Places lived:
*Springfield, MA
*Charlotte, NC
*Huntersville, NC
Significant Meaning:
*Chicopee, MA - family
*Key Largo, FL
*beach (therapeutic?)
*house on 115
*my room
*old Huntersville
*cosmetology room
*"the trail"
*the south
*Folly Beach
Originally, for this project, I thought about doing home as my location and taking random snap shots of objects and food from home and maybe zoom in really close so you can't really tell what it is. Then, I thought about doing images that constitute "home," not just the physical home. I was thinking about taking pitures of the trees in my neighborhood, flowers, fences, the members area, down by the trail, maybe pictures from Massachusetts, and of random things from home. Pretty much I was going to try and capture the essence of home without be too literal and more so trying to capture things that remind me of home or make me feel at home. I was thinking of how to display this and was thinking about how to display or present this idea and came up with a few ideas other than just a plain photo collage.
Lately, I've been taking backroads to school frequently and it got me thinking about how much Huntersville has changed. There has been and continue to be a lot of changes to Huntersville that I am not real happy about. We moved to Huntersville about twelve years ago, and back when we moved here there were cows off the exit and it was still pretty small town. There wasn't a whole lot of shopping and restraunts back then. Downtown was tiny and a lot of the businesses were probably moreso local owned in there area. However, all that has changed pretty drastically. The cows are long gone, as is the curving road to get to our neighborhood. In my opinion, there are now too many neighborhoods and Huntersville is over built for my taste, but still they keep on building. Now I'm not opposed to a few grocery stores, a little shopping, and some restruants. I think it has gotten kind of ridiculous though, I do not think we need all they have put in. Recently, they put a new shopping center in next to an existing shopping center, and there is another one not too far down the road! We also have 3 Starbucks! An old car dealership that was downtown is no more and has been cleared out to make way for Discovery Place Kids! I think Huntersville has lost its small town appeal and I don't really like that.
All that got me thinking about doing a piece on Huntersville contrasting the what I consider to be the old Huntersville versus new Huntersville. I was thinking about taking pictures of remnants of old Huntersville, as well as the development and urbanization of new Huntersville. I want to use color to convey my feelings regarding the matter. I am thinking of using vivid color for the images of old Huntersville. Then, to contrast that I am thinking about using sepia for pictures of new Huntersville. I think the sepia setting can seem more dull and monotonous against the vivid colors of the other pictures, and to me I think it could maybe bring a smoggy dirty monotonous feel depending on when I take it. I was thinking of also taking the pictures to represent old Huntersville on a nice sunny day, then maybe doing the ones to represent old Huntersville on an overcast day.
I was thinking of using the pictures I take to create a "billboard." I don't remember exactly how I came up with the idea of creating a billboard. It could be because I feel strongly about this and would like to expose how I feel in a big way, kind of like a way of saying "Stop, we don't need it," and maybe getting people to realize their ruining what made us a small town. I am not going to put it on an actual billboard, but do have one in mind when I am creating it. There is a one road I sometimes take in the morning called Old Stumptown Road (Highway 115) that goes through downtown Huntersville. It is a two lane road and has a random billboard on it before you get to downtown Huntersville. This billboard is the one I have in mind while creating this project. I may try and get a picture of it.
Today, during the group discussion, the idea of using a map of Huntersville either to put the "billboard" on or on the "billboard" with images superimposed was suggested. I may possibly try and work in a map of old Huntersville somehow, but I am not yet sure how I would do that if I were to. I'll have to think about it and see whether or not I want to.
Update:
That comment got me thinking, and it seemed as though a political cartoon might be a better idea for this project. I wasn't sure how I would do a political cartoon, but yesterday I was taking pictures around Huntersville to go with my first idea for this project, and came up with a new idea. I still plan to use the same idea, but instead of doing the "billboard" idea, I'm going to try and do a political cartooon. I did a quick outline of what I plan to do on the back of a box I had in my car (maybe later I'll post it).
*Springfield, MA
*Charlotte, NC
*Huntersville, NC
Significant Meaning:
*Chicopee, MA - family
*Key Largo, FL
*beach (therapeutic?)
*house on 115
*my room
*old Huntersville
*cosmetology room
*"the trail"
*the south
*Folly Beach
Originally, for this project, I thought about doing home as my location and taking random snap shots of objects and food from home and maybe zoom in really close so you can't really tell what it is. Then, I thought about doing images that constitute "home," not just the physical home. I was thinking about taking pitures of the trees in my neighborhood, flowers, fences, the members area, down by the trail, maybe pictures from Massachusetts, and of random things from home. Pretty much I was going to try and capture the essence of home without be too literal and more so trying to capture things that remind me of home or make me feel at home. I was thinking of how to display this and was thinking about how to display or present this idea and came up with a few ideas other than just a plain photo collage.
Lately, I've been taking backroads to school frequently and it got me thinking about how much Huntersville has changed. There has been and continue to be a lot of changes to Huntersville that I am not real happy about. We moved to Huntersville about twelve years ago, and back when we moved here there were cows off the exit and it was still pretty small town. There wasn't a whole lot of shopping and restraunts back then. Downtown was tiny and a lot of the businesses were probably moreso local owned in there area. However, all that has changed pretty drastically. The cows are long gone, as is the curving road to get to our neighborhood. In my opinion, there are now too many neighborhoods and Huntersville is over built for my taste, but still they keep on building. Now I'm not opposed to a few grocery stores, a little shopping, and some restruants. I think it has gotten kind of ridiculous though, I do not think we need all they have put in. Recently, they put a new shopping center in next to an existing shopping center, and there is another one not too far down the road! We also have 3 Starbucks! An old car dealership that was downtown is no more and has been cleared out to make way for Discovery Place Kids! I think Huntersville has lost its small town appeal and I don't really like that.
All that got me thinking about doing a piece on Huntersville contrasting the what I consider to be the old Huntersville versus new Huntersville. I was thinking about taking pictures of remnants of old Huntersville, as well as the development and urbanization of new Huntersville. I want to use color to convey my feelings regarding the matter. I am thinking of using vivid color for the images of old Huntersville. Then, to contrast that I am thinking about using sepia for pictures of new Huntersville. I think the sepia setting can seem more dull and monotonous against the vivid colors of the other pictures, and to me I think it could maybe bring a smoggy dirty monotonous feel depending on when I take it. I was thinking of also taking the pictures to represent old Huntersville on a nice sunny day, then maybe doing the ones to represent old Huntersville on an overcast day.
I was thinking of using the pictures I take to create a "billboard." I don't remember exactly how I came up with the idea of creating a billboard. It could be because I feel strongly about this and would like to expose how I feel in a big way, kind of like a way of saying "Stop, we don't need it," and maybe getting people to realize their ruining what made us a small town. I am not going to put it on an actual billboard, but do have one in mind when I am creating it. There is a one road I sometimes take in the morning called Old Stumptown Road (Highway 115) that goes through downtown Huntersville. It is a two lane road and has a random billboard on it before you get to downtown Huntersville. This billboard is the one I have in mind while creating this project. I may try and get a picture of it.
Today, during the group discussion, the idea of using a map of Huntersville either to put the "billboard" on or on the "billboard" with images superimposed was suggested. I may possibly try and work in a map of old Huntersville somehow, but I am not yet sure how I would do that if I were to. I'll have to think about it and see whether or not I want to.
Update:
That comment got me thinking, and it seemed as though a political cartoon might be a better idea for this project. I wasn't sure how I would do a political cartoon, but yesterday I was taking pictures around Huntersville to go with my first idea for this project, and came up with a new idea. I still plan to use the same idea, but instead of doing the "billboard" idea, I'm going to try and do a political cartooon. I did a quick outline of what I plan to do on the back of a box I had in my car (maybe later I'll post it).
A wonderful subject for the theme of Place. How best to reveal this new growth? Do you need humor? Contrast between old and new? How to emulate a billboard? Does it need to displayed on the UNCC campus or in Huntersville to make your message clear?
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