color photo final project

"affect/effect"
final project for color photography class fall 2006


artist statement:
i've titled my project "affect/effect." what i've done is take quotes from cultural icons--music artists, films, the internet--and pair them with images that reflect the content of the quote. my goal was to create a narrative beginning with the state of the world and/or american society, continuing through how we feel about that, and ending with what we can do to make a change. the media is such a powerful institution in this world, and i think many people have a view of it as an information-bending, manipulating force. i am a communications major and i see that aspect in several sources; the media is often used to induce fear. what i want to do is show that the media can be used positively, and can be used to affect change. the title reflects two ideas--that there are many things in our culture that have an effect on us, and that we can turn those influences around and affect the world.

"5,500 Africans dying a day of AIDS, a preventable, treatable disease, is not a cause. 5,500 Africans dying each day is an emergency."
-bono of u2, on joinred.com
the (red) organization was created by bono and bobby shriver to involve the private sector in the fight against aids in africa
the necklace used to create the red aids ribbon is from uganda

"More than one billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day."
-"fast facts: the faces of poverty," united nations millenium project

"The UN puts civilian deaths at record levels, with over 3,700 fatalities logged for October 2006."
"So far, over 2,800 US service personnel have been killed, and more than 21,000 have been injured."
-"iraq violence, in figures," bbc news online

"Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it"
-"waiting on the world to change," john meyer

"How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror."
-from the film "v for vendetta"

"What kind of world do you want?
Think anything
Build a masterpiece
History starts now"
-"world," five for fighting

"Peace is something that has to be made. It doesn't come from passivity."
-pete townshend of the who in a "rolling stone" interview

"Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall"
-"the times they are a-changin'," bob dylan

"Over two million people have signed the ONE declaration--and all have signed as the result of being asked by ONE friend, family member, neighbor, or colleague. All of us have a tremendous opportunity to take action and influence those closest to us by learning and talking about these issues. From Dr. King to Nelson Mandela, history shows us that big changes can start with small actions. Together as ONE, we can start to make poverty history."
-one.org
one is an effort to rally people in the fight against the global emergency of poverty

"To being an us for once--instead of a them."
-"la vie boheme," from the film "rent"


credits:
*the "war is not the answer" sign is a product sold by fcnl.org
*the news broadcast is copyright 2006 by fox news network, llc
*rolling stone magazine cover and article are copyright 2006 by rolling stone, llc
*the one declaration can be found online at http://action.one.org/actionsignup.html
*the one bracelet was created by the one campaign