Portfolio

Parsons Challenge

IMAGE 1: Person sleeping

I chose to interpret a series of photographs of a person sleeping because the object of the pillow can be seen in several different views. The most basic way in which a pillow is used is when a person is sleeping on it. These images serve as the foundation for understanding the pillow, and are the primary images that come to most people’s minds when they think of the concept of a pillow. The person in the images is in the process of waking up, and this process brings a sense of the calm refreshment that comes from sleep. Without this basic interpretation and understanding, the new places a pillow can be taken would be difficult to truly understand. The image is a comforting one, as most people associate pillows with sleep and relaxation.

IMAGE 2: Person meditating
I chose the second series of images, those of a person meditating while kneeling on a pillow, because they echo the relaxing undertones of the previous image, but with a slightly higher state of activity. The person is exploring their internal world, and is awake but not interacting with their surroundings. The presence of the person, who is ostensibly engaged in a spiritual quest of some kind, brings a sense of praise to a higher being and a greater level of enlightenment. These images are very personal and intimate, and represent a higher level of engagement than the previous image, while also sharing its relaxing connotation. The progression of images provides insight into the inner thoughts of the person, almost a violation of their privacy, in an incredibly emotionally provocative way.



IMAGE 3: Pillow fight
The third images are of a pillow fight. These images were truly the inspiration for this series of photographs, because they represent such a drastic re-interpretation of everything that is stereotypically associated with the pillow: comfort, relaxation, intimacy, and privacy. A pillow fight maintains the pillow’s connotation of softness, but in a rough way. The pillow fight reinterprets the role of a pillow while conserving the basic nature of this object. The violent but still playful nature of a pillow fight is startling when considered juxtaposed with the previous calm images of sleep and meditation. The pictures are inspired by DC’s version of the pillow fight on International Pillow Fight Day, an experience that was taking place in 47 cities across the globe, and embody the unusual role this normally private and intimate object played in uniting people who were otherwise strangers. This image is compelling in its powerful reversal of a pillow’s normal function, which on the surface may have seemed violent, but in reality brought together members of a diverse community.