#tsis202

[tsis20]

1. I found the last two assignments the most interesting. These assignments were two for me that address the idea of home, whether I was actually in my hometown or around the feeling of home. I especially liked these assignments because they made me look at my home in a new light. Especially with times like this there is a lot missing from home right now but a lot of new sides that I have never dug deep into before. 

2. This class made me think about what I am posting online and why I am taking a picture in the first place. This class brought up a deeper meaning to photos and showed me that there is a story that could be told in a picture. This had me think about what I was posting online and how I could become an honest yet creative person when I do post. 

3. I expected this class to just be a simple photography course where we take pictures and that’s that. I did not expect to dig deep into the meaning of a photograph and the meaning behind a picture. I liked that we learned about what stories we can tell with a photo and the ideas behind photography. I liked that this class made us think about ourselves while also thinking about photography. The one thing I would change is maybe having a session when class first starts with everyone just so we can meet and make interacting on Instagram more personal. 

[tsis20]

1. Throughout the whole semester I found the last assignment “Visual Veracity: The Truth in Photography” the most interesting. I think this was the most interesting assignment because of the different environment I was forced into because of the virus. It really forced me to express my truth of being positive while stuck at home.

2. I think this class really forced me to think deeper into things that I post on social media and how other people might feel about those pictures. I noticed that I really have the ability to influence someone else’s viewpoint of my pictures even if it may not be entirely accurate. It also gave me a new perspective into taking pictures, such as angles and lighting.  

3. I really wasn’t entirely sure what I expected when signing up for this class. However, I am really happy that I was able to partake in this experience. This class really opened my mind into the deeper meaning of the things we take pictures of and post on social media. Overall, it was an excellent class and I would recommend it to everyone else.

[tsis20]

My favorite assignments were the past two (assignment 4 & 5), as well as the assignment that had to do with self-design. I enjoyed assignments 4 & 5 because I really got a chance to photograph the things going on in my life, and how they were affecting me personally. Assignment 4 in particular was challenging, because it was right when the world started to go crazy with COVID-19 concerns, but my photographs definitely showed my challenges throughout the week by spending the majority of it in my bedroom and apartment. Assignment 5 showed the impact of the virus on myself and my family, and I found that I got some super cool shots. The self-design week was ultimately my favorite, because I got to post on the class instagram as if it were my “finsta,” and I really tried to incorporate the randomness of myself and my personality into my shots. 

This class has taught me that I should take a step back from the “norms” of social media which is only posting pictures that make it seem like you’re living a fun and care-free life. I want to focus less on posting selfies and posed pictures with friends, and focus more on the candid photos of real life in my future social media posts. What people think from my posts can be up to me because I have the ability to design how I’m seen. 

I did not think this class was going to focus as much on photography as it did, but I learned to appreciate it as the class moved forward. For the most part, I thought it was going to have a bigger focus on social media and how it can impact your life, but I’m glad that it turned out differently than I expected. I really liked the freedom the class gave me to take my own approach to each weekly assignment, and liked that for the most part I wasn’t told to shoot certain things each week. I would only change some of the required readings/questions, because in general I found some of them to be boring (particularly the ones with pdf’s from textbooks, I liked the article based ones). I really enjoyed this class and am glad I got to take it in my final semester of school! 

[tsis20]

[tsis20]

I personally really enjoyed the last two assignments. I feel like when I look at the images I took, they best represent me and my life. For assignment four I got to really analyze my bedroom space in ways I never did before. Choosing a specific place to photograph was a little challenge because I thought I would feel a little limited. But actually, it allowed for a more in detail exploration. Being an architecture student, I get really excited about the small details, and it was interesting to think of this in terms of photography. The last assignment and learning about how to photograph a truth was fun. My life and my health has been changing a lot within the past four months and this assignment allowed me to showcase that change. I have been connecting with myself more and really honing in on my mental and physical health, especially in the morning time. The truth assignment also taught me that there will be bumps in the road, and it will be difficult to one hundred percent stick to your idea of truth, but those bumps in the road can offer a learning experience.

This class ultimately taught me that photography is much more than the push of a button. As a cultural producer, I will use these methods of focusing and truth to really push a narrative on what I want to display. I think these ideas will be especially helpful when thinking of presenting my design work. Oftentimes as a designer we are told to tell a story, and if I can use what I learned through photography to do so, I think I will be very satisfied. In terms of my personal and more intimate postings, I think I will now sit back and think more intricately about what I specifically want to show my audience. I am so used to seeing the positive parts of people’s lives, I would be interested to see if gears shifted a little bit. I want to not be afraid of being vulnerable because ultimately that is how a person grows. I am curious to see how I develop upon these ideas in my own social media. 

This class was what I expected when I signed up, but I learned a lot more than I thought I would have. I signed up because as an artist I wanted to better understand photography. I found myself not as in touch with photography before this class. I really like the freedom of the class, whereas all the students tackled each assignment in their own way. It was really pleasing to sit back and scroll through the social media and see the different scales and topics and imagery. I really felt accomplished when others would compliment or relate to my work in some manner. I think it would be interesting to have some class discussions to talk about the subjects addressed. Also, maybe there is a way to incorporate the short lived idea of showcasing photographs through Instagram stories. I think this feature is super interesting because it puts a time limit on getting an idea across. With that, I think maybe having a separate hashtag for outside the class could be interesting so students can post photography that might not align with the course that they’re proud of to share with classmates. Overall, the class was very informative and fun!

[tsis20]

Which assignment (or assignments) did you find most interesting, and why? I found the first assignment, emulating another photographer, to be one of my favorites. I loved the artist I chose and really enjoyed trying to recreate her photography style throughout Philadelphia. Although it was difficult, I embraced the challenge, learned a lot, and had fun with it. Another assignment I enjoyed was photography as a form of self-design. This was pretty eye-opening in terms of discovering how I, along with my friends, design our public lives and what we choose to share on social media. I tried to photograph parts of my life that described me best and that I would want to put on social media to help people learn more about me. I loved how my photos turned out at the end of the week and continue to think about this assignment as I use social media now.  

How did this class influence the way you see yourself as a cultural producer (i.e. someone who puts visual information out into the world via social media)? If it did not influence you, why not? This class influenced me to be more aware of what I’m posting and why. Before I post on social media, I catch myself thinking about why i’m posting and what purpose it’s serving. Often times I realize i’m only posting to gain the approval of others, although I’d like to not be that way. 

Was this class what you expected when you signed-up? What did you like most about the class? And, what would you change? This class was definitely more than I expected in terms of what I learned. I expected and was prepared for the amount of assignments we did, but I didn’t expect to learn and gain as much knowledge about photography and social media as I did. It helped put a lot of things into perspective and gave me things that I still think about as I post on social media currently. I’m not sure I would change anything, I think the class format works well and is just enough work for an elective. 

[tsis20]

I found assignment 3 to be the most interesting this past semester. I really like the idea of being able to express myself artistically through my life. There is something so beautiful in living through our daily lives. I think that we can all appreciate this more now, in the current situation. Being a graduating senior, I can honestly say that I never took my time at Temple University for granted. This assignment helped me appreciate my routine even more and give others an insightful view into my life.

This class influenced me a lot about how I see myself on social media. I consider myself pretty private on social media with my posting; I do not overshare. This class helped me realize that I should only post what makes me truly happy without worrying about the judgement from others.

This class was more than I expected. I really enjoyed learning more about not only my artistic styles, but also the artistic styles of everyone else in my class! I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about social media in an academic setting. If there was one thing I could change about the class it would be adding in more group discussion. I really enjoyed being able to meet with the Professor over Google Hangouts. I think adding this feature within a group setting would allow us to become closer with the class as a whole.

[tsis20]

I found all the assignments to be really interesting and fun, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. I really liked the “through the lens” assignment because it forced me to be a little more picky with what kind of images I shot since I was emulating a famous photographer. Plus, I loved being able to get inspiration from my chosen photographer and try to recreate that. It also helped me to get better at the way I take pictures, and get an idea for my preferred picture taking style. The “self design” assignment was also fun because I got to showcase myself and my life, and I got to learn about my classmates as well. I felt like that was a really good assignment, especially for an online class because it helped us all get to know each other's personalities.

This class helped to make me more aware and mindful of how and what I post. It taught me that we are all able to create certain ideas of ourselves all in how we curate our social media accounts. We can be completely transparent or we can be mysterious-- it’s all in how we design it.

I think this class was actually better than what I expected. I felt confident when registering that it would be a class I really enjoyed, but I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of how the topic was going to be approached. I really liked that we worked with Instagram, as well as Tumblr, and I loved all the assignments. I found the assignments to all be common in that they focused around us and who we are, but they were very different at the same time. I think the only thing I would maybe change is being more flexible with how many images we can post a day. I think rather than just 5, maybe saying the minimum 5, but if you want to post more you can post up to like 8 or 10. There were some days where I could have posted so many more images, so I had difficulty sometimes choosing.

It was hard to choose from all the images I used throughout the course, but these 5 made the cut because they were a few of my favorites.