Digital Commons Network^™

The Harlem Book Of The Dead: Pan-Africanism, Funerary Portraiture, And The African-American Way Of Death, Jessica D. Feldman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the text and images contained in James Van Der Zee and Camille Billops’s seminal photobook The Harlem Book of the Dead (1978). The title, frontispiece, and introduction, combined with Van Der Zee’s funerary portraits, illuminate the connection between African-American rituals of death and Pan-Africanism. While these two concepts appear to be distinct, they are both predicated upon and intrinsically linked to key values in African American culture, including liberation and the meaning of community. Each chapter focuses on a different contextual framework for situating The Harlem Book of the Dead within the historical and political moment …

Framing Death And Suffering: An Examination Of Photographs Of Dead And Dying During The U. S. Civil War, World War Ii, And The Vietnam War, Richard Anthony Lewis

Dissertations

The dissertation analyzes photographic images of dead bodies that appeared in news settings related to warfare in the United States in three distinct eras – the 1860s, the 1940s, and the 1960s. The primary subject of the analysis are photographs of corpses created in the context of the American Civil War (1861-1865), World War II including the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust (1939-1946), and conflict and war in Vietnam (1950-1975). While the sample represents a partial catalogue of images of the dead in the context of warfare since photography emerged in the 1840s as a medium for disseminating news, the …

Do You Wanna Go Dancing?, Anthony Kascak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transdisciplinary art work within Do you wanna go dancing? unpacks the experience and perception of my interpersonal relationships, as well as the role that touch and introspection has in my visual arts practice and everyday life. I am interested in pairing the act of looking with the sensation of touching through specific installation and arrangement of intimate imagery, ceramic fragments and frames, and manual or digitally fabricated surfaces. The negotiation of these installations orient the viewer to consider their positionality within space, as well as the extent in which distance, intimacy, and vulnerability fluctuate inside these psychological spaces.

The …

Performing The Global: The Mediated Mobility Of Virtual Cosmopolitans, Hye Jean Chung

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article examines how contemporary media art and popular culture, vernacular cultural practices, and digital technologies express and actualize aspirations for global mobility. This task is propelled by the need to question the limited scope of how we envision globalization. Here I explore how people use forms of visual media to “perform the global” through mediated experiences of mobility. I propose the concept of “virtual cosmopolitans” to describe those who participate in the experience of global citizenship through their use of photography, film, and digital media. Although they do not have access to conventional forms of cosmopolitan mobility, these virtual …

(In)Equality., Jongin Choi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

(in)Equality. centers around my experiences as a transnational person and those around me who have affected my current concept of equality and cultural histories. My visual methodologies cover digital photography and editing, inkjet printing, and laser engraving: multimedia in a process of new discovery, translation between analog and digital, and rearticulation. The exhibition includes portraits peering down from above, illuminated by projected patterns and manipulated messages from Nike’s “Equality.” (2017). The purpose of this thesis paper is to describe the elements of identity, marginalization, and personal reaction to advertising, as well as the and theories which have shaped this project. …

Exploring The Enneagram Through Visual Aesthetics: Profiles For Personal Home Décor, Sarah K. Casmass

Masters Theses

The home is an environment that is the prime center for self-expression, personal sanctuary, and solace. On a psychological level, the home is a representation of the individual and, therefore, that individual should identify and find pleasure in their personal home space. Decorative art has long provided visual solutions for our innate desire to accentuate our spaces and express ourselves. However, there is a need for a connection between the visual arts and the augmentation of our basic psychological needs through home décor. With countless resources available for an individual to become more self-aware, there is a deficit in the …

Perspectives Of High School Photography Teachers Regarding Visual Literacy, Kristi Oliver

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of high school photography teachers regarding visual literacy. A qualitative methodology that used a phenomenographic research design was employed to gain understanding about the perspectives of high school photography teachers in their conceptualization, perceptions, and experiences surrounding visual literacy. A survey/ questionnaire was used to explore participants’ paths towards becoming a high school photography teacher, the amount of years they have been teaching, and their geographic location. Participants perception of school demographics such as school size, community contexts, racial, ethnic, and economic diversity were also collected. Additional prompts were designed to investigate curricular influences, …

Elizabeth Hein, Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio, Elizabeth Hein

Senior Art Portfolios

Elizabeth Hein's Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio, showcased in the Baer Gallery from April 8th to May 3rd, 2019. Works include graphic design, package design, and a zine.

Presenting A Product Design From Computer-Generated Imagery (Cgi), Mirjeta Mustafa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to determine a solution to overcome photography problems to present product design by using Computer Generated Imagery. CGI and virtual design now play a key role in the development of many materials, processes and products. Through this study has been explored, the impact of 3D render to exhibit the product design, as well as a brief history of photography and how it is used to present the product, the problems that have emerged during the use of photographs to present the product design have been discussed, and how new technologies have enabled us to …

This Must Be The Place, Eve White

Theses and Dissertations

This publication is the companion piece to “This Must Be the Place,” a 3D realization of my conceptual photography work exhibited in the Anderson Courtyard at VCU's 2019 School of the Arts MFA Show. I photograph scenes from nature and reproduce these images onto flattened plexiglass planes, arranging them in new, natural environments and photographing them again. The outcome is a scenic collage in which two unfamiliar locations become superimposed. It is my hope that as people experience the work they become a part of the texture of it.

Carlisle Indian Boarding School Portraits: From The Nineteenth Century To Contemporary Art, Nina Leigh Fiorucci

Wayne State University Theses

This essay examines how Carlisle Indian Boarding School portraits portray transformation in students and the aesthetic history that perception holds with portrait painting, the ideological use of student portraits as illustrations of assimilation, and the continued emotional weight those portraits carry in contemporary media. Formal and aesthetic choices by the official school photographer and propagandistic uses by the school’s founder determine the role of nineteen-century assimilationist and racist ideology in the commission and dissemination of CIBS student portraits. Additionally, the appearance of these images in contemporary media and art provide a continued analysis of CIBS portraits as visual representatives of …

Stranded At Sea: Photographic Representations Of The Rohingya In The 2015 Bay Of Bengal Crisis, Jenny Yeung, Caroline Lenette

The Qualitative Report

Visual representations can contribute to shaping how the general public perceives and engages with issues of forced migration. In 2015, thousands of Rohingya became stranded in the Bay of Bengal when smugglers abandoned them on unseaworthy boats and regional governments refused their disembarkation. Their ordeal made headlines across the globe and photographs documenting the crisis were widely disseminated. This paper applies visual-social semiotics to four of these photographs from an Agence France-Presse public exhibition. Our analysis suggests that the features in the photographs transcend the conventional “threat versus victim” dualism that typically characterizes such representations, to capture both the suffering …

Franz Roh And Visual Juxtaposition In Foto-Auge, Irini Zervas

Theses and Dissertations

This study of Foto-Auge (1929) is grounded on the approach of Franz Roh and aims to unlock the book’s meaning through an analysis of layout and visual sequence. This thesis also demonstrates how Foto-Auge proclaims photography’s ability not merely to record, but to disrupt any sense of reality in images.

Having A Voice And Being Heard: Photography And Children's Communication Through Photovoice, Panizza Allmark, Kylie J. Stevenson, Talhy Stotzer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Photography can be a powerful tool for self-expression. For those who are less empowered in our community, such as children, photography can provide a voice through images. It is a form of creativity that can provide a new way of seeing. This article examines the potential of photovoice as a meaningful way to develop critical thinking and communication approaches. Photovoice is a method of participatory action research that is innovative in the ways by which it enables participants to identify and represent their surroundings. Photovoice has been used in anthropology, public health, social work and education, and is associated with …

From Portraits To Selfies: Family Photo-Making Rituals, Krystal M. Bresnahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From family-style portraits to selfies, who is photographer and/or photographed varies as families engage, stage, and interpret the visual. How families participate in photo-making changes how individual family members feel about and relate to not only their photographs, but also each other. In this dissertation, I examine photographs as visual and material objects, and include the communication processes and ritual practices of producing, consuming, curating, viewing, and circulating these photos. By framing family photo-making as ritual, I explore how families do photo-making in everyday life, and identify the patterns of choice embedded in the genre of family photography, which symbolically …

Developing Italy: Photography And National Identity During The Risorgimento, 1839-1859, Beth Saunders

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The introduction of photography to Italy in 1839 coincided with the nationalist movement known as the Risorgimento, which began with a series of Constitutionalist uprisings in 1820 and culminated in political Unification in 1861. Photography thus developed alongside a country in the making, and the project of building a nation was historically entwined with the new technology. This dissertation analyzes the impact of photography on the political movement that made Unification possible, emphasizing how early photographers engaged and expanded upon the iconographic traditions of prints, paintings, and literature in order to envision the Italian nation. By depicting politically charged monuments, …

Elsewhere, Amber Law

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The photographer discusses the work in Elsewhere, her Master of Fine Arts exhibition held at East Tennessee State University in the Reece Museum, located in Johnson City, Tennessee. The exhibition is displayed from March 1 through March 31, 2016 and consists of 17 color photographs and 3 videos representing a body of work that visually communicates the photographer’s interest in transient lifestyles.

The influence and research regarding the concept is communicated by a focus on artists, literature and art historical knowledge that pertain to Law’s work. The artists included are Rineke Dijkstra, Jocelyn Lee, Lise Sarfati, Stephen Shore, Robert …

Osamu James Nakagawa Interview, Myumi Ware

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Osamu James Nakagawa was born in New York City; raised in Tokyo, Japan and returned to Houston, Texas at the age of 15. He received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Houston in 1993 He is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of Art at Indiana University and a recipient of the 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship and 2010 Higashikawa Award: New Photographer of the Year, and 2015 Sagamihara Photographer of the Year in Japan. Nakagawa's work is shown internationally and his monograph GAMA Caves was published by Aka Aka Art Publishing in January 2014.

His recent work, BANTA …

Public Relations In The Restaurant Industry: Using Visual Social Media To Increase Consumer Relationships, Carly M. Cady

Journalism

As daily social media usage grows, marketing through these platforms become increasingly important for public relations professionals. Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms, provides a new way to instantaneously reach millions of potential customers through the use of visuals. However, with limited knowledge of this new public relations tool, standing out and creating a successful presence for your business is difficult. This study is to explore how visual social media, specifically Instagram, can be used to increase consumer knowledge in the restaurant industry.

Investigation of current literature regarding the topic and gathered opinions of industry professionals will …

Nostalgia And Iphone Camera Apps: An Ethnographic Visual Approach To Iphoneography, Maria L. De Panbehchi

Theses and Dissertations

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone and camera on social media. iPhoneography, the photography taken or edited with the iPhone, has set the trend of nostalgic photography on social media during the 2010s; thus, the iPhone, a high-tech camera, produces low-tech-looking images. This dissertation attempts to find out why iPhone photographers (iPhoneographers) take, edit, and share images that mimic photographs taken with analog photographic equipment. I argue that nostalgia allows iPhoneographers to use the iPhone as a creative tool and to belong to a community. Based on the arguments of Vilém Flusser—who suggested that photographers are more interested in …

Meditative Aesthetic, Fiona Naomi Cashell

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Through the use of photography and digital media processes, my art practice explores themes relating to identity, the consciousness of self, home, environment and personal relationships. These themes are explored via an observational approach (external), or, via personal experience (internal); each approach highlighting psychological processes, the vulnerability of self and the commonality of human experience and behavior. In my most recent work, I am using a combination of photography and video, site-specific installation and mixed media applications. Areas of research I am interested in and actively utilize in my work include relational and environmental psychology, cognitive aesthetics, visual communication and …

Learning Beyond The Classroom: Photography As A Major Design Element In Graphic Design Layouts For Print And Web, John E. Dyer

Theses

Learning Beyond the Classroom: Photography as a major design element in Graphic Design Layouts for print and web, is a thesis which explores alternative methods for learning and the teaching of the design process through the use of shared experiences and expert testimony.

The final thesis will provide a resource for designers and students to be able to discuss the effective and ineffective application of design principles and provide some basic lessons in the use of photography in graphic design.

Elements of design that are to be discussed include, but are not limited to: typography, hierarchy, color, scale and placement. …

The Development Of Photography Training For Recreation And Wellness Marketing, Erica Pax

Master of Education in Instructional Design and Technology Plan II Graduate Projects

The Department of Recreation and Wellness marketing office previously did not have a standardized photographic workflow to ensure all marketing student employee photographers consistently capture, edit, name, and store digital image files. As a result, the digital photo library contained digital image files of varying quality that were organized inconsistently. These inconsistencies made it difficult for designers to quickly and efficiently locate adequate image files for use in the creation of promotional items. In addition, a reduction in administrative staff and an increase in workload necessitated that new student employees learn new processes through self-instruction.

The researcher created a photography …

Consuming Modernity: Photography In Pre-Colonial Korea, 1876-1910, Heejeong Sohn

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Postcolonial studies have successfully unveiled the cultural, social, and political networks of imperial and colonial representations embedded in visual documents of the non-Western world. Within this context, the early photography of Korea has been presented as a cultural force imposed on Koreans in relation to colonialism and Orientalism. This dissertation rethinks the representational politics of early photography during the pre-colonial period of 1876 to 1910 by problematizing the master narratives and suggesting alternative ways to interpret this historical material. Through analyzing the historical contexts of photographic materials and practices, this dissertation argues that photography, as a device of cultural expression, …

Visual Framing Of Global Sporting Events In World Newspapers: Comparing The 2014 Winter Olympics And 2014 Fifa World Cup, David Lamar Morris Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Newspapers have long covered worldwide sporting events. However, their coverage can reflect multiple viewpoints on the events. Using a content analysis of photography and design elements, this study considers the nationalist and global coverage frames used by newspapers worldwide for the 2014 Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup. It found that newspapers use different visual tools to cover the sporting events, with photographs being the most prominent. Countries also tended to cover the events through a national perspective. Only Brazilian newspapers in the coverage of the FIFA World Cup provided extensive non-national coverage of the events. This study advances the …

The Use Of Photography As A Clinical Tool In Social Work : A Theoretical Exploration Using Winnicottian And Jungian Lenses, André N. Zandoná

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

In this theoretical study, the photographic process was examined as having the potential to be used as a psychodynamic clinical tool in social work. Psychodynamic theoretical concepts by Carl Jung and Donald W. Winnicott were examined as guiding principles that will allow clinicians to understand how photography can be useful as a means to understand one's internal experience as well as external relationship with the world. This body of work presented current and potential uses of the camera as an instrument in interpreting the world according to one's subjectivity. In addition to theoretical examination, this research study also presented real …

Cultures Of Practice Within Design: An Exploration Of The Differences And Similarities Between Photography And Painting As Representational Practices, Alun John Price

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Contemporary designers and photographers face many challenges as the profession rapidly develops. This is especially the case in in the Western Australian context. A review into the recent history of the Western Australian design profession is evidence that designers and photographers are consistently shifting between commercial and self-expressive practice. However, the urge to keep up with technological advancement has masked conscious development of this shift, which is a key to self-realisation and improvement for a designer and photographer. This lack of conscious questioning limits holistic development in design practice. This research reflects on myself as a designer developing a response …

Art And Symbolism: The Technique Of Applying Hidden Meaning And Communicating Specific Ideas Through Art, Andrea C. Macbean

Senior Honors Theses

Symbolism is an artistic style frequently used in the arts. Through the course of art history, it was its own artistic movement as well. The incorporation of specific symbols, shapes, colors, or identifiable images communicates to the viewer an intended message or statement. Frequently, symbolism appears to be hidden or initially unperceived by the intended audience. In some works, symbolism is so abstract that it needs explanation or clarification to be understood completely by the viewer. This thesis will analyze a few techniques of symbolism that can be incorporated in a work of art to communicate truth, entice thought, point …

Fearless: Eric Lee, Eric J. Lee

SURGE

Snapping pictures of his fellow Gettysburgians around campus as the visual communications intern, and fearlessly working with other students to create, organize, and lead the new Asian Student Alliance (ASA) group on campus, Eric Lee ’15 finds himself at the crossroads of art and activism.

New to campus this year after two years in the making, the ASA is a student-led, -run, and -organized group focused on celebrating different Asian cultures and heritages, closing the gap between international and domestic students, and creating a social, cultural, and political forum for students to dialogue, specifically about issues facing Asian communities. [ …

Picturing Life, Molly Bathje

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The cover art of the summer 2013 issue of The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy provided by Jonathan Darnall reflects his unique life perspective, current roles, and values. An exploration of Jon’s life experience reveals how creative arts, including photography, have positively influenced his life and inform OT practitioners about the benefits of photography as an intervention and an occupation.