J. W O N G @jaymenwong - Tumblr Blog

Utopia/Dystopia (Final Edits)

For this project, I wanted to depict a utopia through photographing students. I photographed 4 of my friends in the library, and had them wear the same outfit to seem “perfect”. When picking props, I also chose 4 identical books for them to use, to convey the idea that they’re studying the same thing. I hope that though this is a utopian scene, viewers find the contradictory to an ideal learning setting. Individuals have different learning styles, and learn at different rates. Standardized testing, and the way that many students are taught within the public education system, forgo the idea of the individual, and hold large groups of students of the same age to the same standards. In order to maximize one’s learning capabilities, one must find how they personally learn best. In a utopian society, however, the way students learn would all be identical and “perfect”, so by portraying this in a photo series, I hope to convey the irony of learning in a utopian society.

#utopia dystopia #project 3 #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia | In-Progress Critique

#utopia dystopia #in progress critique #week 7

Utopia/Dystopia: Proposal 3

My idea for this proposal is to take “candid” pictures of people, but purposely have their expression not match that of their surroundings. I got the idea for this proposal after shooting this photo of my friend. I was trying to capture her smiling, as she had been smiling just a moment before this photo was taken. Even though she was happy and been smiling before, this moment captures discontent in her face, rather than happiness.

I would shoot a lot of candid photos to see if this happens naturally, but I would also have these shots set up with friends during time we spend together. I would ideally shoot photos in both happy settings with sad expressions, as well as sad settings and happy expressions. Settings may include: friend’s homes, on campus, a cemetery (sad), a park, etc.

#proposal #week 6 #utopia dystopia #project 3

25/Week 6

#25 #week 6

25/Week 6

#25 #week 6

25/Week 6

#25 #week 6

Utopia/Dystopia: Proposal 2

For this proposal, I want to create a dystopia around formerly occupied spaces. This is revisiting a proposal idea from project 2. Abandoned places, or places from our past that have changed over time, are places of memories. I want to convey these memories through the presence of human silhouettes cast as shadows onto the scene.

I would want to shoot images at a playground, and abandoned home/building, downtown in an alley or other run-down space, and possibly a cemetery. Other more personal spaces may include my bedroom, in the dance studio, or at the greenbelt near my parents home (pictured above).

In these images, i would capture the space (as in the first picture), but also any details/signs of human presence (like the flags pictured in the bottom image). By showing age/the rustic, worn-down signs of human presence with shadows of people, I hope to convey a sense of the space’s “past-life”.

#week 6 #utopia dystopia #proposal #project 3

Utopia/Dystopia: Proposal 1

For this proposal, I wanted to photograph students and school-related subjects as if in dystopia. In my opinion, the standardization of public education doesn’t cater to all students learning styles, and expects that all students learn at the same rate. Students conform to the means of education and the subjects of what is taught in school, but they may not be truly learning, or learning to their full potential. Learning is viewed from a grouped perspective, rather than focusing on the individual.

To convey this in my dystopia series, I want to photograph students studying, holding books, in a library or classroom setting, etc., but set up to where they all look the same. I am unsure of whether I will use the same subject, photoshopped to be repeated in the same image (as in a tryptic), or have multiple people in the shot, but in the exact same pose. I would like it if I could use multiple people bodies posed the same, but making them appear identical in the final images may be difficult. In either case, I will blur the subjects faces out of the photo, and place a black bar over their eyes, further masking their identity.

#week 6 #utopia dystopia #proposal #project 3

Surrounded, Enveloped, Besieged (Final Edits)

For this project, I wanted to again visit my love for dance through photography. Freestyling in dance is one of the hardest things for me to do, because I get very self-conscious when I dance in front of other people. However, I have had a few opportunities to use a studio by myself, and that is when I feel I am able to let go of any inhibitions, and truly get “out of my head”. This sense of isolation, freedom, and expression without inhibition is what I wanted to capture in my photos for this project. When I freestyle alone, I am able to enter a different state of mind, where I don’t have to think about anything at all. I move based on how I feel and what I hear, and don’t have to worry about what it looks like, or remembering it afterwards. I am able to truly express my emotions through my movement, guided by the music. When shooting the photos, I chose to have motion blur in my photos, so as to not make the photos about the dancer, but about the process of dance. It truly embodies the phrase “dance like no one is watching”.

#week 6 #surrounded enveloped besieged #project 2