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Bibliography

BBC. (2017). Photography - Five game-changing cameras that turned us into photographers - BBC Arts. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/56z3PCZbHlBp60HcG3QkwnZ/five-game-changing-cameras-that-turned-us-into-photographers [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. 

BBC News. (2017). Five ways the digital camera changed us. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16483509 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]

Day, E. (2017). How selfies became a global phenomenon. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/14/how-selfies-became-a-global-phenomenon [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].

Emptyeasel.com. (2017). How to Communicate Powerfully through Your Photographs [online] Available at http://emptyeasel.com/2013/04/09/how-to-communicate-powerfully-through-your-photographs/ [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Kevin Systrom. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Systrom [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017]. 

Forbes.com. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/04/09/a-conversation-with-instagrams-co-founder-kevin-systrom/#3de60884f62b [Accessed 13 Sep. 2017].

iPage Blog. (2017).How to Use Images to Promote Your Brand – iPage Blog [online] Available at: http://ipage.com/blog/use-images-promote-brand/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017]. 

Kershaw, B., 1992. The Politics of Performance Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention. 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge.

Morrison, B., Perry, G., O'Hagan, S., Kiss, J. and Searle, A. (2017). The power of photography: time, mortality and memory. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/interactive/2013/may/19/power-photography-time-mortality-memory#blake-morrison [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017].

Nicholson, H., 2014. Applied Theatre: The Gift of Theatre. 2nd ed. New York, USA: Palgrave MacMillan.

OUPblog. (2017). Selfies and the history of self-portrait photography | OUPblog. [online] Available at: https://blog.oup.com/2013/11/selfies-history-self-portrait-photography/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]

Shu, L. (2017). DT10: Photography. How digital photography reinvented itself to become better than ever. [online] Digital Trends. Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/dt10-how-digital-photography-reinvented-itself/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. 

Stylist Magazine. (2017). The Psychology Of Selfies. [online] Available at: http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/the-psychology-of-selfies [Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]. 

Taylor, P., 2003. Applied Theatre: Creating Transformative Encounters in the Community. 1st ed. Portsmouth, USA: Heinemann.

Thephotographersgallery.org.uk. (2017). Gregory Crewdson: Cathedral of the Pines | The Photographers' Gallery. [online] Available at: https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/content/gregory-crewdson-cathedral-pines [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017]. 

Wallop, H. (2017). Selfies - how the world fell in love with itself. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10460202/Selfies-how-the-world-fell-in-love-with-itself.html [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017]. 

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Photography and Time! Past vs Present vs Future

George Eastman, the founder of Kodak

In the past, Kodak, a photography firm, produced the first camera in 1900’s called ‘Brownie’ and it was popularly used after Second World War. I think it was an opportunity for Kodak to be successful in the business as Dr Michael Prichard said the Royal Photographic Society “The Brownie democratised photography simply through the sheer volume of sales’. (BBC 4; Photography)

However, it was also an opportunity for the customers, for the first time to take photos of people and special moments and able to see the moments again and again.

For example, a photographer Mary McCartney said

‘I have a set of prints I carry around in my wallet of my kids, my husband and my parents. I look at those rather than writing a diary: they’re very evocative and textural and emotional, and take you back to specific moments.’ (McCartney. M: 2013, The Guardian)

I believe that photos that are close to you are very precious because they are easy to remember the moments of your past time and to remember it is cyclical.

Since then, Kodak has been producing different cameras, prints and films for all kinds of people, especially for people who are interested in films and photography. With other photography and digital camera/technology business growth such as Nikon, Sony, Cannon. Polaroid, Lumix and Apple.

Now in the 21st century, photography is growing, and cameras and smartphones are cheap and affordable, I feel that everyone is a photographer especially who owns a smartphone. This is the reason because of access to Instagram. Instagram is a very popular social network for sharing photos around the world with hashtags and the like button. Base on my experience with Instagram, It used to be photos of everyday life and photos of people doing normal things. Now with the popularity and inspiration of professional photographers and celebrities posting very good photos on Instagram with thousands of likes. We (normal people) want to do the same and take excellent photos. The only reason we want to take very good photos is how many likes we get.  Here is a short video from Ditch the Label from Youtube about making a photo good on social media but not for the right reason:

Back in 1900’s, it was all about sharing photos to the close ones and has a real meaning for the photos you take. For them, it was intimate and believable. However what is amusing is that we have a technology now that can archive and save memories forever such as Facebook timeline and Apple's iPhoto

 People's behaviour can be changed by photography nowadays, especially where people take pictures of festivals/concerts. I experienced when I saw Mumford and Sons concert at Hyde Park. I sometimes missed some of their live performance but I want to take memories of the performance and ability to share it on Facebook and Instagram and also to be part of the community, Mumford and Sons fan group.

 I took this photo of Mumford and Sons playing at Hyde Park (British Summer Time Festival)

Effectively they are showing the rest of the "fan community" that "I was there". They are also offering the first record of the event, beating the traditional media. (Castella, T,:2012, BBC News Magazine)

Photographs can really help you for a proof that I was there. I was at the Mumford and Sons concert.  Visual is powerful in all time.

  Smartphones are now getting very good quality of camera with up to 12 megapixels. Especially for the new iPhone 8 and X with some features with the camera of new portrait lighting mode. There’s more coming up in the future of photography. There’s VR (virtual reality) photography with realistic images and drones taking photos from bird view, also with the popularity of Go Pro Cameras. Cameras companies are changing and making new innovations:

“Camera technology is going to continue to change,” Wendle said. “We’ll see who comes out with the next version of a camera that people really love -– I’m not sure who it will be, maybe it will be a traditional camera maker, maybe it won’t be. But I think cameras will continue to evolve, and we’re already seeing some of that now.  (Shu, L:2016, Digital Trends)

They are really making new photographic technology. Nikon produced a 360 digital camera, Cannon also produced a VR with 8k. I feel that the future of photography is going be very attached to humans, and it could be part of our daily life.  It’s going to be a revolution for photographers to take amazing captions and share the captures that are unique and wonderful.

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Photography and Identity/body  Selfies!

Toddy’s generation we take photos of ourselves, another word, ‘sefies’ or self-portrait from smartphones. We have smartphones and have front face camera, therefore, it's easy and fast to do self-portraits. I feel it’s a statement of I’m here, how we look and selfies with someone, something or a place to share. I feel that...

 "...Instagram also allows us the opportunity to see below the surface. We capture a glimpse into the makings of people's daily lives. We get a sense of those things that make the everyday extraordinary." (The Guardian)

When I go on my Instagram every day, I see photos of people who are different and confident. I asked a question to a couple of my friends. I asked them “why do you take selfies and share it on Instagram?’ They said they do it for self-esteem, to get the best angle when feeling at the moment and self-confidence. Therefore, I suggest we take selfies to be a better version of ourselves, and its influence by celebrities, artists, actors and politicians when they take selfies and post it on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with hashtags and many likes. Selfies to share can be sometimes wonderful because we can able to see the beauty of different people on social media, from different backgrounds, cultures, and different shapes of bodies.

 A selfie can, in some respects, be a more authentic representation of beauty than other media images (Day. E:2013 The Guardian)

 I feel that sharing their identities on social media is very multicultural and powerful. It's saying this is me and I like the way I am.  Users taking selfies, it is for them to able to control their image and self-identities. A sociologist, Dr Lisa Orban said  ‘

Experimenting with self‑identity is a key part of adolescent development. And today’s technology allows a strong element of control. It is easy to dismiss selfies as narcissistic, but this safe and controlled self-exploration is particularly important for younger users.” (Wallop.H:2013, The Telegraph)

It shows that selfies are successful for today’s generation as its safe and able to control your image of yourself. Someone taking photos of you, edit it for you and post if for you can be worrying, not confidant and misleading. For an example, Miranda Kerr, a supermodel was taking photos from a photographer and photoshopped to make her skinny and it was posted on Instagram Then “She soon removed the picture, saying she “had no idea it was photoshopped” (Wallop.H: 2013, The Telegraph)

 In Stylist Magazine, a woman who is 24 years old said she doesn’t like people taking photos of her because she doesn’t think she photogenic and she shakes when takes a photo of her. So she prefers selfies, it's able her to control how she looks. She added:

 “If I don’t look nice and feel great it can affect my day. So when you post a selfie, it does make you think you must look all right for someone to hit the ‘like’ button.” (Stylist Magazine)

However, I think portraits, especially headshots are more believable of who you are and it shows real identity. There’s no photoshopped and no filter. Compare to my headshot and a selfie on my Instagram. 

Headshot

Selfie on my Instagram

My headshot shows natural and real identity with the plain background and no filter. While my selfie on Instagram has a filter to make it better and it can turn out to be fake but I think now that’s kind of normal for photography in today’s generations.

 Here is a fun fact:

Selfies started in 1839 where Robert Cornelius, a metalworker-turned-photographer was the first person to take a self-portrait of himself, outside of his family store in Philadelphia, USA. (Day. E: 2013. The Guardian)(blog.oup)

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Photography and Space! Sharing, Inspire and Promoting.

I think images are a powerful tool for visually and to communicate, especially the space between a human and a photo. In our brains, we process visually faster than words; therefore it grabs our attention more to photographs/pictures. 

Great images tell a story, it has words behind it. When I see a photo in an exhibition, I thought to myself what happened in the photo, what before the photo was taken and potentially what’s going happen next. For an example, I went to Gregory Crewdson: Cathedral of the Pines exhibition at The Photographers Gallery. The photos were taken in the rural town of Massachusetts and Gregory explores the relationship between humans and natural environments. The images were American nineteenth-century and European paintings. 

When I saw this image:  

I took this photo at the Photographer’ s Gallery; Gregory Crewdson Exhibition.

I told myself this image is a nude woman just woken up in the morning and probably had a rough night last night. She is now thinking of how to solve the problem from last night.

I thought to myself this image could have happened before such as in film, TV, someone you might know who be in the similar situation or you have seen it real life. When you see images it gets you thinking and inspire, take it further and adapt it for a certain reason. Probably is to adapt a photo to make it more relevant for a specific community so they can really communicate with the image and therefore really make them inspire from the image. What makes images inspire them is they have a story or message. Zach McCabe said:

‘A good photo has a message. This is true whether the photo is hanging luxuriously in a gallery or squeezed onto the screen of a smartphone. Good images always have something to say. This idea is communicated visual language and not words, of course, but it is still a message.’ (http://emptyeasel.com)

I feel this quote is telling us that visual language is for everyone. It’s no matter where you from and your background, images/photos are very useful to communicate with. `It’s a same language around the world.  The reason why we are mostly relying on photos because quoted “Our vision senses are by far our most active of the senses” (http://blogs.biomedcentral.com). It could be that everywhere we go and the space around us; we see things such as everyday objects, architecture and nature. One of the reasons from my other practice, applied theatre, is that I truly believe that all discipline of arts is a powerful tool to educate to develop skills for their life. Images/visually can really help to educate. It helps them to engage more rather their than words and long sentences on a board.  

Another way of space to communicate by photos is the amount of sharing imagines on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and marketing and advertising.  In an article, the founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom said in the interview with Forbes:

 "Instagram is a new form of communication that’s an ideal fit with the always-with-you iPhone in today’s social media world. Instagram is a social network built around photos, where people can quickly comment on or ‘like’ photos and share them on Twitter or Facebook." (Kevin Systrom, Wikipedia)

He also said “We worked really hard to make it easy for people to share their lives in a beautiful way.  It is one thing to share a photo; it’s another for that photo to look gorgeous.” (forbes.com)

Communicate with images on social media especially users who are far apart can share what they up to. I have family around the world and some of them. Never been to England or Europe and they follow me on Instagram. I take photos that you never have seen in everyday life and edit it. I have photography Instagram account (coniphotography: http://picbear.com/coniphotography)  to share my work. Therefore, It's an opportunity for me take great photos of places from my Nikon DSLR camera, edit it on Adobe Lightroom to make it enchanted, then post it on Instagram/Facebook for them to see, think and maybe that convince them to want to come to Europe/England. It's them for hopes and dreams. On Instagram, it's fast and easy to post photos of where you are, your life and something that is spectacular to inspire. Personally, I think, especially on Instagram is now a space to inspire and promote.

Public figures take photos of themselves, their activities and products. I suggest most followers will inspire and shift from who they are to become a better person of who they are by public figures photos on social media. They get it from public figures as they have money to have and do things what most normal people (working class) not able to do or what they have. However, it’s able them to motivate, to work hard and to achieve to get what they want from seeing the photos and videos on Instagram. It can be very manipulative. On the other hand, it’s also to promote a post either on Instagram or Facebook to grab audience’s attention.  Photos for marketing and advertising can also communicate to the public by encouraging them to buy a product from the photo on billboards, newspapers and websites. I feel that an image with a brand should be bold, unique and spectacular to get an audience’s attention so that they can remember what they saw. An article from iPage suggest:

The science behind why imagery in brand promotion is so effective can be eye-opening. According to research collected from HubSpot, people are likely to remember only 10% of the information they hear three days later. However, when a relevant image is paired with the same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. (iPage.com)

Therefore, I believe that visuals and images/photos are powerful in any circumstance. I love creating visuals, love taking photos and make the photos beautiful and different to share for everyone to see, analyse and have the space to inspire.

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My Practice of Applied Theatre, Inclusivity, photography and personal views with the three subjects.

Time: 

I believe that photography can display time by doing before and after photographs. Photography can show historicity through social reform for example, or sexuality, race. For example the photograph of Obama’s inauguration next to Trump’s inauguration.

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/before-and-after-photography-9781474253116/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/series/photography-then-and-now

Space: 

Parts of the UK see themselves as just being the Uk. But with mass immigration, we need to see the UK as multicultural. We need to respect and accept individual’s space, no matter who or what they are. Glastonbury and other festivals show us a space for lots of different cultures in music. With things like Trump withdrawing from the Paris talks, it doesn’t feel as if the world is united

Body/Identity: 

We are all different but we are all the same, we are all human. I believe in a theatre of inclusivity that will help people from different backgrounds to come together to share one another’s stories and to connect. I want the participants to devise a play, that would turn into a show to show the audience that these cultures from different race or sexuality can work together as a team and can unite, and for the participants to have a voice that can be heard. A product is powerful for the audience, the process is powerful for the participants. It gives empowerment. Celebrating the diversity of different identities. Just like an inclusive theatre company Chickenshed Theatre as I agree with them when they said ‘inpires positive change’ by creating theatre for everyone.

https://www.chickenshed.org.uk/our-mission-and-vision-0

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Overview of social media!

Here some numbers of how we did on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which I was mostly involved in. These numbers are last updated on the 27th June 2017, 

Facebook:

115 Likes, we have reached 626 people, 

The live video, we reached 1.1k people 

117 people are following the page

Instagram:

We have 53 followers

We have posted 40 photos about facts of Facebook privacy, people with black cards saying #InCaseYouMissedIt and facts and photos of locks with Facebook signs 

The most like was the last photo with 39 likes. The photo doing the live Q&A.

Twitter: 

13 followers 

They were some good couple of likes and retweets on each tweet.

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Intense Week Project – Campaign

As a group, we tried to address identity and privacy. We thought that social media would be a good place to explore both of these issues.

We then split into smaller groups to examine different social media sites: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and what’s app. The group that I was in studied Twitter. We looked at the settings they use for privacy, and how to set twitters as private.

There was a Panorama programme about Facebook. This was about how Facebook can easily share data about their contributors with other third parties. Politicians or ad agencies can access this information and data easily. Facebook can make money by selling this sort of information to advertisers or politicians targeting to specific Facebook users. 

We were trying to plan a way of raising awareness about the fact that Facebook is selling Facebook user’s information. One group was a research group looking for information about the sharing of data and privacy settings We again split into sub-teams, and my team was looking at creating a Facebook page to warn users about settings. Instagram doesn’t connect to a Facebook page so when the Instagram group posted warning facts and pictures, I post these onto the Facebook page. I also did some on the Twitter page on the first day of the campaign. 

One of our team did a poll survey of how many people checked their settings, asking different questions. 85% of users have checked their privacy settings within the last 12 months. But only 15% were aware that the settings can be changed by Facebook without warning. Less than 10% were aware of how often these updates occurred.

LIVE EVENT

The main event of the campaign was the Facebook Live event, with the research team live on Facebook reporting information about Facebook settings/privacy/data information. They also did a live Q&A (We had prepared questions as well). They ended by suggesting they looked at an original video by Jinsook on our page, showing them how to control their settings and privacy properly.

What worked well was that each team completed different tasks and we communicated well. We researched intensively and put this information onto all of the various social media platforms. I really felt that I was working in for a magazine/ad company in an office.  It was an excellent learning experience. 

It would have been good to have more time so as to get more followers in the media and also to discover what was the specific message we want to say the public. We had different subjects/messages such as privacy, settings and selling your data information. It would be great if we looked at one specific subject so it would be a very clear message for the campaign. We should have rehearsed more before doing the Facebook live, able to be more confident about the technical aspects of making a video.

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Much modern theatre uses technology on stage. I think it will always be better if an actor is on stage with the technology because that will make it more accessible for everyone.

Celebrity makes it quite complicated – for instance when David Tennant plays Hamlet, are the audience seeing him as David Tennant, rather than Hamlet. The theatre managers are commercially driven, and they will want David Tennant because he will bring in lots of audiences.

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In games, people can take on the identity of an avatar. They can make their own avatars. This is dangerous for instance someone created an avatar and then had an on-line affair with this avatar. Even though it wasn’t physical, it was emotional, and someone’s marriage broke up because of this situation.

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It seems that technology can be a very good thing, but it seems to me that it’s taking over. Lots of people have lost their jobs because technology can do the job, and it doesn’t have to be paid.

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We now have technology that responds, like Amazon Echo. This can be useful, especially in that it can help as an assistive technology for disabled people. In this way, we are having a relationship with a machine.

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When speaking to one another face to face we use one another’s facial expressions and body language to understand each other.

The eyes are important, if someone’s eyes aren’t looking at you when you’re speaking to them, then it makes you feel that you’re doing something wrong, and makes you very self-conscious.

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Body/Identity

Your identity is made up your history, your family, friends and interactions with the outside world.

Part of identity as well concerns race, gender, occupation, social status, and how you spend your recreation time.

In my practice in applied theatre, as a theatre facilitator, I describe myself multicultural because I work with wide range of identities. I think it’s important for me to connect and engage with a group of different participants, especially in different communities because it’s celebrating diverse and learning each other’s backgrounds and cultures and also to able to be confident and proud of who they are. Ben Kershaw suggest:

“Whether the aim is for performance to be instrumental in community development, or to be an expression of the community in particular campaigns, the underlying impulse is to enable the satisfaction of community needs through attempts at increased empowerment.” (Kershaw, B.:1992, p63)

I believe that inclusion is the best way to be satisfied with who you are and able to achieve a good ethnic in daily life. My aim is to bring a community or a society back together with different people loving and respecting each other no matter who they are. Therefore, the community would be empowered and have the liberty to be heard with justice and pride. Everyone has right to say with freedom. 

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In our project, we talked about how facebook can cause accidents and deaths by using ‘ Live’. They have been many reports of deaths via Facebook. Here are some:

In early April, a student in Mumbai committed suicide on Facebook by jumping to his death.

In February, a pregnant woman was filming a Facebook Live when her two-year-old toddler accidentally killed himself and another man with a handgun.

Also in February, two journalists were shot and killed in the Dominican Republic while broadcasting a segment on Facebook Live.

In December, an 18-year-old girl tried using Facebook Live while driving and crashed, live-streaming her own death.

Last June, a 28-year-old man was shot and killed while filming a Facebook Live video in Chicago.

Now there’s Instagram Live. I feel theres intension seeking behind of most of them. This isuue should be solved as soon as possible. The users need to be aware of this. #ICYMI

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My original idea of a campaign poster/flyer! #ICYMI

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LOGO- Heather created the outline of the logo (colour grey). Then we thought of the logo should be blue because of the colour of the facebook logo. Our aim is to be a similar theme to facebook. so that the users of facebook can aware that we are targeting to facebook. 

We thought of placing the name of our brand #ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) where the hole of the padlock. I think the name of our brand is representing the hole of the lock to make sure the users are doing right on their account and to lock it so that world doesn't see your information. Then put the ‘f’ from the facebook logo on the left of our logo, shadowing it. The two right points of the ‘f’, we were trying to make it as the top of the padlock. 

Facebook + Padlock = #ICYMI

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These are my three original ideas!