a photo & a thousand words

Photography and the printed picture dates back to the 1800s when Nicéphore Niépce took a picture called View from the Window at Le Gras, also known as the oldest surviving camera photograph. Since this time there has been hundreds of millions of camera photographs taken, printed, and shared. A process that once took hours to complete, now only takes a few seconds and at most a minute to print out and enjoy. However, what was once a prized possession such as the product of a camera photograph, came to be a thing of the past with advanced digital technology of the 2000s. But are physical pictures really a thing of the past?

When I was younger, my Gema (a cool alternative name for grandma… duh) took so many pictures of myself and our whole family, mostly candids to commemorate special events and family gatherings. She stored all of her pictures in photo albums which were displayed on her grand book shelf with according year. I always thought these pictures were so special because they were the only ones of their kind, original and rare. We would spend hours flipping through old albums of when my dad and his bothers were children, and we even found some beautiful black and white photos of my Gema in her modeling days. This time we spent together reminiscing and sharing stories are still some of my favorite moments i've ever had.

More and more as i've grown up, moved out of my childhood home, and began a life of my own have I realized how pictures of loved ones can really make a new place feel more like home. I often find myself going back looking for old treasures to display in my little city apartment along side my ridiculous photo booth pictures of my friends and I. As I sifted and searched, I began to realize that there were big chunks, even years missing from my parents albums and then realized that the albums ran out entirely. Confused and concerned I ask my mom where they had all gone, to which she lead me to her laptop and clicked on a file that lead to many others titled with dates and event names. All the pictures were stored on her computer drive in numerous files, many of which were stored inside other folders and so on. I found this frustrating because you can't hold and appreciate a picture in this way, and more so they were only ever viewed by said laptop owner, no sharing.

Convenience had become a thing of the 2000s that we have yet to come out of. No more are the occasions where an eager photographer anxiously awaits their pictures to print to see how they turned out and to display them for all to see. No, now only the good ones made it to social media profiles, and some would end up in a picture frame if it was deemed worthy. No more were the full albums of photographs taken and all kept safely for anyone to see. This really made me sad, and I felt like I was losing a piece of my childhood.

Luckily my generation is that of creative artists and enthusiasts of all things considered vintage, and with that came the reemergence of the printed photo. A few years ago I began to see polaroid cameras make their comeback, and I was one of the first in line to get mine (and a stylish record player of course). Not only could I take pictures on the go, now I had them right away and could display them all over my home, really… they are everywhere. I made it a point to be able to have something to show my kids one day, and make a tradition with them as my Gema did with me.

My point here is, not to become too dependent on any new technology or fad, because what was once considered old-fashioned is reestablishing itself in our fast-paced world. I don't know how far technology will take us, but one thing I do know is that when I'm too old to figure all that jazzy stuff out, i'll be able to sit back in my rocker with my pictures and live in those moments.

Make memories, and treasure them.

from print to digital.

I have to admit there hasn't been many times in my college career where I have thought about what my personal portfolio would look like. I honestly thought that portfolios were more for artists, photographers, and graphic designers to display their visual work, so it never crossed my mind that I would need to display my written work in a similar fashion.

To my delight, I really enjoyed the process of creating a digital portfolio, not only to represent myself, but also my written work. Which I assume is one in the same. Previously, I have written about the taunting task of choosing which written piece to include in my portfolio. Much of my early written work was lost in the crash of my very first personal laptop, which as I have since learned via Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City to "back it up!" However, I was able to find some key pieces that would round out my writing samples, and display range of topics and content.

There are a few things that are different in a digital portfolio, rather than a print portfolio. Where one would typically look for a stylish portfolio book to take to interviews, online you must pick the perfect theme for your entire website, complete with font styles transitions between pages, graphics, and the list goes on. Where I would normally print my written work for said physical portfolio, I now have to find a way to display/attach/link my pieces in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and easily accessed. Also, text online displays much differently than on a word document, so there had to be editing of my actual written work to look like it belonged on the internet.

When choosing a place to create my digital portfolio, I was looking for a site that would allow me to pick a template and then completely change said template. I needed a good base to work with, without having to create a website from scratch. Insert "Ain't nobody got time for that" meme. I finally decided to use the website creator Wix. This site allowed me to choose a portfolio theme template, and there were so many, all customizable, which I found was remarkably easy.

Stylistically, I wanted my portfolio to be clean and simple with a little POP! I chose a basic template and made it my own with personal photos of myself and pictures I had taken specifically for this portfolio. I chose a feminine font for my titles, but remained fairly neutral when it got down to where a lot of my written content. I decided o attach my resume and blog, so that others could seek more information about me if they chose too, this kept the site looking simplistic, as it was not too wordy. My motto with personal information is not to over share, but to always allow others the opportunity to learn more about you if they wish. Generally, this means viewers are seeking more information because you have something that peaks their interests, very flattering, no?

Although I am traditional at heart, I have to say my digital portfolio put my theoretical print portfolio to shame, seriously… it's hiding somewhere in the theoretical print portfolio shadows. Though I do recommend always having something in a hard copy to show to interviewers, people like to hold stuff, it's a fact.

Check out my portfolio here, share with employers, give me recommendations, whatever you will.

let's make a film, it couldn't be that hard… right?

It only seems fitting that as my Book & Print Culture class comes to an end, that I post my final presentation iMovie. I made this little clip with my lovely friend Allie, and we thought it brought to life all the things we participated in and learned in this class. We had a lot of fun making this, so yes it's a little goofy, much like us.

making connections.

Today I interviewed a professor of mine in the English department, Professor Brad Lucas, about his experiences as a published author. Before our interview, I have to admit I had no idea the amount of work my professor had published in the length of his career, but man did he know what he was talking about! I found myself relating to many of his answers when it came to the writing process, and his views about how technology has affected reading and authorship through the years. We both agreed that the emergence of technology in this aspect of our lives has made a positive impact on people who write, read, and pursue publishing opportunities. Technology has made connecting with others and accessing written work by others, as well as collaborating with others, as easy as logging on to your computer, or turning on your smart phone. Connecting with people in similar fields of interest is important when looking for someone to edit, read, and appreciate your personal written work, something that before technology was difficult and only well-known authors were able to have their published work circulated. I was surprised when my professor told me he only wrote academic articles for publishing, however he later told me that he has interests in many genres of writing, but academic writing was most applicable to his academic career. I appreciate how he writes to further the knowledge of his fellow academic audience, rather than compete. He strives to have others learn something new and pool information with others in the academic circle, as well as inspire others to want to learn more about any given subject, and appreciate each others work in their collective advancement.

When I began looking for someone to interview for this project, I had not idea what I would get. However, as I've learned time and time again, there is an endless amount of creativity when it comes to writers and readers. I will always learn something new, and will always be inspired by these kinds of people. Perhaps that is why I aspire to spend my life in this way, where there is endless inspiration and willingness to learn. Hopefully one day I will have an eager student wanting to interview myself, and I will be all to willing to talk their freakin' ears off. :)

Here is my transcribed interview with Professor Lucas,
for your viewing pleasure.

pictographs.

Pic·to·graph
noun
A pictorial symbol for a word or phrase.

Pictographs are the earliest form of writing and date back to the caveman days. Although I have always been very interested in pictographs, or pictograms, my love for the symbolized form of writing was reawakened upon taking the class Books & Print. Not only have I been able to draw and decipher different pictographs in this course, I even tried my hand at creating pictographs of my own. I have to say that anyone who thinks this form of writing is dead, it very much is not. 

Much like the ideogram, which represents concepts and ideas, we can still find these ancient writing techniques around us today. Some examples include the little people on the signs of the bathroom, one is clearly wearing a skirt meaning "girl" and the other does not, meaning (naked) "boy." 

My favorite of all pictograph styles are those done by the Native Americans, although I am partial because they are my ancestors. One thing that I really love about the Native american symbolism is that it is mostly universal across all Native American tribes, with few variations. This portrays a sense of unity, even between those tribes in constant conflict, because they were willing to try to communicate with those outside of their tribe. Even though some were used as warnings, others were used to symbolize their desire to maintain peace and civility, as well as direct others towards resources, or lay paths to those who were separated. My favorite symbol is the broken arrow, which means "peace." This broken arrow was often used at entrances to show on-comers that they are not in danger in that particular area, or to show a resolved conflict between two tribes. I thought this symbol was so powerful because of its simplicity. The symbol for war is the upturned arrow, and to those who knew the symbol for war, would inevitably be able to know this peace symbol. It had so much meaning to me that I decided to use this symbol as what I wanted the world to see from me, so I went and got the broken arrow as a tattoo. For the same reasons as the ancient Native Americans intended, I would like other to know that I am coming from a place of piece, while also symbolizing an end of "war" I had with myself when I was younger (teenage angst, am i right?). That leads me to make the connection between ancient times and today, where one can get a tattoo in order to portray meaning for something else: an emotion, a religion, a loss. which ever it may be pictographs/grams and ideograms are still very much present and useful in modern day. 

Here are a few for your scribbling pleasure :)

moving forward.

It has recently come y my attention that I will inevitably have to graduate, and pursue a career and/or graduate study. Until this semester, I was going along blissfully enjoying my time in college and now I am faced with what I am going to do with my future. Sure it’s always been in the back of my mind, but I guess I hoped that time would move more slowly than the accelerated pace at which these past four and a half years has flown by.

In my senior seminar class, we are doing just this, preparing to graduate and lead successful lives after graduation. I thank the academic gods for this class, for I would be an utter mess of cluelessness. We are to set up a digital portfolio (high-tech right?) in order to display our work to future prospective schools and employers. Choosing writing samples that illustrate our strengths in the English field is one of the tasks I am trying to accomplish at the moment. I have many questions to ask myself:

How do I choose?

Do I use the ones with the best grade?

Or do I use the ones I had the most fun doing?

Do I use funny or serious pieces?

A combination of all of these?

UGH!

I am in need of direction. Furthermore, I am so attached to my favorite pieces that the thought of a great mass of people, some of whom I’ve never even met, will be reading and picking apart my work, and in essence myself.

In a world that has become almost completely technological, why is it so difficult for me to share myself in this way, as opposed to the sharing I do on social media?

I have thought a lot about this, there are many people I (begrudgingly) know that share every single thought they have on the Internet, as well as personal photos, platforms for movements and reformations. I support these people for putting themselves out there, but when is too much? The answer is to each their own.

Personally, I have never been one to express myself to others whom I do no know, but in being uncomfortable comes growth. Although I will never be the one to share pictures at the gym, or of my food, mostly because I have already eaten it before the thought of taking a picture ever crosses my mind. In sharing my written work online, I hope, will be liberating. I would like to take it back to a simpler form, representing myself, as I am, simple. Presenting my thoughts in this way with my digital portfolio, academic and educationally oriented, I can feel confident that others will see that I want to be professional, and hopefully earn me a J-O-B, or place in a prestigious graduate study program.

In this generation it is hard to find balance between what we do for pleasure and what we do for our futures. I hope my digital portfolio of my written work and experience will portray this balance, and show whomever that my love of writing and desire to teach others about literature is a balance of the both. 

Here is a piece of work I have chosen to include in my digital portfolio! It is an analysis of the epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667.

"ask the kids, bro."

While conducting a few interviews for my books & print class I noticed a few things:

1. That reading plays different roles in people's lives based on age, and time spent out of college.
2. Some people feel more dedicated to read than others.
3. People are spending WAY to much time online and not enough time unconnected these days.

I found that those who have been out of school for the longest amount of time, dedicate more time to reading, while those who have just recently graduated within the last few years tend to read significantly less. My theory on this is that those right out of college are still burnt out on cramming for tests by reading the whole textbook cover-to-cover the night before (except for me, of course). My second point, that some people feel more inclined to read than others do, comes from the written answers them selves. Those who read novels most and spent less more time unplugged seem to really appreciate the act of reading for pleasure, instead of out of necessity. As I read through the questions I realized, like my interviewees, I too spend way too much time plugged in and online. It was quite eye-opening, and my new goal that came out of this is to UNPLUG more often. xxPM

Read my interviewee's answers here.