Life's Meaning in 1,000 Words

Hello, and welcome to my second action project for the unit of "Image" in my Humanities core class, "Journalism". One of the goals of this unit in Journalism was to examine the phrase "An image is worth a thousand words," and answer the question, "How does photojournalism help you see the world?" In this unit, I took on the role of a photojournalist, practicing both photography and the critical thinking skills behind the structure of images that shape the way we see the world each day. For our field experience, we talked to Caleb Hamernick, a photographer, to gain insight into what he thinks it means to be a photojournalist. After I learned the skills and concepts of photojournalism, we were instructed to interview and photograph a person we believe has a unique, interesting, or important view of what the meaning of life is. For the Action Project, we based it around the thesis, “How does photojournalism help you see the world?” I selected the best picture of my interviewee and wrote a 1000-word essay response to accompany my photo of her.  I hope you enjoy it!

Life's Meaning in 1,000 Words 

Recently I stumbled across a movie called “In Time”. The theme of the movie is that time is money and money is time literally. People in the movie used their time clock that sits on their left wrist to purchase things and to remain alive. When you’re out of time, your heart instantly stops and you die. The people with the most time, centuries and millenniums, don’t know how to spend the time and life that they have. This movie forced me to think deeply about how valuable life and time are to people who don’t come from money. Many people who are wealthy don't have meaning in their lives because they have almost everything at their disposal. Most people who aren't wealthy or financially stable have some meaning in their lives. Even if it's to make more money, those people still have an idea of the purpose and meaning of their lives. I and my friends alike don’t come from generational wealth or much money in our families. That shared struggle brings us closer to each other and motivates us to change our financial situations for the future. My interviewee is Phoenix, a young adult in the 2020s, an artist of color, and one of the closest friends I have ever had. With her being an only child and a local creative, I just know that her mind is full of interesting ideologies. This picture was taken in a park with a good view of sunlight for a natural brightness effect. 

N.L. "Phoenix in Sunlight" Oct 2021

I conducted our interview via Facetime video call. For the photoshoot, the picture above was shot on my iPhone 11. I used the rule of thirds for my subject, Phoenix. The rule of thirds helps you align the subject of your photo with each side of the picture. The aspect ratio of the photo was 16:9 and the ISO speed I shot her in was 30. I feel that I could've positioned her better so that shadows won't appear as much in the shot. I edited the picture by making the picture brighter since the shadows around her interfered with most of the picture.

After some catching up, she eagerly said, “So what you gotta ask me?” I proceeded to ask, what is your interpretation of the phrase “meaning of life?” "My interpretation of the meaning of life is that there is none. We are here, and we can do as we please." She declared, "At the end of the day, It is our life, we live it all in different ways. Life is something that was set in motion and will be in infinite motion until a greater force ceases it. Making life meaningful makes us feel more purposeful as if we were supposed to be here on this planet. But it can all really just be a probability, so we do with our lives what we can. Life is very precious and extremely rare. Who knew I would be alive today. I didn’t." After hearing Phoenix's perspective, I was impressed and decided to share my perspective with her. I agreed that there is no true and only one meaning of life because life is what you make of it. You have the will to shape what your future looks like through your actions whether they are major or minor. My interpretation of the meaning of life is that it can be a person's will to live or continue living. When someone has lost their "will", it typically refers to what brings meaning and purpose to someone's life. 

To wrap up our interview, I asked Phoenix what is your meaning in life and why? "Art is the only other thing that brings meaning to my life. It has been everything to me since I could remember, especially as a kid. It's the biggest love of my life and it makes me feel whole. Experiencing art that I love and knowing there are other artists out there who can understand, experience, feel something from or simply accept and appreciate it as is, even if it’s in their own individual way; Bridges so many gaps between everything I have learned. It expands my understanding of how humans interact with each other and the world. I could talk about it all day I wouldn’t be alive if art didn’t exist.” As we finished, I thanked Phoenix for her time and in-depth responses. Before ending our video call, she insisted that I should share my meaning of life in my project along with her responses. 

My meaning in life is to become a positive influence and possibly mentor for someone who comes from my background and disadvantages. My meaning of life can be summarized with the proverb, “Each One Teach One.” It is an African proverb that originated during slavery in the U.S. After someone learned how to read or write, it became that person’s responsibility to teach the next person. The concept is to spread knowledge for the betterment of your community. People nowadays refer to this as putting others on to things they are unfamiliar with. Every time I learn something new and can lead to possible opportunities, I always inform others about it. With this mindset and meaning of life, I can achieve my life goal of embodying a figure, who is necessary especially for younger people, that wasn’t present in my life as an adolescent and young adult.

Coming Soon: Gentrification on Chicago’s South Side

Hello, and welcome to my first action project for the unit of "Text" in my Humanities core class, "Journalism". In this class, we learned about how to identify false news and information by reviewing criteria for a credible source. We had a Field Experience guest named Julie Wernau, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, who discussed her career, published stories, and further talked about her journey throughout being a journalist. We watched "Spotlight", a movie based on the story of how a reporting team in 2002 exposed the Catholic Church's cover-up of child sex abuse by its priests. The movie was very impactful as far as terminology for editors and journalists. For this action project, we were instructed to report on an event and write an article using the aspects of journalism. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Coming Soon: Gentrification on Chicago’s South Side  

Over the last decade in Chicago, gentrification has become more common than ever. It has become evident that Englewood, located on Chicago's South Side, is being impacted by gentrification. Gentrification has forced the integration of Hispanic/Latino and African Americans due to people moving from Pilsen and Little Village. Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process. Gentrification has its positives and negatives such as creating more jobs, making homes for people to live in, and bringing more funding to a community. 

The Barack Obama Presidential Library and Center will be constructed on Chicago's South Side in Jackson Park. Neighborhoods that will be heavily impacted by future gentrification of the Obama Library and are within a 5-mile radius of the library’s site include Woodlawn, Englewood, and Greater Grand Crossing. People who are most impacted by gentrification are middle and lower-class residents of color. “Fear of gentrification — and the racial disparities that often come with it — has existed for decades in Woodlawn and other South Side Chicago neighborhoods slow to recover from the recession.” 

 “I think the library will bring major spikes of investment into Chicago’s South Side communities and properties, positive talk about the South Side to quiet down common stigmas of the area, and the amount of city and community involvement that the area needs,” said Leo. Many people fear losing the place they call home but others think believe that the library will be a hotspot for Chicago’s tourists and will bring opportunities with its arrival.  “I hope it brings jobs and uplifts the communities. I fear it is going to end up pushing people out of that area which will be a shame,” concluded Sharon. Gentrification from the future Obama Presidential Library on Chicago’s South Side will detrimentally impact the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods with displacement and further financial disparities. Some people still might think that gentrifying an area does more harm than good so I interviewed a few people to get different perspectives on the matter. “At first, it seems cool. The neighborhood gets cleaned up. More amenities come and the area becomes safer, but I think it ultimately does harm because the people who are living there get displaced.  People whose families have lived in a certain place for two or three generations can no longer afford to live there,” responded SH. 

Buying back property in your community is a great solution to the forthcoming gentrification. “Do believe there are people who are buying blocks at a time—at a time. You can’t complain about gentrification if you don’t own anything,” said Antoine Butler, a landlord. “The property value is rising. They’re not gonna tell you that. They’re not gonna let you know that Englewood is probably the hottest land in the city of Chicago right now.” 

By providing a detailed background of gentrification, its effects, and how to prepare for or fight against it; people impacted by it can fully process what will be their neighborhood's future and how it will impact their lives. Overall, gentrification should be a positive thing as far as new developments in underdeveloped areas towards a better future for the generations to come. Sadly, gentrification usually is the complete opposite but its negative impacts can be either intentional or unintentional. "It is morally wrong to get investment in a community that's long-overdue for investment and then to displace the very people who have been dealing with disinvestment," - activist Jeannette Taylor said. Gentrification needs to be noticed with the seriousness of the city-wide spread modern-day colonization of black and brown striving underresourced communities.

Works Cited:

“About Us.” Barack Obama Presidential Library, 20 Oct. 2016, www.obamalibrary.gov/about-us.‌

Belanger, Christian. “Englewood Residents Organize to Take Back Their Block.” Curbed Chicago, Curbed Chicago, 23 July 2018,  chicago.curbed.com/2018/7/23/17476622/englewood-development-group-buy-property. 

TAREEN, SOPHIA. “Obama Library Brings Elation but Also Fear of Displacement.” ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2019, abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-library-brings-elation-fear-displacement-64765335.