Situational Tour: Ask

So official
Telling you exactly what it is
But does it really?




Our flag waving proudly above all
Eagle watching over
Casting off a sense of
Strength
Confidence
Security




Now pride and patriotism
All these symbolic American Buildings
All within a photograph of each other




The last glimmer of sun
Illuminating precisely what it chooses
Above all the surrounding edifices

Is this she chosen
Or simply lucky to be strategically
Catching the sun’s final bow?




Looking at the severe contrast
Standing in the same spot
Just catching a different angle

Not quite the threatening security
Of its neighboring White House

Maybe it should be called the Grey House
Because things never seem to be so pristine and white
When dealing with this jaded building




Along with the columns
One thing remains constant
A sense of regality that lends fear
Intimidation




The nonchalance of the guard
still instills unease in the spirits of passerbyers

Am I doing something wrong?
Did I zoom in a little to close?
How many hidden cameras are there actually?

All quite unnerving when commuting around the city
Someone/thing always seeing and recording your actions




Always seeming to say stop you
With an upheld hand
From when to cross a street
To what you can say




But is it fair?
You can say what they find acceptable,
But they blur the facts
What is actually going on
All to be reelected, promoted, favored

All this encompassed in these
Blurred windows
Silhouettes invisible
But not absent
Even as night falls
And everyone goes home




Walking out of the golden glow




Like the future buds on these bare limbs
You know there are people here
But they are only visible when
The sun is shining
When the going is good
And tough questions are forgotten




The contradiction, is it day or night
The sky argues day
The hopeful, glowing light counters with night
Because isn’t it easier to live under the disguise of darkness?



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Location

I have chosen the Old Executive Office Building near the White House for my photo project.


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I am roughly interpreting the four topics as follows, but I will see where the project/mood takes me when I am actually there photographing:

ritual - this institution followed the daily ritual of business transactions, people coming and going to work, tasks completed, etc

ideology - defined as a way of looking at things. this building is huge, and has a very grand and regal presence. it's architecture is beautiful, classic and reminiscent of times since passed. when I look at this building, I feel as if I could be standing on Rue de Seine in Paris or in Mayflower in London. wistful is the main descriptive word I think of when seeing this building.

security - most obviously, the high, ominious gates and fence shows how secure this building is, protecting all the officials and important work going on inside

authority - being an official, executive, government building, this edifice is overflowing with authority, from every stately archway to each intricate design around the windows

Do you consider new forms of artistic expression created by use of a computer to be art, or only strictly traditional mediums?

Before computers became personalized, or even used in businesses, art was confined to mediums of paint, pastel, pencil, ink, watercolor, film, etc. Now almost every work of art can be enhanced on the computer: the colors brightened, lines drawn straighter, images cropped and altered. Or, some work is created start to finish on a computer. I have an open mind when it comes to art and embrace different ideas, and new technology. Each person has a different way of expressing him/herself and if computers have opened the doors to many new mediums and programs, then I think that people have the opportunity to choose what they work best with. The only time I have an issue with using computers to enhance work is when people try to pass of work made better by a machine as created strictly with their own talent.