New experiences

For this project i was given the task of recording a new experience that i would embrace over the summer holidays in a new way. So i would be recording something in a way in which i had not tried before or that was different/ unusual to me. 

Trip To San Fran:

i went on a trip to san fransisco which was full of new experiences the most shocking to me being the homeless:

san Franciscos problem with the homeless is unavoidable and unmissable. I was in san fran for 3 days and still saw at least 50 homeless people sleeping on sidewalks, parks, benches. Rummaging through bins dragging trolleys of all of their possessions etc. And what the most shocking part of it was is how easily they just seem to blend into the every day busyness of the city and the people within it. Many people pay them no attention at all as though it was nothing more than normal seeing numerous people forced to dive head first into bins or sleep on a noisy pavement. whilst i was there i took a few photographs of the area and many of my pictures actually had these homeless people in some part of my photograph making them a part of the city in which they are usually treated as though they are not apart of by being ignored and made invisible from the seemingly exclusive luxury of having money, the money that you apparently need to become a member of society. i decided to zoom in on these images and make these people the main aspect of my work as this is how i felt when experiencing this new city as i could not seem to take my attention or empathy away from these people. I then photoshoped these images into simplistic print style designs which take away the ‘realistic’ element that a photograph usually possesses to display the very unrealistic way in which they are treated by the majority which is as though they are not existing, not ‘real'. This process i used was something that i have not tried before and i experimented with a few different edits. 

My favourite edit i made is the negative print where the images look mostly black as the images are harder to make out and less noticeable, representing how these people were not noticed in the city. However there a subtle clues in the images like the out line of shoes in the top left image and the outline of the cars showing how close to society they are and there fore out of place it seems. These prints force the viewer to look more carefully at the images and kind of investigate the image to gather clues and there for draws the viewers attention completely to these people who are usually ignored and hopefully shows an underlying message of how people should pay more attention to these people. Also this edit style makes the images look more distressing for the subjects (the homeless people) dues to the harsh contrasts and bazaar effect again amplifying the harshness of these peoples lives for the viewer to actually see.

Another new experience i recorded was the experience of accidentally eating a hot chilli pepper. I decided, as it was a rather comical experience (in a way) to record this in a slightly more comical way and therefore wrote a poem about my experience.

Oh how the flavour was intense
As my eyes widened all sat round at the the table, look at my in suspense.
It almost took a moment, for the spice to kick in so
At first i thought perhaps id got away with it, but no
For the pepper i had eaten, indeed it was a chilli
As i choked and sputtered my guests looked up, well now they knew what hit me
I gasped for air and cried for help and reached out for my drink
My mum in background just repeating, are you ok, what do you think
My eyes shut closed from over tearing, my dad said have a beer
I took a sip but i burned more, it will never pass i fear
The waitress flustered came over saying, i told you it was hot
I looked up angered , i asked for medium, which the chilli was certainly not
Other guestes were looking over, at us causing such a scene
Not my fault though, putting chills in a mediums just plain mean
And finally when the spice did pass, leaving my mouth in hurt
The evil waitress from before, asked me if i want dessert
NO

I also recorded this experience of tasting the hot chilli by creating an abstract painting however to reflect my lack of control over the spice and the intensity of the flavour i squirted paint onto the page aggressively and at random using the colours red yellow and brown to represent the hot flavour. I then scrunched the page as i didn't want the painting to be controlled or with too much thought put into it as the experience of the chilli was fast and explosive and uncontrollable.