#narrative photographer

[xyca]

[pigin-is-so-rad]

The Watchers’ Favourites

[transmascutena]

some thoughts on photography and memory in utena:

on the wall in nemuro memorial hall, there are pictures of real people. i'm not sure who they are, but i assume they're of people involved in making the show. either way, they're obviously not real; in the close-up shots of them, they change into pictures of the black rose duelists and other imagery from the show. i imagine it's there as a fun detail by the creators, but also to show how weird and inconsistent reality itself is in the black rose arc.

as for the black rose duel images themselves, it's possible that they are literal as i've talked about in a previous post, but what i think is more likely, is that utena noticing them is a visual representation of her connecting the dots of what's really been going on in this arc.

when mikage brings up the idea of memories and eternity, we see the picture on the wall behind utena, of her at her parents funeral. and behind mikage we see one of his own defining memories.

a pretty clear line is being drawn between memory and photographs. in fact, memories are so important to mikage that photographs are his black rose duel symbol. it's the one he keeps of mamiya and tokiko, altered to look like anthy's disguise, just like his memories are. through mikage we see both how memories of the past can keep you trapped in it, as well as the malleability of these memories. let's look at everybody else:

saionji has a framed photograph of him and touga as kids on his desk. he values their friendship, or at least the memory of how it used to be. he idealizes the time touga was less cruel (or maybe just the time saionji wasn't aware of his cruelty.)

miki doesn't have any literal photographs of kozue or the sunlit garden, though his memories of them are often framed as such. he also keeps a picture of anthy amidst his sheet music. she is his idealized memory now.

juri has the locket of course, inside of which is a cutout of shiori from a picture captured in the moment that ends up defining their entire relationship. is this the version of shiori that juri idealizes? not really, but she is fixated on her resentment of shiori's percieved cruelty, just not the cruelty of taking the boy away. juri keeps this photograph closer than anybody else does with theirs, but she also keeps it hidden. this could mean she treasures her memories the most out of everyone, and is also the least open about it, although i'm not sure i believe the first part.

nanami has the photo-album of her and touga; she idealizes her relationship with him, as well as their childhood. when she makes the connection that touga is adopted, the photos are scattered all over her bed, probably to represent her emotional state.

touga doesn't keep any photographs from what we see, which makes sense with everything we know about him. unlike the rest of the council, he doesn't have any idealized memories of his childhood. but he does use akio's camera, so let's talk about that.

the camera is, much like the car, a tool that only akio is shown to own (although, wakaba does mention a photography club in episode 34.) like the car, it is used to facilitate his grooming (specifically of touga and saionji when he takes those shirtless pictures with them.) and, also like the car, he offers to lend it to touga, to make him feel more like an equal part of the whole thing. unlike the car though, touga accepts the camera.

the photoshoot scene in episode 37 has a transition where the camera shutter sound effect is played over the previous scene. over the shot of utena and anthy holding hands after confiding in each other about akio. i think it's to show that he's always watching, and that they can never truly be free of him as long as they're in ohtori.

i think it also shows the idea of akio framing the narrative of the show as a whole. he plays a sort of director role in it, in that he directs the events happening, as well as how they're portrayed. it's no coincidence that he is quite literally behind the "camera" in episode 33. like the car, a symbol of akio's power and sexual abuse (which is not-coincidentally also present in all of the photoshoot scenes,) his camera (his narrative, his biased framing of events) is ever-present.

and then there's the most important photograph in the show, the frame it all ends on. the picture utena and anthy took together is, unlike every other photograph, used as a look into their future. the reason they take it in the first place is because utena realizes she has no photos of anthy, which distresses her, presumably because she worries that their friendship might not last forever, and she wants something to remember anthy by. this obviously comes with the risk of making anthy an idealized memory, like every other person put in a photograph in this show, but instead it ends up as a symbol for their love. akio may have set up the camera, but anthy (with the help of chu-chu) manipulated their positions so her and utena could hold hands. she also cuts akio out of the frame, much like she cuts him out of her life in the last episode. she doesn't want his presence to tarnish her and utena's memory anymore (although he isn't completely gone from the photograph either, as he will never truly be forgotten.)

[valyrfia]

as much as i'd love to see george russell and alex albon as teammates at mercedes, toto wolff has already lived through managing one set of childhood best friends as teammates and has probably taken a sacred vow to never do it again

[cybergus]

Urban Mutations (Mexico City 2024), by Abelardo Ojeda.

My Porftolio

[srisrisriddd]

True meditation

True meditation drags you kicks you Stomps you

And screams you out of your views opinions and narratives

- Dr Devang H Dattani

Good Morning

Quote / Poem / Poetry / Quotes Of 

Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri

Doctor Devang H Dattani

Infinite SriSriSri DDD

Posted By TheBlissCity DDD Team

See The Media Photo Video For

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God Morning

#true , #bliss , #TheBlissCity , #philosophy , #mindfulness , #DrDevangHDattani , #nature , #awareness , #InfiniteSriSriSriDDD , #quotes , #life , #art , #zen , #awakening , #quote , #spiritual , #photography , #Video , #meditation , #psychology , #poem , #poetry , #motivation , #inspiration , #quoteoftheday , #love , #words , #thoughts , #joy , #pun , #enlightenment , #health , #mental health , #consciousness , #kicks , #god , #landscape , #life , #video , #stomps , #drags , #scream , #dog , #nirvana , #tantra , #yoga , #dogblr , #dinosaur , #photooftheday , #views , #opinions , #narratives

[mcrunchybones]

something something photography being the art of memory and recording and basil being the photographer something something the way hes always the witness and never the subject and maybe he doesnt think he deserves to be the subject something something taking a photograph being the act of freezing a moment in time forever and basil (and sunny by extension) never being able to grow up and move on from what they witnessed the day mari died

[babygirlhaljordan]

absolute kyle rayner but it’s him getting fridged from fighting major force & alex dewitt (his gf that got fridged) that becomes a green lantern instead

[jackdaniel69nice]

@akseedragon I know you love kurogiri so come get your meal :P

One of my favorite stories I make is one where kurogiri ends up living (under house arrest) in the teachers dorm and while none of the students are SUPPOSED to talk to him without supervision dark shadow sneaks over in the middle of the night anyway. They find out they have a lot in common besides appearances. Dark shadows motivation for visiting him is simple, kindred spirits. Normally tokoyami is the one to go out of his way to make people feel better but dark shadow knew in their heart they had to be one to help him :,) Kurogiri is actually appreciative for shadows visits because with the league he was forced to be there and with aizawa and hizashi they have expectations for him to be something (oboro) that he just isn’t anymore. Talking with shadow feels like a fresh start, like he can actually figure out WHO he is, it’s nice.

[maxiwaxipads]

some people put charms around their house like the cross to ward away evil spirits… do you think pikero hangs bargain jeans to keep tuxam away but it only works for a little while until tuxam has gathered the courage to clean up

[xyca]

[moe-broey]

Okay actually this concept might actually kill me before it ever sees the light of day, so I'm handing it over sloppy style

Okay. So we have The Pieces. We have The Visual Storytelling. We have The Themes. And BECAUSE this hypothetical piece would be SO HEAVY in all the little things I want to articulate with it, knowing that in general, most times people are just passing by on Tumblr dot com (which is fine!). I got the idea to get Interactive about it. That, I would break down each piece, but instead of solely info-dumping, I would set it up like point and click narration/dialogue.

Which led to a few things!!! Such as:

Mani speaking in second person, at Moe. Whenever Mani speaks, it's taking control of the situation. Maybe not always to a dangerous degree, but always... protective. Whenever Moe is uncomfortable, whenever it would rather avoid speaking on the subject, Mani takes over. It creates a layer of separation, for Moe, allowing it a little more room to just breathe. Uh, hold on a minute -- what was that about danger, again? It's... helping Moe, right? Surely, this would never lead to any disastrous outcomes if pushed far enough... surely.....

Then, you have a sudden POV shift into first person. This is Moe speaking freely, directly. The voices are very similar, here... sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. This is Moe's inner monologue, though. Which, sometimes... doesn't always match up to its spoken words, for a variety of reasons, really. Not too relevant in this specific piece, but noteworthy aspect of its character in general!

Then!!! Sometimes you have a statement, devoid of any point of view. You really can't tell which is speaking, here. I'll spoil what this specific line is about, for further context -- Lulu and Clyde are cats! Litter mates, even! Adopted as a set...

(note. There is no pet death, but this is a Chekhov's gun moment. File that away for later. ... If, "later", comes to be.)

... I got a little bit distracted and rambled off another post, but. I think you get the jist of it. IF THIS DOESN'T KILL ME. BADLY. It would be a really cool storytelling exercise!!!! 😅

[formal-frog-shoes]

Twiststuck stuff i just wanna get out

Im a huge Cater multi-shipper

Normally this wouldn't be a problem

BUT I CAN'T HAVE ALMOST EVERYONE IN THIS AU HAVE A FLUSH OR PALE CRUSH ON HIM THAT'S ABSURD!!!

[yagodichjagodic]

Doomed by the narrative.

The sacrificial lamb, no longer food for an altar, is protected & loved. End of story.

OOAK necklace ft. antique tin(?) lamb (found at Root’s flea market for $1), vintage chain from my collection, & puffy metal hearts from a MySpace-era choker I’ve held onto for way too long.

Personal piece. NFS.

[cybergus]

From June 2023 archives: 31ºC in Mexico City, by Abelardo Ojeda.

My Street Photoblog

[foxspit]

somerset, on the island after dark photo by @foxspit

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