Public Displays of Affection Final Pictures

For my final project, I researched public displays of affection around the Westfield State University campus.

I did a lot of research to find out how others felt about seeing public displays of affection.

Humans are not the only ones who participate!

I made a survey with questions like...
- what do you think public displays of affection are?
- how much pda is too much?
- why do you think couples participate in public displays of affection?

Many people shared the same feelings and attitudes towards public displays of affection.

Some pubic displays of affection are alright, but anything more than holding hands, hugging, or sharing a quick kiss is too much.

Most people said they did not mind seeing public displays of affection at parties.

Public displays of affection can be performed by friends, not just couples participate.

Actually, a lot of friends participate in public displays of affection on a daily basis.

Many people agree that couples participate in public displays of affection because they are insecure about their relationship and need to prove they're together.

Some schools have rules about public displays of affection; kids can get detentions, and even expelled for participating in public displays of affection at school.

I chose to research this subject because it is very commonly seen , not only  all over campus, but also almost anywhere we go.  I think it's good to know how people feel about seeing it, participating in it, and know how much is too much.

Public Displays of Affection

Some couples, more than others, participate in what is known as Public Displays of Affection.

Not everyone participates in using Public Displays of Affection, but even the smallest gesture, such as putting your arm around a girl, could still be considered PDA.

Another example of a Public Display of Affection could be as simple as holding hands.

As the relationship builds, more affectionate touching takes place; for example, a hug.

Love is truly expressed when time is spent together as a couple.

Love can be expressed in many different ways, and not only humans participate in Public Displays of Affection.  It occurs all over the world in different ways.

Leaving Babylon: A Walk Through the Jewish Divorce Ceremony

Judyth Har-Even writes about her experience, and what others must go through as well, to obtain a divorce as a Jewish woman.  She starts off by saying "If all goes well at the courthouse this morning, I will receive my get, a Jewish written divorce" (79).  She is looking forward to getting this divorce.  She mentions also that even though she already has a civil-divorce document, but if she wants to remarry in Israel, where she lives, she still needs to receive the get from her husband.  A get is a document given to the wife by the husband, written specifically for them, ensuing a divorce.  When the couple goes to court, both have a witness, and the witnesses talk to the rabbis, and must hear everything that is said.

According to Jewish tradition, divorce is considered to be a necessary evil; it was understood that divorce was sometimes necessary, but they made the process very difficult.  It is law that the husband must be agreeing to the divorce under his own free will; he has to want it too.  If he does not want the divorce but the wife does, then the marriage will be continued.  He cannot be forced into the divorce.  The get but be handed to the wife in a certain way, dropped into her hands by the husband directly after the script was written.  if it is not handed to the wife directly after it was written, it is no longer a legal document, and the couple remains married.  After the get is finished and the marriage is officially ended, the wife must wait ninety-two days to remarry after that.

Pictures for my Guide

America, Seen Through Photographs, Darkly.

Key Points:
 - Walt Whitman tried to push past beauty and ugliness and tried to look at things for how they actually were
 - Edward Steichen helped portray beautiful photography of things that aren't typically labelled as "beautiful"
 - Walker Evans & Alfred Stieglitz took "real pictures" - not trying to capture beauty, but reality.
 - Arbus' photographs convey the anti-humanist message; she always has a purpose with her photographs

Susan Sontag Photograph

"Any photograph has multiple meanings; indeed, to see something in the form of a photograph is to encounter a potential object of fascination" (23).

Questions for 2/16

1. What do the photos mean to Eggleston? Who can really say what the pictures to mean to Eggleston but Eggleston himself?  If I had to guess I would say that the things he took pictures of he thought were important to document; they could have been important to him in some way, or important for future generations to know about.


2. What do they mean to you? To mean they represent the simplicity of life and childhood in some cases.  They had to be important to someone for them to be taken, but they also show the viewer that life isn't always about big cars and diamonds.

3. What does it mean to be a viewer of Eggleston's photos? (What does it mean to view something that you know has a personal meaning to someone else, but not know what exactly that meaning is?) It means that the photos can be interpreted by you no matter what the photographer was intending. Everything means something to someone else; we don't all see things differently. If we knew what Eggleston was thinking or feeling, then we wouldn't be able to interpret the photos for ourselves.

4. What makes these photos ART and not just snapshots? (why should we care?) These photos are ART because they mean something to someone. Someone put thought into what would make the photo a good picture and thought it would be important to show to others. 

New Thesis Statement

In William Eggleston's Guide, the importance of simplicity in life is portrayed throughout the book with the use of the pictures he chooses; these photographs also lead the viewer into thinking about the history of photography as an art form in the 1970's, and Eggleston as a photographer.

3 Thesis Statements

1.  In William Eggleston's Guide, the message of the importance of simplicity in life is portrayed throughout with the use of the pictures Eggleston has chosen; these photographs also lead the viewer into thinking about the social and cultural concerns of that time.

2. Photographs are appreciated differently by every viewer, and even by the photographer; Susan Sontag supports this by saying "Any photograph has multiple meanings; indeed , to see something in the form of a photograph is to encounter a potential object of fascination" (23).

3. By going through a book of photographs, such as William Eggleston's Guide, many lessons can be learned, especially that of simplicity; however, different people experience photographs in different ways and obtain different feelings from them.

Joel Meyerowitz

Here is one of his pictures:

Joel Meyerowitz was born in 1938 in the Bronx, New York City.  He is a street photographer.  He started taking photographs in color in 1962.  He was among the group of photographs to begin shooting exclusively in color.  He mainly takes pictures of places and people.  Meyerowitz graduated from Ohio State Univeristy in 1959 with a degree in painting and medical illustration.  He is the author of sixteen books. 

Joel Meyerowitz vs. William Eggleston

Joel Meyerowitz's photography is similar to William Eggleston's because both photographers reveal different parts of their surroundings; be it people, places or things.

Eggleston Picture

I chose this picture because when you think of a bunk bed, both beds should be made, with people in both beds. In this case, only one bed is made. It's lonely.

Homework for Wednesday, 1/26

Question 1
1. page 5 "Thus if a stranger sought out in good good season the people and places described here they would probably seem clearly similar to their pictures, and the stranger would assume that the pictures mirrored real life"

2. page 5 "I have, however, visited other places described by works of art, and have observed the poem or picture is likely to seem a faithful document if we get to know it first and the unedited reality afterwards..."

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