Essay 3

This is an image of Lombard Street in San Francisco. It was taken during the past summer right before descending down its scary path.  

When an average person sees this photo, it is simply a photo of a street that flows downhill. To those who know of the street, it is a photo of a city landmark. To me when I look at this photo, it represents a vacation and a week and summer of bliss and good times. Seeing this photo brings back memories and the feeling of the completely void-of-humidity California air that I had the pleasure of experiencing this summer. Seeing this I can practically feel my hair keeping its hold, whatever that may be, and I can almost taste the vodka lemonades that we loved a little too much while visiting Vacaville, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

When several people hear of Lombard Street or see photos, denotatively they know that it is located in San Francisco and it is one of the steepest and most complicated streets in the nation to navigate down. Several people make the connection of when they’ve seen it in movies or television shows such as Mythbusters. However, when I went down it, the only instant connection that I made was how much I would enjoy running up and down it. I really enjoy running when I’m not hurt, and I regret that I never had the chance to run up Lombard. To me it would be the perfect training and I hope that one day I am living in a location where I have something similar to Lombard Street at my disposal.

To several people, this photo is just a tourist photo. It holds no significant value to them. It is simply a digital photograph that can be manipulated and printed in mass quantities. To me though, it holds memories and goals that I hope to accomplish soon. When I see this image, I see a street worth conquering, a beautiful skyline, the sea, colors that I know are very bright and gorgeous in real life, and I feel the presence of the friends that were in the car with me during the decent. I can still hear the squeals of laughter and ridiculousness as we slowly rambled down the hill, always feeling like the car would begin to roll at any moment.

This photo means more to me than many people could ever guess. It signifies good times and exercise and I could look at it all day long to keep the memories of the summer fresh in mind. 

Essay 2

Upon reading this topic, I am genuinely conflicted because I am an avid fan of all kinds of photography be it traditional dark room, digital, or even the currently popular Instagram. Originally I was going to argue that film-based photography is best because it is my go- to when I am feeling artsy, but then I decided to make a pros and cons list and I was surprised at what I came up with.

Ultimately, my decision for the sake of this paper is that digital photography is more time-friendly and therefore user-friendly. I will not assume the opinion of “best” or “preferable” because quite honestly I think both are equally superior to each other.

I use the term time-friendly because our generation is obsessed with either being lazy and doing the bare minimum that will still achieve results or speeding through tasks, again, to achieve minimum results. Both of these reflect my generation’s inability to complete a task as thoroughly as is usually required.

The benefit to my generation when comparing photography types is that the simple point and shoot method that is usually all that is required of digital photography. A small portion of people have the patience now a days to line up a photography shot and take into account the lighting, aperture settings, angle, and the fact that you can’t immediately see and delete a photo if it is not immediately presentable. They also can’t even fathom the amount of time and preciseness it takes in a developing room to actually develop film.

Most people prefer to shoot a few dozen photos, look over them, red-eye correct on the camera itself, enhance the colors, plug it into the computer, Photoshop to alter their image to something that they can not achieve in real life, and then instantly print. The dark room process of this can take hours or even days to produce one image, not to mention the price of chemicals, materials, and equipment.

Another one of the main advantages of shooting digitally rather than traditional is there are so many more options available. It seems like all electronic companies are producing digital cameras now compared to how practically no companies are selling film cameras anymore. It is an obvious winning point for digital photography when even Kodak, the one time leading camera company, is discontinuing film sales. In comparison, companies such as Nikon have dozens of digital cameras for sale ranging from those for the lazy snap and shooters to the professionals that are depending on them to build a career.

With all of this taken into account, it is sadly clear that the majority of the world has chosen digital over film and that is the direction in which photography is headed. 

Essay 1

The photo that I chose to represent myself is a silly photo of my cat, Steve. I’ve had Steve for about two and a half years while in college, which was a clear violation of my parent’s only rule when moving to college; do not get a pet. In this photo, Steve is wearing a pair of checkered sunglasses that my little sister, Molly, is forcefully but gently holding to his head.

I feel that this photo is a good representation of me because it represents several things that I love about my life, summertime, the pool, the colors, and my family.

First and foremost, it was taken during my favorite month, July, and my absolute favorite season right before a trip to the pool. Being by the pool and in the water during the heat is one of my favorite ways to spend down time whenever the weather allows.

The next part that I really like about this are the colors. Color is my favorite design element because I feel that it is so incredibly important in design and it enhances every day life so much. The colors are all very vibrant and even though the color of Steve’s fur is grey, there is still evidence of much brightness, from the pink of the t-shirt in the background to the crispness of the checkered glasses.

Another part of this that I like is the fact that it was taken when my sister was in town visiting me. I’m very close to my entire family but her more than anyone. We are four years apart so we weren’t very close growing up but since she’s gotten older and matured, we’ve bonded a lot more and she inspires me daily.

Finally, something else about this photo that I believe makes it so popular among my friends and family is how calm Steve looks. Good luck putting sunglasses on most animals and having them stay this composed! He makes it look like this is the most natural thing in the world.

One of the main reasons why I choose my cat for this assignment is because this little fur ball is my own personal assistant sometimes. Other than the fact that he’s constant entertainment for being absolutely ridiculous, he’s also my alarm clock. If it weren’t for him always demanding food, I would sleep through the beginning of class or work about half the time.

I feel like this image is a good representation of myself because even though it is not of me, what better way to represent yourself than with some of your favorite things?