Depicting the concepts of Consumerism and Alienation through photographs
After studying the research done by other authors and researchers, it was time to reflect
upon how as a photographer I would depict alienation in today’s time. The photographs
are a depiction of my understanding of alienation in the contemporary age. The
photographs in the beginning depict self-estrangement, alienation from the product and
alienation from other human beings as Marx’s theory had originally proposed. Moving
ahead the pictures show the difficulty in constituting a sense of self as our identities
become increasingly blurred because of self-estrangement. But in the digital age, where
everyone seems to have figured out who they are, the pressure of being yourself makes
us indulge in conspicuous acts of display. We put on a facade and post pictures of
ourselves on social media while still being alienated from ourselves. Part of what we
post online isn’t even real. The pictures get cropped, modified and enhanced to depict a
glamorized version of our lives.
upon how as a photographer I would depict alienation in today’s time. The photographs
are a depiction of my understanding of alienation in the contemporary age. The
photographs in the beginning depict self-estrangement, alienation from the product and
alienation from other human beings as Marx’s theory had originally proposed. Moving
ahead the pictures show the difficulty in constituting a sense of self as our identities
become increasingly blurred because of self-estrangement. But in the digital age, where
everyone seems to have figured out who they are, the pressure of being yourself makes
us indulge in conspicuous acts of display. We put on a facade and post pictures of
ourselves on social media while still being alienated from ourselves. Part of what we
post online isn’t even real. The pictures get cropped, modified and enhanced to depict a
glamorized version of our lives.
Further the images show how our phones and cameras have become our new eyes and
how we live life through images. Debord (1994) puts it perfectly when he says that
“everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation”. From our
breakfast to our emotions, we glamorise everything to conspicuously display ourselves
to others. The picture with diamonds in a spoon and diamonds as tears show how we
try to glamorise mundane routine breakfasts and even our sadness. Becoming
estranged from oneself, we still observe the multiplicity of our identities. We watch
ourselves through the images we post.
how we live life through images. Debord (1994) puts it perfectly when he says that
“everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation”. From our
breakfast to our emotions, we glamorise everything to conspicuously display ourselves
to others. The picture with diamonds in a spoon and diamonds as tears show how we
try to glamorise mundane routine breakfasts and even our sadness. Becoming
estranged from oneself, we still observe the multiplicity of our identities. We watch
ourselves through the images we post.
The picture with the word ESCAPE represents how sometimes resorting to social media is the only light we can find in the darkness of being alienated. As previously mentioned, pop culture promises us this escape too. We find solace in binge watching TV shows and constantly switching from one app to another without realising the existence of our alienated selves. Ultimately, people become commodities and we develop our relationships online or offline as an exchange of products.
Lastly, we begin to define ourselves through what we consume and we keep conspicuously spending on things that we don’t need just to accumulate social status. Even though we have limited disposable income, we spend it on extravagant clothes, jewellery and other branded items without thinking rationally about depleting it soon enough.
