Monday, March 28, 2011

Overcoming a struggle with confidence

So those who know me, know that I can be quite a shy, timid person especially when it comes to being in front of a camera. Even normal party pictures can turn into a mission when I'm around.

I feel excited about this year because I have a lot of goals that I've set for myself to assist in my journey to find what's within. I have a few ideas for personal video and photographic projects wherein I will explore my search for connectivity in regards to, firstly, myself, my spirituality and well- being and the relationships that I am surrounded by (family and friends).

Recently the photography major students at Open Window were privileged enough to be a part of an exciting new venture called "My Life in 3D". It is a new social networking site that is going to be launching soon. The idea behind the site is that certain events and moments that we experience produce a set of choices for us and our reaction to these things is what makes up our lives. We are much more than the sum of our parts.

The site attempts to address the problem of reality vs. perception (who we are versus who we think we are versus what others think we are). The site measures all aspects of our life (we capture the information as precisely and as honestly as possible) and can be used as a fun way to compare friends and connect with others. What makes it different to other sites is the fact that it was created with trauma counseling and psychotherapy in mind. Most of us fear to be honest with ourselves and the site will be used as a vehicle for us to build up an accurate history of events and moments, that if needed later on ,can help us decipher our past in reaction to our present as well as help us to predict upcoming patterns of behaviour in the future.

The 7 students who took part were asked to make a video out of a collection of photographs. The brief was pretty open and the main idea was to use these videos as part of a launch on Youtube to help promote the site. Once it's up I'll post a link!

My approach was quite personal and I decided to use this as an opportunity to express myself..

Here are a few still shots and soon I will be posting the completed video. A HUGE shout-out
of thanks to Bernard Brand without whose help and support I couldn't have completed this project! Really I thank you with my whole heart. Major kudos.