Rip.Mix.Feed – Communicating a Message through Images
I chose to remix a photo using a series of media sites. I find in my daily life and as a teacher it is important to be able to both communicate through images as the producer and the viewer. Being multiliterate is especially important in our twenty first century world.
First off, I found it to be important to select an image with some content behind it – something worth reading into. In addition, due to the nature of this assignment, I thought it would be more powerful to select an image using social media that emphasizes images as a means of communication. As Susan Barnes states, “It is the relationship between people through the use of machines to foster the building of social networks and a new network society [that makes social media powerful]” (Rip.Mix.Feed, n.d.).
Immediately, I thought of an image my cousin posted on Facebook yesterday. Her image was posted to communicate an important message about an individual in her line of work. She is a professional dancer and chose to share a short story of a fellow dancer who has found himself in a bit of a financial dilemma due to medical reasons. When one uses their bodies for their work, it is imperative that it is in tiptop shape. Unfortunately, due to the strenuous nature of the profession he needs surgery on his feet due to Osteoarthritis. Like most of us, he wasn’t anticipating something like this and did not have funds allocated to such a surgery. Clear message – he needs surgery on his feet to continue in his line of work that he has trained in and acquired an education in. Currently he is raising funds to pay for this surgery. Through this exercise, I am hoping that I draw awareness to his case and need.
My motivation in this activity is to explore several platforms and their capabilities in photo editing. Initially, I examined the sites provided through the connects page (which takes you to a wiki page) entitled “Web 2.0 Gems”. On this site, I found the Dumpr site that takes you immediately Picjoke.net. Through this site, I created the image below. The positive elements of this site are that there is no requirement to provide personal details, email addresses or create accounts in order to use the application. There are a variety of backdrop options and simple uploading functions. The drawbacks are that there are limited editing options as they superimpose the image on the set background and I struggled to find ways to adjust this once it was completed. In addition, I found the lack of “how to” instructions frustrating to start off although once you jump in it was quite simple.
Second, I chose to look at Pizap.com. Pizap is a program where you can upload images and have more options for editing the image itself and adding text. On the other hand, there were not options on superimposing the image on different backgrounds. I liked the element of being able to add text to the image as it helped me to convey more meaning. Unfortunately, with this online application you do need to provide login information in order to export your photo.
Finally, I used Pixlr.com as a photo-editing tool. I particularly liked this tool because you were able to add text and also layer the image. In this image, I tried to change the colours in the background and of the text in order for it to be less visible so that one really needs to look at the image to see the text. This online application was my favourite out of the three because you are able to export without providing information and have more ability to edit the image.
In this assignment of remixing a photograph, I have attempted to tell a story or at least entice the viewer to take a closer look. Being my first time working with photo editing applications, I was initially at a loss and as I didn’t know what I wanted it to look like, all I knew was the message I was attempting to convey. I think that what I learnt in this assignment was particularly valuable because it was not to achieve perfection but rather to play with different mediums in order to discover and convey a message.
References:
Pound, E. (2011, August 25). Vorticism. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/vorticism/
Quotes About Unknown. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Rip.Mix.Feed. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Original Image:
Click here to support Help Get Bynh To Surgery! by Bynh Ho. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://www.gofundme.com/getbynhtosurgery
It is always interesting to try something new and playing with different apps and websites can result in some wonderful things you never thought you could do! Great job Laura!
Thanks Jenn! I found it quite interesting to view the different photo editing applications and online tools. I think it would fit into a nice Health and Career unit looking at visual literacy and messages behind images. I am always curious to see how students take an assignment and make it their own – I think that something like this would definitely generate some interesting things from students. Thanks again for your post Jenn!
Laura