Place of Mind

Places and Feelings: How Are They Connected?

I pass through many places every day on the way to go to work, school, friends, and family houses. I see different scenarios, different people. I experience different weather and, depending on who I am with, different feelings. However, sometimes I fail to acknowledge simple details that are there, every day, in the places I pass by. I usually do not appreciate or recognize what is around me. Instead, I focus only on arriving at my destiny and getting things done. The places I pass by or the place I have grown had the power of molding me. The areas I experienced had the power of changing who I am. Among the places I most visited during my week, I decided to take some pictures and analyze how they talk to me. Also, the changes and feelings it awakes—each of these pictures talks to me and somehow a little of how I feel.

In his book Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes writes about two elements he uses to analyze photographs: studium and punctum. Studium for Barthes is the element that creates interest in photography, and punctum is the second element that calls our attention, something in the picture that actually "bruises" us (27). This element has the power of touching the viewer more profound, emotionality. I want to use Barthes elements to analyze my photographs and look at how they talk to me.

Waking through the countryside or less crowded places might be a magical experience. I have the privilege of passing by some sites like these during my week. One of them called my attention. In this picture, the studium is the color green. Also, the blue is very apparent. These colors are what called my attention right away, bringing me a peaceful feeling. I cannot say there is a punctum because nothing really bruises me here; it Only brings me peace. Walking through that path more carefully (actually seeing things, not only looking at them), I could notice many other lives: rabbits and birds (even frogs). I could see and hear much better when I did pay attention to it and put my AirPods in my pocket. In her book, Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes, the author Alexandra Horowitz wrote, "Together, we became investigators of the ordinary, considering the block — the street and everything on it—as a living being that could be observed. In this way, the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and the old the new" (3). Horowitz explains the change of the ordinary becoming unfamiliar. When we attend ourselves to what is in our way, we somehow study the familiar, transforming it "unfamiliar." It is common to hear the birds every day as I did in my path, but I do not realize that when I am not paying attention. When we study what's in front of us, everything that is ordinary might become something new.

As my first photography, this second one is also in a not crowded place. I like to spend a good part of my weekends sitting in this backyard, which is a relaxing moment. The studium for me is the vibrant colors it shows, which also brings me an afternoon peaceful feeling. This picture describes my weekends and will likely transmit my feelings to who is seeing it. When I am sitting in this backyard, I can say that nothing is unfamiliar to me. I usually observe everything around me and hear everything as well. This backyard is the house of many birds. I can listen to woodpeckers and see beautiful hummingbirds. Since it is a place to relax, I like to be in touch with nature and listen to it. Yet, this picture captured things that I do not usually pay attention to. The sunlight, the neighbor's house, and all the objects I do not usually notice. I am a very anxious person, but I can say this place changes me since I do not feel any anxiety when I am there.

In my third picture, we are entering into a more urban place. The train tracks present the beginning of my path to the city. I took that picture because of the colors it shows and the lights on portraying the end of the afternoon. I believe this is the studium in this picture. It represents the urban place and brings this feeling of a more hectic life. Although the image does not show the train, Yet I could hear it. I could listen to the people in the bars in front of me, and at this point, I could not notice or hear any birds. The noise of the urban place overlaps the natural noise. The peaceful feeling I felt before in the "countryside" is replaced by a bit of anxiety. I need to worry about the train time and the time I will get to my destination. I like to compare this third picture with my first one. In the first one, I had a more peaceful view, and there was a bird in the sky. While in my third picture is the opposite, with an airplane in the sky. The place changed, and my feelings changed with it.

My fourth and fifth pictures are in the city. I was born and raised in a big city, so I am familiar with it. In this picture, the studium is the number of people I see, the cars, and the tall buildings; All of them call my attention. The urban place brings me many feelings. It also influences me in many ways. The visual pollution, the ads, everything can affect me; to buy, to acquire things. When we are in the city, it is harder to realize things around us because we are surrounded by so much information that it is hard to focus. At that moment, I could hear the cars, people talking, and the wind. Although I love the city, it indeed brings me anxiety. The need to always be watchful and careful brings me this feeling. The number of people around makes me feel anxious and afraid, and I believe this is the punctum in this picture. Although I have lived for many years in a big city, I always make a massive effort to pay attention when I am there.

In his article Can your city change your mind? the author Nate Berg wrote about how places can change your mind, and explained:

There's a significant chance that the room you're in right now is controlling your mind. The room—if you're like most North Americans, who've been found to spend roughly 90 percent of their time indoors, you're probably in one—is exerting both strong and subtle influences 3/16 on the way your brain functions. It may be making you anxious, or sad, or distracted, or highly efficient, or inexplicably tired, affecting not only your cognitive abilities and mental processes but your emotional state, mental stability, and physical well-being (Nate, 2).

Berg explains how the places you are at might change your feelings. In all my pictures, I can relate to it. In this fifth photograph, I am again in the city. This time, in front of one of my fav buildings. The studium, for me, is the bridge that connects both buildings. It amazes me how big this building is and how old it looks. At that moment, I could again hear people talking, cars honking, and the wind. The flags up in the building are moving, proving the windy day that was. That feeling of things moving fast and people in a hurry is the punctum for me. As I said before, the city brings me anxiety. Being in the city is magic, and when I can acknowledge the everyday things around me and study them, it becomes almost unfamiliar. When I stop running around and look at the buildings and people, it seems even crazier.

Another thing I fail to acknowledge is the number of people living on the streets. When paying attention to that, it made me reflect deeply about these situations in big cities. It is sad to realize we pass by these people every day and often do not notice them. The city can change me mainly because I am an easily distracted person, but I am as careful as possible when I am in there. Also, it makes me realize and reflect on social problems. The city taught me how to do things fast and be more observant.

Depending on the place I am, I absorb different things, and it changes me. Being in my favorite street and backyard brings me a peaceful feeling, and I am always in contact with nature. Being in the city or crowded places might change how I feel, a little anxious. Thus, I think a place can indeed change us. I grow up in an area with different people and nationalities, which made me, in a way, to be a more open-minded person. I have lived with different people and seen this every day. I grow up learning that we have differences, and we need to learn how to respect them. Everywhere I live or pass by, it might change me depending on the situation. All places I presented in my photographs are unique for me; they can make me see different worlds if I make the familiar unfamiliar if I pay attention. The studium and punctum might vary depending on how you see the photograph. Roland Barthes wrote in Camera Lucida, "As Spectator, I was interested in Photography only for 'sentimental' reasons; I wanted to explore it not as a question (a theme) but as a wound: I see, I feel, hence I notice, I observe, and I think" (21). We all have our way of looking at a picture, our criteria. Yet, I like to think as Barthes does. I want to look at a photograph as a wound and see what feelings it awakens in me.

Works Cited

Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida. Translated by Richard Howard, Hill & Wang, 1980, pp. 21-27. Composition Flipped, writing101.net/flip/wp-content/resources/documents/camera_lucida_excerpt.pdf.

Berg, Nate. “Can Your City Change Your Mind?” Curbed, Curbed, 16 Nov. 2016. p. 2-3. archive.curbed.com/2016/11/16/13637148/design-brain-architecture-psychology. Composition Flipped, writing101.net/flip/wp-content/resources/documents/can-your-city-change-your-mind.pdf

Horowitz, Alexandra. On Looking: Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes. 1st Scribner hardcover ed. New York, NY: Scribner, 2013, p.3. Composition Flipped, www.brainpickings.org/2013/08/12/on-looking-eleven-walks-with-expert-eyes/