Semester 2 Assignment 1: The Photo Swap!

Over the Christmas holidays we had to collect several photos of ourselves growing up, the photos were to be candid snapshots of family days out, birthday parties and every day activities. The aim of the exercise was to swap the photos with another student who you didn't know to see if you could analyse the photos to discover what kind of person they were.

A few of the pictures I gave to Scarlett.

I exchanged mine with, Scarlett, a jewellery student who I had never met or talked to before. Looking at her photos my first impressions was that she grew up in the countryside, I felt she spent a lot of time outside in the garden playing when she was growing up. She is always surrounded by her friends and family in the photos suggesting that she is a people person, who enjoys others company. I think she enjoyed regular days out with her family when she was growing up.

The photos suggested that Scarlett loves to dance. There is a photo of her, her sister and a friend dressed up in costumes performing to her parents in her living room. it looks like they are practising for a show. They are enjoying it as they are smiling and giggling. I could see from a photo on the mantelpiece that Scarlett also did highland dancing. I think she also did some other sport, maybe running and enjoyed participating in school sport events.

Other objects in the room, such as a gold chest and an old clock look as if they could have been handed down through generation, which suggests that her family have strong family values.

There is a couple of photos where Scarlett is with animals, in one she is holding a pet hamster and in another she is petting a small deer. This suggests that She likes animals and is not afraid of them as in her pictures she is smiling and looks proud she is touching the deer. There is no evidence of any larger pets in the household such as a dog so perhaps annimals didn't play a big part in her childhood.

I feel Scarlett likes trying new experiences as long as they are within her comfort zone. In one of her pictures she is on holiday and is sitting on a camel. She is with her friend or sister and in a holiday resort which looks very nice and quiet (which suggests it is a family holiday rather than one with her friends) she is sitting behind the other girl in the photo, rather than at the front. Was it her friend’s idea to go on the camel and not Scarlett’s?

From the pictures I feel that Scarlett is a confident and a very likeable person, she is surrounded by friends and family in all her pictures, I think she is very well loved and adored by her friends and family. i think she has a wide friend base but has a few very close friends. She is always smiling and laughing in her photos. In one of the photos of her at a birthday party all her friends are not looking at the camera, but Scarlett is looking straight into the lens, pulling a pose. This suggests that she is full of energy, outgoing and enjoys being centre of attention.

I think Scarlett's fashion is influenced by the people around her, she dresses similarly to her friends, she follows trends but her style is not "out there".

I met up with Scarlett to discus my findings and to hear what she thought about my photos.

I was interested to hear that I had almost completely sussed her! There was a few things I misinterpreted like that she does actually have a dog, and that the room where she was dancing with her friends wasn't actually her house, so the chest and clock being passed down the family doesn't apply. She agreed with the statement that she likes trying new experiences as long as they are in her comfort zone too.

She then went on to tell me her feedback on my photos.

She thought I grew up in the countryside, but in fact I grew up in a tenement flat on a main road in the centre of Edinburgh.

"She seems a happy and very smiley child. She had a close family upbringing. It looks as though she has a brother and sister that are younger."

I was a very happy child, and had a very close family upbringing however I only have one younger brother, the other girl in the picture was my cousin.

Scarlett worked out that I enjoy family meals, and that we often eat outside in the summer (that's true, we have been know to sit with blankets and our coats on in the past).

She thought that there was lots of plants and flowers which created a happy atmosphere, that I love chocolate and that my family enjoy celebrating occasions like birthdays. This is true, we normally have a family meal either at home or at my Grandpa's restaurant when it's someone's birthday. My dad loves plants in the house, and what girl doesn't love chocolate!!

Scarlett guessed correctly that I'm confident and enjoy socializing with my friends. She also worked out I have studied graphic design for a while and that I'm very proud of my work.

She states that I have a unique style, that I follow trends slightly not not religiously. Which I would have to agree with, I never try to be "unique" in my clothing but am definitely not a slave to fashion or trends. She could tell that I like to change my hair style regularly, she said this shows that I like to experiment, and that I don't feel I have to be the same as everyone else. I like bright colours, which show my bright and bubbly personality. 

Although nothing earth shattering was uncovered by either of us I found this a fascinating exercise, I am currently reading Snoop by Sam Gosling which is all about the "science of snooping" so was fantastic to be able to carry out my own investigations. It is amazing how much information you can gleam from a handful of snapshots of a complete stranger. I did feel quite uncomfortable and awkward to begin with it felt daunting having to assess and judge a someone's personal memories of childhood. And it felt weird thinking she would be doing the same to my photos as I was to hers. I began thinking about what she might be thinking about me as I was thinking about her.

(Scarlett's photos to come soon)