Module 1. Compelling Photography

            This is my espresso machine at home. I use this every morning when no one is up yet. The interaction I have with this machine is a very private and personal experience for me. The moment when the coffee starts flow, I always put my nose as close as possible and try to enjoy the aroma of coffee. It is always fresh and wakes me up. It is one of the happy moments in my daily life.

           

           The first image is just a normal shot of my machine. It clearly shows what I am trying to show. However, it does not have any main object in here. Both the machine and my sugar jars have similar value in this image. It neither has any movement and story nor reminds me of my personal feelings for this object.

           The second image is much more compelling to me. It can be my sight when I brew my coffee. Through emphasizing one part of the object, this image leads my whole attention to the machine. Now, the machine has a great contrast with the background of the image. It pops up from the rest of the image and let me know where I should focus on.  Both the horizontal image and the dispenser drop my attention naturally down to the coffee. The color and the texture provide me a sense of the aroma from the coffee. This image is also telling me a story. It seems like somebody is using the machine now and the natural focus of the lever on the top visually express somebody’s trace. I can feel the interaction between human and machine very closely. With a good emphasis of the main objects, natural flow from the top to bottom, this image provides me a very warm and intimate story. It is definitely a much more compelling image than first image.

Module 1. Compelling experience and Education (Photography)

We sometimes are forced to consider our mundane life as special and unique days. It is not easy, because our eyes and minds are not open to seeking the particularities from everyday life. With this attitude, everything seems the same and every day feels the same to us. I wonder how the artists, singers, dancers and poets are continuously inspired. Without inspiration, they cannot create their works. Are they always in love? Or Are they just very talented than others?

The answer is always in our mind. No one actually can be always creative, motivated, or inspired in their mundane life. However, if we have a slightly different mind and eyes to the world, everything around us seems special and unique. We learn this from design or art education. Art education is not about how you can technically create a great art work, but about how we can change the way we look around us.

This week, we talk about the compelling images. Why is one image more compelling than others? There are some factors which we can find in compelling images. “A good flow, grouping, emphasis and so on.” Why is one person more creative and motivated than others? They have eyes and minds which are open to these factors. If we try to observe a normal object through our unique eyes, it becomes compelling and meaningful to us. Then, it is truly understood by us in our own way.

In the same context, I think we can use this perspective to education as well. If the teacher helps students construct and observe their own way of thinking, the student would be motivated and hardly tired of learning. Finding out their own thinking and learning pattern is the key element for their lives. Thus, if the student finds their own way to arrange the scattered information and knowledge by constructing a good flow, grouping and emphasis on the information, this information/knowledge can become very compelling to them. Then, we can easily imagine how the learning process can be elaborated.  To teach the students how to observe, to arrange by heart is not only the starting point of education, but also everything about the education. Both art and education stem from the basic attitude of observing and feeling something by heart.