During my morning routine, I am faced with countless products screaming for my attention. Whether products new or old, the cry for attention is the same across the board. The amount of products that I have for one person is pretty ridiculous, but one can't help buying shiny new things when the opportunity presents itself! My Flickr set is focused on capturing the essence of a quote from "The Medium is the Massage,""When faced with a totally new situation, we tend always to attach ourselves to the objects, to the flavor of the most recent past" (p 73).
When planning which products to photograph, I found that I gravitated towards the ones that I choose almost everyday. Although I probably have over a hundred products to choose from, I consistently use only around fifteen of them. I realized that I am "liv[ing] imaginatively in Bonanza-land." I hope to expand on this idea and photograph other people and the routines that they run through in the morning, with a focus on the brand name overload.
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| Why so much?! |
Consumerism and our obsession with new products coming to the market almost daily are not only problems concerning our pocketbooks, but the waste that we are seemingly blind to. Consistently using the same fifteen items means that the countless others I have are wasting away to no use at all. How many other people are living like me?
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A lot of other people are living like you, actually. You would be surprised at the number of people (especially in the past few decades, I feel) have too much of a good thing. It's easy enough to find what you like and surround yourself with it (in this country, at least), but it's often far too easy to keep going until it's too much (video games make me happy…that is, until I play them too much and my life starts going downhill). Stay aware, and continue to be objective, like you were with your camera in this project.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: what did you mean by your McLuhan quote about Bonanza? I don't see the connection you're making between your routines and the TV Western.
Hey! Thanks for your comment! When I included the Bonanza comment, I wasn't necessarily thinking of the TV Western, but moreso one of the definitions of bonanza: a large amount of something desirable." I'm living in a land where I have so much of a good thing, much like what you described in your first paragraph.
DeleteI love the fact that you're using your work in your images. The photograph of the brushes with the small apature is very nice. I really enjoyed the idea of being guided through the routine of the product use.
ReplyDeleteI have the problem of being overwhelmed by a myriad of products that want me to buy them but I have no clue which ones to use. You've captured this voice very well.
Thank you! :D
DeleteAriel, I love the way that your photos work as a linear narrative. With the placement of your hand in many of the photos it is clear that we are walking through the steps of your daily beautification and decision making. The photos remind me of your selfies and of makeup tutorials found online. It's awesome that you are able to critique yourself (I think many of us face the same conflict as you in varying degrees) and the personal aspect of your photos is what makes them effective. I especially like the photo "Woke Up Early" by the humor in the title and the way your makeup is so neatly arranged. You might be able to take some neat photos by arranging your makeup in specific ways like this photographer does with objects like guns http://www.jimgoldenstudio.com/#/Portfolios/Collections/4/
ReplyDeletethanks so much for your comment! I love what Jim Gold is doing... I might have to adapt that for my book
DeleteI'd just like to say that the way you photographed such an important part of who you are was extremely "enlightening" in away to me. I say "enlightening" because of how it is clear to see how artistically and expressive each photo is in its relationship to you. It is easy to tell when a photographer is taking a photo shoot of something that is not in his main interest. Your work definitely includes the importance of color, composition, and form that I would imagine being a makeup artist would require.
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