Dichotomy: Literate v. Illiterate

Today's post features another assignment from this summer's Expressive class.  This time around, we were supposed to photograph a dichotomy and also incorporate text in some way.  I enjoy reading, so I decided to work on the literate versus illiterate dichotomy.

I don't know if you've ever wondered what English looks like to someone who can't read.  When we learn to read, it becomes automatic, so that any word you see, you read.  I changed the spacing in this quote in an attempt to imitate what language might look like to someone who is illiterate.  Like learning to read English, you have to learn how to read the quote; once you know the code, the message become plain.

It reads, "To the uneducated, an 'a' is just three sticks."

Portraits + Time

My summer class has been such an amazing challenge.  Learning to communicate through images is difficult, but definitely worthwhile.  After some struggles at the beginning of the summer semester, I'm understanding the concepts our professor has been talking about.

One of our first class projects was a portrait using the element of time.  I decided to photograph one my brothers during an evening out to dinner while waiting for the food to arrive.  Time came into play in a few different ways:

-Years.  We got pizza that night.  My dad told us how, when he and his friends were kids, they would go out for a pizza.  They would be hungry when the ordered, ravenous during the wait, then burn their tongues on hot pizza in their haste when it finally arrived.  Going to a similar pizza parlor is a way for us to connect with Dad.

-Minutes.  It takes several minutes for pizza to be prepared for a large party and my brother amused himself at the table.  The waiting is one of my favorite things about this restaurant.  We can talk and laugh together…and sometimes play table football.

-Milestones.  This particular evening, we were celebrating the middle school graduation of one brother and the elementary school graduation of another.  Talk about feeling old!  And a more than a bit nostalgic.