figure 5.

figure 5: picture 1 (Calgary, AB)

This picture was taken by having to adjust the lighting on my camera application on my phone, as when it focused on the people the sunset completely disappeared into an abyss of white, and when I pressed on the sky, the people became shadows of darkness (I know, sounds like we are in Harry Potter, right?).

This picture also made me feel like I was in a movie, and I was their side-character stalker that took pictures of the "perfect couple." My friend joked that maybe they were just models in real life and that they were posing for a magazine shoot. I laughed at the time, but by looking at the picture now, I could easily believe this to be true. From her perfectly ironed dress to their straight and perfect postures and the perfect view behind them-- it really could be a picture out of a magazine. Because at the end of the day, we all seem to be searching for a way to be the spectacle. To create a spectacle. To delve into this false consciousness (which will be discussed further in the next part of this assignment).

figure 5: video 1 (Calgary, AB)

How does this image frame the storyline? How does it add to the plot, and how does it make an argument?

By adding Patrick Watson's Je te laisserai des mots audio over the visual, I created my very own spectacle. This song has been trending on TikTok with many romantic edits of strangers holding hands or looking at something beautiful. Hence, my own creation. In the process of framing my "perception of love," I added an audio component that was meant to evoke feelings of yearning and the stirring of deep emotions from the viewer.

Watching the whole thing occur before my very own eyes-- experiencing this picture, and taking a picture-- made me feel a certain yearning. Yearning for what, I do not know. But it also made me feel at peace. It seemed like a pause in time when I watched the two walk past me. I felt as though maybe everything would work out in life. That, if these two people could somehow connect and be the subject of such a beautiful landscape, maybe it was possible to keep going and keep searching for this same connection. And in my experience of this image, watching humans connect made me in turn, feel something. It dug up emotions in me that I never knew I even carried in my heart. And perhaps this is why photographs were made. To capture the essence of an emotion. (And at the same time, create a false reality for ourselves)