“Photography as Time Travel” transpired from a combined passion of philosophy and photography. Philosophy has been a passion of mine since high school when I first read Albert Camus’ The Stranger. However, photography is a passion that developed last year. My project explores temporal elements in photography on a philosophical level. I am writing a series of essays that will be compiled into either a magazine or a short book. In addition to the essays, I will explore the temporal elements of photography through my own photographs I took over the past year. I am working with Dr. Rachel Jones and Dr. Kurt Brandhorst from the Philosophy Department on this project. Their assistance and support has been a tremendous part of it.
A project like this entails work every day. I have been taking and collecting my photographs since this past summer, attempting to create a body of work contingent to both the world around me while still keeping in mind the topic of my project. I continue to take photographs for the project. There is also my personal writing process, which is time consuming. I am currently in the process of writing my essays. For this, I am referencing works I read and analyzed by Roland Barthes, Martin Heidegger, Plato, and Susan Sontag.
My long-term goal is to pursue a PhD program in philosophy. My project will demonstrate my potential as an academic in my field. It will also show my ability to conceive my own research ideas with proper implementation. I have already learned so much since I first started this project. The everyday process of this project may seem tedious, but the magnitude of what I learned and what I am learning is extremely satisfying and vital for my field. Studies of photography and its temporality are not prominent in philosophy, but they are a crucial part of the modern world. Photographs produce evidence of pieces of the world while still maintaining a past, present, and future, just like our humanity does. It is imperative to explore that relation.
A project like this entails work every day. I have been taking and collecting my photographs since this past summer, attempting to create a body of work contingent to both the world around me while still keeping in mind the topic of my project. I continue to take photographs for the project. There is also my personal writing process, which is time consuming. I am currently in the process of writing my essays. For this, I am referencing works I read and analyzed by Roland Barthes, Martin Heidegger, Plato, and Susan Sontag.
My long-term goal is to pursue a PhD program in philosophy. My project will demonstrate my potential as an academic in my field. It will also show my ability to conceive my own research ideas with proper implementation. I have already learned so much since I first started this project. The everyday process of this project may seem tedious, but the magnitude of what I learned and what I am learning is extremely satisfying and vital for my field. Studies of photography and its temporality are not prominent in philosophy, but they are a crucial part of the modern world. Photographs produce evidence of pieces of the world while still maintaining a past, present, and future, just like our humanity does. It is imperative to explore that relation.
