Susan Sontag's In Plato's Cave gave me new insight into the various uses of photography. Prior to reading the article, I never considered how versatile and vital photography is. Every day on my commute, I see many different images, like advertisements and photos on social media. I look at these images very dismissively; I never take the time to appreciate the art behind them. Sontag's essay made me realize that behind each photograph is a story. There is an entire process and intention. Each artist wants to communicate something, whether it be sharing a special moment or documenting a historical event.
Aside from how photography can be a means of communicating something, Sontag's essay also made me consider the role photography plays in my daily life. For example, whenever I take photos of friends and family, I like to create little photobooks to document everything. I make these photobooks for fun, but reading her thoughts on nostalgia and capturing meaningful moments made me realize why I make these books in the first place. When I take a photo of something, I want to be able to look back at it forever and remember the good times. Compiling these books allows me to reflect on several moments and remember how grateful I am for everyone in my life.
Laurence Ivil, Alicia Prager, and Saidu Bah's My Stolen Future details the story of Heela, a young girl processing sexual abuse and finding peace within her tragic situation. The graphic novel combines multiple mediums to convey her story, beginning with text mentioning the rape crisis in Sierra Leone. The following images depict Heela, the schoolgirl, ill in class and venting to her friends about her situation. Through the artwork, you can see just how little she is. It is horrible to imagine such a burden placed on a child, especially knowing that her peers were able to identify her predicament so quickly - meaning they must have seen it happen before. The illustrations and text show Heela's dilemma; there are images where she suffers alone and text bubbles showing all her worries and fears. As the story continues and Heela is brought to the Rainbo center to receive help, the illustrations and text are combined with photography and video. Aside from Heela, who remains an illustration, the social worker is depicted through photography. She explains the crisis in a video, making the situation all the more real and putting a face to the organization. We see a real person at the front of the situation, explaining all the awful things she handles daily. While the illustrations display Heela's suffering and protect her anonymity, the photographs remind us that these are real tragedies. The combination of the two makes for a powerful graphic novel!
Vittoria Elliott's article on the NFT game Axie Infinity provides an insightful look into how new avenues are being explored to make NFTs more accessible. I feel that alternative ways of gaining income, much like the video game described in the article, are beneficial. For many people, constant mobility and commuting are not realistic. Take Secretario, for example, who found it hard to balance his personal and work life. Especially considering how finding a manageable job was difficult because of the competitive and practically non-existent job market in the Phillippines. Axie Infinity provided a solution to this problem, giving Secretario a good source of income that did not consume all his time, and allowed him to care for his grandmother.
I can certainly see the value in this game and how it might help the individual. However, I find the gamification of NFTs and other cryptocurrencies troubling and an avenue that would be far less productive to explore. The article fails to mention the gamble one engages in when relying solely on crypto as income. Often, these articles will focus on the success stories alone, negating the fact that only some people who get into crypto make enough for a living. The added factor of turning something that is already risky into a game is concerning. Isn't it irresponsible to combine in-game and real-life currency? What happens if someone becomes addicted to the game and loses far more than they put into it one day? Of course, guilds remedy this issue, but how many players participate in these guilds? Most importantly, how common are the success stories? At the very least, the article mentions the inaccessibility of the app, considering its increasing popularity. If you wanted to buy in, you would have to spend around a thousand, and the number is only increasing. Nevertheless, I feel that the article does not sufficiently explore the nature of NFTs or the negatives of gamification.
Bitcoin has been a very prevalent topic in recent years, and for a good reason. For one thing, the amount of electricity required to mine bitcoin, a purely digital currency, is damaging to the environment. This is alarming, considering how we should focus on saving, not further harming, the environment. The article also delves into the nature of having a purely digital currency, especially how decentralized currency can be harmful. I understand the appeal of Bitcoin; it makes a lot of sense why so many would want to pursue alternative ways of earning an income when the "traditional" way is so frustrating as is. However, I don't think Bitcoin is the solution, it seems too good to be true, and there is so much more controversy surrounding it than anything else.