Photography with Photoshop

Hello again! This blog is going to be about a digital photography class that I am currently enrolled in. I have a project/art image due every week, so it is pretty strenuous. However, I have been learning a lot. It is interesting, because I am a pretty black and white thinker. For instance, I really enjoy mathematics, because there is only one right answer. However, this class focuses on the abstract. Therefore, it really stretches my brain. :)
I am going to technically explain my first two works, and you can look at the according photos. My topic is traveling/cultural differences.

My first work is called "The Inevitable Views". For the background, I used a picture I had taken of the Valparaiso waterscape. (I go to this city about every other day.) Anyway, the background scenery picture represents any place that a foreigner may visit. I asked my hostmom to take a picture of her glasses. Then, I manipulated that photo, like cutting out the insides of the glasses, etc. The glasses in this picture represent the lens or "points of views" of foreigners. It is inevitable that a foreigner sees a new place through his/her personal "lens" or cultural background, including customs and attitudes. To show that these inevitable points of view are sometimes defects, I drew scratches on the glasses. Furthermore, one of the two lens is red, which usually represents excitement, passion, etc. Therefore, the red lens is probably a view of a young traveler, seeing everything for the first time. Contrastingly, the other lens is blue, which usually represents peace and tranquility. Therefore, this traveler is probably an older, more experienced traveler.

The second work is called "The Puzzle of Cultural Understanding". All the pictures in the montage are pictures I have taken while I have been here in Chile. In fact, I cut out objects from about 15-20 different pictures to make the actual montage part. Many of the objects are food, scenery, or transportation related, such as a pizza, train, fish, seashell, mountain/hill, etc. At first view, it probably looks overwhelming and is hard to distinguish what the pictures are actually of. However, I feel that it is the same when a person comes to a new culture. Everything may appear different, overwhelming, and hard to understand at first glance. Therefore, the puzzle is not completed. Each piece represents more understanding. As the pieces of understanding are added, the puzzle of the culture falls into place. Furthermore, the pieces that have not been added yet are black and white, since it's hard to understand a piece of knowledge, unless one looks at it in the whole context (the puzzle piece together). Then, when a falling puzzle piece connects with the already understood pieces below, it changes from black and white to color. Finally, instead of keeping it a white background, I took a picture of a clock and then manipulated that picture. The clock represents time. With "time", comes more "understanding" and therefore, more puzzle pieces. A person cannot come to a new culture and expect to understand everything right away. With time, comes understanding.
I hope I explained these two works well. I should get going because my next one is due on Friday, and I don't have a concrete idea yet. Chao!

Soccer game, Beaches, and Sand Dune

Okay, I have not written a blog in a while. I have been so busy, but life is going very well here. I wanted to talk about 2 excursions I went on with the exchange program.
The first excursion was a soccer game between Chile and Uruguay. The game was in the capital of Chile, Santiago. Behind the stadium are the mountains. It was interesting for me to learn cheers, such as: "Chi-chi-chi, Le-le-le, Viva Chile!" and to watch the enthusiasm of the fans. There were probably about 75,000 people there. The game ended in a tie, 0-0. (No goals!~However, the fans were screaming and screaming!) Soccer is the most popular sport here to watch, just like football is in the U.S. A quick cultural note: in a class I had back in the U.S. a year or two ago, the professor used an example to illustrate a cultural difference. Two students were chosen. Their jobs were to draw the appropriate field (soccer or football) and to explain the rules of that game. It was very interesting. The student who drew the soccer field was done way before the student who drew the football field, as the football field has many more lines. Then, when explaining the games, the student who explained soccer took way less time than the student who attempted to explain football. Imagine...in soccer the object is to kick a ball into the goal for 1 point, but in football the object is to throw, kick, or hand off the ball for 1, 3, or 6 points (and safety=2), and there are many more rules to the game. It is so difficult for somebody to understand football if they have never seen it before. However, soccer is much easier to understand the general concept. This example merely showed a cultural difference. The lack of so many explicit rules and directions in this cultural (which is the soccer culture) is so apparent. Quick example...In the U.S. a professor might tell the students to read pages 21-57 of a specific book by a specific date, and then continue to give us the instructions reading by reading. However, here, I had a professor give us a list of about 6 readings and told us to read them by the first quiz. Such a difference! My instinct is to ask which book or reading first, what pages, etc. However, in this cultural, the rules are way less explicit.
My second excursion I want to share about in this blog was to Horcon, Zapallar, and Concon. Horcon is a fishing village with many artisan sellers. This village has fresh seafood empanadas, etc. Zapallar is a wealthier area with a beautiful and more secluded/unknown beach. I fell asleep on the beach for a while...so relaxing. Don't worry- I used sunscreen! :) Concon has the sand dunes, which I had already visited. However, this time, I wanted to take pictures jumping from them (as it doesn't hurt when we land into the sand and makes fun pictures). That's what I did. Also in Concon, we saw oceanic rock, which was gorgeous with huge waves beating against it. This excursion was relaxing and beautiful.
I hope to write another blog soon about everyday life and/or cultural differences.
God has blessed me so much on this trip. Then, to think of Easter and what God and Jesus did for me. Wow! I pray that if you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, that you would come to Him and accept the greatest sacrifice anyone has ever done for you. Happy Easter!