The Filter

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     The truth is that a few months ago, I was thinking about filters that are available, when we take selfies, or photos with our cell / mobile phones. Are these good, or is their any sort of consequences to these. A question that I did have was if the use of filters, were now integral to the development of an adolescents image, especially with the use of social media. How does image enhancement, or edits to selfies impact teen image? Writing without any sort of reading from this area, these are probably the best questions that I can think of at this point.

  The questions surrounding filters, edits, photography, or image enhancement is really dependant upon what you are using the tools for as well. From an artists perspective who uses traditional methods, any medium such as paints/acrylics/oils on canvas to create a work of art, after the final creation is complete, technological features of the lens are actually a real asset. Where we can use the camera to create more art from the original creation, focus on specific areas, create prints or anything that we choose from the original art work. In other works technological features lend more techniques for the artist of crafts or skilled person. I have experimented with features with my own cell / mobile phone, and am sure many other artists are benefitting from the features offered by the lens.

     These thoughts lend themselves nicely to questions / debates surrounding technology - Technology is neither good or bad, it just depends how or what you do with the tools that you have, and how you decide to utilize them. We can also think about selfies and filters, if you are comfortable in your own skin, then why not have some fun with filters? 

      Connection to learning:
   These thoughts can easily be transferred to the classroom to investigate a teens own personal thoughts about selfie / filter use, to also promote responsible use. They can further be explored for the creation of art projects, such as coffee filters to create flowers that replicate different filters or a variety of filters that can be applied to photography. The outcome of these projects would be to create a better awareness of the self, and also promote a positive self image. There is also room at the research level to investigate any psychological associations with the use of selfie / filters for  adolescent populations.
 

My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :)

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on June 16th, 2018.
Image 1 - Web Link
​Image 2 - Web Link