Not Necessarily to be Taken Literally!
- gbdrcf05
- Apr 4, 2021
- 6 min read
Aloha friends and welcome (back) to my website! :)
Today's post is a showcase of some photos I took given the assignment to take photos that aren't literally what the captions say they are, therefore can be interpreted in different ways.
To start off, I did this assignment in the style of "Hunt and See" in which I took pictures without looking at the given list of topics in which I was expected to capture. Then, I went back, looked at the list of given topics, and matched up the photos I took with one topic that I feel would best fit. Because I did the assignment this way, I know that the majority of these photos will not be literal interpretations of each of the topics, which was the main goal.
In order to achieve the images I did, I took a plethora of photos while on a walk with family and family friends on a military base, as well as some images taken at home, and one taken in a restaurant.
My spring break experience this year was similar to my previous spring break experience from last year because, in both times, there was Covid. The only thing really different about this spring break compared to my last spring break was that I had this assignment to take these photos. Last spring break, the spring break in the year 2020, I was being very artistic and musical, channeling energy to more creative outlets within the performing arts. This spring break, the one for the year 2021, however, I noticed myself focusing more on photography than anything else. I also went out a lot more during this year's spring break compared to last year.
Now, without further ado, here are the photos that I was able to capture over this past spring break. Maybe try and see if you can figure out the meanings behind each of them before reading each caption. Remember, the whole goal of this assignment was for the photos to not be literal to the theme, so think outside the box when guessing what they mean. ;)
Top Two Photos:
This photo relates to the topic of someone in water in a different way than you may realize. In the state of Hawai’i, it is tradition to have leis ceremonies after someone passes, in which one may toss or gently release a lei into the ocean in respect for whoever passed. So, in this picture, someone was tossing a way into the ocean for her sister that had passed away. You can also see my grandma (closest to the camera) saying a prayer during this time. This was actually the only photo where I thought of exactly which topic I wanted it to line up with while I was taking the photo, because I feel it is both literal and non-literal at the same time.
This photo relates to the topic of someone irritating because of how when my cousin and I are together, we normally do a lot of the same things, one of them being over-explaining Hamilton references or over singing Hamilton songs. so in this photo, we were actually talking about Hamilton as well as both messing around with some inner tubes we had found while on a walk.
Remaining Photos:
In this photo, we were afraid my cousin was going to slip on the rocks, end up being scraped or more seriously hurt, and then falling on more rocks in the water.
Me and one other person both enjoy photography and love to bring our cameras with us whenever we feel there will be choke photo opportunities.
I loved how serene this setting was with the mountains and clouds far in the distance and the beach and docks further up, all surrounded by the teal waters.
I had found a dog in July of 2020 which looked malnourished and neglected, and after finding no chip or potential owners, we decided to keep him. Six months later, a family claimed him whilst I was taking him for a walk, and they took him back claiming we stole the dog. Since then, the dog has returned to the physical state of which we had found him: full of fleas and has mange and skinny.
My best friend is actually myself, just wanted to make you think I actually had friends. Just kidding!.. The person on the far left is my cousin, I'm right next to her holding my camera, in the middle is my grandma, and the people to her right are her closest friends. We are all 'walking buddies.'
This photo is simply just of a flower in a show whilst you can see most of the flowers behind it are in direct sunlight.
I've always thought going into a flight simulator would be awesome, and I hope that maybe someday I will be able to experience what it's like.
Seeing those brown brick walls is so melancholy, I don't know what about it exactly, I guess it's just a 'pet peeve' of mine.
I have always really really really wanted to travel outside of the U.S., and with travel opening back up, I've been reminded of this desire.
I will always be taking pictures, pretty much. It's pretty addicting... I can't imagine a world without taking photos.
I literally do not understand this map... I'm too tired to think about what it means.
Fire trucks are always rushing; every second counts when someone is in danger/need of emergency urgent assistance.
I had never visited this specific place on one of the military bases, before. However, I love the serenity of this tree on a small hill and the turquoise ocean behind it.
I saw this training thing (I think that's what it is, anyway) and it looked so high up, and I was thinking about how chaotic it would be to climb that while there was strong winds and/or rain, especially being that high up at the top.
This was a tiny flower I had barely noticed on the ground when walking.
In honor of her birthday, Brownie A La Mode. :)
Yeah... food never lasts that long.
My cousin and I hid an innertube we found in a bush while we went to go get food at a restaurant, then went back to grab it after we had finished eating.
Just some guy taking a break and looking at his hard work after having been painting the wall.
Out of 100%, I feel that about 40% of my photos are literal and about 60% of them are not literal. I feel that it turned out this way because I tend to be a more literal person, even though I took the photos without looking at the list, when matching them up I was still being very literal. Because of this, this assignment was definitely a challenge for me. But, that is why I decided to take photos before looking at the checklist in order to limit the amount of literal versus nonliteral photos.
Additionally, I had the chance to view some of my classmates' photography works and how they interpreted this assignment and a sneak peek of the images they had captured. After seeing other images in the sneak peeks, I do think that my collection of photos is satisfactory. And, if I had more time or another opportunity to capture images I do not feel that my style would have changed. I don't feel that I would be more or less literal because that really just depends on the way that I view things, which is kind of difficult to change right away.
Like I said, I consider myself to be a more literal thinker than one that is interpretive. And, I feel that others would describe me the same way, depending on how long they've known me. A lot of the people who have known me for a shorter amount of time or just met me would probably tell you that I am interpretative, however, the people who have known me for a long time would probably tell you that I'm more of a literal thinker. It all depends on how they see me and how I present myself when around them. For example, some of my friends don't even know that I like Visual Arts or any Arts, however, another group of my friends only know that I like art. so, it really depends on how I act around that person. But in the long run, if somebody truly knows me, they would probably tell you that I'm more of a literal thinker than anything.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post! If you like what you read/saw, please be sure to check out some of my other posts!
I am honored to be taking you along on my photography journey! I hope you stay safe and have a wonderful day. Much aloha!
For exclusive posts, behind the scenes, editing, photos fails, and more, follow my Instagram @giabellephoto or by clicking the Instagram icon at the bottom of this website! Mahalo!
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