tree looked like prior to destruction.

I also feel this piece stuck out because the subject was creatively thought out. In other images I have seen of hurricane aftermath’s, the focus have been on damaged houses, cars, etc. But by focuses on something you wouldn’t normally think of such as trees adds more depth to the photo.

This photo will stick with me for a while, it shows a story but also allows for the audience to participate in imagining a world prior to the destruction of this tree. I like this photo because it made me feel sympathy for the tree which I wouldn’t normally feel bad for, but through the way the photo was taken the tree shows so much emotion.