Some Preliminary Questions

Have I seen the sea or has the sea seen me?     —D. H. Lawrence

1. Who are you?
2. Why are you?
3. What do you value? (What matters to you?)
4. What scares you, interests you, bores you, makes you laugh?
5. Where are you from?
6. Where are you really from?
7. What groups do you belong to?
8. What makes you distinct from any other human being?
9. What is your understanding of "visual language" and "visual culture"?
10. How many specific screens and types of screens do you look at in a given day?
11. How many screens look at you?
12. What in your life gets "plugged-in" every day?
13. How many advertisements did you encounter yesterday?
14. What "navigation type" are you?
15. Which of the 5 senses do you consider most important to a happy life?
16. With whom do you feel the strongest kinship: Marshall McLuhan or Theodor Adorno?
17. Do you like the smell of burnt toast?
18. What MUST be included in any true picture of you?
19. What can be left out of any picture of you?
20. How do most people think of you?
21. How do you want most people to think of you?
22. How many are you?
23. How many are you not?
24. How does it feel to you living in a visual culture and a consumer culture?
25. How might living in a visual culture be affecting your sense of who you are?

Instructions

Create a photographic self-portrait which:

a) represents who you are;

b) represents your relationship to the visual culture you live in;

c) is to some extent self-consciously intertextual;

d) draws directly or indirectly (is informed by) class readings, films, and/or discussions;

e) is both verbal and visual;

f) includes a 1-3 page typed and double-spaced Supplemental Letter to me which helps me to understand the process you undertook, any problems you had, ways in which your work is intertextual, etc.

You may narrow and focus both "a" and "b" above as you deem suitable.

Your portrait must include a self-taken photograph or photographs as well as written text. It can be digitally "shopped" in Photoshop or any other imaging software. It can be small or large; "realistic," "abstract," or "iconic." It can be two- or three-dimensional. It can single-page or multi-page. It can be round or square. It can be a collage. It can be a book. It can be a web page. It can be a picture in a frame.

Keep in mind, whatever you decide: your self-portrait must represent a solid MONTH's work of work. A simple, single photo is ok--but you will almost certainly want to include with it a selection of your drafts and discussion in your supplemental notes about how you finally arrived at that one shot. That is, if a month's work of work isn't readily visible in the final product, you should include other evidence or explanation of your labor.

Your portrait can be hardcopy, but you must also have make an electronic version for posting in Blackboard. You can use any medium you like—traditional photo paper, Power Point, Word, some kind of web-page software, etc.

This is a very open assignment; use your imagination.

Purpose

This assignment gives you the opportunity to creatively reflect on who you are and your own place in visual culture. I want you to consider how it feels to live in this culture, how you cope, how images and image technologies touch you on a daily basis, how you "see" yourself and how you feel yourself "seen." I also want you to consider how artists use visual language to explore, define, and cope with visual culture.

The purpose of this assignment is also to introduce or re-introduce you to the camera and the experience of "writing with light." Most of us take photography for granted and have forgotten what a marvel it was originally considered to be. I want you to "slow down the media torrent" a bit by reflecting on, and engaging with, one of the prime technologies of that torrent. In other words, I'd like you to play with this technology as if for the first time. In a sense the aim here is a backwards one: I want the assignment to de-familiarize the camera for you.

And, finally, the purpose is to give you one more kind of practice in "visual writing."

The Walkabout

The spirit of this assignment calls for a walkabout. In some primitive cultures this was a solitary journey taken by a youth on his/her way to adulthood or self-discovery. Your walkabout won't be quite that serious; you'll venture out for an hour or so during one of our class sessions and again on your own time as a form of preparation for your self-portrait.

So. Head out of the classroom, apartment, house, or dorm with a camera as your only survival tool or garment or sustenance. Just walk around a lot with a camera as an exercise in "seeing." Shoot whatever attracts you, without thinking too much. Consider how the world changes when framed in your viewfinder. Consider what the camera is doing when you open the shutter. Pay attention to the mere sensory experience of capturing images.

After awhile, try to see what others are perhaps NOT seeing in any object, event, subject, or landscape. Look also at things, events, people associated with "visual culture"—whatever happens to be in your path. Try "framing" these things in odd and interesting ways. Try to defamiliarize what you see everyday. Think about, feel, "capture" the culture you inhabit. Take pics as well of things which feel like "you."

And, finally, take pics which literally are you (photos of yourself).

Play with light. Use bricolage. Any kind of camera.

Understanding the Self-Portrait and Its Possibilities

I'll try to hunt down some interesting and varied samples of self-portraits throughout the month we spend on this project. You should also be researching self-portraits yourself.

Project Grade Definitions

Outstanding = A = 14-15

"Outstanding" means the document is both verbal and visual, provides the class with a strong impression of who you are, is informed by class readings and discussion, and has a strong creative spark. Verbal material is proofread and edited for clarity, conventional correctness, and reading pleasure. Stands out from the rest. Shows conscientious attention to class and instructor feedback, as well as to our course Power Point presentations and handouts. Includes a well-developed and thoughful Letter to instructor, explaining any problems you encountered, ways in which your work is intertextual, ways in which it draws on class readings and films, etc.

Very Good = B = 12-13

"Very good " means the document is both verbal and visual, and provides the class with a strong impression of who you are. Is at least somewhat informed by class readings and discussion. For the most part is well-edited and proofread for clarity and conventional correctness. Shows noticable attention to class and instructor feedback, course Power Point presentations, and handouts. Supplemental Letter is sufficient to very good.

Fair = C = 10-11

"Fair" means the document is both verbal and visual, and provides the class with some sense of who you are. Could give a considerably stronger impression and/or doesn't seem very informed by class readings or discussion (isn't "intertextual"). May contain verbal material which is awkward and/or unclear. May contain a noticeable number of stylistic and mechanical flaws (has not been edited and proofread very well). Shows perfunctory attention to class and instructor feedback, to Power Point presentations and handouts. Supplemental Letter may be incomplete or unhelpful.

Poor = D = 8-9

"Poor" means the document is weak verbally or visually or both. It gives only a dim picture of who you are, may be quite undeveloped, does not demonstrate awareness of class readings or discussion, and/or shows a considerable number of stylistic or mechanical flaws (appears not to have been proofread or edited). Shows no attention to class and instructor feedback.

Unacceptable = F = less than 2.25

"Unacceptable" means the document may altogether lack verbal or visual elements; may be excessively full of style or mechanics problems; may be too short/incomplete to count as a month-long project; and/or does not provide a clear sense of who you are.

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