The Legal Definition Of Crime

The Legal Definition Of Crime Explain how crime can be considered as a social construction and contrast this with legal definition of crime. Our nation, from the start, has been divided by class, race, national origin and has endured class conflicts throughout history (Zinn as cited in Welch, 2009). The purpose of this essay is to show that crime is constructed socially rather than individually. In order to do so, I will focus on describing how crime can be viewed as a product of social construction, explaining different factors contributing to the way people perceive particular behaviour as criminal as well as contrasting concept of crime being socially constructed with its legal definition. After discussing theories created by Howard Becker and Karl Marx , it will conclude that criminal behaviour and its consequences are indeed socially constructed. Reaching consensus over an appropriate term defining crime has undoubtedly been challenging for criminologists as there are no purely objective definitions; all definitions are value laden and biased to some degree (Barak, 1998, p.21). Hence, it is not an easy way to give an exact definition to something so diverse. However, the legal definition of crime suggested by Tappan (1947) is agreed by many to be the most precise and clear so far. It states that Crime is an intentional act in violation of the criminal law (statutory and case law), committed without defence or excuse, and penalized by the state as a felony or demeanour. Although, it has also met with criticism from others who believe that it is too narrow definition (Milovanovic, D.). Only harms defined as such by state are considered in Tappans theory which is also limited to those crimes legally guilty (Milovanovic, D.). It is also vital to mark that legal definition of crime not only excludes white collar crime but also fai ls to acknowledge cultural and historical context of law, such as on gambling and prostitution that may be different depending on state or nation (Henry, S. 200). Essentially an act becomes a crime when it breaks the law established by the government of particular society. Of course what accounts as crime varies depending on different cultures, laws and religions, although there are three main elements determining crime which remain consistent: harm, social agreement and their reaction. The way society responses to the particular harmful behaviour may differ depending upon the society. For example, theft conducted in UK may result in getting a warning or minor sentence, whereas in Muslim societies the same person would have his hand cut off for such an offence. Looking also from historical perspective, attitudes towards certain acts considered then as criminal have also changed as many of those are no longer viewed as crimes. Therefore it is clear that the definition of crime has un doubtedly gone through changes and most probably will continue to change. The main aspect which legal definition of crime seems failing to consider is that some behaviours are considered as crimes whilst others not. This brings us to the social construction of crime, an idea created and essentially developed by society in terms of held perceptions, morals, beliefs and values of individuals living within it. These shape the way we are such as personality, character and our roles within the society. As people are measure beings, they often judge themselves and people around them. The concept of social construction sees criminal behaviour as a mutual interpersonal activity involving actors and audiences (Henry,S.2009). Therefore, the way someone is identified and located within a scope of the society has significant consequences for the way we act towards others (Becker, 1963). Societies define crime by their own norms, believes and rules. Whereas rules, which govern everywhere, determine as well correct and incorrect behaviours within the society. „Cri minal law often mirrors a fairly extensive point that particular behaviour violates some social standards and values (murder, rubbery, etc.). However, actions considered as criminal may vary depending on different cultures, laws or religions. In short, crime is what particular society chooses it to be. Furthermore, crime is a fundamental part of deviance, theory suggested by Howard Becker. Deviance is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather the consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender'(Becker, 1963). It is not only a result of humans actions but also depends on the audience judging particular behaviour as negative or positive. Becker argued that deviance can be defined as a kind of behaviour which differs from the normal, rule-breaking behaviour that is unacceptable in society and depends on what people see as unacceptable. In such situation where society labelled particular person as a deviant, it often results in isolation of this person who eventually finds the only way to survive through involving in criminal activity. Most importantly, crime often arises where the obvious segregation of the rich and poor occurs. Karl Marx, on the other hand, suggested that class struggles are underlying problems in societies where the basis o f power is wealth and which as a result leads to injustice and inequality. Sheptycki (2006) says that the roots of crime lie in the social structural inequalities of wealth and power. This viewpoint perceives capitalist societies as ones which choose individual interest over social welfare. Therefore, from the social constructionist point of view, crime is a behaviour defined by powerful and privileged people with authority to make laws that recognise some acts as offensive. Once more, regarding Becker, powerless people, no matter how bad the damage they done could be, they are likely to be arrested and judged. People who hold more power create then some kinds of illusions that people at the lower levels of social hierarchy (measured on the basis of their income, education degree or even race)- are seen as dangerous to the society. It not only creates place where people are dependent on state but also discriminates people one way or another. Government, could also be an example here . It defines what crime is by choosing to outlaw some particular act. For instance, the issue with drugs which government made illegal. Money tracking laws or tax evasion fall into different category, which relates to government who creates crime for their own interests. This suggests that crimes are created by lawmakers who limit citizens freedom on the ground of their own moral standards. Taking into account all of the aforementioned factors, we can conclude that crime has inevitably been a product of social construction. Notwhistanding the fact that crime is a complex and diverse concept without one, accepted definition, what accounts as criminal varies depending on cultures, laws and religions which proves that crime is a product of social sonctruction. Definitions of crime are constructed by both cultural norms and values as well as power relations. In adition to that we socially shape the meanings of behaviours and their consequences.

Development of Real Photography

Development of Real Photography Introduction The increasingly mediatised culture we live in today has lead us to be dominated by and dependent upon the production and consumption of images. Notions of objectivity and empiricism in the photographic have long since disappeared, but we still locate our sense of the real in images. This dissertation will use many theories and ideas that discuss the role of photography, postmodernism and the real within todays culture. It will start with a discussion of the reasoning for the initial shift back towards the real. This shift mainly stemmed from postmodernism and the media. Postmodernism dealt with the idea of never ending reference and the fear about postmodern culture was that this never ending reference meant that all grip on reality had disappeared. There was a wish to return to something more stable and basic: the real? Due to advances in technology and developments in photography, the new fast changing everyday image led to our relationships and emotions becoming mediatised. We re -live events and experiences through images, which leads to a loss of the real. We remember the image rather than the event. Photographers started to try and return to the purely descriptive photography from the times before the mass referencing of postmodernism. This dissertation will look at how some of these photographers attempted to represent the real and also at how a few decided to play around with the representation of the real. Ansel Adams, for example, believed in simply trying to create a true representation of the landscape he was photographing. He attempted to show scenery at its most natural and realistic, with no visual manipulation or artifice. Andreas Gursky on the other hand began with this view but soon started changing this representation with digital editing so that it was no longer a true representation. Some photographers began attempting to create purely descriptive photography but could not escape referencing earlier work. Justin Partykas work The East Angli ans, for example cannot be described as anything else but descriptive photography. However, his reference to Robert Franks The Americans in his title, had led him to fall into the postmodernism trap. Can you provide an account without analysis when it comes to photography? This leads onto the main question posed in this dissertation: can we ever (re)find the real? Some would say that even photos that appear to be descriptive cannot escape being subjected to analysis and placed within a context of viewing. Due to postmodernism, we are constantly searching for meaning and analysis in images. Maybe they can never be void of reference and construction? Maybe images can never provide the clear, stable version of reality that we want from them? This constant analysis of images has exhausted our trust and interest in the photograph; there was a need to create images different from the ones we see every day in the media in order to re-find our trust in the image as truth and as art. Older, slower technologies began to re-emerge. The single image produced from these methods of working could bring back the processes of our memory that have been complicated due to the sheer amount of information we get from other technologies. There are a number of strands of pho tography that are concerned with the notion of re-finding the real. What do these methods of photographing have in common? Do any of these strands achieve the stable and basic feeling of certainty that the real exists? Andy Grundbergs phrase the crisis of the real is apt in explaining the context of the real within the photographic; the word crisis inferring both an intense difficulty and a point of departure; a need for immediate change. Defining or attempting to name this period of change is not important, what is important is what it means for photographic practice. Will we continue to be consumed by images, or is there a future beyond the cycle of referencing left by postmodernism?   Can we ever (re)find authenticity, originality and a true form of photography that can direct us to the real? Chapter 1: What caused people to want to return to the real? There are many factors which eventually led to people wanting to return to the real values that were present in art and culture before postmodernism. This chapter will look at what some of these factors are and how they led to the return of the real. It will first deal with postmodernism and how the never ending referencing that was introduced during this time affected photography as an art form, and how the loss of the real that we experienced during the postmodernist era led to a wish to return to something more stable and basic. It will also look at the advances in technology and video that came about at this time, and how these advances changed photographic culture.   It will also explore how our experiences, events, and even our emotions, both on an individual and public scale are heavily mediated, and how as a result of this, it is claimed we have lost any relation to the real. The original shift towards the real came about due to postmodernism. This new form of art focussed on bringing together elements from existing culture, and never making anything new. This new way of working led to photography being used more and more in art. Before, photography had merely been a method of recording and was used mainly in science. Anytime it had been used in art it was considered undeserving and not a true art form.   However, the rise of postmodernism meant that artists were looking for more ways to express themselves. Photography began to be used more and more, and it was becoming a more widely recognised and accepted form of art. As people were using it more and more, new developments in photographic technology were emerging. These new technologies meant that photography became more widely available, and many people who were not considered artists began using it. Photography was now used extensively in art, and in the new postmodern culture. Postmodernism discarded the idea of finding something new and original and instead focussed on recombining elements from existing culture. Nothing new was being created which soon meant that art had become exhausted. The postmodern culture played with signs of never ending reference, where the more you played the less anyone seemed to know what reality it was touching (Bate, 2004a: 31) and we had lost touch with what we thought reality to be (Bate, 2004a: 31). The constant referencing and re-referencing had led to us being absorbed in representation. We no longer knew what reality was, and what it was not. We were lost. The fear about postmodern culture was that there was no longer any anchor to reality at all, and that reality had disappeared into an endless chain of other representations (Bate, 2004a: 31). This never ending reference meant that all grip on reality had disappeared. There was a wish to re turn to something more stable and basic. There was a need for change, for something new to emerge from the endless trail of reference. In this culture, in which reality was discarded in favour of mass intertextual referencing, there was a desire to return to reality. As David Bate says, there was a, wish for a grittier, closer to reality relation through realism (Bate, 2004a: 35). Many people wanted a return to the values of modernism (the straight and pure photograph) to contemporary art photography, this is a return to description, originality and actuality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" precisely all the things that were strongly rejected by postmodernism (Bate, 2004a: 33). There were many developments in technology that caused the downfall of postmodernism, along with the introduction of video. Photography was once the only way of stopping time, whereas now a freeze frame can come from any number of sources. Photographs began to be made by pulling them out of existing images; they were now selected from video and film. What had once been the sole privilege and product of the photograph is now equally likely to be the result of a cinema or video freeze-frame (Bate, 2004b: 34). The development of video was leading to photography becoming redundant.   Photography and video was also now becoming more readily available. Due to new appliances such as DVD players and VCRs, anyone could now create a freeze frame from a video. Even cinematic blockbusters can be stilled on domestic appliance devices like DVD and video machines (Bate, 2004b: 34). Victor Burgin discussed the advances in film and video in his essay Possessive, Pensive and Possessed. The int roduction of VCRs, DVD players, and eventually video editing software on personal computers, meant that the order of narrative could now be routinely countermanded (Burgin, 2007: 198) by the audience whenever they wished. This changed photography, as instead of photographs being of an actual event, they were now selections from the way the event had already been interpreted. Newspapers and news channels were no longer using photographers to capture the perfect picture; they were using video and selecting the image from the video. This enabled the news channels to pick the exact expression or look they required to give a biased representation of the person or thing. They could now create a completely false demonstration and force a public collective opinion. David Bate talks about these freeze-frame images in his article After Thought, Part II. He says, The possibility of choosing the right moment in such instances is still dependent upon   a person knowing when to push the button, but this is now in the hands of someone selecting a still from an already produced moving image. The selected decisive moment is chosen from a film or video stream rather than reality itself. Whereas a photograph was supposed to be a rectangle ripped out of time as John Berger had once dramatically put it, today it is more often via the computer that a print is pulled out of some existing image bank. (Bate, 2004a: 34) Images used to be representations of actual lived events à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" now these images we see in news and the media are much more likely to be representations from the way the event has already been represented. Video had stolen what makes photography special à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the decisive moment. Therefore the specificity and specialness of photography had to find itself in some other attribute of photography. New developments in digital imagery mean that we can now see results instantly; there is no waiting in a lab or until the end of your holiday to see your photographs. Advances in technology, such as mobile phones, email, etc. now allow us to see and share images in a fraction of a second. The person sending these images and the person receiving them can now send and expect results instantly. Yet despite the idea that these mobile technologies bring us all closer to each other, we are caught up in a contradiction, since they increasingly mediatise our relationships to one another (Bate, 2004b: 35).   We no longer talk to each other and see each other face to face; we instead communicate through email, mobile text messaging and social networking sites, where we never actually see the other person we are communicating with. This has lead to a loss of the real. As David Bate said, To look at something it has to be kept at a distance (Bate, 2004b: 35). Because of the loss of the real that we experienced during the postmodernist era there is a wish to return to something more stable and basic. New art is now made up of redundant processes that are often older and slower, which makes this new art form different from the images we see in everyday media culture. If analogue photography is becoming technologically redundant or residual to news and advertising industries, the consequences for art are different. New art is often borne of redundant industrial processes, usually older and slower, by finding a new use and aesthetic within the arts and which comes out of its marking a difference from image uses in everyday media culture. (Bate, 2004b: 40) Artists were leaving these new fast technologies that were used in the media in favour of older slower ones. These old, redundant methods were considered more real. The traditional, slower, apparently simpler methods seemed to be more linked to the real as they are different from the images in the media. Some people have called this change and shift in the way that photographs are being constructed a shift towards the real values that were present in modernism, before the rise of postmodernism. As Susan Sontag says, The cult of the future (of faster and faster seeing) alternates with the wish to return to a more artisanal, purer past à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" when images still had a handmade quality, an aura (Sontag, 1977: 221). But, Hal Foster feels that we have not left postmodernism completely, it has just become normalised. The consequence of this is that we change the way we want reality to be constructed. Hal Foster feels that simply, postmodernism became dÃÆ' ©modÃÆ' ¨ (Foster, 1996: 206). Due to the media, we have become inundated with images and photographs in our everyday life, to the extent that images have become our reality. We no longer separate images from real life, and the two have become blurred. In his book, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord talks about how developments in photography and the proliferation of mass media images have contributed to what Debord called the society of the spectacle. In the spectacular world, images and representations become our reality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" everything exists as and for images. Where images refer to one another endlessly, originality and authenticity are abolished. We become consumed by images and messages. Experience, events, and even our emotions, both on an individual and public scale are heavily mediated. As a result of this, it is claimed we have lost any relation to the real; The spectacle has now spread itself to the point where it now permeates all reality. (Debord, 1990: 9) Our real-life experiences become repressed and events take place in a mediated, pseudo-reality. We can no longer distinguish between real memories, and mediated memories. Victor Burgin explores this in his essay Possessive, Pensive and Possessed. He describes a study done in 1977 where people were interviewed about their past experiences. There were a few people in the study who believed that media events or films were in fact their own memories. People became confused and mixed personal history with scenes from films or media productions. As Burgin says, I saw at the cinema would simply become I saw (Burgin, 2007: 200). Burgin explains how these people were remembering scenes from a film instead of real life, and called these memories screen memories;   A screen memory is one which comes to mind in the place of, and in order to conceal, an associated but repressed memory (Burgin, 2007: 201). People were remembering images and scenes from films and the media that were similar to their real memories, but were less painful as there were not actual lived recollections. People were using these to cover up and replace genuine, traumatic memories. In the past, events happened but people just didnt know about them as there was no media. It rarely went beyond those involved. Now because of media we all know about every event, and add these events to our memories, even though we have not actually physically experienced them. We forget our real experiences and replace them with things from the media. Thomas De Zengotita, in his book, Mediated; How the media shape the world around us, describes how our reaction to big events such as the 9/11 disaster is to experience and re-live them through images. He calls this bubble of mediated representations the blob. In the world of the blob, momentous catastrophes such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks are almost poignant enough to burst the bubble, something like that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" will feel as if it might be sharp enough, as if it might pierce the membrane and slice the pulp (De Zengotita, 2007: 27). However, not surprisingly, our reaction to such events is to experience and re-live it t hrough images, adding it to our bank of mediated events.   In other words, they become part of the spectacle. Chapter 2: Realism in Landscape Photography This chapter is going to explore how photographers attempt to represent the real, and if you can create a purely descriptive photograph. It will discuss photographers that try to represent the real, and also photographers that play around with the representation of the real, to create something completely different. I will specifically be looking at landscape photography, as this is the area of photography were photographers have really attempted to create authentic representations of the real, to show the landscape. It is also the area of photography that I am particularly interested in. To attempt to show the real in landscape photography, you need to show the scenery at its most natural and realistic, with no visual manipulation or artifice. There is also the argument that no message, meaning or reference may be conveyed at all. Considering it is the view of some people that photographs are analysed and given meaning as soon as they are viewed, is this possible? In this chapter, select works of four photographers will be looked at. It will consider how each photographer has attempted to show the real, either as an exact representation, or by manipulating the representation to give it a different meaning, and will discuss whether they have managed this. The photographers that are going to be observed are Ansel Adams, Andreas Gursky, Doug Aitken and Justin Partyka. Ansel Adams is an environmentalist and photographer who makes landscape photographs to essentially document and record the beauty of nature. Adams love of nature began when he was a child, after having problems fitting in at school and eventually being home taught. He would go for hikes through nature, and this is where his fascination with nature was set in motion. Adams began his photographic career by using the Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie his parents had given him to record his travels through the Yosemite Valley. He soon joined the Sierra club, and held his first solo exhibition at the clubs headquarters in 1928. The work created by Adams is done using a large format camera, so as to capture as much detail as possible. The image I will be looking at is called Mt. Clarence King, Pool, Kings Canyon National Park, California (1925). It is a landscape image taken in Kings Canyon National Park in 1925. The image is a black and white image, of a scene, with large mountains in the background and a pool in the foreground. There is a lot of gravelly earth around the pool and some trees and bushes between the mountains and pool. This image is an authentic representation of the landscape, and is not trying to be anything else. Adams wanted to purely represent the landscape, and this is what he has done. Adams began to pursue straight photography, in which the clarity of the lens was emphasized, and the final print gave no appearance of being manipulated in the camera or the darkroom (www.anseladams.com, 2009). Adams only ever tried to create accurate representations of the landscape.   However, you could argue that the fact that he works in black and white indicates that this image is not a true representation, as the world is not in black and white. This non use of colour is therefore a message, rendering the im ages more than pure description. Andreas Gursky is one of the rare photographers who began attempting to create vast, clear representations of the real, but then moved on to openly digitally manipulating his images. I will be looking at some of his work pre 1990s, as this is before he started to digitally manipulate his images. Gursky was trained and influenced by Hilla and Bernd Becher, who are known for their straight, scientific style of systematically cataloguing industrial machinery and architecture. This may be compared to the similar methodical approach that Gursky has to his own work. Gursky generally photographs landscape in large colour format (although a lot of his work is urban landscape, both interior and exterior). The image I will be examining is Fishermen, MÃÆ' ¼lheim a.d. Ruhr, taken in 1989. This is a landscape image of Gurskys taken in 1989. It is of a river running through the city of MÃÆ' ¼lheim. The river is wide and flat, with trees covering both banks. You can just make out a few small groups of fishermen on the banks of the river, and a bridge in the distance. This is before he used any digital manipulation, and was purely trying to represent the real. Gursky has not attempted to conceal or change anything in this image to give it a meaning or a reference. He has named the image what it is, Fishermen, MÃÆ' ¼lheim a.d. Ruhr, which is simply what is it, fishermen on a river in MÃÆ' ¼lheim, so has not tried to imply meaning through the name of the image. This image is meant to be purely descriptive, and a genuine representation of the real. Other photographers and writers have agreed with this, for example David Bate says What Gursky and Evans both share (with different techniques of course) is an awesome description. The effects of these anecdotal descriptions is primarily to evince reality through the photographic instant of here it is and this is how it is. The picture throws at the audience a defiant description where the accumulation of anecdotal detail actually inhibits the communication of a specific message. (Bate, 2004a; pg 33) Bates view is that the vast amount of detail in the image actually inhibits a message being conveyed by the image. He feels Gurskys plan is to be as authentically descriptive as possible à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this is how it is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and not to hide or imply any other meaning or reference. This may have been Gurskys plan, to attempt to create a pure representation of the real, but this does not change how we view images. We still attempt to create a meaning for ourselves, as we no longer feel that sheer description is enough. There must be a referent, a meaning behind the image, and we are constantly looking for it. Gursky was attempting to create a purely descriptive photograph, but we do not see it like that because of the way we now look at and interpret images. Doug Aitken works with a range of material, including photography, sculpture, films, sound, single and multichannel video works and instillations. This essay, however, will just be looking at his photography. Rather than purely representing the real in his images, Aitken plays around with the representation of the image so they are descriptive photographs, but the way they are put together adds a message and reference. Aitken lives and works in Los Angeles, and is one of many new artists to work with the medium of film. Film is Aitkens main medium for his art work although he does work with still images from time to time. The image I am going to be looking at is called New Opposition III. This is an image made up of four different images. Separately, the images could be considered as descriptive attempts at representing the real. However, the way that Aitken puts them together changes this. If viewed on their own, they would be seen as purely descriptive, real images of landscape. But the way they have been put together suggests something else. They become more like a narrative, showing different places at different times, together; I wanted to find a way to blend together different moments in time, different spaces and different locations (Aitken, : 62). Aitken feels that the images would not work on their own and rely on each other to create their meaning. On their own, they would be nothing. He says The photographs do not work as self-sufficient one-off frames but rely on each other for meaning. The optical tricks that the landscape form when placed together give the impression to the viewer that they are either falling into the centre of the earth or are on top of it looking down as if from the apex of a pyramid (Aitken, :62). The way the images are placed together is obviously very important to the meaning that Aitken is trying to provide. Aitken is using real images in his work, but playing around with the representation so that they are no longer considered real. He purposefully adds a meaning and a message to his images, rather than leaving it to the viewers imagination. This is different from somebody like Gursky, who does not give a message, as the image is just supposed to be an authentic representation. Any meaning given to Gurskys images is given by the viewer, in contrast to Aitkens images where the meaning is given for you. Viewers are now so used to images having a meaning, and that meaning being told to them, that they now look for a meaning in everything. Justin Partyka is a photographer whose work explores the importance of place, culture and identity, and the roles that tradition and landscape play in these themes. He is currently working on three long term projects; The East Anglians, The Carnivalesque of CÃÆ' ¡diz, and Saskatchewan. The project I will be concentrating on is The East Anglians. The work, The East Anglians, is a collection of documentary photographs of rural life in East Anglia. Partyka attempts to create real images, in a documentary style. His photographs are often very straight with no messages or signs. The image I am looking at is one from the East Anglians series, but the title is unknown. This image is of an old barn in East Anglia. As the image is untitled, it suggests that Partyka did not want to imply any meaning at all, not even naming the place or image. The barn is quite old and rusty, and appears to be in a state of disrepair. There is a lot of grass in the foreground in front of the barn, and fields behind it. The photograph is an attempt at a real representation of the scene. However, Partyka has called this series of photographs, The East Anglians. This is a quite obvious reference to Robert Franks, The Americans. Although Partyka has created purely descriptive images, he has referenced other work in his title. Partykas work, although essentially descriptive, cannot deny the presence of such referencing. What we have here is an image that is subjective in narrative, with referencing to earlier photography, and yet undoubtedly descriptive. I see photography as very much a descriptive mediumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but obviously this description is an edited one based on the choices made by the photographer in where they point the camera and when they press the shutter (Partyka, 2009). Partyka has acknowledged that his photographs are descriptive, and that photography is a descriptive medium, but can a photograph ever be a pure representation of the real? As Partyka says, the description of an image is based on the photographers choice of where to point the camera and when to press the shutter, which immediately adds reference to the image. We cant help but look at what a photograph means. Photographs are placed in a context of viewing, and are subjected to analysis and interpretation at the very instance of looking. So, although Partyka has undoubtedly created very descriptive images, the referencing in his title, and the fact that images are analysed as soon as they are placed in a context of viewing, means his photographs are no longer purely descriptive. Can we ever have an account without analysis? It seems that we cannot. Even photographs that are meant to be purely descriptive are analysed and given meaning and reference as soon as they are placed within a context of viewing. This is similar to the Observer Effect popular in current interpretations of Quantum Mechanics.   This theory puts forward the postulate that by merely observing an object, the very nature of the object itself is changed: One of the most bizarre premises of quantum theory, which has long fascinated philosophers and physicists alike, states that by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality (www.sciencedaily.com, 1998). Could it therefore be said that an image may remain purely descriptive as long as it is never viewed, and therefore never interpreted and given meaning? Possibly, but then we also have to discuss whether a photograph is made more than a pure representation when it is taken. When a photographer decides where to po int their camera, when to press the shutter, what to cut out of the image and what to include, it could be said that in that instant the photographer is not making an exact representation of reality, but an edited one. Therefore, it could also be said that we can never provide a purely descriptive representation of the real through photography. Chapter 3: Can we ever get back to the real? This brings us to the question; can we ever get back to the real? Were we even there in the first place?   Does descriptive realism actually exist in photography? This chapter will look at the theories and ideas of many photography theorists, as well as my own, and will attempt to answer these questions, and others. It will use work from various photographers, as well as several essays and books to endeavour to explore the notions of the real in relation to photography and contemporary culture, and to investigate if we can find, or re-find the real. Does descriptive realism exist? We cant help but look at what the photograph signifies and means. Even photographs that appear to be descriptive cannot escape being subjected to analysis and placed within a context of viewing. Everything in an image is symbolic once we begin to interpret it, and this begins at the very instance of looking. This is, as Roland Barthes says, great scorn for the realists who do not see that the photograph is always coded (Barthes, 2000: 88). Photographs can never be void of theoretical underpinnings, and any photographs that do appear to be purely realistic only do so in accord to what we expect a descriptive or realistic image to be like. Debord explains this perfectly in his discussion of theory; what is so droll, however, is that all the books which do analyse this phenomenon, usually to deplore it, cannot but join the spectacle if theyre to get attention (Debord, 1990: 5). Evidently we continue to encounter an endless cycle of referencing, which cannot be traced simply to the accepted beginnings of postmodernism. Photographs are analysed as soon as they are viewed. Perhaps they never were, and never will be void of reference and construction? Maybe they can never provide the clear, stable version of reality that we want from them? Conceptual photography attempts to show the truth by highlighting this dilemma. It attempts to parody the common notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations, and in doing so, reveals this as the real. In their essay From Presence to Performative: Re-thinking Photographic Indexicality, David Green and Joanna Lowry look at notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations. They discuss how photographs are indexical not just because light is recorded in an instant on a piece of photosensitive film, but also, because they were taken: the very act of photography, as a kind of performative gesture which points to an event in the world, as a form of designation that draws reality into the image field, is thus itself a form of indexicality. (Green and Lowry, 2003: 48). They discuss how conceptual photography attempts to parody the common notions of indexicality and truth in photographic representations, and in doing so, reveal this as the real: [conceptu al photographs] point to the real while reminding us that photography can never represent it (Green and Lowry, 200

How to Improve in Shakespeares The Tempest :: Tempest essays

How to Improve Shakespeare’s Tempest    Mr. William Shakespeare, I am going to get right down to business.   I am writing to you regarding our recent collaboration on The Tempest.   In my opinion I think we need to make a couple of changes.   The first is in regards to Caliban and the second has to do with Prospero.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As I was reading the section of the play where Caliban takes Stephano as his master I began to think about how he should be wiser by now.   As is Caliban begs a drunken Stephano to be his master.   In my opinion Caliban should show development by not drinking and possibly taking advantage of the drunk Stephano and Trinculo.   It should develop in this fashion:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   I believe that I can assist you in your stay on the island.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What mean you beast?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To snare the nimble marmoset.   I'll bring thee   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To clustering filberts, and I'll teach thee to get   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Young scamels from the rock.   Does't though attend me?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I do.   For all this service what want'st you in return.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I ask but one simple service.   The death of my tyrant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   master.      Ã‚  Ã‚     Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   You ask me to murder for you?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I ask only that you remove your only opponent in making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   me your vassal.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well bargain'd for a monster such as thee.   I shall   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   consider it.    If the scene is run in this way Caliban is developed as more human and less monster.   Also it adds more urgency to the possible danger Stephano and Trinculo bring, but the comic aspect remains because the two are drunk.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My second suggestion addresses the issues of Prospero and tempests.   At the end of the play there is the opportunity for great suspense.   The interaction between Prospero and his brother and conspirator could be much more intense.   You could easily create an internal conflict for Prospero where he debates whether or not to take action against Antonio.   Of course he cannot have given up his powers at this point.   Instead of just letting Antonio alone Prospero could use his magic to give him pains, make him small or one of many other whimsical tricks to teach Antonio a lesson; I think that causing Antonio to sleep and in turn not taking him home would be the most fitting punishment. How to Improve in Shakespeare's The Tempest :: Tempest essays How to Improve Shakespeare’s Tempest    Mr. William Shakespeare, I am going to get right down to business.   I am writing to you regarding our recent collaboration on The Tempest.   In my opinion I think we need to make a couple of changes.   The first is in regards to Caliban and the second has to do with Prospero.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As I was reading the section of the play where Caliban takes Stephano as his master I began to think about how he should be wiser by now.   As is Caliban begs a drunken Stephano to be his master.   In my opinion Caliban should show development by not drinking and possibly taking advantage of the drunk Stephano and Trinculo.   It should develop in this fashion:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   I believe that I can assist you in your stay on the island.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What mean you beast?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To snare the nimble marmoset.   I'll bring thee   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To clustering filberts, and I'll teach thee to get   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Young scamels from the rock.   Does't though attend me?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I do.   For all this service what want'st you in return.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I ask but one simple service.   The death of my tyrant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   master.      Ã‚  Ã‚     Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   You ask me to murder for you?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Caliban:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I ask only that you remove your only opponent in making   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   me your vassal.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephano:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Well bargain'd for a monster such as thee.   I shall   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   consider it.    If the scene is run in this way Caliban is developed as more human and less monster.   Also it adds more urgency to the possible danger Stephano and Trinculo bring, but the comic aspect remains because the two are drunk.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My second suggestion addresses the issues of Prospero and tempests.   At the end of the play there is the opportunity for great suspense.   The interaction between Prospero and his brother and conspirator could be much more intense.   You could easily create an internal conflict for Prospero where he debates whether or not to take action against Antonio.   Of course he cannot have given up his powers at this point.   Instead of just letting Antonio alone Prospero could use his magic to give him pains, make him small or one of many other whimsical tricks to teach Antonio a lesson; I think that causing Antonio to sleep and in turn not taking him home would be the most fitting punishment.

A Clockwork Orange Essay: A Modernistic Work :: Clockwork Orange Essays

A Clockwork Orange as a Modernistic Work      Ã‚  Ã‚   A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, technically falls after the period deemed as 'Modernism', yet it embodies all of the features that were characteristic of that literary era.   Burgess's novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government.    A Clockwork Orange abandons normal 'language' (which Modernists believed couldn't always convey meaning anyway) and is written in 'Nadsat' (which means teenager).   It is a slang that is spoken by the teenagers at the time.   Burgess   uses approximately two-hundred and fifty 'nadsat' words (most of which have Russian roots) to convey his story.   This gives the reader a sense of intimacy with Alex and his 'droogs' (friends) due to the fact that the adults in the novel can't understand what they are govoreeting (saying).  Ã‚   There is also a disruption of the linear flow of narrative aside from this private language; Alex ('Our Humble Narrator') tells the story in a remembering type sequence, but often interjects with thoughts or questions posed directly at the reader.    Aside from the strange language that is found on the pages of this novel, one of the most obvious modernistic features is Burgess's ability to shock. There are many different scenes that are quite disturbing and violent. Alex's propensity to rape young girls (ten years old), and his absolute joy in the sight of blood and pain. ' ...while I ripped away at this and that and the other...and real good horrorshow [good] groodies [breasts] they were that then exhibited their pink glazzies [eyes], O my brothers, while I untrussed [undresses] and got ready for the plunge.   Plunging I could slooshy [hear] the cries of agony' ( Burgess 23).  Ã‚   This ties in with the fact that, as readers, we tend to follow the actions of Alex and his droogs and it is easy to get caught up in all this violent action and loose sight of the real meaning of Burgess's novel.  Ã‚   Burgess writes this novel from and to the "ID".   Alex and his droogs embody all animal or primal instincts and the tale that has been set before the reader has little respect for realism. We are presented with a world in which the teenagers rule the nights, keeping all real people in their houses.   A world where there are milk bars (moloko kordova) in which fifteen year olds can be served with milk that was laden with drugs.

Will Canada Become The 51st St :: essays research papers

Is Canada going to be swallowed up by the United States? A political cartoon based on Pierre Trudeau's famous quote, 'Living next to you (the United States) is like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twist and grunt.'; was made. This means when something occurs in the United States, we too are affected. If the United States goes to war, because we belong to N.A.T.O., Canada would support their position. If McDonalds, an American based company, were to close down, then many Canadian workers would lose their jobs since McDonalds is well established in Canada. Many Canadian businesses are American owned, such as Ford, Burger King, Chevrolet, Wendy's, and Walmart to name a few. Also, many more sports teams are owned in America than in Canada. For example, only 5 hockey teams exist in Canada, while the United States has at least 5 times more teams. Our players must be payed in American funds, and one American dollar i s worth $1.50 in Canada. Those are some ways Canada is being swallowed by the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, Canada is a valued trade partner for the Americans. For example, the United States has a dire need for our natural resources, such as water. Having polluted their own water supply, the now looks to Canada for the solution to their problem. If Canada were to become a part of the United States, our water would become polluted, forcing the United States government to buy even more clean water from another country for even more people. Also, the differences in our political systems would mean change for both the United States and Canada, which would doubtlessly upset millions of people. Would we have a President or a Prime Minister? Indeed, our 'assimilation' would be difficult. However, youth would have little trouble fitting in, since we wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, watch the same television shows, and play the same games.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But how would the assimilation begin? The answer is simple. If Quebec were to win a referendum and leave Canada, we would lose much of our industry. After Quebec, the maritime provinces would also leave, which would cripple us further. In desperate need of a stable economy, we would begin negotiations with the United States. The House of Commons would become a meaningless symbol, along with many of our historical buildings and monuments.

Lingerie A Fashion Statement Fashion Essay

Many adult females today are looking for good trades on lacing intimate apparel. This type of sexy unmentionable is a fabulous thought to spice things up, or merely to experience slightly glamourous. In the yesteryear, in order to acquire high quality lacing, you would hold to pass a batch of money and clip seeking for a shop that would be selling it without the high grade up that these things get. The great huge bulk of people that are seeking for lacing is happening that there is so much more online than of all time before. If you look at the commercialism universe in footings of history, you will cognize that there is a big turning place of people that are looking for great merchandises online from the comfort of their office chair or computing machine. Seriously, is n't that great, modern engineering has come up to the degrees that consumers truly want. It ‘s non merely adult females that are happening these shops intriguing, there is a big part of people that are detecting that they can order a batch of merchandises from their place and have them delivered. You can acquire these points delivered to your house with the greatest of easiness. It is an unbelievable thing to bask lacing intimate apparel, and people should truly understand how great things are now that there is more information out at that place to bask. If information in a sense is power, you have the power of a great consumer to travel out at that place and acquire the best trades on grownup intimate apparel and unmentionables for personal or recreational uses. Surely, non everyone in the universe is truly looking for lacing intimate apparel. However, there is a great sum of people and places that receive catalogs. If you are looking to spice up your ain life, or the life of your spouse, you can make so with have oning a nice lacing merchandise. Lace is really nice and soft, making a nice cognitive position for your partner or spouse. Looking for good material online is easy. The cyberspace has given us a major sum of power in respects to consumer shopping. You can truly look into comparing shopping with the touch of a button. You have to set this into position. If you were to desire to purchase lacing intimate apparel back in the yearss before the cyberspace roar, you were looking frontward to a batch of clip spent traveling shop to hive away. If you make it to a shop that sells these points, you would so hold to seek each one on, and most likely non happen the size you need. The job here is that shops do non ever carry the sizes of all adult females, furthermore they merely order what is popular in their country, non what the possible consumer might desire. However, if you go on-line to seek for a good shop that has lacing, you will detect that they carry all sizes and many different colourss because Thursday In an age where professional life style seduces one ‘s inherent aptitudes dressing takes a Centre stage.Dont be put down by humdrum traits of intimate apparel and usage wears. Making each twenty-four hours and dark a piece to retrieve is the most sought after sphere of human outlooks. Make your loved one feel exquisite by showing her a all right line of alien intimate apparel. Whether it is a Valentine ‘s dark a sexy shimmy may chat up with your psyche, transport your sleek attitudes with a underbodice, or surprise your spouse with a push-up bandeau which certainly would hypnotise his inherent aptitudes. Make her feel particular with a all new scope of intimate apparel doing her expression like a Hollywood star. The store for intimate apparel ne'er satisfies your psyche until you try a few trade names. Subject parties or Halloween eventides or that particular day of remembrance you have been waiting for long, purchase a sexy intimate apparel that would do your spouse expe rience special.Buy a sexy intimate apparel from a scope of party subjects available all the twelvemonth unit of ammunition. The feeling of being sexy is non merely promoted by your mentality but by your interior beauty, that ‘s why a sexy bandeau or pantie enhances your innerself by catapulting your curves and physical being. Silk in that sense makes one more attractive and is the most preferable trade name globally. A flirty babe doll enhances your societal presence but a sleepwear with extremist texture quality creates an feeling on your loved 1s. Try different trade names and manner each twenty-four hours to do your spouse looking for invention and make a long standing feeling on his thought genre. 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Character Analysis: Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood

Grace Marks being the protagonist of the historical novel Alias Grace matures and grows as most protagonist do. Grace goes through many stages in her life where she needs to adapt to the situation in order to not be taken advantage of. She Is either too naive, too deep in self-pity or too self-aware. She Is a dynamic character who goes from being a scared little girl Into a convicted murderess. The stereotype surrounding her being a woman – making her too fragile to take part In such a crime actually helps her and saves her from the noose.Like every proper girl Grace was very naive when It came to things of the sexual nature. When she observes Nancy dress to have some Ink-Sis snuff stains she tells herself â€Å"she most likely slipped and fallen down† (262) She TLD understand where the stains could've came from, besides getting dirty doing house work. Throughout her story Grace speaks a lot about Mary Whitney and all she taught her regarding men such as ‘not sitt ing where a man just sat' and how street whore's made money. Unfortunately Mary died while going through an abortion, which ironically Grace did not understand at the time.All of this new information did scare Grace, until she finally realized how naive she really was when she was informed about Mr†¦ Skinner and Nancy relationship as to which she remarked â€Å"l was much surprised , and said so; â€Å"l was not so knowing as I thought myself, and could scarcely see the nose before my face†. (295-296) Grace started losing luck as soon as she decided to work for Mr†¦ Skinner. Chapter 23 in the novel is named â€Å"Snake Fence† hinting Grace is walking into danger. Immediately after she enters the town she is confronted by a stranger before being saved by Jeremiah (239).Once she began working in the new village she felt very isolated † . It struck me at once how very solitary I was, as I had no friends here except Nancy, if she could be called a friend . . .1 did not know where my family was, which was the same as having none†. (301-2), she also confesses tootsie Walsh, â€Å"l felt would cry again, and said simply, I have no friends here. † (303). Unfortunately Grace soon finds out that that sort of loneliness is nothing compared to what was waiting for her in solitary confinement, where she would soon have to learn how to entertain herself â€Å"l sing a song, Just to hear a voice and keep myself company†. 37) By the end of the novel grace becomes very self-aware of how people view her, she knows people view her as a type of romantic notion and tells Lydia â€Å"But If I laughed out loud I might not be able to stop; and also It would spoil their romantic notion of me. Romantic people are not supposed to laugh, I know that much from looking at the pictures†. (27) And later admits â€Å"l look at him stupidly. I have a good stupid look which I have practiced†. (43).Her role playing seems to throw ma ny off when It comes to her being guilty or not, because she is so deep into her role of playing the â€Å"Lady of complete truth to Doctor Jordan it would never be known, with all the role playing she admits to doing. Grace's character and Tattoo's feminist views play a big part in how Grace is portrayed throughout the book. Just analyzing Grace acutely one cannot miss how her traits and situations make her seem to usually be the victim. But then again, if this wasn't the case, her story wouldn't be so interesting to the masses.