Monday, February 14, 2011

Just in time for the new semester: Social networking and "50 Inspiring Examples of Emotional Portrait Photography"

Image borrowed from DZineblog 360.

Perhaps you have noticed that VAOJ has jumped on the social networking bandwagon with its very own Facebook page and Twitter account. This seems to be standard practice now with bloggers and a way to further connect with possible readers and/or collaborators. It also allows you to see even more what is out there in the internet in terms of photography and visual anthropology. I found this blog post about "emotional portraits" through Twitter - and it seems timely as my new visual anthropology students completed their first portrait assignment and will be working on others in the future.

Link: http://www.dzineblog360.com/2010/12/50-inspiring-examples-of-emotional-portrait-photography/

The collection here certainly has some nice and ethnically diverse photos. The text briefly talks about the photographer having control over composition. And from an anthropological perspective I wonder how representative these photos are of the individuals. In the first in-class assignment, students worked together to negotiate and take each others' portrait. Some discussed the awkward nature of this process and others seemed to hesitate at the portrait really being representative of them. Hopefully the assignment will make them further aware of their responsibilities of cultural representations.

With this in mind, please be aware that the new students' blogging efforts will begin soon. Please check out their blogs and leave feedback. I anticipate another great semester. Yoroshiku.

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