Policy Change Proposal Introductory Paragraph Assignment

Strategy Change Proposal Introductory Paragraph - Assignment Example As indicated by Clark, Friedman and Fadus Children particularly in schools need down to earth activities to forestall corpulence and hypertension. This will help lessen the issue of diabetes among youngsters by just about a hundred percent since it is the fundamental driver of diabetes among kids. In addition, school going kids need to get familiar with the significance of keeping together and filling in as one without the dangers of ethnic gatherings so as to control the odds of kids contracting diabetic because of ethnic lines. Consequently, the national government and wellbeing partners need to control and forestall the spread of diabetes among kids by following up on the previously mentioned plans to acknowledge decrease of diabetes among kids and grown-ups. Self destruction is self-endeavored murder that is precluded at all expense. Harsh moves are frequently made to any individual or gathering discovered rehearsing it or helping anybody in playing out the demonstration. In this manner, doctors or some other wellbeing specialists discovered helping a person by giving willful extermination, helped self destruction or benevolence murdering need capture and face the full weight of the law as Mason, Leavitt and Chaffee make their view. The open approach and the government need to act and pass harsh conditions to individuals saw as blameworthy of the offense or individuals who help others in self-destructive procedure since it is unlawful and infringement to human rights dependent on the Congress of the US of

Analysis and Interpertation of “Stolpestad”

Stolpestad by William Lychack I accept that we frequently consider the way that we don’t get enough out of our lives. We contemplate whether we live our lives without limit. Possibly somebody decides not to carry on with an energizing life where consistently, is another day and another chance. Regardless of whether we carry on with an exhausting life †some of the time alone, some of the time with a family †we despite everything wonder in the event that we get enough out of our consistently and abstain from carrying on with a stale life. Yet, is that even conceivable? Or on the other hand does some simply decide to carry on with a foreordained life †which may cause them to feel secure in light of the fact that it’s something recognizable †despite the fact that they may discover it boring?But perhaps it’s impractical to carry on with a protected existence with a family and a great job without becoming weary of it? Possibly a few people are simpl y stuck in an exhausting life, without planning something for transform it. I accept that is the thing that we find in this short story by William Lychack, where we catch wind of cop Stolpestad and his stale life. Stolpestad unquestionably is by all accounts stuck in a routine †an exhausting life, where consistently is the equivalent. Throughout each and every day. As referenced above we catch wind of the primary character Stolpestad. He’s a cop who doesn’t appear to be satisfied about how his life went out to be.He doesn’t appear to be glad about his activity and it just appears as though his life is at a halt: â€Å"Was at the finish of your day of work, a Saturday, another of those long moderate apathetic evenings of summer †sun failing to burn through the mists, mists never breaking into downpour ††¦ † The day is portrayed in somewhat negative manner in light of the selection of words, for example, â€Å"long† â€Å"lazyâ⠂¬  and â€Å"slow†. Be that as it may, it likewise appears both these word and the climate depiction are an image of Stolpestad’s life. Everything appears to be a sort of deficient †simply like the weather.The sun is never truly sparkling so much that it’s radiant, and yet, it’s not so much downpour either. The climate appears to be a sort of stale †similarly as Stolpestads life. A trademark highlight of this short story is the storyteller see. The story is told in 2. Individual and yet the content alludes to Stolpestad as a â€Å"you† which implies that it appears it’s really Stolpestad who’s recounting to the story. Perhaps recounting to the story to himself. The manner in which this short story is composed is a sort of what you would discover in self improvement guides †and not in the normal short stories.Besides that it’s not exactly clear when the people in the story are really and when it’s just ac tivities and Stolpestad’s musings: â€Å"Maybe you’ll take that glass if water all things considered, you state †the kid sent into the house †the lady inquiring as to whether you won’t simply help them. Doesn’t she need to call a vet? No, she lets you know †the kid pushing out of the house with a glass of water for you †you expressing gratitude toward him and taking a decent long beverage, †¦Ã¢â‚¬  This statement additionally shows that the content is somewhat hard to peruse on the grounds that it’s difficult to make sense of whether individuals is really or if the content is simply written in a spoken language.There’re parcel of things which represent Stolpestad’s life. For example there’s the climate, yet additionally the setting is an image of his exhausting life. Everything is portrayed in a negative manner: â€Å" †¦ the odometer like a clock ticking all these exhausted minimal repressed av enues and plants and apartments away. The café, the alcohol stores, Laundromats, police, fire, service stations to pass ††¦Ã¢â‚¬  The shops Stolpestad passes are plain and a sort of dry, and it’s something he sees each day. We likewise hear that he passes his old youth which implies that he very truly moved away.He just remained in the regular old town where he was conceived. Perhaps in this manner you could state that he never truly got any further in his life. He just stayed â€Å"along the equivalent tragic roads. † The fundamental topic in this short story is clear completely through the content, and there’re a great deal of images of Stolpestad and his life. A few them is prepared referenced, yet in addition the canine, which he should shoot, is an image of Stolpestad. The pooch is harmed and going to pass on, yet at the same time it’s a live despite the fact that its condition may appear critical.You could say the equivalent regarding St olpestad. He is a sort of a living dead individual, since it appears as though his day is done in â€Å"zombie-mode†. He doesn’t get particularly out of his life, he’s simply attempting to endure one more day at the workplace, with the spouse, the kids and the tragic lanes. So the primary subject †and furthermore the end †is that stagnation isn’t something great. You need to wake up and get something out of the day and your life, rather burning through your valuable time at interminable bar visits and work where you don’t even need to go.Stolpestad is truly stuck in his life, and he doesn’t get any further, and perhaps that’s what the purpose of this story is about. William Lychack is attempting to reveal to us that we shouldn’t simply settle for an exhausting life. We ought to go out there and discover who and what we needed †and where we needed it. However, regardless of whether Stolpestad really needs or attem pts to break with his stale life is dubious yet it could appear it toward the finish of the story, where Stolpestad is really making a beeline for the forested areas †perhaps an image of something other than what's expected or something new.But at long last Stolpestad is stuck in his life.. also, reality remains in the entryway †and she needs her better half to return inside once more, and back to his consistently normal. â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€ [ 1 ]. Stolpestad by William Lychack. Page 1. line 1-4 [ 2 ]. Stolpestad by William Lychack. Page 2. line 62-66. [ 3 ]. Stolpestad by William Lychack. Page 1. line 3-5 [ 4 ]. Stolpestad by William Lychack. Page 1. Line 11

3 Essential Things For Establishing Your Business Website

3 Essential Things For Establishing Your Business Website Make Money Online Queries? Struggling To Get Traffic To Your Blog? Sign Up On (HBB) Forum Now!3 Essential Things For Establishing Your Business WebsiteUpdated On 02/04/2016Author : Pradeep KumarTopic : BusinessShort URL : http://hbb.me/1X4mwUj CONNECT WITH HBB ON SOCIAL MEDIA Follow @HellBoundBlogWhen starting a business, one of the first things that you want to do is to establish a website. You will need a web host to keep your site safe and secure. It is also wise to keep all you domains in one place. Since your domain is unique to your organization, you will want to keep it, so you will have to use steps to prevent it from expiring.Establishing Your Business WebsiteIF YOU LIKE A DOMAIN NAME, THEN FEEL FREE TO REGISTER IT ASAP:Learn Why It’s Wise To Secure Domain Names Right Now1. Secure HostingBefore you set up your website, you will need to buy domain names. You want to get the names before someone else takes ownership of them. Examples of domain extensions are .com, .net, .g ov, .org, .edu, and several others.After getting your domain names, you will need someplace to host your website. It is called web hosting. The web host is a huge storage facility that keeps your server running 24 hours per day. The service comes with a website builder that is relatively easy. You will get to build your site and also get to upload files and images. The bandwidth is unlimited. The host also offers malware protection for your site.As a part of the service, you will have access to tools that will help you to market your products. You can buy and sell products on your website. You can put together offers and promotions. You can accept credit cards. You will also get to have your site listed in local search engine directories. You will have access to various applications such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and several others.2. Keep Your Domains in One PlaceWhen you have multiple domains, it is best to keep them in one place for more efficiency. There are three simple ste ps that you will need to follow to transfer your domains. First, you need to enter the domain names to transfer. Then you will have to complete your purchase. After, you will authorize and accept the transfer. If you do not feel comfortable following the instructions, there is a toll-free number the web host provides for you to call.READZero Bounce â€" Why Email Validation Is Important!You will have access to online account management tools to keep track of your domains. You will have access to 24-hour support for any website related questions. You will get connected to a real live representative. You also get to lock your domains to prevent unauthorized access.3. Protect Your Domain from ExpiringIf you do not renew your domain name after it expires, you risk losing it to someone else. If you are unable to reestablish the name, you can secure the domain for one year. You have an added protection that will secure your domain if you have the incorrect credit card on file, or if your c ontact information is no longer valid. When you protect your domain, you will not have to pay any fees to reinstate it if it expires.REGISTERED A NEW DOMAIN? LEARN THESE TRICKS TO INDEX THEM QUICKLY:6 Tricks To Get Your New Domain Indexed Fast In Search EnginesIn conclusion, to help get your business up and running, you will need to set up a website. First, you will have to secure a domain name. Afterward, you will need a web host to keep your site safe and secure. You will also want to keep all of your domains in one place, and finally, you will want to protect your domain from expiring.

Personal Statements on Culunary Skills - 794 Words

The culinary arts demands both creativity and technical skill. It is a paradoxical talent: it can be shared openly, yet it provides great intimacy. Layers upon layers of flavors add depth to food, just as cooking adds layers to one’s character.Cooking is a cornerstone of my life. In Chinese culture, food is representative of cherished traditions. In my family, it is a rite of passage. Each member of my family is taught how to cook at a young age and each is expected to continue doing so after adolescence. Much of my childhood was spent sitting beside the stove as my grandfather julienned peppers and onions while he shared many of the stories of his childhood. There is a certain pride that comes with a finished product, however there is more than what sits on the plate. Learning to cook transcends the preparation of food: it is learning to be autonomous, learning to adapt, learning to share. My rite of passage was a beautifully simple Cambodian classic; consisting of ground beef, fish sauce, garlic, and spicy chilli peppers garnished with cilantro served with cucumber. It was a late afternoon and the meal was to be served to distant relatives. I prepped the dish and the aroma of garlic permeated the room, however my grandfather left the stove unattended. Fearing that it would burn I took over myself and without hesitation I finished it. The euphoria of the moment left me sweaty and parched. I left the kitchen only to return to hear the crunch of a cucumber and advice

Real Photography - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 27 Words: 8088 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in images. This dissertation will use many theories and ideas that discuss the role of photography, postmodernism and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ within todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢? 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 cre ate purely descriptive photography but could not escape referencing earlier work. Justin Partykaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work The East Anglians, for example cannot be described as anything else but descriptive photography. However, his reference to Robert Frankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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? Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Real Photography" essay for you Create order 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 Grundbergà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s phrase à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the crisis of the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ is apt in explaining the context of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"with signs of never ending reference, where the more you played the less anyone seemed to know what reality it was touchingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Bate, 2004a: 31) and we had à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"lost touch with what we thought reality to beà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The fear about postmodern culture was that there was no longer any anchor to reality at all, and that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ had disappeared into an endless chain of other representationsà ¢ â‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Bate, 2004a: 31). This never ending reference meant that all grip on reality had disappeared. There was a wish to return 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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"wish for a grittier, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"closer to realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ relation through realismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Bate, 2004a: 35). Many people wanted a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 postmodernismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"stopping timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, 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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"freeze-frameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 VCRà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, anyone could now create a freeze frame from a video. Even à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"cinematic blockbusters can be stilled on domestic appliance devices like DVD and video machine sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Bate, 2004b: 34). Victor Burgin discussed the advances in film and video in his essay Possessive, Pensive and Possessed. The introduction of VCRs, DVD players, and eventually video editing software on personal computers, meant that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the order of narrative could now be routinely countermandedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 imag es in his article After Thought, Part II. He says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The possibility of choosing the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"right momentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"decisiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ moment is chosen from a film or video stream rather than à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ itself. Whereas a photograph was supposed to be a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rectangle ripped out of timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 anotherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"To look at something it has to be kept at a distanceà ƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 cultureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ values that were present in modernism, before the rise of postmodernism. As Susan Sontag says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 auraà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"postmodernism became dÃÆ' ©modÃÆ' ¨Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?I saw at the cinemaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? would simply become à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I sawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Burgin, 2007: 200). Burgin explains how these people were remembering scenes from a film instead of real life, and called these memories à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"screen memories;   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"A à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“screen memoryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is one which comes to mind in the place of, and in order to conceal , an associated but repressed memoryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the blobà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. In the world of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the blobà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, 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). Howe ver, not surprisingly, our reaction to such events is to experience and re-live it through 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. Adamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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 clubà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 darkroomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 ther efore a message, rendering the images 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 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, 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 Gurskyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"What Gursky and Evans both share (with different techniques of course) is an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"awesomeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ description. The effects of these anecdotal descriptions is primarily to evince reality through the photographic instant of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"here it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"this is how it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The picture throws at the audience a defiant description where the accumulation of anecdotal detail actually inhibits the communication of a specific messageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (Bate, 2004a; pg 33) Bateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s view is that the vast amount of detail in the image actually inhibits a message being conveyed by the image. He feels Gurskyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s plan is to be as authentically descriptive as possible à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"this is how it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and not to hide or imply any other meaning or reference. This may have been Gurskyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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 Aitkenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"I wanted to find a way to blend together different moments in time, different spaces and different locationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 pyramidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 viewersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 Gurskyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s images is given by the viewer, in contrast to Aitkenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ images, in a documentary style. His photographs are often very à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"straightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ representation of the scene. However, Partyka has called this series of photographs, The East Anglians. This is a quite obvious reference to Robert Frankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, The Americans. Although Partyka has created purely descriptive images, he has referenced other work in his title. Partykaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 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. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"I see photography as very much a desc riptive 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 shutterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 photographerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s choice of where to point the camera and when to press the shutter, which immediately adds reference to the image. We canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t 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 h is 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: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (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 point 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 canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t 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, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"great scorn for the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“realistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? who do not see that the photograph is always codedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Barthes, 2000: 88). Photographs can never be void of theoretical underpinnings, and any photographs that do appear to be purely à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realisticà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 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: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"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 indexicalityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (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, r eveal this as the real: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"[conceptual photographs] point to the real while reminding us that photography can never represent ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Green and Lowry, 2003: 60). They claim that it is photographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s problematic indexical status that has led to the attempt to recuperate that particular engagement with reality that photography seems to offer (Green and Lowry, 2003: 47). Pointing us towards the truth by demonstrating what is not offered up in the photograph is key to other photographers such as Joan Fontcuberta, who stated in his lecture Datascapes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"only through trickery can we achieve the visual truthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Fontcuberta 2009). This is one of his images, taken in 1984, from his Herbarium series. At first we assume this to be an innocent, objective record, but what Fontcuberta reveals to us through the collection and his texts, is that this is a purely fictional specimen created from found objects and litter. His aim through this series is to examine the truthfulness of photography, and his images are a parody of the truth that photography is assumed to provide. Fontcuberta pushes the extent to which we can believe in the fictional image. In the book Joan Fontcuberta, Fontcuberta is quoted as saying, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"look out- ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s photography so ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s probably falseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Caujolle, 2001: 3). His work is an experimentation of the commonly believed notion that photography is truth, and is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Through his work, specifically the series Herbarium, Fontcuberta is trying to direct us towards the reading that fiction is the only route to revealing reality. His work reveals that the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢ â‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ itself is a construct. Photographys role then may be to demonstrate this, but it is hard to imagine that in doing so will not evade the trap of referencing and messaging that we are intent on discarding. David Green and Joanna Lowry describe the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"tenuous hold that the photograph has over the real and the instability inscribed in the very notion of the photograph as an objective recordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Green and Lowry, 2003: 49). They discuss a series of photographs made by Robert Barry in 1969, entitled Inert Gas Series, and how Barryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s images succeed in showing us that photography cannot record the truth. Here is one of his images, Helium. Sometime during the morning of March 5, 1969, 2 cubic feet of Helium will be released into the atmosphere. Barryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s images consist of a number of photographs along with text which describes his actions when releasing various invisible gasses in specific locations in Los Angeles. Of course, nothing can be seen in these images apart from the location at which he has chosen to release the gas. So although the photograph claims to show these events, nothing can be seen to validate the claims made by the accompanying text. Barryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s images are carefully made to show the limits of documentary photography. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"While providing us with the indexical trace of the moment of the gasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s release they also gesture towards the impossibility of recording it, and our attention shifts instead towards the act of photography itself as the moment of authenticationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Green and Lowry, date Pg 50). Barryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s aim is not therefore to show us the gas being released, but to point out that photography cannot represent it. As Andy Grundberg states in Crisis of the Real, what postmodernism art finally tells us is that things have been used up, that we are at the end of the line, that we are all prisoners of what we see (Grundberg, 1999: 17).   We are now consumed by images and messages, to the point where the notion of the real is unreachable. It seems there is no exit point from postmodernism, as there is no way to look back on it and critically assess. Descriptive realism, along with conceptual photography, cannot be distanced from the principles of a postmodern culture.   If the case then is that we cannot escape, can we continue to churn out images, to make new meanings from within our bubble of mediated society? What role does photography have as a documenter of reality? Published in 2007, Thomas De Zengotitas Mediated deals with the postmodern condition and as he describes it; virtualizations edgeless quality and ability to engulf our culture within a bubble of mediated representations (De Zengotita, 2007: 17). The term he uses for this is the blob. De Zengotita, similarly to Grundberg, maintains that there is no escape from perpetual reflexivity, stating, There is no going back to reality just as there is no going back to virginity. (De Zengotita, 2007: 11) He claims, representation and reality fuse into a field of options and it is due to this infinite availability of options that we lose our grasp of the real. In essence, De Zengotita suggests we can choose anything to believe in, any method with which to re-present ourselves and act out our emotions. There is an excess of choice. Taken further, this could mean we can choose what to believe as our reality, anything could be real, or more, anything could be a representation (to any degree) of the real. This idea that reality is what we choose it to be is also discussed by Susan Sontag, in her essay Photography in Search of Itself. The suggestion that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"photographic realism can be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" is more and more- defined not as what is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“reallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? there, but is what I à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“reallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? perceiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Sontag, 2007: 217) is one that is particularly interesting when trying to decide if we can ever get back to the real, or if indeed it was even there in the first place? Maybe photographs have always been à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in accordance to how we personally decide how reality is composed? In the world of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the blobà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, as described by De Zengotita, 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, our reaction to momentous catastrophes, such as 9/11 terrorist attack, is to experience and re-live it through images. This adds to our bank or mediated events, and dilutes it. Maybe the only way to make events retain a status of significance is to make sure they are un-photographed, un-videoed and un-discussed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" left only to the individualsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ memory as opposed to a collective global memory (De Zengotita). Everything exists in an image reality and in order to become events, everything including terrorist attacks, need to be played out under our terms of visibility. The 9/11 terrorist attacks w ere constantly shown in news and media, and added to this effect. These events could have retained a status of significance and could have at least interrupt[ed] the Blobs progress through the universeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (De Zengotita, 2007: 27) if they had not been turned into image spectacles. Maybe objects, images and even events need to remain outside the visible realm to retain any originality and significance. It is the presentation and analysis of images that places and fixes them within our visual spectrum, therefore we would assume that our trust and interest in the photograph would be truly exhausted, signalling the death of photographic practice. In his essay Safety in Numbness: Some Remarks on Problems of Late Photography, David Campany discusses the work of Joel Meyerowitz. He looks at the images of Ground Zero, taken by Meyerowitz with a large format camera over a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This contemplative, post-event photography seems to be re-instating photographys status as authoritative documenter of history. This is one of his images, The North Wall, October 26th 2003. This is a seductive image, and, as Campany says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"[Meyerowitz] knows what makes a good photo and canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t avoid the beautifulà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Campany, 2002: 131). The atmospheric light and colour work towards creating a melancholic and enigmatic image. The photograph cannot, however, detach the subject from its context, particularly one so poignant and political, nor the reading of the image from its photographic context. This is problematic, as rendering the subject sublime and detaching it from the event is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"no guarantee of an enlightened position or critical stanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Campany, 2003: 132). This photography leads us to experience the event in a detached and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"aestheticizedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ way, however, this does not mean it brings us any closer to the truth. Photography had lost its status as the official and truthful recorder of events, due to the increased use of video and film in the media. This led to the older, traditional methods of photography becoming used more, and this has reinstated photographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s status as an illustrator of truthfulness and legitimacy. Photography seems to have regained status according to the very terms by which it was overshadowed by video journalism in the first place. David Green and Joanna Lowry comment on the death of photography in their essay From Presence to Performative: Re-thinking Photographic Indexicality. Their view is that the rise of the digital image and image manipulation meant the death of photography, as it showed it to be false. Conversely, this led to people, especially from younger generations, wanting to re-find photography as an arbiter of truth. They began to go back to the older, slower methods of photography, and were creating images with these qualities that were lost with the digital age. There was an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"attempt to recuperate that particular engagement with reality that photography seems to offerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Green and Lowry, 2003: 47) Photography, in the traditional sense, has not become extinct, but, its role has changed according to the development of other mediums. In his essay, Safety in Numbness: Some Remarks on Problems of Late Photographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, Campany discusses the photographs of Ground Zero by Joel Meyerowitz (see fig 7). This work is exemplary of a type of slow, contemplative, post-event photography that is emerging. Considering in previous decades that it was speed and instantaneity that were considered to be most truthful, it is ironic that this à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"late photographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ appears to be re-instating photographyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s status as an authoritative documenter of history; there was a suggestion that photography rather than television might be the better medium for official history (Campany, 2003; 123). Campany also discussed the theory of collective memory. The mediated events that we see in the news are added to our collective memory, even if we personally have not experienced or lived them. We therefore all have the same memories, but due to the way these memories have been made from video, they are very hard to recall. It was thought that a single image can bring back the processes of our memory that have been complicated by other technologies. Campany stated that photography can rescue the processes of our memory that have been made so complicated by the sheer amount of information we assimilate from [a] diverse [range] of technologies. (Campany, 2003; 126) Rather than photography becoming extinct and only aiding the progress of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the blobà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, there is an idea that its muteness and slowness means it can save us, providing a fixed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"stillà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ point at which to locate our sense of the real. There are a number of strands of photography 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? All have a tendency to reveal, intentionally or not, the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ through the fact that they cannot capture it. The act of re-presenting, only fixes their existence in our postmodern melting pot, helping to confuse and complicate our relationship to, and our understanding of, what is real. Instead of pre-senting the world to man from the real, images now re-present it from an existing bank of images. Writing in 1984 Vil ÃÆ' ©m Flusser sums up this whole debate perfectly; Images are meant to render the world accessible and imaginable to man. But, even as they do so, they interpose themselves between man and the world. They are meant to be maps, and they become screens. Instead of pre-senting the world to man, they re-present it, put themselves in place of the world, to the extent that man lives as a function of the images he has produced.The world becomes image-like, a context of scenes and situations. This reversal of the function of images may be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“idolatryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Man forgets that he produces images in order to find his way in the world; he now tries to find his way in images. He no longer deciphers his own images, but lives in their function. Imagination has become hallucination.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (Flusser, 1984:7) What Flusser is saying, is that people are now consumed by images to the extent that we now use these images to show us the real, without looking at the real itself. The Images have become more real to us, than the thing they are representing. Conclusion As discussed in chapter 1, there are many factors that eventually led to people wanting to return to the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ values that were present in art and culture before postmodernism. The loss of the real that was experienced during postmodernism led to a wish to return to something more stable and basic, such as the values of modernism. There was a wish to return to description, uniqueness and authenticity, which were precisely all the things that were strongly rejected by postmodernism. There was also a change in how people started creating art images. There was a desire to create images that were different to the images that we see every day in the media, so photographers were returning to the older slower methods of photography that were used before the significant rise of media imagery. The sheer amount of images in the media also caused people to want to return to more à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ values. This was because people were now re-liv ing events- even ones that they have not personally experienced- through images instead of memories. This essay has also discovered that it seems we cannot create an image without analysis, through discussing attempts at descriptive photographs by different photographers. This is due to the fact that images are analysed as soon as they are placed within a context of viewing. As said in the Observer Effect, by merely observing an object, the very nature of the object itself is changed. Therefore, just by viewing an image, the nature of it changes. But, it goes even further than this. Even if a photograph is never viewed, it can still never be purely descriptive. This is because when a photograph is taken, choices are made by the photographer so that in that instant they are not making an exact representation of reality, but an edited one based on these choices that are made (where to point the camera, when to press the shutter, what to include and what not to include in the image). Therefore, based on this information, it could be said that we can never provide a purely descriptive r epresentation of the real through photography. Is this the case though? Is it just the fact that we are so consumed with images, and so lost in representations of the real that we are making excuses to explain that the images are not representations of the real, to distance ourselves from them. For example, if looking at an image changes the nature of it, surely looking at reality also changes the nature of reality? What is to say that the thing that is changed is not the same in both the real and the representation of the real (the image), therefore making the image an exact representation of the real? We are so consumed by images that the notion of the real is now unreachable. There appears to be no exit point from postmodernism, as there is not a way to look back and critically assess. Descriptive realism cannot be distanced from the principles of postmodern culture, so we cannot escape. The reason why we feel that there are no à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ images is because we are now conditioned to look for the message, as we cannot escape from postmodernism which initially instilled these values in us. If this is the case, can we continue to churn out images and make new meanings from within our bubble of mediated society? Will photography ever have a role as documenter of reality? Currently, photography cannot have a role as a documenter of reality as we are stuck in the referencing from postmodernism. However, if we manage to find a way to escape from the postmodern melting pot, photography may be able to reinstate its status as a documenter of reality. So presently, the popular opinion is that the real is not possible. But maybe the real is infinitely possible? It seems that the notion of the real is as unstable, adaptable and malleable as the photograph itself.

Shakespeares Identities A Midsummer Nights Dream

In A Midsummer Nights Dream, playwright William Shakespeare creates in Bottom, Oberon, and Puck unique characters that represent different aspects of him. Like Bottom, Shakespeare aspires to rise socially; Bottom has high aims and, however slightly, interacts with a queen. Through Bottom, Shakespeare mocks these pretensions within himself. Shakespeare also resembles King Oberon, controlling the magic we see on the stage. Unseen, he and Oberon pull the strings that control what the characters act and say. Finally, Shakespeare is like Puck, standing back from the other characters, acutely aware of their weaknesses and mocks them, relishing in mischief at their expense. With these three characters and some play-within-a-play enchantment,†¦show more content†¦Bottom, foolish as he may be, knows that the show must go on. Like Bottom, Shakespeare is still there when the actors have left the stage, answering lifes cues. INSERT WITTY CONCLUDING SENTENCE HERE. King Oberon was also written to share some of Shakespeares merits. Oberon has power over the other characters; his actions affect the world of the play. His quarrel with Titania causes storms, floods, and disease (II.i). Resembling a playwright, Oberon controls the movements of the young lovers. The lovers see and feel what he wants them to, just as Shakespeare chooses what the audience perceives and feels. Oberon embodies Shakespeares mystic powers over the characters and the development of the play. INSERT SECONDARY SOURCE HERE. Through Oberon, Shakespeare manipulates the unpredictable lovers. Although Shakespeare was not born a noble, as a dramatist he controls aristocrats and does with them as he wills. As Oberon uses his magical powers, Shakespeare uses his writing to prove he is above ordinary mortals. INSERT SECONDARY SOURCE HERE. Just as Shakespeare is not a fool like Bottom, in many ways Shakespeare is not like Oberon either. 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Macbeth monologue Essay Example For Students

Macbeth monologue Essay A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare LADY MACBETH: He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber?Was the hope drunkWherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?And wakes it now to look so green and paleAt what it did so freely? From this timeSuch I account thy love. Art thou afeardTo be the same in thine own act and valorAs thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have thatWhich thou esteemst the ornament of life,And live a coward in thine own esteem,Letting I dare not wait upon I would,Like the poor cat i the adage?What beast wast thenThat made you break this enterprise to me?When you durst do it, then you were a man;And to be more than what you were, you wouldBe so much more the man. Nor time nor placeDid then adhere, and yet you would make both.They have made themselves, and that their fitness nowDoes unmake you. I have given suck, and knowHow tender tis to love the babe that milks me:I would, while it was smiling in my face,Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gumsAnd dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as youHave done this. If we should fail?Screw your courage to the sticking placeAnd well not fail. When Duncan is asleep(Whereto the rather shall his days hard journeySoundly invite him), his two chamberlainsWill I with wine and wassail so convinceThat memory, the warder of the brain,Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reasonA limbeck only. When in swinish sleepTheir drenched natures lies as in a death,What cannot you and I perform uponTh unguarded Duncan? what not put uponHis spongy officers, who shall bear the guiltOf our great quell?

Wiglaf and MacArthur Speech Analysis free essay sample

Wigwag and Macarthur speeches were both toward soldiers and were both very motivating. However, there are many differences between the two when it comes to the purpose, tone and syntax elements. Wigwag is furious with these warrior Seats because they have abandoned Beowulf. HIS Intent is to either encourage them to re-join Beowulf and himself In fighting the dragon or to make them feel guilty for their cowardly behavior as warriors. He also exemplifies the importance of being loyal to your leader. Macarthur has more to do with speaking of patriotism and what the soldiers duty Is.He wants to bring to the able the history of the American soldier and explain why he or she Is still Important In todays society. The tone of Wigwag;s speech Is accusatory, critical, but whimsical at times because he reminds them of times In the Mead Hall when they promised to serve Beowulf with their lives. We will write a custom essay sample on Wiglaf and MacArthur Speech Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Macarthur tone Is Inspiring and motivational, yet mournful and powerful when talking about the debts American soldiers have paid. Wigwags speech had a lot of words like boasting, swore, trusting, promises, to evoke a sense of guilt in his audience.Wigwag is a soldier, therefore, he uses a lot of tattle language, which affects the diction. The last two lines make concrete the image of Wigwag, a soldier, using the words helmet, sword, Bernie and battle dress. The use of pathos is used more in Macarthur speech. His primary usage of pathos can be seen in his guarantee of betterment under the circumstances that the cadets maintain the values instilled in them by the West Point Military Academy. This promise of gain can be seen in Macarthur phrase, Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what oh will be. MacArthur uses ethos through his use of personal experience and credentials in order to show that he too has been in the same position as the cadets there that day and that by upholding the values instilled in him during his time at West Point he had managed to become the man he was. Some would say both speeches would be about the same because the audiences are very similar. Wigwag became the hero, whereas MacArthur was already a hero. The contrast between the two speeches unquestionably overpowers the comparison. Wigwag and MacArthur Speech AnalysisBy Whitley-Miller His intent is to either encourage them to re-join Beowulf and himself in fighting the with speaking of patriotism and what the soldiers duty is. He wants to bring to the table the history of the American soldier and explain why he or she is still important in todays society.

Free Essays on Dali Biography

May 15, 2005 â€Å"A true painter is one who can paint extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. A true painter is one who can patiently paint a pear in the midst of tumults of history.† -Salvador Dali "Salvador," as told by Dali, was â€Å"destined to rescue and save painting from the mediocre catastrophes of modern art.† Salvador Dali is considered the greatest artist of the surrealist movement and one of the greatest masters of art during the twentieth century, experimenting with numerous other creative forms: sculpture, screenwriting, jewelry, and different styles and genres of art. Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalà ­ I Domenech was born on May 11, 1904, as the son of a prestigious notary in the small town of Figueres, in Northern Spain. Salvador Dali is given the same name as his older brother, who died prior to his birth. Dali’s older brother Salvador passes away at the age of seven from an attack of meningitis. Dali wrote that they resembled each other like two drops of water, but with different reflections. The profound sadness experienced by their parents was transpired into an unconditional dedication towards their new child. His early childhood was spent in Figueres and at the family's summer home in the coastal fishing village of Cadaques, where his parents built his first studio. As an eccentric child dealing with life’s hardships it enabled him to artistically demonstrate his personal obsessions and fantasies by painting in bold dream world imagery. Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious, expounded in â€Å"The Interpretation of Dreams,† played a large role in influencing Dali and his passion for dreams. The other prevalent factor in the shaping of Dali’s artistic philosophy was found in the close knit avant-garde styles of French Surrealists. Dali, as a young protà ©gà ©, received his first drawing lessons when he was ten years old from then well known Spanish impressionist painter, Ramon... Free Essays on Dali Biography Free Essays on Dali Biography May 15, 2005 â€Å"A true painter is one who can paint extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. A true painter is one who can patiently paint a pear in the midst of tumults of history.† -Salvador Dali "Salvador," as told by Dali, was â€Å"destined to rescue and save painting from the mediocre catastrophes of modern art.† Salvador Dali is considered the greatest artist of the surrealist movement and one of the greatest masters of art during the twentieth century, experimenting with numerous other creative forms: sculpture, screenwriting, jewelry, and different styles and genres of art. Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalà ­ I Domenech was born on May 11, 1904, as the son of a prestigious notary in the small town of Figueres, in Northern Spain. Salvador Dali is given the same name as his older brother, who died prior to his birth. Dali’s older brother Salvador passes away at the age of seven from an attack of meningitis. Dali wrote that they resembled each other like two drops of water, but with different reflections. The profound sadness experienced by their parents was transpired into an unconditional dedication towards their new child. His early childhood was spent in Figueres and at the family's summer home in the coastal fishing village of Cadaques, where his parents built his first studio. As an eccentric child dealing with life’s hardships it enabled him to artistically demonstrate his personal obsessions and fantasies by painting in bold dream world imagery. Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious, expounded in â€Å"The Interpretation of Dreams,† played a large role in influencing Dali and his passion for dreams. The other prevalent factor in the shaping of Dali’s artistic philosophy was found in the close knit avant-garde styles of French Surrealists. Dali, as a young protà ©gà ©, received his first drawing lessons when he was ten years old from then well known Spanish impressionist painter, Ramon...

Information Security in Supply Chain Security Research Proposal

Information Security in Supply Chain Security - Research Proposal Example However, this ‘information security’ aspect in the supply chain security is not as greatly investigated as the other areas are. Given the fact that supply chains involve crucial information about organizations, nations as well as about individuals, it is a necessity to ensure the security of all the information. Large supply chains that include borders of different countries involve number of agencies that share information among themselves. Such a process requires a strong system that would ensure the security of information. This research proposal is an attempt to provide a guideline regarding the research that will be conducted on the information security systems that are used by the agencies like customs in various countries. The proposal includes details of research objectives, possible structure of literature review as well as the research methodology. Research Objectives The main purpose behind conducting this research is to identify and analyze the present inform ation security systems that are used by various key players in the supply chains. Furthermore, the research is also aimed at finding out the alternative security system models that may be used. There may be several aspects or parameters based on which a particular security system model can be analyzed. ... It is found that ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data Acquisition) is one of those systems that are widely used by important agencies that are involved in the global supply chains. Hence, this research will aim at gathering sufficient information about this system, its usage, advantages and disadvantages. This will certainly be another main objective of the research. In addition to all these objectives, the research will also focus on identifying the requirements of changing the existing systems and having a new one that will be more efficient and effective. Hence, the following research question arise form these objectives. Is there any need of developing a new standard information security system that will be used across the world? Literature Review A preliminary study of literature reveals that supply chains have evolved in several respects over the past few decades. They have become more global than they were ever before. Today, major stakeholders in a supply chain’s security are the industry, governments and terminal operators. According to the findings of a research paper which is published by IT major IBM, key elements of the security of a supply chain include physical security, risk analysis, personnel security, information security and procedural security (Knight, 2003). As far as information security is considered it is certainly one of the most significant elements as the supply chain processes are managed by the information systems. Acknowledgement of the importance of information security must come with the acceptance of the fact that there are several problems that challenge the safety and security of information that are exchanged across the supply chains. Andrew R. Thomas has opined that one of the major problems

Research and critical evaluation on the M&M (Modigliani and Miller) Essay

Research and critical evaluation on the M&M (Modigliani and Miller) models and the production of a report - Essay Example The paper presents the elementary propositions of the Miller-Modigliani approach and after presenting their models, put forward a categorical analysis and criticism with respect to optimization for shareholders’ returns in the context of arbitrage scenario (Chandra, 2002, pp.411-412, 417-418). Financial Decision Making in Achievement of Specified Business Objectives Financial Decision Making The financial decisions taken by a business firm to meet financial objectives must also fulfill the goals of specified business objectives. Finance is considered to be the lifeblood of a business concern. Hence management of the financial resources for an organization must be conducted in a manner as to satisfy the organizational goals. The gamut of financial decisions focus on key activities like planning, organizing, directing the capital requirements and the usages of the funds incorporated in a business organization. These financial activities must be pursued in order to meet key finan cial objectives like achieving a strong rate of return on the amount of capital invested. The business must target at achieving such levels of profits as would not only help in meeting the amount of investments made but also for helping the business to accumulate funds for the future. However, organizations must not only focus on achieving huge profits to augment the capital value of the stakeholders but must generate a holistic view in bettering the economic position of the firm (Joseph, 2005, pp.170-172).. The short term financial needs of a firm center on acquiring of short-term business assets in meeting the short-term liabilities of the concern. This aspect is known as the management of working capital, which is conducted to take care of the current solvent position of the concern (Chandra, 2002, pp.4-5). Maximizing Shareholder Value Most business organizations render importance to the issue of augmenting the value of the owners and shareholders of a business firm. The value of the owners or shareholders of a business firm reflects on the market value of the total amount of stock possessed by such. Market value of the stocks refers to the price quotes of such while being traded in stock exchanges. Wealth of the shareholders is maximized by the business organization through the augmentation of the present value of some future returns expected by the owners. Future returns depend on the accrual of dividends or of future sale proceeds of company stocks. The present value of such future income is calculated based on a specific rate of discount accounted on receiving cash dividends in the future period (Moyer, McGuigan, & Kretlow, 2008, p.5). Financial Strategy A business organization to perform effectively must formulate an adequate financial strategy to satisfy the business goals. An effective financial strategy drawn by any concern revolves around accomplishing two specific business needs. Firstly it endeavors to cite the sectors from which the firm can dra w in adequate amount of funds to meet its business needs. Secondly, it sets guidelines for the proper management of such funds within the organization to generate an efficient financial structure. The business organization must also look forward in maximizing the return on the investments made and in minimizing the rate of risks adhered to it (Bender & Ward, 2008, pp.4-6). The

Honda Strategy and Marketing Analysis

Honda Strategy and Marketing Analysis Volkswagen was the first company entering the Chinese automobile industry. Faced by a satisfied home market the company had to expand its business and therefore the growing economy of China was their next choice. The Volkswagen Beetle, the first car produced for the Chinese market, was a real success. After several years  competitors, mainly from the Japanese market like Honda, started to enter the Chinese market very aggressively and  due to that Volkswagen had to face the challenge to maintain its market leader position and therefore adopt the  corporate strategy. As a consequence Volkswagen China introduced its Olympic Program strategic plan in 2005. The program is calledOlympic since its aim is to reach the strategic goals set by the end of the Olympic year 2008. In the following we will analyze the strategic plans of Volkswagen and set them in context to the strategic behaviour of  the Japanese competitor Honda. 3.1 Marketing Volkswagen announced to focus more on differentiation. This is due to the existence of two joint ventures and the  planned positioning of the Skoda products. By offering a large product variety the group aims to serve as many different  target customer groups as possible. In opposition to previous product designs the new cars offered by Volkswagen will be adapted to Chinese taste in order  to increase the brands popularity. The former Volkswagen products were designed for the European market but since  Japanese car manufacturers fit better to the Asian taste the company had to react. The Volkswagen products in China  compete on quality but to maintain the companys leading position it is unremitting to produce cars that are both  fashionable and qualitative. 3.2 Sales Sales relationships are going to be restructured and there will be more interaction between the two joint ventures FAW  VW and VWS. These strategic interactions are another way to increase the companys customer orientation and thereby  the attractiveness of the brand. Dealerships will be tailored to the newly-defined customer groups segmentation of the  two joint ventures respectively. Vehicles of the Volkswagen brand will be distributed through two dealer network  channels. By this, Volkswagen aims at its strategic goal to maintain its leading position by serving different customer  groups. 3.3 Research and Development The company focuses more on in-house developments within the Volkswagen joint ventures in China to save costs. Ten  to twelve new models developed in China for the Chinese market should be launched by the end of 2008. 3.4 Sourcing and Supply Chain Historically the two joint ventures VW Shanghai FAW VW in Changchun sourced separately but within the last decade  sourcing became more challenging for the company: the cars are becoming more sophisticated and therefore the  components have to fulfil higher expectations, the technical expertise of the supplier is getting more important and it is  difficult for Volkswagen to find suppliers which meet their requirements, lack of availability of certain raw materials  (e.g. specific kinds of steel) cause sourcing difficulties. As a reaction Volkswagen is trying to introduce a common sourcing process for the global group and bundle the  purchasing volume in China to create economies of scale. Thereby the target is to find one supplier for each platform  part and carry these parts to China. 3.5 Manufacturing In order to decrease production costs the board decided to introduce so called product cost workshops within the  manufacturing departments to communicate cost targets and produce to costs. Also large parts of the manufacturing  process will be done in China and localization in China are planned to be increased to make use of the cheaper labour  wages in China. Besides all plans to reduce production costs Volkswagen tries not to compromise its high engineering  quality and manufacturing standards since this is a very important success factor for the company. 4. Honda strategy in China Honda advocates the spirit of three joys. Because of their belief in the value of each individual, Honda believes that each person working in, or coming in touch  with their company, directly or through their products, should share a sense of joy through that experience. This feeling  is expressed in what they call The Three Joys. Their goal is to provide Joy: for those who buy their products and produce their products. In that regard, their main concern is for people. First, there is The Joy of Buying for every customer who buys a Honda This Joy is a step beyond customer satisfaction. As they define it, there are four steps to successfully creating The Joy  of Buying.   We also pick up another 4 strategy of Guangzhou Honda in China. Firstly, large scales of purchasing; Honda uses their  economies of scale by working with their parts suppliers to order raw materials in large quantities. Secondly, suppliers localization, more than 160 component suppliers around Guangzhou Honda to manufacture some  supports component for automobiles. For example, the glass seat and engine. These parts are supplied not only for  Guangzhou Honda but also sometimes for exporting. Whats more, setting up manufacturing base for transmission in  Guangzhou really makes a record, because this is the first time for foreign-funded automobiles enterprises to set up  transmission manufacturing base in China. And this investment of Honda makes the supplier localization especially the  suppliers for core parts. Thirdly, optimizing logistics process. They use logistics management software from USA.The logistics department of  Guangzhou Honda was demanded to operate according to the pattern in Janpese Logistics Company. They emphasize  importing the service quality in logistics, decreasing logistics cost enlarge market share and competitiveness and import  new technology and methods in logistics from USA. Fourthly, making supply chain perfect. The Honda setting up a local transmission manufacturing base in Guangzhou  makes transmissions no longer popular in importing and components industrial chain in China will develop to perfect. the newly set-up base will provide transmissions to three Honda companies in China(Guangzhou Honda, Dongfeng  Honda and China Honda)In this pattern, the most crucial part of automobileengine production has been promoted a  lot. In the influence of transmission localization. The biggest supplier of clutch in Japan set up a factory in 5 years with the  total investment54million dollars in Nanhai District in Guangzhou and it manufacture clutch for Guangzhou Honda  directly. With the localization of supplier of transmission and clutch the supply chain of Guangzhou Honda has developed into  nearly perfect. Hondas strategy in supply chain can considerably decrease the cost which gives Guangzhou Honda more profits. Then we move on to the comparison of the marketing between Volkswagen and Honda. Firstly, for Honda they launch a  new car later in China compared with in Japan. For example, the Accord in 2008 was launched half a year later in China  than in Japan. But for Volkswagen, a new car will have a same launching agenda all over the world; it means same time  promoting same time marketing. Secondly, Honda adjusts the price to the situation of market nearly every season. Demand fluctuation, price fluctuation. The flexible price strategy is different from Volkswagens steady price strategy which perhaps gives consumers more  reliability. Thirdly, Honda fight for market share and Volkswagen emphasize brand reputation in long term, Honda target  consumers which means flexible strategy will be much easier for company to survive and succeed. While for  Volkswagen, more luxury and exclusive element allow Volkswagen to offer more credence for consumers in order to  gain reputation in long term. Case study : SIAC 6.4.1. General History of SVW and SGM Not only did Shanghai present an advantage as a potential market, but  Shanghais heavy industrial infrastructure also made major contributions to Shanghai  VW (SVW) and Shanghai GM (SGM). A larger number of parts factories, together  with the extant Shanghai car plants and the citys steel and other heavy industries,  cried out for the final ingredients necessary for rapid development: modern  technology and management skills. An automobile cluster began to develop in Shanghai in the 1980s, thanks to  strong government support at different levels. To upgrade the national automobile  industry following international standards and to avoid an influx of automobile  imports, the central government started negotiation with VW in 1978 for the  establishment of a joint auto production firm. During that entire year, the countrys  state-owned auto factories produced only 15,500 vehicles, and the industry was characterized by old-fashioned, low-quality cars that were produced with outdated  equipment in a labor-intensive process (Kiefer, 1998). Chinese official pressed the  idea of building autos for export and insisted on auto-parts localization. The German  counterpart, however, explained the necessity of auto-part import at the first stage and  proposed the idea of localization as China became more experienced in producing  quality part supplies. Within this cooperative atmosphere, the contrac t was signed in  1984. This joint venture was owned 50% by Volkswagen, 25% by SAIC, 15% by the  Bank of Chinas Shanghai Trust and Consultancy Corporation, and 10% by the China  National Automotive Industrial Corporation. The involvement of Chinese partners  revealed careful forethought: The Bank of China could provide or guarantee needed  loans, SAIC would have an interest in solving local problems, and CNAIC could be a  link to the central planner. (Harwit, 1995, p. 153). To reduce its dependence on VW and to stimulate technology transfer after  one decade of cooperation, SAIC decided to engage in the joint venture with GM in  the early 1990s. SAIC and GM signed a contract to jointly set up Shanghai GM  production facilities in Pudong in 1997. GM was anxious to win this joint venture  because it believed that SAIC was the best automobile company in China. Indeed,  SAIC was highly profitable due to many advantages. Notably, the Chinese  government had chosen SAIC to be the primary passenger car producer enabling it to  acquire the most relevant technological experiences, more so than any other domestic  company. However, the obvious disadvantage of working with SAIC was its existing  joint venture with VW which was one of GMs global competitors and which had  dominated the Chinese passenger car market since the mid-80s (see Table 19). Since  its establishment, SGM has grown into one of the largest car producers in China. 6.4.2. Auto Supplier Cluster in Shanghai Area The development of the automobile industry in the city was strongly supported  by municipal policies, including infrastructure development, labor market, and  industrial policies. In addition, to stimulate broad manufacturing competencies and to  integrate Chinese suppliers within the region, the central government enforced local-content regulations on those auto joint ventures to spur the development of a regional  production network with substantial local linkages. Meanwhile, there has been a strong tendency in the international automobile  industry to develop hierarchical supplier networks and shift the developing,  manufacturing, and assembly responsibilities of important modules to the first-tier  suppliers. Along with the globalization strategy of the automobile producers, large  first-tier suppliers were also required to follow their auto assembly partners and set up  production facilities in other nations (Sadler, 1998). As a consequence, VW  demanded that important first-tier suppliers establish production facilities in China,  preferably within the region. However, production volume (less than 20,000 units in 1990) at that time was too small for global suppliers to set up mass production  facilities in Shanghai. In the initial years after production was launched, SVW still imported most parts and components for the production of the VW Santana from overseas, a large part of which was from Germany. At that time, there were basically no firms in the  region that could have supplied the parts that were needed. However, the Chinese  government threatened to impose a production limit on SVW if the firm would not  increase its local content in production. To achieve the 70% local content regulation  but at the same time to ensure global quality standards, VW and the Chinese  government worked interactively in promoting joint venture partnerships in the auto  parts sector. 6.4.3. Joint Ventures Firm Strategy and Competition SAICs strategy is clear-to form multiple auto JVs with different global  firms and to benefit from competitions between those partners, in regard to  technology transfer, new model introduction, and supply market rationalization. SAICs experience with GM and VW proved this strategy, and GM seems to do a  better job in quality control, technology adaptation, and accurate appraisals of  domestic demand market than its competitor VW. While VW and GM are  increasingly going head to head in the marketplace as they expand their product lines,  SAIC may find itself competing with both when its own car goes on sale. At the same . time, VW and GM run the risk of being shunted aside as Chinas domestic auto  industry develops. In July 2004, national auto sales rose only 3.7% over the same period in 2003  (CAAM, 2005). The growth slowdown has had a significant impact on VW who was  losing market shares because of an aging product line and increased competition. In  2002, cars made by SVW had 27.6% of the China market; in 2003 they slipped to  19.6%, and for the first seven months of 2004, they fell further to 15.5% (Xu, 2005). VWs difficulties have created an opportunity for GM, which passed SVW  briefly in June 2004 to become the market leader. Over the past few years, Chinese  consumers have become more savvy shoppers through greater access to information  (The middle class., 2001), said Phil Murtaugh (CEO of GM China) at the 2001  China Business Summit, and they have higher expectations for the products and their  quality. (The middle class., 2001). He pointed to the dramatic increase of internet  usage and the greater number of Chinese auto publications. Chinas growing middle  class itself represents a sophisticated customer base for a broaden product mix and  thus fierce competition, Murtaugh said (The middle class., 2001). A careful  evaluation of changing domestic consumers and a close relationship with Chinese  engineers in its technical center keeps GM consistently in the leading position in  Chinese passenger car market. 6.4.4. Technology Transfer: Good and Bad  Scholars a dvocated that the existing supplier network and industrial  infrastructure were important reasons why GM also decided to set up production  facilities in Shanghai in 1997(Gallagher, 2005; Taylor III, 2004), while the later  success of GM, to a large extent, is attributed to its sincere investment in local  technology development and close cooperation with Chinese engineers. Nonetheless,  problems could rise from inter-JV technology transfer. GM was the first company that actually established a technical center with  additional investment in Shanghai, following the governments promotion of  technology transfer in the 1994 industrial policy. A separate $50 million US joint  venture was established between GM and SAIC named the Pan Asian Technical  Center (PATAC). PATACs main purpose is to provide engineering support to SGM  and other Chinese auto companies. PATAC has also established an in-house  emissions testing center and has employed around 400 Chinese engineers, which,  though not directly training Chinese engineers, gives China the opportunity to work  closely with advanced techniques and learn in the process. According to Porter (1990), only when a foreign company transfers RD  decisions can it add to the host nations competitiveness.