For this part of the assignment, every student was asked to find a person that they do not know very well and swap personal photographs with them. I swapped photo's with a girl called Serena who is currently studying Textiles. I do not know this person very well and I have no knowledge of her background or
personal information. She gave me photo's of her bedroom and study area and I gave her photo's of myself growing up. The next part of the experiment was to investigate the photo's and gather as much information as possible about that person.
The first set of photos I looked at are of her bedroom and close ups of objects around the room. At first glance, the main thing that jumped out to me is the colour red. Also the colours pink and purple are evident. These colours show an influence on her personal style, for example, she has a red throw on her bed and a red cushion. She also has a red, pink and purple head board. Pictures on her wall are of shoes, mainly stilettos which suggests she has interest in fashion and high heeled shoes. Also on one of the pictures is the title 'Vogue' which is also an indication of her interest in fashion. I also got the impression that she is interested in the French language as this is present on some of her pictures on the wall. This indicates to me that she is an elegant person who appreciates the beautiful things in life and is able to find something so simple but still be able to find its inner beauty. I noticed that with these elegant possessions, she adds her own style on to them by adding a bit of glamour. An example of this is that, there are two pictures on her wall that are very simple, but on top of them both she has placed a coloured, sparkly flower.
In her wardrobe, the first thing I noticed are loads of browns, blacks, whites and greys with a few flashes of reds and blues. This suggests that she has an her own individual style that seems to be a safe colour palette. The flashes of reds and blues are telling the story of how the person has begun to develop and take risks with her personality and sense of style. The few flashes suggest that she is not yet confident enough to explore her style to its full potential. I also noticed that she has placed her shoes neatly on the floor of her wardrobe in straight line, which suggests that she is an organized person.
Another thing to strike me about her bedroom is that she still has a single bed. Her bedroom looks big enough to have a double bed so it is interesting that this girl who is no longer a teenager still has a single bed. One scenario of the single bed could be that her parents would not approve of her having a double bed, as this would indicate her growing up and becoming an adult with a developing sexuality. Another scenario could be that she likes to be reminded of her childhood. Every child has more than likely to have started off in a single bed so it is possible she likes to be reminded of a more happier time in her life, being a child with no worries and no stress. Another indication of this scenario is that she has some stuffed teddy bears on a stand. This too could be a reminder of her childhood and of a happier time. The last thing to comment on is that her room is very neat and tidy with little or no clutter, and she also shows good spatial awareness. I do feel though that she may spend more time in her study than in her bedroom due to the lack of clutter and possessions in her bedroom.
The next set of photographs are of her study area. It is clear that this girl likes to read. She has shelves on the wall and they consist mainly of books, with a lot of novels by the author Dean Koontz. She also has books on our planet Earth and of animals and the environment. This suggests to me that she is interested in both fact and fiction, which also suggests that she is well educated and has an interest in learning new information. As she obviously likes to read, I feel that she is the type of person that enjoys her own company and likes her privacy. A photo on her shelf of a camping environment is an indication to her liking nature and the outdoors. This links to the material she reads on animals and the Earth.
In the cupboard in her study, I noticed that it is not tidy like her bedroom. It feels like she uses this as a secret space to hide things that she does not want others to see. Also there is a poster on the inside of the door which says 'The first Kiss'. This suggests to me that she has a hidden secret of how much she enjoys romance and the title suggests that she likes the magic within a first kiss and the start of a romantic relationship. I have not really seen anything to indicate if she has a boyfriend but from my perception of her either she likes the thought of having a boyfriend or if she does have one then I would think that she has been with this person for a long time. I did see a photo of a man playing a trumpet so this tells me that she has a musical family member or close friend.
The last thing that caught my attention is that she has a big collection of music. Having such a big collection indicates she likes a variety of music from old 60's music to present day pop music. Her interest in a variety of music is directly linked to her style in her bedroom and her study. She has a mixture of tastes and styles which suggests that she is an open minded person and she is not the sort of person to judge others on their appearance or their interests.
Part 1B
After analysing Serena's photographs and once she had analysed my photographs, we met up to discuss what information we had gathered about each other. Serena talked first about her findings. I gave her photo's from my childhood to the present day and I was completely shocked at how accurate she was. Firstly she noticed that in every photo when I am smiling, I do not ever show my teeth. For some reason I do not like showing my teeth when I smile and Serena was spot on with this. She also described my personality to me, some of which I did not even realise until she had said it. For instance, she noticed that I wear a lot of jewellery which suggested to her that I like to decorate myself and I like to be noticed. This is exactly true and she also guessed that I have piercing and body art. She discovered who my closest friend is, how important she is to me and how much she has influenced me throughout my life. It was a little bit uncomfortable that she described me as confident when I am with others but not so confident on my own. I had never really thought of myself like that before but it is a revelation to me. I do not like being on my own at any time and I definitely prefer the company of friends and family which is exactly what Serena thought. I thought that this part of the experiment was very over whelming. Being a research subject is a little uncomfortable as i did not know what that person would discover about me.
Serena gave me photographs of her bedroom and her study area. When we discussed what my findings were I believe she was a little shocked at how accurate I was on some things. I guessed correctly that her favourite colour is red and that she is a romantic person. I also guessed correctly that she is an animal lover and loves nature and the environment. She is a lover of high heels and fashion which I got right, also that she likes French which she actually studied at higher level in high school. I said to her that I thought her parents were maybe a bit strict with her being an adult as she still has a single bed and she told me that her mum is not very comfortable with her having a boyfriend. So my theory was a little accurate. My theory about her hidden pleasure of her poster in her cupboard, turned out to be a revelation to her. She had not really thought about it in that way before but she believes it to be true. I found this part of the experiment exciting. Researching a persons' life through photographs was a challenge but it was interesting to see what things i got right about that person.
No comments:
Post a Comment