Project Brief 2: Nostalgia in the Social Media Age – Post 3

Social media is the catalyst of nostalgia for the recent past.

 

There are only a few functions that a user can do while looking through an Instagram feed. They can like, save or comment on every photo as they continue to scroll through an endless stream of pictures. The inherent nature of online, social media is that is it constantly changing to keep up-to-date with all its contributors. Each person’s social media feed is personalised to them alone, they choose who they want to see and follow. Because of the connected nature of online socialising and the amount of content that is generated, most users do not spend a great amount of time absorbing a single item. This has led to websites, especially Facebook, embracing the nostalgia for recent events. ‘Friendaversary’ is a concept created for Facebook users to share with others that they are celebrating the day they became friends with someone on the website.

In his article for Photography and Culture, Mike Chopra-Gant examines “the claims of both academic and journalistic commentators that this practice can easily be explained as an instance of the “nostalgia for the present”’ (2016, pg. 121). This announcement is prompted by a private message from Facebook when a user first logs in on the given day, informing the user of the importance of the day. Accompanying this message is a short video, comprising of shared photos posted to Facebook featuring the two friends within a ready-made montage. The person then can simply press the share button to post it to their feed, embracing the nostalgia of a recent past.

Because these social media applications are a click of a button away on every smart-phone, not much time is spent on appreciating a post, the most being a like or a quick pause in the absent minded scrolling. What makes the embracing of a past post or picture attractive to social media users is that is reminds them of a small happy moment that they forgot about quickly after it happened. It is a small jolt of positive remembrance to their online experience while also confirming its part in their lives as it continues to connect people through nostalgia. “Nostalgia is a positive and longing disposition towards the past. The nostalgic past is not the ‘mere past’; it is imbued with feeling and qualities” (Mortensen & Madsen, 2014, pg. 252).

To slightly remix this quick fix of sentimentality, I went back to my Instagram feed and chose two of my first posted photos and two recently posted photos. I printed them off and physically annotated them to further remember the events around the picture aside from the usual shallow form of nostalgia. What made this activity interesting is that “photography as a medium always contains some element of loss, because the moment photographed is lost to time” (Bull, 2012, pg. 25). Social media heightens this inherent nature because the picture will inevitably become lost amongst the unending stream of pictures. The need to add to this stream forces users to create more photos, so they never really spend time focusing on past pictures. When they are reminded, nostalgia for a recent history by strikes again. Until another distraction comes along.

 

Bibliography

Bull, Stephen (2012) ‘‘Digital Photography Never Looked So Analogue’: Retro Camera Apps, Nostalgia and the Hauntological Photograph’ Photoworks: Issue 18, pp.24-25

Chopra-Gant (2016) ‘Pictures or It Didn’t Happen: Photo-nostalgia, iPhoneography and the Representation of Everyday Life’ Photography and Culture, vol. 9(2), pp. 121-133

Mortensen, Christian & Madson, Westergaard (2014) ‘The Sound of Yesteryear on Display: A Rethinking of Nostalgia as a Strategy For Exhibiting Pop/Rock Heritage’ International Journal of Heritage Studies, pp. 1-14

Old’s Cool: Week 3 – Lumen Prints

This week, in our look into photography, we had the chance to create Lumen prints. By placing various objects on top of the black and white photography paper and exposing to the sun, various colours and images were temporarily placed onto the paper.

I created this Lumen Print by using three strips of bark
This was created using dirt and small rocks, covered in a small amount of water
This was done by tearing up a muesli bar

Old’s Cool: Week 2 – Role of the Library

The world’s history is known to us because of the importance placed on archiving. On the macro level, archiving provides us a way to understand the world’s past, helping us to focus in on the specific area we are researching through the categorical nature of a collection of information. As such, the RMIT library provides the university with an easily accessible archive, specifically curtailed to allow for the staff and students a straight forward and approachable archive of information relevant and useful to their specific needs.

The inherent nature of a studio called “Old’s Cool” is one steeped in an interest and respect for past media. This will allow the school’s library to become a vital aspect of my research as the information I will need to deepen my understanding of past media artefacts is available in the school’s archive.

Below are three pictures which showcase what libraries mean to me.

 

Old’s Cool – Week 1 – Craft Photos

Street Art in Melbourne
  • Melbourne has an international reputation for it’s street art. Some of the best places in the city are listed for everyone to walk to an appreciate.
  • During the early 1980’s with the rise in popularity of graffiti art culture, the term ‘street art’ was coined. (source)
  • This photo was taken in Hosier Lane, located opposite Federation square and it joins Flinders Lane to Flinders Street. (source)

 

Shoes
  • Sneakers went international in 1924. (source)
  •  A German man named Adi Dassler created the a sneaker he named after himself: Adidas. (source)
  • Since friction between the foot and the ground is an important force in most sports, modern athletic shoes are designed to maximize this force, and materials, such as rubber, are used. (source)