How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

Now finding myself out in the heart of Melbourne, I realized how difficult it would be to capture a video of 10 seconds with absolutely no people – or at least no faces- present to draw attention away from the dramatic slow-motion closing of the doors. It should be noted that I did not film this in slow motion, that is just how slow the doors are.

Despite the traffic passing me by (thank you sir who walked in front of me) and passing through the alley, I found that there was very little to identify anyone in the video, so I compromised and decided to have this finale of the posts serve as a slight break from tradition. I maintained anonymity for others as best I could, yet could not pull myself away from the video opportunity on this relatively busy walkway.

The video was captured with my Samsung Galaxy S9, using the Ludwig effect the same as I did with the prior photo. The lyrics in the caption are “Take me to the sad, sad, party that you’re bound to”, the latter half of the sentence again following the theme of being in some way bound or not in control.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

The first video ended up being the only take that fit the constraints of anonymity to those in frame that I had placed upon it, as every other video I attempted was interrupted within 5 seconds. By the time I had deleted the video and begun filming again, the cycle would repeat. This happened three times before I decided to stick with the first video to be published.

The location was again fixed to The Strand after my initial post stating that it was taken at RMIT.  I don’t think anybody noticed, though.

The hashtags used were #blast #doors #anything #anything #get_to_heaven, the same as the photo. By now the odd naming scheme had grown on me, so I did not question the odd formatting as I had done for previous pictures and videos.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Now that my Instagram page was nicely filled with a 3×2 grid of images, I took some time to consider rearranging the posts in such a way to have the pairs of photos and videos align top-down rather than across (which doesn’t work for the middle post, split across two rows). I decided against this however, with my main consideration being the already published links to Twitter and Tumblr.

Each of these social media sites again received a link with the accompanying hashtags, with the Twitter account receiving its final pun to wrap things up.

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

After deciding that more than two sets of posts from within RMIT would become slightly boring (consistent, but not working towards anything) I decided to this week explore Melbourne and find somewhere where the doors worked with or against their environment. Eventually I located this off-side sliding door in Melbourne’s The Strand, this shot facing out toward Little Bourke Street via a small alley. This shot of a length of walk, sparsely populated with pedestrians (no faces again, phew) attracted me to it as I initially walked right past, only barely glancing at it. It was not until I had done a full loop of The Strand that I realized that this was where I would want to author my final set of photo and video.

This photo was taken on my Samsung Galaxy S9 from a sitting position, myself taking a break from power walking around Melbourne for a few hours, as well as to put myself closer to the ground level of Little Bourke Street, ever so slightly lower over the course of the alley. I used the Ludwig Instagram effect for its overall warm tone, contrasting with the extremely cold Melbourne weather outside.
The lyrics here are for Blast Doors by the band Anything Anything, “So did you pack your bag or did somebody pack it for you?” keeping with the theme of having lost control.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I published the first photo of seven- the first time I had taken the time to sit down and simply take the time to make multiple recordings. I found however that it was the first photo of a straight-up front-on shot, with no fancy angles or any kind of smart tricks to enhance the photo, that best conveyed the feeling I got from looking through these ‘blast doors’ and out into the cold world beyond.
I attached the location of the post as I uploaded it to Instagram and, to my later surprise, first uploaded it with the location as ‘RMIT University’ as a habit from the previous weeks. This flaw was fixed approximately 12 seconds after it was discovered.

The hashtags used were #blast #doors #anything #anything #get_to_heaven. This was the second time I considered changing the format to better convey the name of the artist, but since I had opted to stay consistent with the previous week I chose to do the same here.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Upon posting this picture I was struck by how it almost looked as if my Instagram page, previously a void on some Instagram server somewhere, was now slowly being filled and almost looked… real. A terrifying thought.
The Tumblr and Twitter pages I made also gave this same impression, with the now consistent feed of Instagram links (and Twitter puns) serving to transform the once barren spaces into a series of slowly budding social networking pages.
And yes, the hashtags were no longer a problem.

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

The video was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S9 in the same location as the photo post of the week, the theme of doubling down on locations for a photo/video effect now coming together on the Instagram page.
As it turned out there was no trouble trying to get a full 10 seconds of footage of just the escalators beyond the doors in motion, despite my concern that someone would either pass me and ascend them, or come down with no warning at all. Since I was trying to at least keep faces out of the video (last week’s posts necessitated including at least parts of people) this was a huge concern that, thankfully, ended up unrealized.

I again used the Lark effect on Instagram, the glow making the scene slightly unfocused but lending enough to the warm vibe that I accepted the trade-off. The lyrics for the caption were “Into this life we’re thrown”, again strengthening the theme of the illusion of choice. The ideas of fate, an inexorable force raising you toward or pulling you down from something unknown, is encapsulated simply yet efficiently through the visual medium of a pair of escalators.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

The video taken here was the only one of its kind, since I was concerned someone was likely to walk by and interrupt/ ruin the shot. As such it is slightly shaky (I never have had the most stable camera hand), however it is still far from unwatchable.
The theme of the ‘beyond’ was further reinforced in this video, with the escalators moving to and from the upstairs area beyond the shot. This worked well with The Doors lyrics “Into this life we’re thrown”, the momentum of the previous post being visualized here in the perpetual movement of the escalators.

The hashtags used were the same as the previous photo, #riders #on #the #storm, #the #doors and #LA_woman.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

The sharing of the post to Tumblr and Twitter was identical this time to the photo, now a relatively easy task.
The trouble posed by awkward hashtags now past, I put a little more effort into the door pun to hopefully better entice viewers, however only time will tell whether the use of bad comedy is truly alluring to the average internet goer. While tempted to apply a new schema of hashtags and attempt to gain further reach, I decided to again maintain consistency- this would be a key theme to be maintained through the next week of posts.

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

This photo was taken again with my Samsung Galaxy S9, taken from inside the large structure that includes buildings 8-12 at RMIT university. While the exact location within was unknown, I would estimate it to be close to the border between building 8 and 10 (these doors may have been the border themselves.)

The aesthetic quality of having the elevators in the background with some passersby moving just out of view as I took the shot was too tempting to miss, and so I took this first photo with some haste. While I did take other shots, I found that the added impact of having something remaining mostly unseen beyond the doors was a nice touch, prompting thought in the viewer, this leading to my choosing of the first slightly rushed shot.
I utilized Instagram’s Lark effect, brightening the scene and giving it all a far more welcoming and positive glow, compared to the dreariness that was conveyed by the previous week’s post. This also lent itself to the lyrics of The Doors’ song Riders on the Storm, the captioning lyrics here giving reference to the new birth and creation of life. The lyrics used are “Into this house we’re born”.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I published the first shot taken. As stated above I enjoyed the added touch of having people moving out of frame with the escalators beyond the doors themselves, contributing overall to a more interesting theme. The idea of ‘the beyond’ combining with The Doors lyrics “Into this house we’re born” gives an impression of being on a set path for life, either being carried along to where you want to be or by being borne into the world of another’s volition.

The hashtags here followed the same format as the previous week, using #riders #on #the #storm for the song title, #the #doors for the band itself and #LA_woman for the album title. I did consider rearranging the format to have #the_doors and #LAwoman, however I opted to keep it consistent as this also allowed for #doors to be present naturally.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

Sharing the Instagram post to Tumblr and Twitter again, I knew now how to navigate the websites with relative ease.
Rather than attempt to create any new and fancy way to share the post, I decided to opt for consistency over flair, hoping that the common design of the Instagram page itself and the shared posts that would lead there would entice the viewer to see more.

The hashtags to both were the same as the ones used on Instagram, with Twitter getting that extra touch of a door pun to hopefully draw in the viewer as they scroll by.

Instagram

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I took the video with my Samsung Galaxy S9.
The front facing camera allowed for best videoing results in terms of stability. This, combined with the fact that I did not want myself in the video, made the front camera the most optimal. Again, the S9’s ability to automatically record in a 1:1 ratio helped with transferring the video to Instagram.
The video was taken from a standstill position in the same spot I authored the photo for this week, this lent to the consistency between shots and the musical lyrics that captioned them, naturally flowing from one to the next. I also maintained the use of the Perpetua filter on Instagram. I preferred not to have anybody else in the foreground of the shot, instead giving the focus entirely over to the slowly rotating doors.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

The video was published on the first take, as I was quite happy with the simple imagery of the scene turned out. I included the location in the Instagram post, once again at RMIT University.

The caption here followed the second line of lyrics from Gorillaz Revolving Doors, the natural progression from one to the next marred only by a brief ‘//’ at the start of the caption; this served to acknowledge the gap between photo and video, whilst keeping the transition relatively smooth overall. The lyrics used here were “Seems I was made for this”.

The same hashtags were used in posting to Instagram, #revolving, #doors, #gorillaz and #the_fall.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

The video post on Instagram was shared again to Tumblr and Twitter.

Tumblr was simple to use once I had figured out the trick to sharing with the photo, as such this time was a far simpler process- the hashtags fit perfectly where they were meant to be!

Twitter was again relatively simple, sharing the link and posting hashtags along with it- and yes, another door pun as well.

I maintained consistency with the number of hashtags, as I again did not wish to overload the viewer with unnecessary distractions from the link itself.

Instagram

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I took the photo with my Samsung Galaxy S9, a phone released just over a year ago as of the date of taking this photograph.
By using the front facing camera I was able to capture both the still photo and the accompanying video from under relative shelter, as it was raining this day. Fortunately for me, the Galaxy S9 has a default camera mode of a 1:1 ratio, this being the same ratio as Instagram’s (in)famous constraining format. This made the transition from camera to app a relatively simple one, after I double checked the photo to ensure it would fit the post.

Rather than attempting any photography tricks, I decided to simply ensure that my photo encapsulated the entirety of the doors to compensate for my personal lack of photography experience or professional skill. This allowed me to select the Instagram effect Perpetua based on the whole image as well as the song Revolving Doors by the Gorillaz, the lyrics of which serve as the caption to the image.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

The photo was published as the first shot of three, with the second and third attempting to use one of the phone’s inbuilt modes such as ‘Pro’ (too complex for me) and even ‘food’ (which just did not suit at all). In publishing the photograph I included the location of the shot, RMIT University.

The caption included the lyrics to the Gorillaz song Revolving Doors, music about doors being the chosen theme of my posts. The picture included the first line of lyrics I believed to be somewhat meaningful, while the video contained the following line. The lyrics used here were “Seems I was born for this”

The hashtags used included #revolving #doors for the name of the song, #gorillaz for the artist, and #the_fall for the album the song was originally released in. Since the song already had ‘doors’ in the title, I did not need to reuse this hashtag.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

I shared a link to the Instagram post initially on Tumblr and Twitter.

On Tumblr I had initially believed myself to have successfully implemented #doors, however it was only upon going back and checking the post that I realized there was an entirely different section for hashtags as opposed to just the caption for the link itself. This was quickly amended.

Twitter was a relatively simple medium to share to since it was simply attaching the link and using #doors beneath the link, along with a short door pun.

I did not utilize an excessive number of hashtags as a personal preference, as seeing a wall of hashtags immediately stands out as a sign of attention grabbing, rather than using a single hashtag or pair of hashtags to accurately reach the desired audience.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Tussetroll and Tingeling are a pair of cats from Oslo, Norway. Tussetroll is a male Golden Shaded Persian, born April 16 2012, while Tingeling is a female Scottish Fold, born April 30 2014. The first instagram posts on their page are from April 13, 2015, with the first being a still photo of Tussetroll and the second photo a reveal of “Tussetroll og Tingeling” . Their most popular videos are of Tingeling’s low-down crouches and extremely wide eyes, tracking moving objects (hopefully toys) before pouncing on them.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

The caption/title of this post is “How is your egg hunting going?”, with a series of emojis following: A hatching egg, a pair of eyes, an egg, a rabbit and two comic-style puffs of smoke, likely to indicate the quick running of Tingeling in the video.

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This photo was posted on April 22nd, making it Easter Monday.

How was the photo or video authored?

It is unclear exactly what camera is used to capture the photos and videos of the pair, but it is likely not a mobile device due to its high quality images from as long ago as 2015 (this was the era of the Iphone 6, not terrible but likely not of the quality found in earlier posts.) The consistency of the photography/videography leads me to believe that it is the same device used for all captured photos and videos. Conversely, it is possible that due to the regular capture of these photos and videos in all kinds of environments that a mobile recording device is used, including the use of slow-motion features (though this could also have been edited post-capture).

How was the photo or video published?

The video was uploaded and published directly to the official tussetroll_and_tingeling Instagram page, as well as the official Tussetroll_and_Tingeling facebook page.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The video was tagged with a total of 24 hashtags on Instagram, ranging from specific tags like #sillyTingeling and #Tingelingattack, to more wide-reaching tags like #Readyforegghunt, #instacat, #catsofinstagram and the all powerful #meow. The Facebook video only has a total of four hashtags however, perhaps reflecting the smaller impact of hashtags on the platform.

Week 7 – Digital Photography ft. RJ Palmer @rjpalmerartist

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

RJ Palmer is a digital media artist who primarily published his work on Deviantart from as early as 2009 and is currently still producing content, yet has recently moved to Instagram for more regular sharing and posting. His most famous works, ‘Realistic Pokemon’ have been published in two separate books, with the first realistic Pokemon piece being created around 2011. Recently Palmer has been focusing more on his Instagram posts with varying focuses, as well as working on the upcoming Detective Pikachu movie for several months.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

Re-posted on Instagram with no title but simple flavor text, the original Deviantart piece is simply called “-Giratina-”, a realistic interpretation based on a legendary Pokemon of the same name.

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

When downloaded, -Giratina- gives the metadata information of being produced on 01/12/2013.

How was the photo or video authored?

-Giratina- was authored in Adobe Photoshop CS5.1, with the exact tools and methods used mostly unknown. Palmer has posted pictures of his Mac desktop computer however, as well as regularly streaming his drawings and techniques (many of which are, honestly, beyond my understanding).

How was the photo or video published?

-Giratina- was published on 15/12/2013, two weeks after the piece’s creation. Since the piece was officially commissioned by DeviantArt user ZerxielZerg, it is likely that the piece was sent to the commissioner prior to public sharing and posting.

How was the photo or video distributed?

Posted initially on Palmer’s Deviantart page in 2013, the piece has been a part of his ongoing Realistic Pokemon works that have gained popularity over the past few years. Palmer posted the piece to his Instagram on September 28 2016, due to “requests for the full image of Giratina to be posted here”. The photo is also available for purchase on his store, or at several conventions he has been attending “for many years”.

Week 6 – Nam June Paik Electronic Superhighway

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Nam June Paik, now known as the ‘father of video art’, debuted his first exhibition in 1963 with Exposition of Music – Electronic Television, continuing on to use the media of television and music (which he had practiced for several years), to create unique displays of art. Paik practiced almost until his death in January of 2006, with a stroke in 1996 confining him to a wheelchair.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

Electronic Superhighway

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

Electronic Superhighway was revealed on 1995 in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

How was the photo or video authored?

Electronic Superhighway is a conglomeration of 51 television channels playing across 336 television screens, showing various scenes from popular American television and films such as The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma and the Indy 500. Each channel was played across several television sets each fitting within the boundaries of their respective states-The Wizard of Oz taking shape across seven TV screens in ‘Kansas’ for example- with bright neon lines separating the states similar to the multicolored division of areas on older maps.

How was the photo or video published?

Paik titled his exhibition Electronic Superhighway with several pieces on display from February 18th to April 16th  [Page 38], with the titular piece remaining there to this day.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The piece was advertised in the Indianapolis Monthly as  “Electronic Super Highway: Nam June Paik in the ’90s”, described as “playfully examin[ing] the changes society will undergo as information systems become increasingly complex” [Page 27].

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer who operated from the late 1920s/ early 30s using 35mm film. He was well known for beginning the photographic trend of ‘Street Photography’, its focus on capturing what he described as a ‘decisive moment’ in the lives of others.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

Rue Mouffetard  was a photograph by Cartier-Bresson of a young boy, in focus against a slightly blurred background, walking with two bottles of wine under his arms and smiling proudly at something to the camera’s left.
With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

Rue Mouffetard was likely photographed in 1954. Although one sight does suggest the photo to have been taken in 1952, this same site advertises both ‘52 and ‘54 copies of the work for sale, making it an unreliable source. Considering the searched name of the piece often returns as ‘Rue Mouffetard 1954’, it is safe to assume this to be the legitimate date.

How was the photo or video authored?

Cartier is now famous for using only the one camera type (whether it is the same single camera over his whole career is debatable), a Leica 35mm rangefinder. With this he used a 50mm lens to allow him to capture a picture some described as being the ‘closest to the range of the human eye’ without any kind of distortion. Cartier supposedly only used the single camera and lens through his whole career, likely due to the expensive nature of the technology. Other theories suggest that due to Cartier’s official job as a ‘journalist’, he would never have been able to save enough money to be able to afford a larger, better, or in any way different camera to his personal Leica.

How was the photo or video published?

There are no clear indicators of an initial publication of Rue Mouffetard, with the only clues lying in current sales of pieces printed ‘early 1960s’ and evidence of the photograph used as a poster piece, most of these printed years after the initial photograph. Cartier did however publish five collections of photographs before the end of the decade, with Rue Mouffetard likely being published somewhere therein.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The piece now is distributed only in online sales or as part of the book Henri Cartier Bresson, published in August 2010 by Clement Cheroux. The book details the life and photographs of Cartier-Bresson, gathering many of his famous photographs into a single work.