People-watching. Oh yes! So this assignment was all about observing people in their surroundings (a public place of our choice in this case). Thinking about how they act, how they go about using services, taking notes about how they interact with people and things as well as observing their behaviour and why they do the things they do. I think this must be the most enjoyable & satisfying assignment yet! People-watching is a secret passion of many people, I’m sure, and for myself this time was no exception.
I decided a good place to do my observations was in my workplace as I could easily take notes in between serving customers and smiling until my face hurts! I work in a Dundee restaurant which is regularly very busy, which gave me the opportunity to observe a wide variety of different people and hopefully make it easy to see any trends occurring throughout using this service.
Something I had noticed in my own experience of visiting the restaurant prior to working there as well as observing customers for myself was that walking through the entrance of the building people immediately seemed alert and aware of their change in surroundings. The atmosphere throughout the restaurant was “buzzing” and very lively, not particularly warm, welcoming, nor was it very homely or enticing at first. I had noticed that when people entered the restaurant their first reaction was hesitation, unsure whether to approach the desk or wait for a member of staff to approach them.
There is no specific 'landing strip' as you enter the restaurant, meaning customers do not have much time to adjust to their new surroundings. They are immediately faced with their role of being the customer. There is a few metres from the entrance to the bar/till area but no signs to indicate if customers should wait to be ‘seen to’ or spoken to/greeted by a member of staff. This seemed to be an obvious design flaw and seemed to cause unease and slight hesitation, not helped by the fact that the environment they have just walked into was very busy and lively. The bar and banisters etc. Are particularly high which I would imagine gives the customer a feeling of being blocked off and creating, in theory, a wall between the customer and staff. The interior is random and cluttered with a mass of objects crammed into every nook & cranny which can be a bit intimidating to the majority of people when beginning their dinning experience although through their experience they seem to become accustomed to the theme and perceive it to be more homely as many of the objects found in the restaurant, on the walls and shelf’s, are things you may find at home. There are a lot of old fashioned items/artefacts around the restaurant which reminded me of things maybe my grandparents may have owned a long time ago. If I take this from the objects around the restaurant it’s highly possible others took the same from it, giving them a feeling of familiarity and homeliness.
Something which baffled me was the toilet situation. On entering the building ahead of you there is quite a large sign, lit up saying ‘TOILET’, above an open door. Now you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a perfectly clearly indication that to get to the toilet you would enter through this door, but I soon realised that this is an obvious design flaw. When entering a restaurant the first thing you are looking to do is to be greeted by a member of staff to ask if there is a table available, generally it is not to identify where the toilet is or for that matter go straight to the toilet, therefore, although there is a fairly large sign telling the customer where the toilet is it is being ignored as it is in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is the only sign throughout the restaurant indicating where the toilet is situated and I found myself many a time explaining to the customers where to go.
When confirming/asking the manager about seating customers for example, a customer was asked to wait for a minute or two whilst the waiter/waitress speaks to the manager and the customer seems happy to wait. I also noticed that when approaching a group of diners on their entrance into the premises, there tends to be a ‘leader’ of the pack whom will normally stand at the front of the group, as the organiser. For example when a group of two adults, a woman possibly in her late 30’s and a gentleman, dressed quite professionally, maybe in his mid 40’s accompanied by three children around 6-7 years old, entered the restaurant the waitress approached the male. I would understand this as the gentleman seems to be again the ‘leader’, the one in charge.
On a busy weekend night asking them to wait at the entrance can cause it to get cluttered with people making customers feel cramped and uncomfortable, people like their own personal space and when this is invaded they become uneasy and anxious. I noticed that when there are too many customers standing at the inside entrance, potential customers approach and then walk off thinking that it is far too busy to get a table. To help ease awkwardness of the personal space issue, customers are seated at bar tables while they wait on a table becoming available. Staff take their drinks order which makes the customer feel more at ease and feel like they are actually getting nearer to getting their table and that they are not just being ignored or neglected.
When being seated the waitress asked to take the customers jackets and hang them up, most customers said no politely and hang them on back of their chair (they seemed to get some sort of comfort from this, they don’t want to part with their possessions, maybe at t his point they are still unsure of their surroundings). The customer settles into their seat/table, they may look around a few times to check out who is in close proximity – if it’s a big loud group of people they seemed more uneasy with this than they would do with maybe one or two people at the tables around them. They want to know who are surrounding them, who are in their personal space, and whether they are likely to be a threat. ....
When they are seated comfortably and have decided on their order the usual diner adopts an unwritten rule which is “they have a little chat once they are ready to order”, “close the menu or stop paying attention to it”, “looking around” (maybe at staff to get eye contact and indicate that they are ready to order or checking out where the toilets are for future reference) or “deep in conversation with the person/people they are sitting with”. These are all well known rituals and are quite amusing to witness. Another quite amusing ritual is when the customer wants attention... they raise their neck and chin into the air and raise their eyebrows once eye contact has been made with the waitress. Another is “the discreet nod” this is to beckon the waitress and indicate that they want your service/attention and that they are ready for you now.
By this time the diner is quite happily tucking into their meal and is now in a more relaxed state, it is at this point they are more likely to attempt to have a conversation with the waiter/waitress and the response they get usually determines the size of the tip if any the diner will leave. Of course the size of monetary gratuity makes no difference to the dinning experience the diner is offered as they are all treated the same.
Big groups are slightly different; they become bolder and more rowdy in a pack. To begin with staff get ignored more and they show signs of ignorance but as the group become more accustomed to their surroundings and drink is flowing freely they can get more out-of-hand, especially groups of same sex diners tending to flirt with the waiter/waitress and can get a bit mischievous although the manager is usually at hand to put them in their place.
I also noticed that, when the manager talks to the customer, maybe about a problem with their meal for example, he will crouch down beside the customer, using his hand on the table to balance. It seems as if the manager is allowing the customer to believe they have control, that he is lowering himself to show the that he is listening to what the customer has to say. The customer is always right, as they say, where as if the manger was to stand, towering over the customer whilst speaking to them it may be intimidating for them. After all our job is to service the public and keep them happy.
“Paying of the bill” is another quite amusing ritual to witness whereby the following takes place. The diner has decided its time to pay, and here they use the “airborne cheque signing routine” this is signalling to the waiter/waitress by scribbling on their hand (which is usually raised in an uncomfortable manner) as if writing an imaginary cheque when actually they are commanding that they want their bill brought over to them. With cheque writing more or less obsolete I doubt diners would enact the “pretending to punch digits on a chip & pin machine” as this could easily be misrepresented as rude pointing. Waving politely and simultaneously mouthing “can I have the bill please” is another tactic adopted by diners. All are acceptable but amusing for any onlookers to witness.
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I have still to add to this post :) ...
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Assignement 2e - Adding Text
So after adding images four and five, which I though was quite successful.. I decided that I would add one word on each of the oringinal three photographs which i think may be a stronger influence on the subjects to all give the same story. These are the images with the words which I used...
The final stories I gathered for this last part of the experiment...
Male 19 Barman Glasgow
I was going up the stairs when I was distracted by a pigeon which was falling on top of a mouse.
Female 20 Waitress Fife
Leaving the underground station the woman paused at a pigeon sitting on the roof looking down on her, she light heartedly pondered what it was that the bird was planning or thinking. It wasn’t until she got back to her office computer that she received an email about diving pigeons attacking commuters. She smiled and considered herself lucky.Female 46 Clerical Dundee
As I was going up the escalator I was suddenly distracted by this silly pigeon walking about outside that I tripped and fell over the mouse that someone had dropped accidently
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Personally I think that having literature next to an image definitely influences the subject to tell a particular story. Although I have no particular evidence of this from my experiment I plan to ask about more and collect more stories based on this part of the experiment. For the part a, b and c of the assignment when asking subject to tell a story linking the photographs, quite a few didn't understand completely what they were being asked to do where as when adding text it puts words into their heads almost telling them to think a particular thing! I don’t feel my experiment was particularly successful I feel it would have been more so if I had collected more stories and more evidence, which I hope to do if I can find the time.
Assignment 2d - Adding Images
I didn't find that there was any particular re-occurring theme with the stories in part c, so I decided to randomly pick one of the stories which, by adding a fourth image of my choice, was hopefully going to get this same re-occurring story when asking different people. This is the story I chose ...
Person 4 - Male 57 Unemployed Dundee
Hurrying up the esculator not paying attention, I was looking at a strange pigeon in the corner and I trip over a computer mouse that someone had dropped.
The fourth image which I chose to add was of a man falling..
Male Sales assistant 19 Dundee
One day a pigeon came bursting into a subway, the security guard had to duck rather abruptly and eventually fell down the escalator. He finds himself consulting his lawyers and they told him about a claim for injuries that happen at the workplace (which is where the mouse comes in).
Male Student 20 Glasgow
One day you we on an escalator, a metaphor for your imagination and within your imagination you thought about your life ambitions, your love for birds, textiles, computers and design etc. Before you reached the top of the esculator (your imagination) you fell out of your day dream and fell off the escalator.
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Summerising these stories, I feel like adding this photograph was quite succesful in bringing the element of the person falling. This was a re-occuring theme although I feel like I need to add maybe a fifth image to bring in the other elements of the story. Here is the fifth image which I had added...
Female 17 Fast food restaurant Insture
One day I went travelling and I had to travel up the escalator. When I reached the top I saw a pigeon which made me shocked, I then fell all the way back down the escalator and got hit on the head by a mouse.
Female 21 PR Forres
On my shopping trip I was pretty tired and couldn’t be bothered taking the stairs so I took the escalator. When I got to the top I wasn’t looking and out the corner of my eye I thought I seen a pigeon. I was so shocked to see the pigeon that I didn’t even take my feet off the escalator so I feel over, it was then I realise the pigeon was in fact a mouse.
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I felt that adding these two images was quite successful and that it did make a difference, encouraging the 'subject' to tell the story that I wanted them to. I think that adding text would be more successful in this case as the story involves details which can be confused by the order of the photographs alone such as... "I tripped over a computer mouse that someone had dropped". The order of the photographs can vary, influencing different 'subjects' in different ways. Does the man trip over the mouse or does the mouse make the man trip over?
Person 4 - Male 57 Unemployed Dundee
Hurrying up the esculator not paying attention, I was looking at a strange pigeon in the corner and I trip over a computer mouse that someone had dropped.
The fourth image which I chose to add was of a man falling..
These are the stories which I gathered from the part of the experiment...
Male Waiter 19 Glasgow
I went for a stroll into town via the underground, when I got to the top of the escalators I saw a pigeon. I freaking loved that pigeon so I went to the nearest internet cafe and creped on the pigeons Facebook then fell in love with the pigeon.Male Sales assistant 19 Dundee
One day a pigeon came bursting into a subway, the security guard had to duck rather abruptly and eventually fell down the escalator. He finds himself consulting his lawyers and they told him about a claim for injuries that happen at the workplace (which is where the mouse comes in).
Male Student 20 Glasgow
One day you we on an escalator, a metaphor for your imagination and within your imagination you thought about your life ambitions, your love for birds, textiles, computers and design etc. Before you reached the top of the esculator (your imagination) you fell out of your day dream and fell off the escalator.
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Summerising these stories, I feel like adding this photograph was quite succesful in bringing the element of the person falling. This was a re-occuring theme although I feel like I need to add maybe a fifth image to bring in the other elements of the story. Here is the fifth image which I had added...
I rearranged the photographs a few times to prompt the story teller to give the correcct stories and see if a different combination worked better. The stories I collected after adding a fith image...
Female 20 Student Glasgow
I was walking to the tube and coming down the escalator when a pigeon flew at me from no where. I dropped my bag that had my laptop and mouse inside and when picking the mouse up I tripped and fell.
Female 17 Fast food restaurant Insture
One day I went travelling and I had to travel up the escalator. When I reached the top I saw a pigeon which made me shocked, I then fell all the way back down the escalator and got hit on the head by a mouse.
Female 21 PR Forres
On my shopping trip I was pretty tired and couldn’t be bothered taking the stairs so I took the escalator. When I got to the top I wasn’t looking and out the corner of my eye I thought I seen a pigeon. I was so shocked to see the pigeon that I didn’t even take my feet off the escalator so I feel over, it was then I realise the pigeon was in fact a mouse.
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I felt that adding these two images was quite successful and that it did make a difference, encouraging the 'subject' to tell the story that I wanted them to. I think that adding text would be more successful in this case as the story involves details which can be confused by the order of the photographs alone such as... "I tripped over a computer mouse that someone had dropped". The order of the photographs can vary, influencing different 'subjects' in different ways. Does the man trip over the mouse or does the mouse make the man trip over?
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Assignment 2c - The Stories
The pupose of the experiment was to understand the meaning and concept behind a visual language. I was asked to show a set of random people three pictures without words and to link them in some way by story.
Here are some of the responses I got...
Person 1 - Female 47 Medical Secretary Dundee
The pigeon had lost his way home and could not find his friends anywhere. He decided the only way he could find his way home was to use google maps on the computer. So he found the nearest internet cafe and started clicking away on the mouse. After a long time he eventually mapped out how to get home but by now he was very tired and decided to get a tube home instead of flying. When he got to the tube station it was very late and the esculators were empty but he got the tube on time and made it home safe.
Person 2 - Male 20 Student Dundee
I was slowly desending from the esculator when all of a sudden my mouse fell out of my laptop bag and a bird thought it was food and took off in the sky with it.
Person 3 - Male 20 Shop Assistant Dundee
You will never believe me but when I was walking down the elcalator there was a bird to my right and a mouse to my left and they were speaking to each other as if I wasn't in the middle of them.
Person 4 - Male 57 Unemployed Dundee
Hurrying up the esculator not paying attention, I was looking at a strange pigeon in the corner and I trip over a computer mouse that someone had dropped.
Person 5 - Female 37 Receptionist Dundee
While on my way to the esculator I happened to look out the window and saw a pigeon fly past with a mouse in his mouth. The funny thing was it was a computer mouse and not a real mouse.
Person 6 - Male 23 Joiner Dundee
When I was on holiday I had to go buy a new computer mouse at the shopping centre. When I got there I had to walk up the stairs as there was a dead pigeon on the esculator and it had to be stopped so they could get it off.
Person 7 - Male 19 Waitor Monifeith
One day a bird flew into our college class, picked up a mouse then flew away down the escalators with it.
Person 8 - Male 19 Consumer Provision Managment Training Coach Leader Dundee
A wee mouse said 'You ya' big bird, what you looking at?' ... The bird looked in fear and shot off down the escalator.
Here are some of the responses I got...
Person 1 - Female 47 Medical Secretary Dundee
The pigeon had lost his way home and could not find his friends anywhere. He decided the only way he could find his way home was to use google maps on the computer. So he found the nearest internet cafe and started clicking away on the mouse. After a long time he eventually mapped out how to get home but by now he was very tired and decided to get a tube home instead of flying. When he got to the tube station it was very late and the esculators were empty but he got the tube on time and made it home safe.
Person 2 - Male 20 Student Dundee
I was slowly desending from the esculator when all of a sudden my mouse fell out of my laptop bag and a bird thought it was food and took off in the sky with it.
Person 3 - Male 20 Shop Assistant Dundee
You will never believe me but when I was walking down the elcalator there was a bird to my right and a mouse to my left and they were speaking to each other as if I wasn't in the middle of them.
Person 4 - Male 57 Unemployed Dundee
Hurrying up the esculator not paying attention, I was looking at a strange pigeon in the corner and I trip over a computer mouse that someone had dropped.
Person 5 - Female 37 Receptionist Dundee
While on my way to the esculator I happened to look out the window and saw a pigeon fly past with a mouse in his mouth. The funny thing was it was a computer mouse and not a real mouse.
Person 6 - Male 23 Joiner Dundee
When I was on holiday I had to go buy a new computer mouse at the shopping centre. When I got there I had to walk up the stairs as there was a dead pigeon on the esculator and it had to be stopped so they could get it off.
Person 7 - Male 19 Waitor Monifeith
One day a bird flew into our college class, picked up a mouse then flew away down the escalators with it.
Person 8 - Male 19 Consumer Provision Managment Training Coach Leader Dundee
A wee mouse said 'You ya' big bird, what you looking at?' ... The bird looked in fear and shot off down the escalator.
Assignment 2b - The Experiment
Three Random Images -The theory being tested is a key aspect of semiotics, which was something that was mentioned in a lecture in Semester 1, "image means more than one thing (polysemy), but that text fixes meaning".
These are the three images selected at random which I used in the experiment.
These are the three images selected at random which I used in the experiment.
Assingment 2A - Roland Barthes “Rhetoric of the Image”
For this assignment we were asked to read Roland Barthes famous essay “Rhetoric of the Image” which I did and it was definitely NOT an easy read and I am still getting my head round it. Basically it is all about semiotic theory – the study of the relationship of language and other signs to their meanings. Barthes says in advertising "the significance of the image is intentional" and this is why advertisers choose their images wisely. Images are copies; they can never truly represent or fully reveal what is seen by the human eye. They may look like the real thing but they are representatives lacking smell & touch. Images/photographs can explain something without literature and it can change how we see things but is this a good thing? An image without words tells a story but does it tell them same story to everyone. Sometimes literature can be the missing link between the audience and an image, allowing them to see the image in a whole different light.
He mentions "How does meaning get into the image?", "Where does it end? And if it ends, what is there beyond?". This is all to do with advertisement and how to effectively sell a product with an image alone. The image (without any literature) must convey a message to the consumer and that message is to buy the product that is being advertised which is 'where the image ends', the advertiser has done what he set out to do.
Barthes talks about how an image needs no words, a picture by itself can be enough to get a point across and sure enough this can be true but if it were the chosen image would have to be strong and profound enough to capture the same thought by everyone but not everyone has a clear understanding just by looking at an image. If more than one view can be interpreted from an image then this can lead to confusion, as the audience it is aimed at would all interoperate the image in different ways. What we see is determine by who and what we are and not everyone sees the same thing from the same image.
Advertising is all about the importance of the image. Barthes mentions the "three messages" linguistic (what they are telling), a coded iconic (what you see), and a non coded iconic message (what is actually there). These are all used by advertising companies to capture the public’s eye at first glance and sell the product being advertised.
My conclusion is that in theory an image can be effective enough for advertisers to get there product across but as we all know these images are tried and tested and a great amount of money is used to get the right image for the targeted audience (the buyer). So using a random image without text to get a point across might not be as effective and certainly not productive for a big advertising company to try. We were asked to try out such a theory as an experiment and pick three random pictures and show them to random members of the public although in this case to save time we used family members, friends and fellow students. The outcome of this will be mentioned in assignment 2c when I gather the information.
He mentions "How does meaning get into the image?", "Where does it end? And if it ends, what is there beyond?". This is all to do with advertisement and how to effectively sell a product with an image alone. The image (without any literature) must convey a message to the consumer and that message is to buy the product that is being advertised which is 'where the image ends', the advertiser has done what he set out to do.
Barthes talks about how an image needs no words, a picture by itself can be enough to get a point across and sure enough this can be true but if it were the chosen image would have to be strong and profound enough to capture the same thought by everyone but not everyone has a clear understanding just by looking at an image. If more than one view can be interpreted from an image then this can lead to confusion, as the audience it is aimed at would all interoperate the image in different ways. What we see is determine by who and what we are and not everyone sees the same thing from the same image.
Advertising is all about the importance of the image. Barthes mentions the "three messages" linguistic (what they are telling), a coded iconic (what you see), and a non coded iconic message (what is actually there). These are all used by advertising companies to capture the public’s eye at first glance and sell the product being advertised.
My conclusion is that in theory an image can be effective enough for advertisers to get there product across but as we all know these images are tried and tested and a great amount of money is used to get the right image for the targeted audience (the buyer). So using a random image without text to get a point across might not be as effective and certainly not productive for a big advertising company to try. We were asked to try out such a theory as an experiment and pick three random pictures and show them to random members of the public although in this case to save time we used family members, friends and fellow students. The outcome of this will be mentioned in assignment 2c when I gather the information.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Assignment 1 - The Consumption of Design
The aim of this assignment is to test the theory of consumption of design by analysing photographs of somebody’s childhood. Identifying for example; what they like and why they like these things. How they were brought up and in what environment? What are their ‘tastes’ and what determines this? Is it their friends, family or maybe they believe they are not influenced at all; maybe they themselves decide what they like. So what is the story behind the photograph?
"One picture is worth a thousand words" Fred R. Barnard.
Our task for this assignment was to swap photographs with a ‘stranger’ and to analyse them, in this case we were to choose a fellow student whom we did not know well. My subject for this assignment was Fiona Sichi. After analysing her photographs we met up to discuss our findings and how felt about what we discovered and the situation we were put in, as we were being asked to judge someone’s life through a photograph as it were. In some aspects it did feel uncomfortable, I was anxious about hearing what a stranger had to say about me, being put under the spot light and looked upon as a ‘test subject’. The meeting with Fiona was successful, we both appreciated how difficult a task it was and that there was a chance that we could touch upon a sensitive subject but I think we understood and tackled the situation very well.
As it would take forever to explaining what I took from each photograph, here is an overview of my findings...
One of the main things which I could tell from the photographs I was given to analyse was that Fiona was close with her siblings and she seems to have a really close nit family which is evident in almost every photograph. People whom I presumed to be her family were leaning in towards each other; their body language gave off signals that they were close with one another and looked out for each other which she confirmed was true. I also got the impression that her mum was very caring and really proud of her children as I noticed that quite a few of the pictures were of her children’s' achievements and in the background were drawings and paintings which the children had done at school perhaps. This was something that Fiona hadn’t realised but seemed amused when I had brought it to her attention. What I also took from the photo’s which she agreed with, was that Fiona’s little sister idolised her. She looked up to her and wanted to have what she had, wear what she wore hence they are wearing similar clothes in a few of the photo’s. In one or two of the photographs Fiona seemed to be at, what I presumed, a wedding which was a close guess but she revealed that they were actually family reunions that they hold every two years which she really enjoys, getting together with family and catching up with those she doesn’t get to see often. I find it really interesting to see how other families ‘work’, their traditions and what the norm for them. Analysing the photographs at first I could see that they were mainly of Fiona and her siblings only in one of the photographs was there an older female which I presumed to be her mother and in another an older gentlemen celebrating his birthday, her dad. She confirmed this although I questioned why her mother was not in many of the photographs and she told me that she was actually normally the person who ran around sorting everything out, arranging things and making sure everyone else was happy, I had slightly picked up on this in one of the photo’s. There was something else I picked up on that Fiona hadn’t noticed which she was intrigued by, in almost all of the photographs she has a certain posture in which her hands are clasped together in front of her which seems to be a trait that her mother and sister also have. I don’t know what this reveals about her personally, it may just mean that she was brought up with good mannerisms and knows how to carry herself properly. Whatever it means I really found it interesting looking at Fiona’s photos and finding out more about her, these little things that one person notices could mean something else, something more important to someone else.
As for my photographs and what Fiona discovered about me; overall it was very positive feedback and made me think about things that I hadn’t thought about before. Maybe you just never look hard enough or maybe there are things you just didn’t want to see. Something which was brought up during our chat was the relationship between my brother and me. After pointing out to me in the pictures, its evident I really looked up to my brother, we were close. I trusted him and was keen to impress him, he looked out for me and although he could be really annoying at times, as most big brothers are, he would always look out for me. We are not as close now as we used to be but there is and always will be that special bond between brother and sister and I will always look up to him.
Another thing Fiona discovered through analysing my pictures was the strong relationship with my grandfather. In a lot of the photo’s my grandfather and me would be playing games of some sort, keeping me entertained. In one of the photographs I am sitting on his knee and copying his actions, Fiona saw this as a strong indication that I looked up to my grandfather he was a big part of my upbringing and I enjoyed being around him. Another photograph shows him burying me in sand up to my neck, Fiona took from this that we had a very trusting relationship for me to allow him to do this which I strongly agree with.
Sometimes people think they know themselves and their life so well but evidently this is not always true, only after this experiment had I realised certain things about myself and my relationships with family members. Not only has this taught me how to cope in uncomfortable situation but it has also made me more aware of what others can tell about me without actually getting to know me personally. It really is intriguing and maybe the aim of this task was not specifically to get to know someone but I found it has really helped me do so and allowed people to get closer and learn about each others past.
It really does make you think and put a different perspective on things when a stranger can tell you things maybe you didn’t even know about yourself only from a few photographs!
"One picture is worth a thousand words" Fred R. Barnard.
Our task for this assignment was to swap photographs with a ‘stranger’ and to analyse them, in this case we were to choose a fellow student whom we did not know well. My subject for this assignment was Fiona Sichi. After analysing her photographs we met up to discuss our findings and how felt about what we discovered and the situation we were put in, as we were being asked to judge someone’s life through a photograph as it were. In some aspects it did feel uncomfortable, I was anxious about hearing what a stranger had to say about me, being put under the spot light and looked upon as a ‘test subject’. The meeting with Fiona was successful, we both appreciated how difficult a task it was and that there was a chance that we could touch upon a sensitive subject but I think we understood and tackled the situation very well.
As it would take forever to explaining what I took from each photograph, here is an overview of my findings...
One of the main things which I could tell from the photographs I was given to analyse was that Fiona was close with her siblings and she seems to have a really close nit family which is evident in almost every photograph. People whom I presumed to be her family were leaning in towards each other; their body language gave off signals that they were close with one another and looked out for each other which she confirmed was true. I also got the impression that her mum was very caring and really proud of her children as I noticed that quite a few of the pictures were of her children’s' achievements and in the background were drawings and paintings which the children had done at school perhaps. This was something that Fiona hadn’t realised but seemed amused when I had brought it to her attention. What I also took from the photo’s which she agreed with, was that Fiona’s little sister idolised her. She looked up to her and wanted to have what she had, wear what she wore hence they are wearing similar clothes in a few of the photo’s. In one or two of the photographs Fiona seemed to be at, what I presumed, a wedding which was a close guess but she revealed that they were actually family reunions that they hold every two years which she really enjoys, getting together with family and catching up with those she doesn’t get to see often. I find it really interesting to see how other families ‘work’, their traditions and what the norm for them. Analysing the photographs at first I could see that they were mainly of Fiona and her siblings only in one of the photographs was there an older female which I presumed to be her mother and in another an older gentlemen celebrating his birthday, her dad. She confirmed this although I questioned why her mother was not in many of the photographs and she told me that she was actually normally the person who ran around sorting everything out, arranging things and making sure everyone else was happy, I had slightly picked up on this in one of the photo’s. There was something else I picked up on that Fiona hadn’t noticed which she was intrigued by, in almost all of the photographs she has a certain posture in which her hands are clasped together in front of her which seems to be a trait that her mother and sister also have. I don’t know what this reveals about her personally, it may just mean that she was brought up with good mannerisms and knows how to carry herself properly. Whatever it means I really found it interesting looking at Fiona’s photos and finding out more about her, these little things that one person notices could mean something else, something more important to someone else.
As for my photographs and what Fiona discovered about me; overall it was very positive feedback and made me think about things that I hadn’t thought about before. Maybe you just never look hard enough or maybe there are things you just didn’t want to see. Something which was brought up during our chat was the relationship between my brother and me. After pointing out to me in the pictures, its evident I really looked up to my brother, we were close. I trusted him and was keen to impress him, he looked out for me and although he could be really annoying at times, as most big brothers are, he would always look out for me. We are not as close now as we used to be but there is and always will be that special bond between brother and sister and I will always look up to him.
Another thing Fiona discovered through analysing my pictures was the strong relationship with my grandfather. In a lot of the photo’s my grandfather and me would be playing games of some sort, keeping me entertained. In one of the photographs I am sitting on his knee and copying his actions, Fiona saw this as a strong indication that I looked up to my grandfather he was a big part of my upbringing and I enjoyed being around him. Another photograph shows him burying me in sand up to my neck, Fiona took from this that we had a very trusting relationship for me to allow him to do this which I strongly agree with.
Sometimes people think they know themselves and their life so well but evidently this is not always true, only after this experiment had I realised certain things about myself and my relationships with family members. Not only has this taught me how to cope in uncomfortable situation but it has also made me more aware of what others can tell about me without actually getting to know me personally. It really is intriguing and maybe the aim of this task was not specifically to get to know someone but I found it has really helped me do so and allowed people to get closer and learn about each others past.
It really does make you think and put a different perspective on things when a stranger can tell you things maybe you didn’t even know about yourself only from a few photographs!
Friday, 4 December 2009
Assignment 4
Binge Drinking - Alcohol & The Young
For Assignment 4 we were asked to select two resources to read and take notes on. We were then to write a piece outlining, analysing then comparing them.
The two texts I choose to read tackle the topic of alcohol and binge drinking in young people. The first book deals with binge drinking in young people, the consequences on family, friends, the community and more importantly the young binge drinker and recommendations to encourage young people to adopt a safe approach to drinking. Binge drinking would normally be associated with the “typical working man” getting his wage on a Friday and as soon as he finishes work it’s straight to the “pub” to get well and truly “sozzled” until he spends all his spare cash. Well, unfortunately this is no longer true, more and more binge drinkers are young children as in a report of a joint working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association “Alcohol and the Young”.
The authors are addressing the fact that it is not just the impact of drugs on children and young people that we should be worrying about but the growing menace that alcohol poses on them. There are many different causes for young people to start drinking, parental influences, peer pressure, socio-economic factors and ethnic status. Interestingly in the socio-economic factors children aged 9-15 years of professional and managerial parents drink less, then by 16-19 years it is similar to all socio-economic groups but by 20 years plus in higher socio-economic groups the drinking becomes risky or unsafe levels (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995 p35). Another interesting fact is that in ethnic minorities such as Greeks, Jews, Italians and Chinese there is a low rate of alcohol consumption as they encourage their children in moderate drinking patterns within the family (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p34). This only emphasises the ideas of the authors that “accepted wisdom”, meaning that parents have an important influence on their children’s behaviour towards alcohol and as long as there is a control pattern then children will learn good habits towards drink.
The authors of this report gather their facts from data gathered from national reports such as “A study of adolescent drinking” carried out in 1984 by the “Office of Population Census and Surveys” and surveys carried out by the “Health Education Authority (HEA) and these support the following facts (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p30), “when do children start to consume alcohol?“. At 13 years of age 80% of boys and 73% of girls have tasted alcohol, by 15 years 91% of boys and 90% of girls and the figures are roughly the same at 17 years. For young people who are completely abstinent at 15 years largely remain so at 17 years. So the conclusion would be to educate children of the dangers of alcohol at a young age. They would be able to make an informed decision therefore protecting themselves from the harmful effects of alcohol. The authors also use their own experiences gather from their daily life as doctors and surgeons and the intoxicated patients that come through the emergency department on a daily basis.
The main issue the author finds most important is the best way to educate the young people effectively and their belief is to target the parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, alcohol industry and political policy makers in order to make this happen.
My second choice of book in comparison is “Binge Drinking & Youth Culture Alternative Perspectives” edited by Malcolm MacLachlan and Caroline Smyth takes a different approach and looks at constructive and effective strategies in dealing with binge drinking. This book deals mainly with the Irish youth and emphasises the connection with binge drinking to serious social problems such as suicide, especially with regard to the youth culture in Ireland and the UK. This book draws heavily on statistics and facts which often bamboozles the reader with too much evidence such that it takes the emphasis away from the purpose that there is a very clear alcohol problem and no strong strategy to combat the crisis.
Once you have read through the mass of facts and figures, the criticisms between various researchers as to whether the facts are in deed complete (MacLachlan, Smyth 2004, p24) causes much confusion and deflects from the purpose of the book to inform and hopefully enlighten the reader of the dangers of binge drinking. It comes across that the authors have not had first hand experience with binge drinking in young people. I feel that all of their experiences are taken from other researchers and papers on the subject. I believe their facts and figures are correct but does this really help the reader understand what the are actually reading. It is too compacted, too cluttered with statistics as in chapter 6,”Today’s Young Drinkers” (MacLachlan, Smyth 2004, p125) the whole paragraph details more fact and more figures, this becomes boring and the reader then finds it difficult to find the point the authors are making.
I find the whole book a disappointment, totally confusing and unhelpful. There is too much conflicting facts, too many external papers, research papers you would have to read to understand the point being made that you have totally lost track why you were reading the book.
Although the two books that I have chosen to discuss are similar in that they both deal with binge drinking and young people the first, a joint working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association “Alcohol and the Young” seems more interested in the base of the problem and dealing with it from the routes. The doctors have first hand experience of the damage alcohol causes such as severe intoxication, injuries, impact on mental health and drug misuse. Focused heavily in this book is the training of professionals, and also suggests a structured programme and what it should include as detailed in chapter 6 (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p78) where as the second book “Binge Drinking & Youth Culture Alternative Perspectives” edited by Malcolm MacLachlan and Caroline Smyth takes the stances that it is up to the community itself to tackle the problem. This book is to heavily ladened with statistics that it deflects away from the main purpose that binge drinking is a problem in young people and we all need to do something about it.
Here are some hard hitting and factual virals I have found which re-enforces the points made in this piece about youth and binge drinking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96TS9qxnqaM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIQLc1rNgs4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik3eFuvUmNU
-----
Bibliography
Maclachlan, M. & Smyth, C., eds. (2004) Binge Drinking & Youth Culture, Ireland: The Liffey Press
The Royal College of Physicians, (1995) Alcohol and the Young, London: The Lavenham Press Ltd
Youtube, (October 2009) Binge Drinking - Your Night. Your Choice.
Youtube, (June 2008) Binge Drinking - The Consequences C4 News Article.
Youtube, (June 2008) We will stamp out persistent teen binge-drinking.
-----
If i was to do further research I would begin by looking more into the other aspect of my design idea which is electronic ID. I would explore what is already in this area of the market and how effective these designs are, also thinking about how they can be inproved or altered to fit into my proposed design idea.
For Assignment 4 we were asked to select two resources to read and take notes on. We were then to write a piece outlining, analysing then comparing them.
The two texts I choose to read tackle the topic of alcohol and binge drinking in young people. The first book deals with binge drinking in young people, the consequences on family, friends, the community and more importantly the young binge drinker and recommendations to encourage young people to adopt a safe approach to drinking. Binge drinking would normally be associated with the “typical working man” getting his wage on a Friday and as soon as he finishes work it’s straight to the “pub” to get well and truly “sozzled” until he spends all his spare cash. Well, unfortunately this is no longer true, more and more binge drinkers are young children as in a report of a joint working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association “Alcohol and the Young”.
The authors are addressing the fact that it is not just the impact of drugs on children and young people that we should be worrying about but the growing menace that alcohol poses on them. There are many different causes for young people to start drinking, parental influences, peer pressure, socio-economic factors and ethnic status. Interestingly in the socio-economic factors children aged 9-15 years of professional and managerial parents drink less, then by 16-19 years it is similar to all socio-economic groups but by 20 years plus in higher socio-economic groups the drinking becomes risky or unsafe levels (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995 p35). Another interesting fact is that in ethnic minorities such as Greeks, Jews, Italians and Chinese there is a low rate of alcohol consumption as they encourage their children in moderate drinking patterns within the family (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p34). This only emphasises the ideas of the authors that “accepted wisdom”, meaning that parents have an important influence on their children’s behaviour towards alcohol and as long as there is a control pattern then children will learn good habits towards drink.
The authors of this report gather their facts from data gathered from national reports such as “A study of adolescent drinking” carried out in 1984 by the “Office of Population Census and Surveys” and surveys carried out by the “Health Education Authority (HEA) and these support the following facts (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p30), “when do children start to consume alcohol?“. At 13 years of age 80% of boys and 73% of girls have tasted alcohol, by 15 years 91% of boys and 90% of girls and the figures are roughly the same at 17 years. For young people who are completely abstinent at 15 years largely remain so at 17 years. So the conclusion would be to educate children of the dangers of alcohol at a young age. They would be able to make an informed decision therefore protecting themselves from the harmful effects of alcohol. The authors also use their own experiences gather from their daily life as doctors and surgeons and the intoxicated patients that come through the emergency department on a daily basis.
The main issue the author finds most important is the best way to educate the young people effectively and their belief is to target the parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, alcohol industry and political policy makers in order to make this happen.
My second choice of book in comparison is “Binge Drinking & Youth Culture Alternative Perspectives” edited by Malcolm MacLachlan and Caroline Smyth takes a different approach and looks at constructive and effective strategies in dealing with binge drinking. This book deals mainly with the Irish youth and emphasises the connection with binge drinking to serious social problems such as suicide, especially with regard to the youth culture in Ireland and the UK. This book draws heavily on statistics and facts which often bamboozles the reader with too much evidence such that it takes the emphasis away from the purpose that there is a very clear alcohol problem and no strong strategy to combat the crisis.
Once you have read through the mass of facts and figures, the criticisms between various researchers as to whether the facts are in deed complete (MacLachlan, Smyth 2004, p24) causes much confusion and deflects from the purpose of the book to inform and hopefully enlighten the reader of the dangers of binge drinking. It comes across that the authors have not had first hand experience with binge drinking in young people. I feel that all of their experiences are taken from other researchers and papers on the subject. I believe their facts and figures are correct but does this really help the reader understand what the are actually reading. It is too compacted, too cluttered with statistics as in chapter 6,”Today’s Young Drinkers” (MacLachlan, Smyth 2004, p125) the whole paragraph details more fact and more figures, this becomes boring and the reader then finds it difficult to find the point the authors are making.
I find the whole book a disappointment, totally confusing and unhelpful. There is too much conflicting facts, too many external papers, research papers you would have to read to understand the point being made that you have totally lost track why you were reading the book.
Although the two books that I have chosen to discuss are similar in that they both deal with binge drinking and young people the first, a joint working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association “Alcohol and the Young” seems more interested in the base of the problem and dealing with it from the routes. The doctors have first hand experience of the damage alcohol causes such as severe intoxication, injuries, impact on mental health and drug misuse. Focused heavily in this book is the training of professionals, and also suggests a structured programme and what it should include as detailed in chapter 6 (Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Association 1995, p78) where as the second book “Binge Drinking & Youth Culture Alternative Perspectives” edited by Malcolm MacLachlan and Caroline Smyth takes the stances that it is up to the community itself to tackle the problem. This book is to heavily ladened with statistics that it deflects away from the main purpose that binge drinking is a problem in young people and we all need to do something about it.
Here are some hard hitting and factual virals I have found which re-enforces the points made in this piece about youth and binge drinking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96TS9qxnqaM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIQLc1rNgs4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik3eFuvUmNU
-----
Bibliography
Maclachlan, M. & Smyth, C., eds. (2004) Binge Drinking & Youth Culture, Ireland: The Liffey Press
The Royal College of Physicians, (1995) Alcohol and the Young, London: The Lavenham Press Ltd
Youtube, (October 2009) Binge Drinking - Your Night. Your Choice.
Youtube, (June 2008) Binge Drinking - The Consequences C4 News Article.
Youtube, (June 2008) We will stamp out persistent teen binge-drinking.
-----
If i was to do further research I would begin by looking more into the other aspect of my design idea which is electronic ID. I would explore what is already in this area of the market and how effective these designs are, also thinking about how they can be inproved or altered to fit into my proposed design idea.
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