Communist China again?

I don't really think the government should have any role in the restriction of access to art, to say the least. In accessing art they can put whatever they want in front of our eyes, I really don't care. Just don't try to block various art or music from us. It's free expression, and everyone has a right to it. If the government were to limit access to art, or increase censorship, I think we'd be regressing.

Upcoming Project

Comfort zones:

• the abandoned fish pond in my yard


• by the river


• in the dark room (how the hell do I photograph that)


• at Mike's with him and his puppies


• behind a camera


• in a friend's car


• my car


• in writing

Where else...... hm......

Whaaaa?

I can't imagine a world without art. I sincerely can't. It'd be like being dropped into the middle of a silent film from the 20's. No sound, no color, nothing. The world is art to me, and art is the world. If someone suddenly "outlawed art," I may in fact go into a state of panic and begin hyperventalating. I'd be like Anne Frank, and keep a diary of what I used to know about art and about my time waiting in hiding somewhere until art came back.

"Unappealing" Project

For the ugly project, I wasn't really sure what to do. But fate decided to lend a hand while I was here afterschool in the photo room. This little bug landed right in front of me, and just sat on my keyboard. When I came back with a digital camera, it had moved to a wire. It sat and almost posed in front of me, my own little creepy model. It's kind of cute, once you get used to him. Bugs are usually "visually unappealing," not ugly, considering everything has beauty in it somewhere. That's just the way nature made them. In some photos you can even see the little hairs on its legs. When a bug flies AT YOU, it's also pretty unappealing. It did fly at me a couple of times, which I've realized I'm not personally fond of. This only fueled my choice to use this bug for my ugly project. For my final photo (listed first here), I took a photo of my own glasses on the table and put a more faded image on top of the lenses. This is to represent when someone actually notices a bug, and how terrified some people become. I don't like calling any of these ugly though, because really they're not. They just don't look like something that is stereotypically beautiful.

"A world without music is like Communist China."

That quote is from Steve Murphy, for the record. You'll see it in Jesse's video journal.
I think that a world without music isn't a world at all. There'd just be no sound in general.
This is music's definition:
music [myoo-zik] - noun. any sweet, pleasing, or harmonious sound or sounds.
By definition, music can be ANY SOUND. If it's pleasing to someone, if it's sweet to someone, if someone likes it, then it's music.
Theory:
Art is everywhere. Music is art. Therefore, music is everywhere.
A world without music basically can't exist. Any sound or combination of sounds can produce music.

Beauty Project Explanation

This photo is one of my favorites. When I was sitting alone in the stairway, I looked up and stared at what was above me for a while. I took a picture, because I thought it looked somewhat beautiful, and it could be a way to convey emotion. I think photos like these are beautiful because I like it when things are viewed from a different angle. It's almost like a completely different world. At the time I was feeling alone and bleak, and it somewhat shows in the photo. Originally it looked too clear and crisp, but I'm glad with how it turned out.

I wasn't going to use this photo at first, but I started messing with it on photoshop and I liked how it looked. I think it's beautiful because of the shade of the lighting. It's a natural form of beauty that only happens at a certain time of day, and I was lucky enough to capture it at just the right moment. I'm also really proud of my editing, because there was originally a field goal marker, a sign, and lights in the picture. Now it's just sky (:

These mums were in front of my friends house when I was waiting for a ride home by myself, so I seized the opportunity. The mums were an interesting color, and positioned perfectly. I decided to increase the contrast and shadows so it would draw attention to the beauty of the flowers' color. I think nature is one of the most beautiful possible things to photograph. I'll explain later, there's another nature picture farther down.

This photo was actually taken in Cedar Grove (note the animal hospital). As I was walking down the street I was just seeing if I would get lucky with my photos, and I did. What attracts me to this picture most is the lights of the cars, the stoplight, and the streetlamp. The lighting in the sky makes a nice comparison. I think this is beautiful because it depicts something of modern suburbia, which I usually complain about, in a different light. Normally I think we have the worst, no stars like the country would have and no bright lights like the city would have. This picture shows that we actually do have something nice going for us. I'm happy it displays something that I normally don't find beautiful in a visually appealing way.

I attempted this photo as best I could to be honest. I think it's beautiful because ladybugs are pretty, and a sign of good luck. Although they are beetles, which are typically found unappealing by people, ladybugs are adored. I was fortunate enough to have this one land in front of me and stay still for a mini-photo shoot. It concerned me at first that the ladybug was out of focus and that the wall is very vivid, but now I think it is part of the photo's charm.

This photo was the first I worked on. I took it while apple picking, because it immediately caught my eye. I thought if it managed to grab my attention that well, it had to be beautiful. It was just a sole apple, all alone on the tree, and almost framed by the leaves. As I was saying earlier, I think nature is the most beautiful thing to photograph. People and animals are fine, sure. But nature is always beautiful. No matter what mood it is in, no matter what the weather is, nature can still be photographed perfectly. Nature doesn't put up a front or put on a fake smile. It stays exactly the same in front of a camera.