Originally uploaded by tania.sheko
Since I’m deliberately absent from family photos due to extreme photo phobia (ie. somehow the photo makes me look uncharacteristically awful), and since the only other photos I have are of sunsets (done by others) or mundane things of little interest to people (eg. random tree in my backyard), – yes, there’s an end to this rambling sentence – I’m including a photo of my younger son, Maxim.
The visual aspect brings so much to any record or presentation of information or events. It personalises, adds colour, expression, recognition, interest. The organisation of photos and images on Flickr, using tags and groups, the search option, is a fantastic thing in education. Students can bring their presentations to life. Teachers can maintain collections for ‘just in time’ situations. Again, as always with Web 2.0 application, the social dimensions are valuable.
I’ve become a real sticky beak since getting on Facebook. I’ve been zooming into people’s photos – no, I’m not a voyeur, although there is definitely an aspect of voyeurism in places like Facebook and MySpace. It’s just that I’ve found people I haven’t seen for years/decades, and I’m curious to see what they look like. I’m amazed to see how their kids have grown and changed or not changed.
Now I realise that I have to start taking photos. All those wasted years! What was I thinking? All these people smiling, hugging, kissing, looking sexy, and where have I been all these years?!
