Beginning of Week 3: Assignment 6

Prompt: find an emissive light source (neon, LED, bio-luminescent, incandescent, etc.). take a photo of it. How is it different than the projected images we have been using the last week in class?

My photo for the assignment (my phone displaying a photo of me):

The assignment did not ask me to specifically take a picture outside of my room, or somewhere in the city. That very night, I actually went for a walk and could see emissive light sources I could have taken a picture of. But I thought I would take a picture of the emissive light source that was closest to me: my cellphone. I thought of displaying a picture of myself in it in full screen mode (the choice was solely for a decorative purpose).

The point I was trying to make through my choice was how ubiquitous emissive light sources are in our daily lives. I personally am oblivious to such a fact most of the time. It made whatever I am learning in class even more relevant to my life as well as my intellectual journey.

Emissive lights are different from projected images in many ways. Consequently, just like it is the case with most choices, picking emissive light sources as a means of expression instead of projected images involves trade-offs. In my opinion, using emissive lights allows for a certain precision in the access to surfaces that might have been impossible with projectors. It also allows for the possibility of much more brightness to come from the surface that wants to be lit itself, since the brightness will not be only from a reflection but from the surface itself. Those are only two great aspects of emissive lights I can think of, even though the amount of potential in their use is limitless. One drawback I could think of is the fact that we can play less with shadow effects as well as reflections in the way we can we powerful projected lights.