5.Classification Project

arothstein
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:22 pm

Classification Project

Post by arothstein » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:32 pm

My six images do not appear to have any direct correlation upon first inspection. However, there are four shared characteristics that allow them to be organized together. First and foremost, their composition is extremely unique. Each image has a strong horizontal backdrop interrupted by a vertical focal point. The mountains and the skeleton in image 1, the cityscape and the iron fence in image 2, the menu and cabinets in image 3, the buildings in image 4, the geometric mural in image 5, and the dirt floor in image 6 each present a lateral emphasis that is disrupted by the subjects, who create cross - shaped compositions. Secondly, they each have a geometric theme. Patterns, grids, circles, squares, color blocks: these attributes give a standardized vibe to each image. Thirdly, all six images lack an exact narrative. There are no linguistic messages and seemingly no coded messages either; suggesting that there is no cultural or learned understanding available. Their randomness ties them together. Lastly, they each display a muted or dulled color scheme. Images 1 and 6 are grayscale, images 2, 3, and 5 seem bleached and image 4 is monochromatic. The lack of brightness/ vibrancy makes each image even more arresting.

The images are displayed in their respective sequence here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55145369@N ... 101852041/

yunjikim
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:08 am

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by yunjikim » Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:18 am

Untitled-1.jpg
These images can be categorized by four different classification attributes that homogenize the relationship between each photograph.
1) The first classification attribute of these images is the number of subjects displayed in each photograph. Each photograph of a musical band has four male members. This is a repetitive attribute that occurs in all 5 photographs. 2) In addition, not only are these images numerically categorized, but they are also repetitive with their subject's activity. In each image, the subjects are all standing, lined up next to each other. The comparable poses signifies the similarities of each band, regardless of the progression of time. However, the chronological aspect of this classification contributes to the subtle differences in their similar, standing pose. Though all the bands are standing in a row, the earlier bands are photographed walking, capturing a moment in time of their daily activities. 3) Thus, the next classification attribute is time. These photographs are in chronological order, from the earlier formed bands to the band formed more recently. This chronological classification is culturally learned. Without knowing the bands or the year that they were formed, viewers would not be able to distinguish the organization of the images. In addition, the technological advancement hints the audience of the progression of time. The photograph of The Beatles on the far left seems like a classic black and white film photographic. The second of The Rolling Stones was taken in the 1960s with the same action from the bands; however, the photograph has a more sepia-like tone. Similar to the first photographic, this has a classic tone with a bit of film grain to show that it was taken with a film camera. The photographs at the end of Van Halen and Red Hot Chili Peppers are clearly more recent, showing a noticeable change in the photographic mean. These two photos are taken with a digital camera inside a professional studio. 4) The last categorical attribute is the similar photographic expression. All of these photographs, even after color photography had popularized, were shot in black and white. From The Beatles in 1960s to Van Halen in 1972, the traditional black and white photography remained the classic form of photographing musicians. However, the most recent formed band, Red Hot Chili Peppers is in color. Also, the musicians are naked. Though this band shows similar, traditional style with the pose, artists make slight changes to stray from the cultural norm and to appear different.
Last edited by yunjikim on Mon Nov 01, 2010 3:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

gclassen
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:20 am

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by gclassen » Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:17 pm

Image
Timeline by gclassen, on Flickr

I'd tried to do something a little different with my classification project. I tried to make a sequence reading from left to right that conveyed a specific message. I tried to find images that were somewhat similar compositionally. They all have a single object over an empty background. That being said, I picked each image to stand as a metaphor for something else. In addition, I mostly chose each image because it looked like it was professionally taken, and acted as an advertisement to sell something. The images however require some knowledge of popular society in order to get the meaning of the sequence. A viewer for example will have know who Michael Phelps is, and also would have to have the knowledge that he is endorsed by McDonalds and holds the record for most gold medals won at the Olympics. Also, they would have to be aware that childhood obesity is now an epidemic and is limiting a large number of children's opportunities.

The meaning of the sequence basically reads like this...

Michael Phelps won the most gold medals at the Olympics. He is endorsed by McDonalds which serves high fat/high cholesterol meals. Michael Phelps is publicly seen on TV and to some is an American hero and role model. By endorsing McDonalds, Phelps, a healthy looking world class athlete, promotes the fast food option to kids. The last image brings up the issue of stopping this promotion in order to decrease the childhood obesity levels.
Last edited by gclassen on Fri Nov 26, 2010 1:14 pm, edited 4 times in total.

RebeccaW
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:42 pm

beach

Post by RebeccaW » Sun Oct 24, 2010 5:37 pm

Image

The photos that I found on the internet are all linked by different classification attributions. The first classification is location, they are all taken beside the ocean. The next classification is subject in relation to the viewer, all of the subjects are facing away from the viewer. The third classification is subject in relation to each other, going from left to right the subjects are increasing in number. The picture on the right has only one person, the next has one and a half, the next has two, and so on until there are six people. The last classification for these images is the sly color, the sky color is gradually turning from a dull gray to a blue then to an orange. (see 2nd attachment for larger view)
Attachments
small beach project.jpg
beach project.jpg
Last edited by RebeccaW on Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:30 pm, edited 6 times in total.

tcecchine
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:26 pm

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by tcecchine » Sun Oct 24, 2010 6:44 pm

I chose to look at adolescent girls’ bedrooms, because as I spent a whole weekend helping my sister decorate my nieces room I realized they are all the same, and one color is dominant in this world of young girl décor. They all have so many things in common. I found it interesting that every room was pink, had a small bed centered in the room, colors everywhere, bright colors everywhere, and there was an overwhelming sense of fairytale characteristics that make me want to vomit. Not every girl follows this stereotypical look of what a “girls” room should appear to have. All of these images are related in the patterns they follow, and the colors schemes they follow as well. The images are full of textures that read off each other, and cause the eye to leave one, right into another image. They may also follow a pattern of time, so chronologically they are represented in a way that it seems they follow after another in time. By that I mean one could look at them right after each other and see they are related. Unique compositions, and formats allow these images to appeal to each viewer differently, as no one sees the same thing from an image. Repetition such as the same furniture styles, similar placement, and every room having a patterned and shaped wallpaper background, as well as each has some odd shaping that creates points for the eyes to follow. All of these elements are relevant to why a “girls” room appears to be this way, it is inviting for them.
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project 5 3.jpg
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project 5 2.jpg
project 5 2.jpg (7.26 KiB) Viewed 25676 times
project 5 1.jpg
project 5 1.jpg (7.11 KiB) Viewed 25676 times

tcecchine
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:26 pm

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by tcecchine » Sun Oct 24, 2010 6:45 pm

the other 2 images
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project 5 5.jpg
project 5 5.jpg (8.24 KiB) Viewed 25675 times
project 5 4.jpg
project 5 4.jpg (9.79 KiB) Viewed 25675 times

Stephanie_V
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:00 am

Classification Project - She's a Beauty

Post by Stephanie_V » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:03 pm

classification.jpg
Image created by me.
Both rows are a display of gender stereotypes (females dress themselves up, males "dress" their cars up). These are all material objects on which some people in our culture spend a significant amount of money. The more money spent on these objects, the higher one's status becomes. The top row is made up of images with warm colors, the bottom row is made up of dark colors, mostly black. The images in the top row are composed with the subject to the right, then centered, then to the right, then centered. The bottom row shows a frontal view of a car, 3/4 profile view, frontal view, 3/4 profile view. Each image also directly corresponds to the image directly above/below it, because many car enthusiasts care about their car the way a person cares about their body, to the point that the car becomes anthropomorphic; the headlights are like eyes, wheels are like shoes, stickers are placed on cars as a form of expression, and sometimes, an entire car will be covered in vinyl, covering up any imperfections beneath.

ariel
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:25 pm

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by ariel » Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:36 pm

Image 1958
Image 1961
Image 1978
Image 1981
Image 1998
Image2007
Image 2009
Image 2009

Each of these movie posters can be categorized in four different classifications. First, each poster has the name of the movie in big lettering to catch the viewers attention. Each poster uses a similar font that is close to Helvetica font with the acceptation of Grease. This shows that the marketing of these posters did not want to be unique for the poster but rather wanted to follow a trend so that the viewers would feel comfortable when reading the poster. The posters also all show what the culture was interested in at the time of the making of the movie. For example the 1958 movie showed that at this time the culture of movies making was about sci-fi thrillers to scare the audience with unrealistic plots. If you skip to the 70’s you can see the movie genre changes to musicals with Grease. Looking at the 2000’s the three movies shown as examples show that the culture enjoys comedies and views movies as a relaxing time. Third, each poster has the main character or characters posing on it looking directly at the viewer. This action shows how powerful eye contact is in our society because it is uses to get the viewers attention and keep it focused on the poster.
The first four posters are cartoonier or fake looking, which shows the age of the posters. The last four, which are more recent, are straight photographs of the actors. These realistic images show more recent films have pressure to make everything look as if it really happening with computer technologies and Photoshop. The older films had an easier time convincing the audience of the reality whether it was realistic or not, however today films need to make scenes bigger and more computerized to get the audience to believe it.
I organized the images in order by year. The earliest poster is shown first and the most recent is shown last. I chose to organize the images in this order to show that as time passes they continue to use the same organization for posters because they understand that in many cases the actors are what make people want to watch films rather than the film itself.
Last edited by ariel on Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sarah
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:02 pm

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by Sarah » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:07 pm

As humans, in our lives within the connected world, we share one thing in common: We feel the desperate need to identify and personify objects. If we see something outside of our world of knowledge and recognition we frantically search for reasoning and justification. Moreover, we search for similarities in that foreign object to other things, in which we can make relation too. Not understanding something or not knowing what something is, is one of the biggest frustrations we can face. In other words, like many politicians would say, we fear the unknown, and by giving the unknown a "face" we can feel more comfortable in our world. The pictures below identify this need for the personification of objects.

The pictures on the bottom are those of real human nature. The first being a couple embracing, the second, a woman walking down the street with a hat and bag, the third, babies looking cute as always and the last, a man vomiting. These are all actions that are familiar to us, they are things that we see on a daily or yearly basis. It is the representation of human nature at it's best (and worst for the young man expelling bodily fluids). Now, when we look at the faceless objects around us, we sometimes wonder what it would be like if those objects were like us... with faces, personalities and actions. We take ordinary food products and turn them into that girl in your spanish class, that crazy cat lady next door or your grandfather. We think, what if pumpkins could get drunk and expel their innards? How cute would it be if my cupcakes were babies? How hilarious would it be if I dressed up my carrot in people clothes. Although some people would say this action of personifying food is creepy and unnatural, we love, as human beings to make everything un-human more like us. We love to act as God, to have the power to create inanimate objects into personable, living characterizations of ourselves. What is more powerful then knowing we can somehow relate every object in our world to ourselves? Although I don't believe this is the healthiest of thinking for the people in this world, it is of human nature, and when you open your eyes, you see these relations everywhere.
Image
Attachments
Classification project2.jpg

klmurphy
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:28 pm

Re: 5.Classification Project

Post by klmurphy » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:34 pm

images.jpg
madonna vogue images.jpg
12_gk2124~_gustav-klimt_sea-serpents-iii-(det-).jpg

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