Constructed Reality?

1. In what ways do you “construct” your identity? In what ways do you “perform” in your daily life?

I think my identity is sometimes constructed in what I decide to wear and the morals that motivate my personality. Things I do and things I like are also one piece of my identity.  I'm a bit dramatic, but I like to think that what I do in my life is real. It's a reflection of what I think and how I feel. Living your life as one big performance may not be the best thing.

2. Describe some ways in which your personal culture and social environments are “constructed”.

I think culture itself is a bit constructed. Where you grow up and who you grow up around shapes what you become and what culture you choose to identify yourself with. The actual separation into categories is construction in its finest. Sometimes, however, it is your culture that shapes what your social environment is. Most cultures flock to each other.

3. Describe some ways in which your physical environment/space is “constructed”.

Unless you live in a completely natural landscape, everything around you is constructed- man-made. The actual name of the things that is around you is constructed. Theories and ideas that 'make things go' around you is constructed and placed into your mindset.

4. In your daily life, what would you consider to be “real” and what would you consider to be “constructed/fabricated”?

I think life is real. I think living, breathing, growing, nature, motion, emotions are real. The things that are constructed are real to an extent. I love thinking of real as something untouched, untamed that grows wildly without being shaped or harmed.

5. Describe a narrative tableaux that you might create to be captured by a photograph. A narrative tableaux can be defined as “Several human actors play out scenes from everyday life, history, myth or the fantasy of the direction artist” ( Constructed Realities: The Art of Staged Photography Edited by Michael Kohler , 34).

I love depicting things from fantasy. It plays with the mind and the imagination. I would use a fantasy that involves a cool tone- so water might be involved.

6. Describe an idea for a photograph that includes a miniature stage or still life. A description of such an image is “The tableaux reconstructs events as in the narrative tableaux, but in miniaturized format, using dolls and other toy objects” (Kohler, 34).

I'd like to recreate something out of a book that can only be created using your interpretation of the piece.