Thing #7

The Magic Lantern,
originally uploaded by unforth.

Today should have been called "Flickr Friday," because that is all that I have been doing today. Nothing else. Still in my pajamas, microwavable dinners for lunch AND supper, mail is still in the mailbox, and the house is a complete disaster. Who or what is to blame for all of this? The highly addictive, amazingly glorious online photo album/sharer known as Flickr. It's fairly obvious that I absolutely hated the site, right? (HA).

Charles Vanloo's 18th century painting, The Magic Lantern," was used as inspiration for my Flickr web address. I have always found this painting to be very intriguing. I have written papers and essays concerning its perspective, composition, and style...but have always skimmed past a key element within the artwork....

Emerging Technology.

(Odd, right? Amanda overlook technology? Shocking!) Nevertheless, I found it to be quite thought-provoking given the class setting and current assignment.

I am very excited to be a part of Flickr. I have uploaded pictures, created sets, added favorites, and joined two groups. (Binge achiever, Chad, keep that in mind...I'll be on hiatus next week)

In 2004, I went on my first of two study abroad trips to Spain. The first was an Art History focused tour of Spain and Morocco. I did not have a digital camera, and I think I had over 30 rolls of film at the end of the trip. The pictures have been on my "OOH, I should do something with these" list for 6 years now. They have been sitting in an album, lonely, wishing for someone to look at them and ponder their meaning. Thanks to Flickr, I now have a use for these photos and a place to store them.

Absent from this group, however, are photos of Tangier and Fez in Morocco. I had lost a few rolls of film somewhere along the way. My Favorites allows me to bookmark others' photos that I like (i.e. the missing Moroccan landmarks, architecture, and culture pictures)

I like Flickr so much that I am thinking about upgrading to the Pro Account. As a (future) visual arts teacher, there are many professional uses for a public photo-sharing site (same uses as Thing #2 Blog uses). Flickr in conjunction with other Web 2.0 features and traditional resources could greatly enhance students' learning experience. I'm excited.