Brief Assignment 2
Assignment Prompt
Reflection
The Totally Unwired photo essay was very different to the essays I am used to. It taught me a lot about first hand research and different ways to keep track of it. I had always thought of the pencil and paper or something similar as the only ways to research and using pictures had never even crossed my mind. Doing this essay taught me many things about myself and my environment. My biggest takeaway was that even though I do love my technology, life can be just as fun if not more without using it. I also observed that even though a majority of the world is glued to their digital technology, there are still many people who aren’t. The use of visuals as a way to express results and thoughts was really exciting to me. I thoroughly enjoyed working in this new style and felt really proud of the essay I was able to make. Although this assignment was fun, I was extremely nervous about it originally since it was so different from everything I was used to. As I actually started doing my research and collecting my pictures I started realizing how many possibilities the photo essay format has. The freedom to be creative and guide my story using a digital medium was almost therapeutic. My favorite part of the essay, taking the pictures, also happened to be the most challenging aspect. Before taking a picture, I had to account for what the picture would portray to the reader and how it would shape my essay. As the day passed I started realizing how difficult it is to find objects or subjects that will further the story in the way I wanted. It was also difficult getting all the pictures I wanted and organizing them to tell my story. This essay required me to make a lot of decisions and to really plan it out before I even started writing. It showed me the importance of actively thinking about an approach to a project even if you do not know the end product yet. This will help me a lot not only in the future but in the present. With online classes you constantly have to be planning things out and scheduling when to do everything and the experience of scheduling and planning my photos has definitely helped a lot. While the photo essay was different it has helped me become a better writer and opened me up to new styles.