Amy

So Justin asked me to be his "party photographer."

And I told him what I tell people when they ask me to be the "photographer" for anything, which is that I'm not a photographer, I'm a capturer of juxtapositions. I didn't double major in sociology and photography at Sarah Lawrence just so I could end up as anyone's photographer, thank you very much.

So Justin was like, "You still have a camera, right?"

And I was like, yes.

And he was like, "Well then will you be my 'party capturer of juxtapostions?'"

And I was like, sure.

Captured Juxtapostion #1. Aziz DJs.

In this photograph, we see Aziz in the tech booth, where he is selecting music for the party on a computer. One hand is on the mouse, his other hand covers his mouth, a look of regret in his eyes. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he has just played a song people on the dance floor are not enjoying, and is struggling to correct the situation.

I framed the photograph in such a way that the computer monitor looms large in the foreground, and though its glow can be read on Aziz's face, we cannot see the screen's contents, signifying that though technology's presence in our lives is constant, it offers nothing except the breakdown of real human communication. The subject's struggle is the modern struggle of the individual itself: desperate, trapped in a cramped room with a cold, imposing machine; our only substantive connection with humanity the catcalls and jeers of an unthinking mob that just wants to hear Kelly Clarkson.

Captured Juxtapostion #2. Adam Kneels Next To The Keg

In this photograph, we see Adam in a squatting position next to a keg which has just been declared to be empty.

This photograph captures the tensions inherent in hedonistic living: when you live your life for something of which there is only a finite amount (parties, alcohol, jobs for people with a degree in sociology/photography), it's all proverbial fun and apocryphal games until that something runs out. No longer able to blind himself with the dagger of drink, our boozehound Oedipus must face the terrible knowledge of himself. The keg's emptiness is, in fact, his own.

Captured Juxtaposition #3. Tara On A Cellphone

In this photograph, Tara speaks on a cellphone in the foreground, while partygoers dance in the background.

Here we see that the subject would rather speak to someone not present at the party than interact with the hundreds of real people surrounding her. The additional irony which will be readily apparent to anyone who has ever attended a party (and many people who have simply read about them) is that thanks to the loud music, it is probably near-impossible for the subject to hear what the person on the other end is saying. The troubling implication of this is, perhaps the subject prefers this, because it allows her to read what she wants into the conversation instead of actually having to listen. Perhaps the person on the other end is talking about politics and the subject is talking about baseball. We will never know.

Captured Juxtaposition #4. Some Girl Flips Me Off

In this photograph, a girl holds a drink in one hand while she holds her middle finger up to the camera with the other.

The juxtapositions inherent in this photograph are legion: society's hypocrisy insofar as it claims to allow women to define their own place within gender roles yet largely expects them to behave in a fashion in accordance with outmoded ideas of being "ladylike," the prolonged adolescence of post-collegiate twenty-somethings in the information age and its dearth of rites of passage into adulthood, and the fact that this girl is a bitch.

My name is Amy, and I Keep It Fun.