Friday, October 12, 2012

Photo Essay: Nicholas Johnston and Penny Constanti

Photo Essay
Theme: Music, Subtheme: Instruments and Vinyl

The theme of our photo essay is ‘Music’, and our sub-theme is ‘instruments and vinyl’. We believe that we have reflected the notion of ‘everyday aesthetics’ (Murray 2008) by taking photos of musical instruments and a various array of vinyl. Everyone has experienced the feeling of when music has had the ability to “preserve moments in time”, to make you remember the smallest memories or feelings because of the music that was playing. Whether it is in the car, on a laptop, using an ipod or even just browsing in a shop, we all take pleasure in the simple moments that music gives us. We believed that by taking photos of our personal instrument and vinyl collection, we could give light and beauty to the mundane objects that create the music, with which we have compiled a “display and collection of (our) discovery”. We also wanted make sure that we included vinyl and an iphone. This allowed us to portray how technology may change how we listen to music, but the simple sensation that experiencing music gives us, has not differed.

The song we chose to include in our video is called 12 Bar Bruise by Melbourne band King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard. We felt it was an interesting choice because it was actually recorded using four iPhones; one placed in front of the drums, one for the bass amp, one for the guitar amp and one to sing directly into as well as a normal microphone. Because all the levels are high enough, the four iPhones placed across the room actually pick up all the instruments. It creates a highly reverberated sound. The point of choosing this track was to tie in with the choice we made to take our photos on smartphones in an effort to make a statement about multi-faceted usefulness of smartphones. This again is used to juxtapose the images of instruments, which portray the tradition way of playing and producing music.

Though our photos were not put in any particular order, we believe that by including instruments, vinyl, an iphone and an smartphone-created song, we can take you on a journey of music, showing the differing avenues of which we can create and enjoy music. 



References:
Murray, S (2008) Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture August 2008 vol. 7(2). 147-163

Written permission from 'King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard' to use their music:



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