wrapping it up- no xmas pun intended :)

Firstly, this course has been a huge eye-opener for me when it comes to viewing all visual culture. I never once took the time to think about the limitations of a picture which is supposed to be worth a thousand words. I never consider the other million words that were unspoken based on the photographers framing and simply the limitations of technology. I recall a classroom discussion where one person raised the concern of not only the photographer having sole discretion when it came to what was included and excluded in a frame, but also how the camera itself limits the photo. One shot can only include so many details—the reality is something is being excluded despite how many times you zoom out. I especially love this when considering the Elahi Hasam and the “tracking transience” site that he created. This was amazing how he chose to document his every move through photography and gps applications on his phone. He chose to include only portions of his body that provided details of his location and what he was doing—as specific as what meal he was having. The interesting aspect of this was that he excluded his face in all of the photos. This eye and face being captured in a photo in my opinion seemed to be a key factor in aligning a body to humanity.
I honestly had mixed emotions when it came to our section on fetal visual culture and how these bodies are framed. I thought about my original thoughts to only find the humanistic aspect of a body when it comes to seeing the face and connecting with the eyes of a body in a photo. Well looking back at the popular autonomous fetus that is often associated with abortion or pregnancies I barely focus on the face at all. I look at a fetus and associate it to “the future” of humankind. So when I consider this aspect of why the human fetus is of high importance- it has nothing to do with the individual, it associates more with the “ideals” of a human. So although these fetus’s hold importance, their autonomous framing align them with being needy and disabled- calling adults to speak up for them because they cannot stand for themselves. This was framing that I never considered. The sentiment that I felt for these fetuses or babies in visual culture had absolutely nothing to do with the individual baby, but more because my society has conditioned me to feel remorseful for the future of humankind. This was something that I never considered and I found most provocative in this class. I never realized how a fetus was always so conveniently lit up and floating in a sac of liquid. I never realized how invaluable a pregnancy was if a baby wasn’t exposed and the focus was placed on the mother. This was extremely interesting to me because prior to this class I never considered how biased visual culture was.
Another visual that I absolutely loved was the photo project that Ken Gonazalez-Day produced. It was so interesting how when something is extracted from a photo you find other things to focus on- or the meaning of the photo is completely different. In this case it allows for the audience member to frame the photo without outside influences- unless there is a caption associated with it. The photo that stood out to me in this photo series was the erased lynching photo. How amazing a photo changes when the center of attention is deleted.
I learned tons in this class- forcing me to be more critical about what is put in front of me. This obviously makes me more skeptical and negative when it comes to everything so this newfound lens is both hindering and helpful.