The power of power

Power Artifact

For my power artifact, wanted to show how power is used without us really knowing, I took a camera with me and took pictures of all the cctv cameras I could find on the way to university. It made me think there they there to look after us or to to keep an eye on us? I also looked at all the signs on the street that give instructions on what we can and cant do, it also made me question if they are ther to protct us from danger or to keep us from doing antthing “they” dont want us to do?

Power of the uniform

Uniforms have a type of power that is easily recognisable. Depending on what type of uniform it is and how it it used symbolises a variety of power. This can be shown in a police uniform, a solider, the army, the navy, firefighters, chefs, youth, baristers, religious leaders, students, doctors the list goes on. While most uniforms display power, uniform can be used to take power away from a people, for example, if everyone is wearing the same thing, no one stands out from the other making them all the same, none more than the other, taking away status, importance eliminating confromtation and territory. This can be seen in schools, prisons and other similar institues. I wanted to take pictures of people in uniforms and see if the uniform they are wearing has a direct impact on society and if it can be seen in an image

power of…

Whilst researching power, I started to think that power and spectale can be linked very closely to each other. Power can be used as a spectale and spectacle can display power. with this being said, I looked at images created by Banksy. Banksy is a unidentified street artiest who created images of political, cultural, trivial and taboo topics with a humourous undertone, his images can be viewed as both powerful and as a spectacle because of the themes he explores. I also stumbled on two photographers named KS and Kabo. Both photographers shared a common theme of viewing the world from a rarely seen upside down perspective stressing that even in this unconventional format, beauty can still be found. I feel that looking at an image in this way can change the whole meaning and feeling of the image that can speak volumes to some and just look like the work of an amature who dosent know how to use a camera

more ideas for power

I think coming up with the concept for power was the hardest theme for me to come up with, I wanted to show something that is considered powerful but we really kind of fail to notice because its almost part of our everyday life, I looked alot of journalistic photography because alot of the images created are in parts of the world where we may not be exposed to certain situations and because of that, it creates diffrent kinds of emotions within thoses who look at them. I found some images about cultural diffrences and how some things seem strange to some and ordinary to others. One example I found was in China where having small feet is a symbol of beauty and elegance. Many women have there feet bound from when they are young so they can be shaped to look very small, to look at the images they may shock most people but on the flipside, looking at images of women with breast implants may have the same effect.

crying men

Whils looking at images for ideas for power, I came across a series of photos called, “Crying Men” by Sam Taylor-Wood. They are pictures of well known hollywood actors captured in a moment of volnerability. The pictures give us a chance to see huge actors, some of which ahve played very masculine roles in a diffrent light, these are my favourite series of pictures, they make you think, are they real tears or are they just acting? which isnt a crazy notion, seeing as thats what they do for a living.

ideas for power

One of the ideas I had for power the power of influience and use of power, out of the three themes we had to do, I think power was the hardest to do. Power can be displayed in so many ways its kind of hard to articulate the type of power you want to show. I looked at how much where we live is sign posted, telling us what we can and cant do, is it for our own good or is it to keep us in order? this is what I wanted to explore. I also looked at uniform and how certain uniforms have a type of power over people who dont have one like a serurity guard, police officer or doctor

Power

I think power is a harder topic to cover than memory, there are loads of connotations of power to use and choose from, it can be physical power, energy, influience, mental the list goes on, it can also be portrayed in many diffrent ways too. I want to do my power article as a photograghy pices because it can be interprited in different ways depending on whos viewing it. A moving image will be too spoon fed. For ideas, I looked at some of the most powerful pictures and images of the last few years. I want to look at power in terms of influience, how it makes people feel, how it is used, abused and manipulated on many diffrent levels.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Njh5ay0r824