Sajni Desai

                               

Originally the message that is put forth with this Absolute Vodka advertisement, is that if you drink more people will be attracted to you. The audience seems to be college students who are twenty-one and above, anyone who likes vodka, or just like alcohol and want to try something new. I think this advertisement leaves out the younger crowd, people that are in high school and also older people. The ad gives the feeling that drinking is cool and it's the popular thing to do. It makes people want to drink.

The alcohol advertisements show how cool it is to drink and how is will change your life, but they don't stay what effects drinking and driving will have on your life or on the lives of others. A lot of accidents that occur is due to driving while drunk. On the bottom of the ad they have a statement saying you should not drink and drive but the statement is written in very small print that the audience overlooks the statement.

Personal/Body Photography

   For my personal photography/ body photographs I chose to focus body movement and dance. I was intrigued by the way the body moves during dance. It amazes how we miss the little details while watching a performance but photographs can capture the little details. 

I connected my pictures to an Indian classical dance form called Bharatanatyam. This classical dance form not only show dance but tells a story with each movement. The story that is usually told is about Indian gods and goddess. Each hand and leg movement in Bhartnatyam is significant. I chose to use Bhartanatyam because I find it to be a very elegant and interesting type of dance. I decided to present a few of the basic steps to Bhartnatyam. There are 64 basic steps, which are divided into nine different parts. Bhartnatyam originated in South India and is currently view to be the national dane of india. The costume that is usually wore during the dance is different then the pictures that I took. The traditional outfit has multiple piece, when worn looks like one piece. 

The artist that influenced me to do movement photographs was Edward Muybridge. He was one of the artists that started movement photography. He was also interested in the way the body moved. His pictures are a little different then the way I presented my pictures, his pictures were not merged together. They were single frame shoots of a person moving. He also took pictures of animals. Most of the subjects in his pictures were naked

Sajni Desai

This weekend there was a Gujurati cultural event called Navaratri. Navaratri usually occurs once a year in September or October depending on the placement of the moon. The word "Narvaratri" literally means nine nights. This occasion goes on for nine nights and eight days in India but in most states, the event usually occurs on the weekends. Navaratri is a festival celebrated in honor of the Indian goddess Durga. There is a picture or a statue of this goddess in the center of the room, and people dance the folk dance around the goddess. The Folk dances are called Garba and Raas. At the dance, Garba comes first with a prayer to the goddess Durga before midnight. After the prayer, Raas is played with two sticks and a partner. The song sung for prayer is called an Aarti. It is a candle lighting ceremony for the goddess. After the sacred food is passed out the Raas is started. This dancing ritual goes on until 2 or 3 in the morning. 

Sajni Desai