Self Portrait Meriya Sanchez

Movie Memories These ticket stubs, spanning from 2006 to now, are on my wall. I consider them my version of family/friend photos because when I see one, I remember who I went with, what we did before and after, what significant date it was – birthday, mother/father ‘s day, girls night – and most obviously the movie, both the good and the bad. Some look super old because they went through the dryer and wash. Some are from out of the country when I didn’t wait to see a movie (who waits for Harry Potter?). Some are pieces of paper I’ve written the title and date on because I lost it. Some are wrist bands the free screenings. They are from different theaters, each with their own ticket style, and represent a trend in my different interests over the years.

Pocket Personals Though they don’t fit in my pocket, I carry them around in my backpack. The two I cannot survive without are my phone and my wallet. My laptop, a pen and pencil, my USB drives, a USB cord and wall charger for my phone, and a pad of paper are essentials as well. This is also in a location I retreat to a lot – the library – and includes a shot of the “NO ITEM LEFT BEHIND” signs on all the tables. That sign is what these things are too me, items that don’t get left behind.

Downtime Pleasures I watch a lot of movies from many different genres but I really enjoy international films. This is a picture of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India and a list of other films I plan to watch or have already The perspective of this shot is meant to be from where I would be resting my head to watch the movie, thus the blanket is out of focus. I also left the glare of the blinds because sometimes you just can’t get away from it.

Hangout “Dates” This is a poor quality picture I took with my crappy ipod. Not only was the quality of the call not great, the device with which I took the image was poor but helps emphasize the problems of video/web interactions. I decided to use the image because it basically represents how I am able to interact with my boyfriend, friends, and parents through video conferencing tech. Sometimes the quality of the image on my phone is great and sometimes it sucks due to network speeds and the application I’m using. I did realize later, for the purpose of a photo, that if I turned down the brightness of my phone screen it turned out better and I wouldn’t have had to try to correct the exposure of the screen versus the surrounding environment.

“Meriya’s Corner” In the design of Cascade Hall, it was apparently important to try and force students to leave there small, barracks like rooms and be in the communal living spaces of the very large hallways and lounges. This is one such small area which is actually for making calls as there is a payphone type phone out of frame. I didn’t realize how much time I was spending there until my friends decided to name it “Meriya’s Corner” and refer to it as such. I go there when I’ve still got homework and my roommate is heading to sleep; when I’m talking on the phone; and when I just don’t want to be in my room but don’t really want to go anywhere else. I purposefully kept the corner darker as that is where I like to be and don’t really like to be in the sun/light but still able to see.

Interests in Perspective I wanted to represent my interest in different languages, cultures, and potential travels and decided to do so from the perspective of my glasses frame. My vision impairment and subsequent use of glasses, while not super important, is a consistent part of me – what I do or don’t do, what I look like, and how I see the world. As the image was already very grey and black, I decided to emphasize the writing and tried to get a blur around the glasses and a focus within the glasses but that didn’t end up working very well.