Once Upon a Time section deals with narrative in a photograph.
The narrative is not supposed to be obvious though but is supposed to be ambiuous enough that a person looking at it can imprint their own narrative or create a story with their own imagination.
I decided to play on this by creating photos that show a reaction to the unknown. By creating a certain “look” and “feel” of the photographs (clearly themes of loneliness, isolation, fear of the unknown, instincts etc. are being shown by the character’s reactions).
Fear of the unknown and fear of loneliness are themes largely displayed here in this series of photographs.
Though the photographs are meant to be separate events from one another, different characters and situations, they are played by the same model. They are part of the same series however.
Let me know what stories or feelings that evoke you from seeing these images.
Revived and Remade deals with referencing the past. Since everything already has been done why not just go with the flow and work with this concept?
Wondering around Vancouver I wondered to myself “What can I revive? What can I do or work with?”. After reading an article on Cindy Sherman in the New York Times I became a bit intimidated to be honest. I have no special make up ability and recreating photos like that would be just not my strength. As I walked down to the down town area along some board walk by the bay I noticed a giant whale made out of three dimensional cubes but made to look pixelated. I really liked this Orca sculpture for some reason. Not because it was just an orca but it was some how…. very nostalgic. I guess being a 90s kid, I remember the days of pogs, Barney, Sesame Street, and the beginning of computers taking real effect in not just businesses but in everyday family homes! The first personal computer I ever even touched was actually a very bulky old Apple personal computer. I played on it whenever I had the free time watching informational videos and games or animated books about dinosaurs, safety, and used a program like Paint to draw doodles.
If anyone is a 90s kid, they will remember that things just didn’t look at all like they do now. Just the other day I was looking at my friend’s Nitendo 3D game console. Geez. I feel old! I only ever played with PS 1 and a game boy… The FIRST old bulky grey one where the graphics were indeed pixelated. Everything growing up for me was Pixelated. Strangely enough, though seeing so many images of pixelated objects and characters I had no idea how to make a pixelated image. Since everything is in blocks I thought making round objects to be impossible and just never gave it another thought of trying.
That’s where my 90s kid inside me spoke up and I decided to run with it! These images that I have here aren’t just funny or random images with pixelated objects in them but they are referencing different things like places in the world, childhood events and even movies. See if you can guess them and figure them out!
Have fun 90s kids!
To see the images please see this link due to my photo gallery space being full or click: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75662037@N08/?saved=1 to see the images.
Images Titles:
Description: Orca whale, sailboats, and paper boat
Title: The Story of Me and the Luscious Voxel Orca
Description: a beach with pixelated beach objects
Title: Projected memory from a 90s kid
Description: Flaming tea pot
Title: 8-Bits or less.
Description : a pineapple sitting on a counter with a train
Title: Midnight Train and Easy Money
In this post of Moments in History the chapter in the book focuses on war, and ways of life around the world.
Canada, being a first world country is often over looked and is strongly assosicated with themes of peace, a good health care system, polar bears and bacon.
However many Canadian’s struggle are over looked, invisable and often forgotten.
The photographs that I have taken reflect the quiet struggles that Canadians face that are often over looked, forgotten or not seen as “important” for whatever reason.
Many people in Canada I find, will be preoccupied with helping third world countries, forgetting or even ignoring Canada’s own poor, homeless, and other social issues such as racial tensions, homophobia etc.
Though I would have to say I did grow up in a comfortable environment, I cannot ignore the many Canadians who struggle from day to day. Many will blame the government’s lack of effort in these social problems, however is it really the government? Are we ourselves not doing enough? How far must we rely on the government to fix our own social issues?
Canadians tend not to be very loud. I guess it comes with the good and the bad. I decided to show how we ourselves are struggling with our own social issues war by posting photographs and images of flyers calling out to stop the war of racism, sexism, homophobia and even lend a hand in the battle against personal struggles such as suicide.
The reason why I chose the university is because a university is a joining place of many minds who have come to learn at one place. It is a place to discuss, and since it is highly multicultural I found it is the perfect place to look at these different types of issues and personal struggles that all people must face together.
It is not just to show you posters and flyers I found around the campus but to really make you think about these issues, and reflect on whether we are doing enough, and also reflect on our influence abroad.
Due to storage problems (I have reached the max. 300 mb limit) Please refer to this flicker page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75662037@N08/
These are just my thoughts though. What are yours?
A Day in a Life: A Documentation of Me and my Noodle Tendon Ankles.
This is me (see number 1 image below : ↓ ).
I’m writing a sort of… Photo journal blog post which concerns my ankle injury that I had sustained over 3 weeks ago as part of my “Intimate Life” photo series. Honestly, I hate my photo being taken and more so, having to document an injury for the whole world to see (ew…), but I realized that there is good that could come from this. People can realize that they’re not alone with their own “noodle ankles”, and can see and realize the severity of bad sprains, and hopefully get some tips about what to do post and during! Which is kind of wish I had some tips growing up with this problem.
Just to let you know, no, I wasn’t in an accident playing sports, or neither was I chased by a bear. I didn’t fall down the stairs etc. Rather, the cause of this mishap is all because of a small crack in the side walk. Yep thats right, a little crack…
Hard to believe? So I once thought as well. But that was all very long ago, much long before I even ever knew about twisting ankles, crutches, x-rays and things about tendons, ligaments tearing etc.
Though I wasn’t born with weak ankles, it has become a part of me. For over 5 years now, almost every year, I will sprain one or both of my ankles at some point in the year. Last year it was around Christmas, and it was from walking off a curb onto the street. I was on crutches for 4 weeks straight! The year before that It was some time in the summer, and before that in the summer again, and before that in the fall (my friend just HAD to see a cat running across railroad tracks and yell it out… you know who you are 😉 ! ) and before that… Well you get the point…
But what happened (skip down if you don’t want to read)?
Well I was simply walking on my way home at night. The side walk was poorly light, and I lifted my head for a split second to look where I was walking when suddenly! My right foot slipped and I could feel myself fall as I rolled onto my right ankle. *Yikes!* And it hurt! Immediately as a reaction, I fell to the ground smashing my knee on the side walk’s cold cement. The only thing I could think was and hope was that it would not be that bad and prayed that I wouldn’t have to go on crutches (a fate worse than death! Okay not death to you, but have you seen UBC Campus? Not Crutch friendly at all!)
Some very good, super awesome, Samaritans were walking by and helped me back to a friend’s home.
The next thing I knew I was taking a cab to rush to the emergency room at the UBC Hospital urgency room on the advice of a friend. Luckily I was there for only a few hours (way better than 9!), where I bought cruthes, had an xray and got a referral for an MRI.
My “noodle” floppy ankles have inhibited my decisions when it comes to sports, and also has made me extremely aware of the terrain I walk on constantly looking out for cracks, potholes, etc. and anything else that could cause a fall to be honest. But aside from that I try to make sure it won’t get to me too much. Though sometimes I have to admit I do get scared of hurting myself again (and yes it does hurt very much so), I know I have to keep working on them. Eventually though, I know surgery is down the line for me waiting at the end of the MRI scans tunnel which will surely confirm this (in fact my mother surprisingly had exactly the same problem with her ankles, and required painful surgery as well).
But at least I know I will get a walking cast and if anyone out there reads this and has a bad sprain that requires being on crutches for at least 3 weeks straight GET A WALKING CAST IF YOU CAN! I urge you to highly get one. Also, PHYSIO is VERY helpful. Learn some good balancing exercises that will help strength other areas of the ankles, I cannot stress this enough. When I went to the hospital, it was highly stressed that a very bad sprain is even worse than fracture in that over 90% of the time a fracture will fully heal ( though it does take a very long time and it is very painful) yet a sprain or a torn ligament will not always heal properly with out special care, especially from the first one. This results in many, multiple sprains, weaker ankles and accidents in the future. Sadly my 13 year old self had no idea of this at the time and had never found out until I was 18.
1) Self Portrait: 5 hours later
This is myself, about 5 hours or so after the initial fall just coming back from the urgency room at the UBC Hospital staying at friend’s house for help.
Later, you will see how important friends and family can be in this situation.
I arrived at the UBC Urgency room at the UBC Hospital. It was a earlier than 9 but later than 8 I think. I was hoping that it would not be full and luckily it wasn’t at all! In fact the entire room was empty! I was soon put in a wheel chair (thank God!), and wheeled off into another room where I was two more people ahead of me. I waited there with my super awesome friend for an X-Ray, and treatment just in case. I know going to the hospital is not the funnest thing to do in the world, and is very costly but it’s always good to just check for documentation purposes and if there could really be something else wrong, you know? I myself have not gone to the hospital every time just for that reason but I know now it is very important still.
After waiting a few hours, I was treated, had X-Rays taken, bought crutches and I was sent back home.But before then, while waiting for some treatment in the Urgency Room, I met a Grad student in Engineering who was in an electric wheel chair (very nice guy) who told me one of the most shocking and surprising things.
This guy (who I’m so very sorry to have forgotten his name…), told me that there “used to be a shuttle but there isn’t anymore”. Surprised at this I replied “Really? But how so? The campus is so vast, how can students with disabilities get around?”
“There’s no more funds for it” he said.
I felt my heart sank…. I honestly, didn’t want this to be true. I thought “absolutely no way! We pay so much for other services and useless things, that there is no system to help temporary disabled students around campus?!” I knew getting around now would be impossible. But still I had to find another way.
After this I went home by cab, and was ordered to rest up, put some ice, and take it easy for the first week which I did but at the same time try to figure out what to do about school, assignments, and getting to classes which lead me to an advisor and checking out access and diversity services just in case.
2) A foot Wrapping
Me, getting my foot wrapped. 🙂
I called my wonderful Arts Advisor who told me to go see Access and Diversity, made an appointment and felt pretty hopeful.
However when I hobbled my way over early in the morning after taking a cab ($$$!!), I was only met with disappointment.
I was welcomed into the office by a very nice young lady who sadly informed me… “There is nothing that we can do” kind of easy let down speech. The wheelchair guy was right all along. There are no services provided for UBC campus students with temporary disabilities such as something simple as a golf cart that drives around people, from building to building, which would have been especially useful when your classes are in the CRIS building and Buchanan, back to back on the same days, like myself. All the buses and small shuttles run only AROUND campus and nothing seems to go through except … A cab (…cabfareandhospitalbills…) …..
I felt a twitch in my neck and some blood pressure rise… “there goes my grocery money….” a little voice inside my head told me…
3) Pinning the wrapping
Pinning the wrapping down. Make sure it’s not too loose nor too tight. Do not sleep with this on.
When you feel bad, it’s always better to have people around you. Really, it does help a lot! The best thing you can do for yourself is if you have people willing to take some of their time and help you out is to accept their help. There’s no reason or point moping around by yourself right?
4) RICE: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate...
Advill will become your best friend. I suggest take the recommended amount. You don’t want to go around being all pilled up now do you? (Joke).
Ice can be very uncomfortable in the winter but I promise you, it will help your ankle from being the side of a football by reducing it to the size of a grapefruit.
Lying down, doing nothing felt very strange for me. Especially when I felt that I really needed to do something. All I wanted to do was get up and walk normally. I would even try to even though it will very much hurt and was extremely swollen. My friends would catch me and scold me but still all I wanted was to get better fast. The best and only thing that you can do is really rest, ice, and keep off it as much as you can (though it is very tempting to try to walk on it before it’s fully healed).
5) "I need help"
“I need help” became my top phrase of the week. Every day little things that I could once do, I suddenly needed help. Even for taking something basic like a shower.
The problem came when I couldn’t put both of my feet over the high lip of the bath to get into the shower. So I ended up having to ask for some help. There’s nothing wrong, I know, with asking for help. There is nothing shameful, or there should not be anything shameful about it. Yet when I found myself asking for help for something so private, and basic I found myself to be honest, embarrassed. I didn’t want people to see me like that and would have rather tried and hurt myself than ask for any help. But I knew it would be not only foolish but also dangerous.
The point is, sometimes you just have to ask for help. Do not feel shame, and do not worry if you are burdening others because people, as long as you’re polite and not screaming at everyone, will want to help you because they can understand.
6) "Would you be a Dear...?"
Think to yourself: Which is more reasonable? Smashing my head
against the bath or actually getting into the bath?
7) Self Portrait: Up against a wall
My favourite photo of this series.
I feel that this image can definitely sum up how I
felt about myself. Relying on others, myself,
my crutches, my will to get through things.
8) Going out is like a Marathon
Going home, or going out became like a Marathon. Well, not really but figuratively, in a sense, yes. Meaning it would take preparation. Lots of it! You don’t want to leave anything behind and make the mistake of having to go all the way back, and neither do you want to be under prepared.
The biggest problem I always have is it feels very cold at the start but once I get moving I become much too hot and sweaty even (gross, I know!). The only thing I guess I could say is, get a light backpack, and carry around a bottle of water and a sweater. Don’t carry too much or something too heavy. Be careful of the rain, it makes everything horribly slippery which I found very troubling when walking through the SUB with the crappy floor tiles which belong in a pool house!
Here’s another story (very random but it is also about relying on others.) I was out a while ago with some friends. I was heading back home with some friends from a friend’s house in The Village. It was cold, and snowing lightly. We were outside the Micky D’s contemplating buying late night nuggets (I know we’ve all been there!) when I saw a young girl with flats, jeans, wearing only a sweater ask some guys next to me to use their cell phones. She didn’t look homeless or threatening but the guys just flat out ignored her completely. “Hmm,” I thought over hearing their conversation “Maybe I should intervene”. But I hesitated since I wasn’t yet sure of the situation. After she kept asking for a while, and they giving no response a guy came around from the corner holding a pair of crutches! The poor girl all that time had been hopping around with out crutches because some guy friend had taken them and she couldn’t call him to come over to get them back. Yikes! 🙁 So the moral of the story is: yes it is good to ask for help but make sure if you do get some help it is good help… or sufficient at least. Poor girl. End of story.
9) Be Thankful for the Small Things.... Always
I will be honest. I DO forget about being thankful for the small things. I forget about them when everything is going well enough. Even people who are close to me, supportive and caring there are times that I do forget about being thankful, and forget to really cherish them. I also take my own abilities for granted. Though I have noodle ankles, at least I can walk, and though I’m having a bad day, I still have my health and even though my friends and I might not agree on something at least I’m not alone.
But we all forget these small things. All the time. We forget, and totally miss all the small things, little actions and gestures, taking them for granted and complain constantly. I admit I do that all the time as well. But it’s these little things, weither it’s hurting yourself or something smaller that snap us back and make us realize how important these people really are in our life. Weither it’s people lending you their notes from class or people willing to help tie your shoes, don’t forget it because one day they won’t be here and all you will have is memories and thinking “Why didn’t I ever say ‘Thank you’?”
And for that, in a sense I’m thankful. Now I just gotta keep remembering to be!
10) "I get by with a little help from my friends"
You know a real friend is when they will remove your
stinky dirty sneakers before removing their own stinky
dirty sneakers.
11) My Current Sitation
Finally on a last note: this is the progress, the end result. I am now walking (Finally! YES!) and it has been almost a week or so with ankle braces, insoles moulded to my feet to help keep my knees, ankles and feet aligned, and wearing special basketball sneakers that have extra-ankle support in them.
Though it may sound complicated and is definitely not fashionable at all (style not by choice guys), when it comes down to my health I gotta do whatever I have to do even if it’s not pretty. So ladies, be thankful for your style! To the girls who can wear heels EVERYDAY and have heels with every shoe they have, you’re lucky. And for those who can wear fashionable sneakers, I really like your style. But for now until they can make something in size 5, DD width, with insole support and fashionable I will get what I need to get. I do get embarrassed, and I do feel bad. (Geez, I wish I some nice good dance shoes! Black heels, cute boots! I’m always looking at that stuff!). But I have no choice. For now at least.
No matter what people are doing, sometimes you have to just do what is right for yourself. No shame attached.
Just really want to thank all my friends for helping me out so much through this mess! To my awesome Roomie,
and to my boys! To Ai for lending me her notes and to understanding faculty and admins who have helped me out so much. Thank you!
Any questions or tips about ankle stuff or just like to share your story please do tell.
This is the “Something out of Nothing” post that I’ve delayed *Yikes!* due to an injury that put me out of school for a while. Did you know there are not any services at UBC for any people who sustain temporary injuries? They think just building a ramp will due the trick but they forget the vastness of the campus itself makes it impossible to navigate efficiently through for those with temporary injuries or on crutches. Basically you’re on your own.
But I’ll talk about that stuff later (see the next post).
For the “Something Out of Nothing” chapter I looked at various photographs of anything from unwashed dishes, messy rooms, sport equipment turned into sculpture, etc.
So I began to experiment with the idea of taking simple items and juxtaposing them with other items to create something new. (Which has already been done…. so done…)
But what about textures? What about different textures, much like a designer would think about how patterns, and texture works with clothing, rooms, art and decore what can I do to create something so simple yet interesting?
I also decided that instead of making something gigantic like many artists who have outdoor displays (ie: living sculpture,massive chalk drawings, rocks, a giant knit bunny in Italy), why not make something so small in a common space? So I began to look at miniatures and realized that I didn’t really want to do something completely like this, or this (though they are completely AMAZING and wonderful!), but rather I became inspired or even influenced…
So one night, with the inspiration from a friend, I started making tin foil sculptures and putting them interesting poses, situations and took photographs. Of course the sculptures surely could not stay installed in their original setting but had to be moved for practical reasons, but by documenting it with a camera they suddenly appeared very different. A photograph could capture the entire sculpture in a bird’s eye view, yet also it could focus in on one particular aspect of the sculpture which gave different feelings and dimensions to the display. In a sense, I wanted to show the sculpture’s “wholeness” and have it juxtaposed with a particular angle, creating an interesting new feeling. These characters maybe small, and mini, yet I wanted to give them a sense of being also mighty.
Things may not always seem to be what they are when you focus in on one thing, rather than see the whole picture. In reality they are so small, and blend into their surrounding, yet close up they are so different. There is a hidden charm, beauty and even silliness in these photos.
So please laugh at them, share them, and just think about them and the textures. But don’t over think too much, they are just photos at the end of the day.
With this series I decided to try something new. I experimented with some friends of mine, by asking them to imagine certain objects or imagine their reaction to certain objects in their head while looking at the camera.
Interestingly, there were many different yet subtle reactions that were recorded. It is amazing how the human face can subtly twitch, move, and shape itself just on how one feels or the mood without it ever being recognized, felt or noted. There is a hint of awkwardness and hurry in these photos as well that seems to come through.
Recording these expressions through a photograph stops time, and allows us to look in close detail and reflect.
The photos titles are the “descriptive” words that were used for the subjects to picture in their mind.
Titles from right to left: “Opportunity”, “Happiness is a Warm Swing”, “Significantly Small, but Extremely Loud”, “The Canadian Dream”, “Converging David into Goliath”, “To Feel Like a Miniature”, “There’s Something about Something Found”.
I will be honest. There is something strange about trying not to feel anything while taking a photo. Also there is something strange about taking photos in public (at least for me) of objects that people seem not to ever care for. Yet, this style has opened up my mind and had me self reflect on how I feel while taking a photograph. Normally I take photos of people that I like, things that I like, and moments I want to remember and share. Yet by taking photos of things with an objective point of view I felt at first odd to be so disconnected with myself. I must admit it felt odd to take a photo of someone’s home. It was strange to me, and conflicting in a sense. My duty to produce photos by looking at various houses in an objective style but at the same time, they are not simply houses yet they are also someone’s home. I wondered, what it would feel like to have my own home suddenly looked into? What would could it look like? Then I began to think, can I take truly objective photos of someone or something that I am too familiar with? Too attached to? I found it much easier to photograph people or things that I didn’t know very well.
As I took more photos, I felt myself suddenly turn more “designer”. I began thinking not just of content but rethinking of how the lines converge, the shapes of the objects, and the strange street colour palettes. I guess you must think in an artsy kind of way to detach yourself the most? Let me know what you think. I wonder if this is how scientists think. They must at times I suppose though.
