The photo above was taken in the summer of 2007 during my vacation to visit out-of-state family. The photo was taken because my aunt is holding the graduation gift she was so eager to present to me upon my arrival. Since 2007 was the year of my high school graduation, my family wanted to surprise me with something that would be, in her terms, “helpful in purchasing college necessities.” In composing the picture, I wanted to take the picture as my aunt was holding the money walking down the steps. When I was shocked by the amount of money she was holding, my brother asked her to “mean mug” the camera, which explains her facial expression as I took the picture. My background knowledge affected the photo because I knew she was anxious to give me something so my camera was present at all times. Once she told me to wait until she returns, I had my camera aiming at the steps she was about to walk out. This gave the photo a much different angle than if she were standing in front of me with the money in hand.
If my aunt was to take a picture of my reaction, she may have caught my large smile sitting in a white chair in my grandma’s backyard. Her angle would also be facing downward since she was on steps that were uneven with the ground. As for a caption of the photo, I can imagine my aunt saying these words to fit the description: “You know you want this money!” The only assumption I believe my aunt would have about me is that I’ll be very surprised by the gift she’s presenting to me.
Honestly, this exercise will not change the way I take photographs while traveling, how I represent others, or what I assume when taking the pictures of other people. I take pictures to remind myself of places and people I’ve seen in the past. Another way I can represent others in photographs is by taking shot-by-shot images where pictures are taken at rapid fire all within a short period of time. For example, if I set my camera to take multiple pictures within a five second span, I could easily record 5-10 pictures within that time frame. This could show different angles of what is taking place within the picture. I could also take video of the scene as someone else takes picture and then compare it. This will give the viewer different perceptions of the event from an image and video standpoint.
