#ophelia jacobs ( visual )

[catastrophic-crisis]

Top 5 indie games that didn't hit the bigtime? With how much you posted about nextfest I feel like you'd have a few under-the-radar favorites

Oogh, pitting my knowledge of random games vs the fact that I don't play video games (as much as I should). This always happens when it comes time to talk games with me.

So let's talk 5 games from the fridge.

What the fridge is doesn't matter, but what it does contain is both the cheap and the free. It's not going to be used to find the next, more obscure S*gnalis or movement-based shooter that will knock your socks off, but at the very least it'll almost definitely have games you've never heard of (if you haven't paid too close attention to me posting) and that nobody will ever talk about unless Jacob Geller or some other writer gets his hands on it like How Fish is Made (free; my post here).

1. No Sidewalks in the Mushroom Kingdom - Free / aesthetic post

Your kart has broken down on Moonview Highway. Looks like you'll have to take this next lap by foot.

In the first slot is No Sidewalks, both because I talk about it too much and because it's free, which could be very compelling to my presumed main demographic of broke twenty-somethings. I can enjoy just walking around in games, and on a side note I find it interesting when I do enjoy just walking around vs when the novelty quickly wears off. What's the secret to good in-game strolls?

Here, as the description says, your kart has broken down and you're going to be exploring a Mario Kart stage that may be familiar to you by foot, breaking off from the original path and walking out of bounds, finding little details and floating messages like the one attached above, which you can find close to where you start. You can walk and walk and walk to the border of the world, look back at the city you left behind in the distance, and watch a pair of ghost headlights drive out over the lake before disappearing.

That message about Halo 2 resonated with me.

2. Momotype - Free

The monotype, an off-shoot virtual pet, is being play-tested by members of your company. You have been selected.

This is my bastard son Momo and I feed him cigarettes every day.

When you reach the end, play the game again.

3. Marginalia - $6.00 USD ($3.90 itch.io Summer Sale, $2.99 Steam Summer Sale) / my post

I'll trust what I wrote in my original post, that the audio is a defining feature of this game. It's a "walking simulator" from a developer whose entire Thing is walking simulators. It crackles, it glows, it's horror. New England forests are just like this I think.

4. Imaginaria - $5.99 USD ($2.69 in both the itch.io and Steam Summer Sales)

'Imaginaria' is a term describing both a night watch and the night watcher. You are in charge of Imaginaria duty tonight, in this godforsaken Antarctic station. Inspired by the developer’s experiences living in Antarctica for 15 months, Imaginaria is equal parts visual novel, point & click adventure, walking sim and documentary.

This time, the screenshots aren't from me. What it says on the tin. A little peek into Antarctic station life in pixel art form on a quiet night.

5. Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia - $4.99 ($3.49 Steam Summer Sale)

Lake Ophelia. A strange little place full of fish from all around the world. Nobody is quite sure why, and it seems like most people don't really care to find out. Go ahead, sink your lure and see what you can catch.

I'll finish off this list with what could be considered the most "normal" game, which still manages to be a little abnormal by being a fishing game with horror elements. The center of the lake glows green on some nights. The lake is filled with fish from around the world that shouldn't be there, and descends far, far beyond what a normal lake should be.

Lots of fishing, a little bit of cookin', all wrapped up in a nice package of charming (and sometimes fucked up) low poly fish. People like to say that if a game has fishing it's the game of the year, and baby this one is all fish.

If you like fishing games, this game is a proper casual one. If you've ever purchased an itch.io bundle for charity, there's a chance you may own one of these games. Regardless, some of the games are currently marked down, and the rest are free. Unless you have a particular taste, Lake Ophelia is the game I'd point most people to out of the five.

This post was written in the middle of the night, the perfect time to play these games.

[hardfcclings]

[identityexcavationstation]

Week 3 in Review + Studio Plans for Week 4

This week I worked on two main material explorations:

cyanotypes of my personal adolescent visual resources,  

and tracings of yearbook autographs.

I found both experiences really interesting and thought-provoking. Here’s a sample of some free-writing I did about it later in the week:

Let’s talk about process! It doesn’t feel like I’ve done a lot of work this week or made crazy big strides in my IP process, but I’m glad I’m doing something. I made some cyanotypes and they all turned out alright (definitely some kinks to iron out, but I know what they are). Something interesting I discovered in the process: I sharpied over some of the names in the texts and journal entries and when the prints were exposed, the names were still visible under the ghost of the sharpie, but it all faded out to white when the prints were rinsed. It felt significant, maybe almost cathartic, seeing those names fade away. I think it’s an interesting metaphor for adolescent identity and how one’s personhood can fade away into the social monolith of high school. 

Similarly (but differently), I experienced a disconnect while tracing yearbook autographs this week. I treated it like more of a monotonous process than a writing project, only half-reading what I wrote, so I was always surprised going back and reading what the words said, all the while thinking, “Wow I wrote that?” I have this tactile connection with this stack of tracing paper on my desk; I know it was my pen in my hand that created those compositions. But it doesn’t feel like mine, and I guess it really isn’t. It’s a similar feeling to thinking about my adolescent years: I know who I was, how I felt, what I said and wore and did, but it feels so small and distant and it doesn’t feel like me. It wasn’t all that long ago, but I don’t recognize the girl I was back then. She feels as much like me as these autographs. 

Writing has definitely helped me work through some of my more abstract ideas and connect them together to deepen my project’s concept. It’s something I hope to continue as part of my IP process. 

Meeting with my small group was great. Although Jacob and Camille and I are all doing very different things, we’re all interested in personal identity to some extent. Camille mentioned how she wanted her work to be “vulnerable without being confessional,” which I found really interesting. I realized that I want my work in IP to be so confessional it’s not vulnerable, like if I give the audience a lot of personal information about me and all of these yearbook owners, it will cease to be intimate and private and instead become part of a larger whole, a narrative about society at large. The idea of confessionalism vs. vulnerability is one I’d like to think more about.

This coming week, I hope to:

- make more cyanotypes using yearbook scans and traced autographs

- bind some small books using materials I got from Hollander’s

- finish reading Reviving Ophelia and reflect on what I’ve learned

- brainstorm ways of incorporating elements of the artist books I liked in Special Collections into my own work (I’ll probably talk more about my visit(s) to the artist book archive in next week’s blog post)

Onward! Oof!

[wiktoriawisniewska-blog]

How do photographers use different techniques to document the journey of life?

This essay will explore the ways in which photographers have used different techniques to document the journey of life.The journey of life is something that every living thing will go through. From being a foetus in the womb to a fully grown adult.We face many challenges and will have to make decisions that are either the right or wrong one. The journey is what shapes us as an individual. The paths that we have to go by will have an influence on how we are portrayed by other people and how we portray ourselves.People may experience their life journey in different ways because of different events that they will be part of and the circumstances that they will live in. Photographers may choose to document an individual's experience of life at a moment in time. This image may portray the hardships that they may have faced or and emotions such as happiness , heartache , celebrations and joyful moments.All these aspects are what I will consider.  

Ever since the first photograph containing a human being in 1838 photography has allowed us to use imagery to document aspects of people’s journey and life. It may be  a journey from A to B or the journey of someone’s life, it is possible. Documenting someone’s story in photography is inspirational and interesting.

Many aspects may have an impact on the way the audience will decode the message that the photographer is trying to portray. One of these techniques may be the photographer’s and audience’s personal journey and what they have had to deal with in their life so far. The colour , composition and mise-en-scene is likely to have an effect too as when we see a derelict and dirty environment that people have to live in we automatically feel empathetic towards them and assume that they are unhappy or that they have had a hard childhood some may even think that those people have been involved in crime . However that may not be the case they may actually be very happy and grateful for their lives , they may be a happy family that is caring and is against crime. Whether the photo has been edited and enhanced or is original may also have an impact. For example if the photograph is original and possibly has used natural lighting it may seem authentic and therefore the audience will be able to connect with it a lot more . On the contrary when the audience see an image that has clearly been altered and edited they are more sceptical to be drawn to it as the media seems to abuse it.  The resources available to the photographer will also alter the mood of the photograph. This is why I decided to investigate the different ways in which photographers may document the journey of life. By documenting one’s journey of life we are also able to present diversity. Diversity is a concept that maybe not everyone can understand. It is a way of understanding that each individual is unique along the path of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, political views, religious beliefs and other ideologies.

The first photographer which I have looked at is Lee Friedlander. Friedlander is an American photographer who in the 1960s and 19070s evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban ‘social landscape’. Many of his images include reflections in shop fronts, structures framed by fences and street signs.His work tell a story , a story about the journey of life through photographing the environment and possibly include people in his photographs.For example this particular image is called ‘New York 1963’.Some may see this as a romantic story . We can see a reflection of a woman walking it may appear to some as though she is walking towards the man on the left. Her facial expression is very serious and almost sad looking. We do not know how the man is feeling as we can not see his face. Because neither of them is looking at each other it almost looks like they have missed the love of their life just because they’ve been too involved in their own lives. Others may see the photograph as just random people who have nothing to do with each other walking and living their own lives. Also because the photograph is in black and white it allows the audience to focus on the message and subject matter of the photo. It also means that some details are a lot harder to notice which could be done purposely to show that there are things we don't notice at first glance.An aspect of life can be finding love and having gone through challenges that are not visible to people who  do not know you personally.

The second photographer which I examined is Jacob Holdt. Holdt is a Danish photographer , writer and lecturer. His series of images called ‘American Pictures’ is one of his most influential pieces of work due to its effective photographic revelations about the hardships of American lower class. Holdt took off to America with just $40 in his pocket sized Canon Dial. He stayed at many people’s houses all from different social and political classes. This experience gave him the opportunity to document the real life of these people.

Alongside his photos Holdt gives us a brief text background insight into the person’s life. This particular image is of a man called Charles Smith who is a former slave.By reading the background texts we automatically feel sympathetic towards the man . This feeling can also be drawn from the audience by the way that the Holdt captures Charles Smith. In the picture our attention is automatically drawn to the man that's in the centre. This can be considered as a framing technique which also has a major impact on the presentation/documentation of the journey of life. For example if the main subject matter is hidden in the right third of the image the audience may not notice it as quickly , as naturally we start to analyze text and images from the left to right therefore whatever we see on the left first is what will be considered the beginning and most important.  His expression is very sad and lonely. Which makes the audience question why he may be feeling that way. His hat looks like a hat that farmers used to wear , which relates back to his past as a slave.Also because the colours are very dark and dull we as an audience feel depressed too. What looks like , the man’s living conditions are in a poor state and the walls behind him are deteriorated which suggests they have been there for a long time and suggests poverty. I believe that this is Holdt’s way of showing the journey of his subject matters’ life, he focuses on the environment that the person is in to reflect their journey and that their body language and facial expressions reflect how they feel about it.

By photographing all these different people Holdt takes us on not only his journey but all these people's life journey as well.Also because he is travelling around America he is taking us on that journey too.Jacob Holdt’s ‘American Pictures’ project is a way of giving an example of documentary photography  it is a popular form of photography dependant on a specific story or event through a long period of time in more depth.It is a very popular form of photography and is used to photograph people and environments which are relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.

Photographers often use different coloured filters on their photographs. These can be used to  portray a certain mood or atmosphere in which they want the audience to decode the image.  Each colour can portray a different feeling however what may also have an impact on the way the viewer portrays the image is the saturation of the filter.For example the photographer may use a blue filter which can be seen as serious however if he/she uses a light blue it can automatically be seen as much softer and therefore the viewer may be more understanding. As well as colour the hue of the photo may also have an impact on the way the photographer may want to portray a specific event or moment in time that is part of a person’s journey. Factors that may have an impact on the hue and colour of the photograph may be how it is edited or the equipment that is available to the photographer. For example if the photographer only has access to a low quality disposable camera  he will not be able to review his photos and edit them therefore whatever colour and hue you capture the photo that is what you will have to stick with. This also depends whether the camera has colour or black and white film and if it has flash. On the other hand if a photographer has a good quality digital SLR camera professional studio lighting and flash he/she may be able to create a more manipulative photograph.

This leads me onto the third photographer which I analysed, Gregory Crewdson.Unlike the other photographer’s his work is staged . He uses large moving image lighting.His series of 20 photographs called ‘Beneath the Roses’ is a very theatrical yet intensely real set of images.Although his work is staged it still creates a  story of surrounding a character’s life.The subject matter is usually centred and is surrounded with suburban environment.Just like in this photograph called ‘Ophelia’ we have a plain suburban house which is flooded and in the middle of it Crewdson introduces , what could possibly be , a woman’s corpse. The photograph is still and cold, possibly reflecting the end of this woman’s journey of life.Because the photo is staged we are not able to tell the whole life journey of the woman but we are witnessing a specific moment in time and the end of her journey.

In conclusion from the three photographers that I researched I believe that Jacob Holdt’s technique is the most effective in documenting the journey of life as it is authentic and shows true life situations. I believe that documenting people’s life through photography is more effective and believable than text because what we see is what we believe whereas text can be altered.

[hardfcclings]

[hardfcclings]

it’s been a long time since i’ve done a lil colorful!ophelia edit and i figured giving her a new fc was the perfect excuse to showcase some of ophelia’s favorite hair colors <33 so here’s adult!phe with her colorful hair