Pictures Assignment

"Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think, and dream? Can I visualize a print - my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey - from the subject before me?" —Ansel Adams

"Pleasure is continually disappointed, reduced, deflated, in favor of strong, noble values: Truth, Death, Progress, Struggle, Joy, etc. Its victorious rival is Desire: we are always being told about Desire, never about Pleasure."-Roland Barthes, "Oppositions", The Pleasure of the Text

In mentor session, as well in main class, we have begun to introduce you to notions of pleasure, how our culture creates it, and some ways of reading things that please you. In the last few weeks we have looked at Barthes notion of semiotics and being a "myth-reader" in lieu of a "myth-consumer", Foucault’s notion that at the root of all systems of order are power structures that use pleasure to control, and how pleasure can be a diversion from the revolutionary impulse (as we have seen in Stallybrass and White’s "From Carnival to Transgression"). In addition, we have explored the idea of the otaku, have looked at our own likes and dislikes in terms of movies, TV shows, and music.

For this assignment, you need to take ten (10) pictures of things that please you. Please frame them with some artistic measure and accuracy. Consider shot composition, lighting, and any other technical elements that you think will make for an outstanding picture.

Also, you will need to write, in MLA format, an accompanying written explanation of the pictures you have taken in bullet format. It should be clear what picture you are talking about and what elements in the shot should be examined. In addition, you will have to write an introduction paragraph describing some your personality traits that you think would be pertinent for me to know as you share with me the things that please you.

Guidelines

• The pictures must be from film transfer and not, in anyway, digital.
• The pictures must be taken between Tuesday, April 18^th and Monday, May 10^th.
• Accompanying essay must be in MLA format, including an introductory paragraph describing your background and a conclusion paragraph that answers the question, "Why does this item please you?". Please inform your text with the theories that we are learning.