Caption: Making friends in Lincoln, New Hampshire
This is an old picture I took of my boyfriend while on a trip to Lincoln, New Hampshire. Specifically, this was my first time ever visiting New Hampshire and I wanted to soak in everything I could about what would become one of my favorite places to visit. I took this photo for several reasons. I wanted to record where we were, what we did, and who I was with that day. I like the photo simply because commemorates a really nice memory and one of several adventures from way back when we first started dating.
I composed this picture a certain way. I forced my boyfriend to somewhat pose with the snowman because I thought it would be fun. I also made him do this because it was less serious version of photos he had taken in the exact same spot in previous years. Simply put, I thought it would be funny. I also forced my boyfriend to pose a certain way. I made him pose with a serious look on his face with the snowman in the foreground. I did this because those who first meet him initially think that he is quiet and serious. But, once you get to know him you learn that he is silly and extremely funny. I thought that composing the image this way would show two sides of him because the snowman would offset his serious aura.
Most pictures taken of me are forced, or were taken without my knowledge. This is because for the most part I am a pretty serious person and I hate having my picture taken. Therefore, any type of caption used for a picture of me would convey my attitudes towards being photographed or a general statement about what I’m doing.
What this says about representing someone in photographs is that sometimes you need to pick and choose what you’d like to say. my picture says my boyfriend likes New Hampshire, is serious, but also silly. This tells me a lot about him, but the information is still limited to the content of the picture. Therefore you need to really consider how you are composing the image and how this affects what you are saying about a person or aplace in a cultural context.
My next picture is a snapshot of a native Swedish woman I found on Instagram. This image was taken in the town of Hoga Kusten, a coastal town in Sweden. This image is meant to capture a adventure, similar to my own. This photo was taken to document where the woman went, what she did, and what she saw.
This image is definitely composed a certain way. The image is meant to tell us about the woman and how she feels about where she is and what she is doing. The angle the image is taken at shows us where she is and how beautiful it is. Her pose is very fun. The image as a whole can be described as free, fun, and open. Her smile and her pose tells us that she is simply enjoying the moment while also showcasing where she is and what she is doing. I would argue that this tells us a little about the woman herself.
What this image says about representing other through image and text is that for the most part, posing and image composition is largely universal. If a person is smiling in a picture it means they are happy. However, little intricate details such as where we place ourselves in the pictures, what type of details we use in our pictures are pretty unique. For example, I thought making my boyfriend pose next to a snowman would make the photo less serious. To someone else from a different culture and not knowing the context in which the photo was taken, it might just be another picture with a snowman hanging out in the middle of the road. The context of the picture is important when looking at it and analyzing it and it’s composition. This has been my aha! moment. Certain cultures might have certain idiosyncrasies in the way they compose images to represent people that may be lost in other cultures.
Digital Communications 
PASS — nice choices.
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