Throughout my work I love to integrate symbolism anywhere from the dynamic poses of the model to the actions and colors used within. Throughout these unison pieces, I used the same model to emphasize an individual's growth and how technology overuse impacts us in different stages of life. When scanned, The QR codes take you to the articles I used to research each project so you can learn along with me. In this piece, I emphasized the overuse of smartphones among teens. Although phones and social media are not to blame for the rise of mental health issues it is important to note that social media can emphasize the problems and struggles that occur, and already vulnerable teens may require additional support through their parents or therapy.
As young adults start to venture out, they find themselves starting to care about the impact of the world around them along with the things going on in the world. When I created these projects I was 18, and found myself drowning in the news. During the pandemic, I just freshly turned 16, and I found myself consuming mass amounts of news every day trying to do everything in my power to help everyone I could whether it be signing petitions or donating to the wildfires. I found it exhausting and saw my mental health at an all-time low. Within this project, I wanted to capture that feeling using bold bright colors to draw you in and capture your attention, just to find the subjects are trapped within a box in the never-ending loop of consumption and helping to the point where they are hurting themselves. The main subject's hand on her own throat, while her head is stuck within a film camera viewer, shows that dangerous line between being kept informed and the over-consumption that can come along with it.
Technology acts as a bridge bringing Grandparents and Children Together. I emphasized this by connecting the main model dressed in a coat from the 70s to the side portrait who is dressed in a more modern style by a 1920s-style hearing aid. The article tucked away inside the QR code, speaks about how technology can help grandparents provide a listening ear to their grandkids allowing them to still guide while not living close. On the Main subject leg, you can see an automatic pill dispenser showing the viewer that technology is a lot more than just phones and social media, it is a tool that even helps in everyday lives.
In this Project I wanted to emphasize the effect technology can have when it comes to young adulthood. Between the Coffee Stains and Calendar Dates I wanted to express how as a young adult you can be pulled in every direction trying to find a balance between your school work, getting on dating apps to try and find the perfect person, or even how to pay your bills online. We use technology for almost everything and trying to navigate that as a fresh adult can be stressful.
16 is the ripe age for learning how to drive and finding the confidence to venture forth on your own. You no longer need your parents to drive you around, instead finding solace in the GPS to guide you through the back roads of your city. In this project, I made sure there was nothing that wasn't connected to emphasize the connections we start to make as new drivers driving around our hometowns, the rubber band and clip represent how home still holds us down and grounds us, knowing there is always a place to come back to
Most 30-year-olds are starting to navigate their families, and finding a balance for not only themselves but also their children. With the usage of film negatives taken of family members documenting their lives and others around them, I expressed the feeling of needing to document everything in your child's life. The hands grip the subject's face forcing her to look at the pictures and witness the growth of time, fearing that she's going to miss a key moment, as she traps herself, the staples hold her down forcing her not to look away.
