What is a name?

Many people will tell you that a name is simply something that others call eachother, a name is used to identify other people.  But many times names have deeper meanings, for example, my name is Nicholas which is a Greek name and means "people's victory".  Yet to me and to those whom know me it means more than just that.  The name of "Nicholas" also describes everything that I am to each individual person that knows who I am.  Each persons' interpretation of the name will be individualized due to my interactions with them.

There are many times in my lives where I have seen two different sides of myself.  These two conflicting personalities often occur when I am with a group or with an individual.  When I am in group settings I tend to be goofy, have a little more fun than normal and I can be distracted quite easily. On the other side is when I am alone or one on one with another person.  In these situations I prefer to work hard, be serious, and get everything done in a timely manner in order to give more free time at the end of the project.  I most often see these different sides of myself at school, church, or at a sporting event.  The two sides of me differ so greatly that sometimes I find myself struggling to decide which me I want to be.  At large gatherings where personal interaction with others occur I often find myself switching between these two people depending on who I am with and how the individual conversation is going.

Wing Young Huie Photo Analysis

The initial reaction to this picture would be one of interest. The bright colors and the laid back yet "in your face" stance convey's multiple ideas and thoughts instantly.  The most immediately recognized color is the red that the two young adults are wearing. The color red is commonly associated with a gang, The Bloods, that spans across the Nation.  The immediate association between the gang, red, and the violence they spread causes many emotions and ideas to be interpreted by the audience.  Further the background of the photo communicates about their situation.  The two teenagers are seen inside of a convenience store that is non-descriptive and could be located anywhere.  Their surroundings, clothing, expressions, and body language all speak volumes, whether or not these assumptions are correct is a different mater.

Upon further inspection of the photo the audiences' eyes would fall upon the faces of the two subjects.  Their facial expressions portray anger, displeasure, and annoyance.  Looking past their facial expressions the audience would next have a chance to read the signs that the two teenagers are holding. The male's sign reads "People think I'm in a Gang. I'm in College".  Him writing these shows just how important first impression are and it also proves that how people dress and act can affect what others think of people.  The girl's sign says "1.pull your pants up 2.stay out of the wrong place 3.Be more Careful".  This proves that being associated with certain stereotypes and with a certain culture or even being associated with a group of people can lead to bad things in a persons life.

Wing Young Huie and Margaret Atwood both use colors to show stereotypes that are present in society.  Wing Young Huie does this with his photograph of the two young adults who are dressed in red with a sign that states "People think I'm in a Gang. I'm in College".  The association to the color red with a gang in society causes problems for  people much like the young man above, people assume he is in a gang because of how he dresses and they most likely treat him differently from how they would treat him if they knew he was in college.  Atwood also creates stereotypes through the use of color but she uses it to bridge the gap between the social classes in The Handmaid's Tale. Many times she describes the different social groups through the use of stereotypes.  During the birth of a child Offred and many of the other Handmaids are describing the wives in spiteful tones.  Offred also talks about the Marthas.  The reason that the classes are divided and there is so much hostility between them is because they are all forced to wear a singular color at all times.  Red for the Handmaids, blue for Wives, and brown for the Marthas.

Taken: 2012-2013
Photographer: Wing Young Huie
Link to Wing Young Huie's Website: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p709406511/h74051bc3#h74051bc3