ANXIETY

ANXIETY

For my experimental I wanted to make the audience feel something strongly. We recently set up a studio at Webster that students can use for photo and film shoots, so I knew that I wanted to use that location and have all of my shots be very clean and minimalistic. Through the speed of the cuts and the sound design I wanted to build up intensity throughout the video and show the audience what anxiety can sometimes feel like. It might not be comfortable for everyone to watch, but that’s exactly the point. 

I reccomend headphones for the full effect of the sound. 

Enjoy!!

Ok Boomer, Time to Accept Slang

Ok Boomer, Time to Accept Slang

In the ‘80s and ‘90s it was common to hear teenagers and young adults use words like gnarly, tubular, and rad. Now we use words like finna, highkey, and Karen. Every generation develops their own slang but with the help of the internet young generations have now created almost an entire language, impossible to learn except through immersion. An adult listening in on a conversation between teens and young adults might sometimes miss phrases or words. Are these kids really speaking proper English? Yes they are!

Language, specifically spoken word, is an ever changing thing. Words have specific meanings because of the way we use them colloquially. If we all collectively use them in a different context and it is understood, then it can be adopted as correct. Nowadays when a new word or phrase is introduced it can spread incredibly fast, often globally, because of social media and the internet. It evolves so quickly and distinctly within age groups that I am not familiar with new slang used by high school aged kids, just a few years younger than myself. We have assigned new meaning to common words like chill, same, flex, cap, salty, extra, drip, and tea and have come up with completely new words like swole, finna, highkey, lowkey, simp, yeet, TL;DR, etc. 

Slang arguably lets us communicate faster and more efficiently with our peers. We have an intricate network of words and sayings that have meaning applied to them based on their original context; which can be anything from memes, Vines, Tik-Toks, movie references, or even tweets. Everyone knows iconic Vines such as, “This bitch empty. Yeet!” and “It’s a watermelon, inside a watermelon!” These are paired with the visuals and audio so we have automatic associations and connections when hearing them spoken. We have even managed to come up with a way to portray sass through written text, something linguists have struggled with for years, by typing in randomized upper-case and lower-case. PreTTy ImPrESsiVE rIGHt? 

To many people, slang is also a tie to their culture and history. Like languages, slang changes based on location and who is using it. AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) is a dialect with its own grammar, vocabulary and accent features spoken mainly by working class African Americans. Terms such as woke, ratchet, slay, and on fleek are all examples of words that originated in AAVE. To Black Americans the use of this slang is part of their cultural identity, however, many see it as an uneducated form of speaking, which is a stigma that needs to be broken.  

Using words like lit or yeet does not mean that younger generations are uneducated or lacking in language skills, we have simply created our own ways of communicating, and I think that’s amazing. When someone is bilingual they often think and speak a little bit differently in each language. This is much like switching in and out of slang when around friends or in a formal environment. 

There is a time and place for everything and that includes slang, but we all need to accept it for what it is, an impressive linguistic feat, and if you don’t like it just wait a few years, it’ll change.

Making Waves: Passion for Producing

Making Waves: Passion for Producing

Making Waves 

Passion of Producing

 

At the age of 11, something caught the attention of a young Terell Winchester that he had never heard before; the BOOM BOOM of music coming from the open door of a club. Instantly he became enamored with the beat and a lifelong love of music began.  

Now Winchester is a DJ and a music producer. He goes by the stage name Gvcci (pronounced Gucci) and co-owns and manages a techno label called Voltage Records with partner Anna Vlachaki. Winchester is also a student from Webster St. Louis who decided to do his study abroad time at Webster Geneva. 

After discovering his passion for music he realized that all music in clubs sounded the same and somebody had to change that. 

“I got sick of it,” Winchester says, “It was always the same thing every weekend, in every club. I ended up bringing headphones and listening to my own music. The only way to change it was to do it myself.”

Even with his passion for making music Winchester fell into the business accidentally. After he had already decided not to pursue DJing right away the opportunity presented itself to him. He commented on a music track on Facebook and after getting in touch with the artist he decided to fly to Athens for a show. This artist was Anna Vlachaki (stage name Anna V.) After knowing each other for only a few hours Anna proposed the crazy idea of starting a label together. Deciding to trust her, he agreed. 

Together they launched Voltage Records and three years later it’s still going strong. After only a year and a half the label was already close to being in the top 20 techno labels in the world, an incredible success for such a short period of time. 

The secret to success? “We don’t cheat the system,” Winchester says before adding, “Every release has to be quality quality quality.” He believes that what adds a signature to music is someone’s personality and hopes that his own personality and passion shine through in the music that he is making. He and Anna pride themselves in gaining their success organically. 

Working with the label allows Winchester to travel across the U.S. and Europe for shows. He and partner Anna Vlachaki both play shows, as well as guest artists that they hire. They play often in New Orleans as well as Miami, Athens, Amsterdam, and London. He is based in the U.S. but prefers performing in Europe. He laughs at the difference between the two, “They don’t compare. In Europe the music is appreciated and not tolerated.” He elaborates, “American music is trendy, it doesn’t have a personality. It changes so often that it’s hard to keep up with what is and isn’t in style.” 

“It’s many people’s dreams to be able to travel so often as part of their job but he warns that it’s not always as nice as it seems. “Nobody sees the hard work. It’s like Instagram, you see the glamour. Its taxing mentally and emotionally. There’s nothing stable,” he says.

Trying to balance studying and the label is a struggle. Winchester doesn’t want to make any sacrifices with music or with school but cannot fully commit to both at the same time. 

Winchester is a self-starter, who began without a degree but is getting one now to push his business further along, as well as to make his mother proud. He pauses for a long time when asked about college, refusing to give advice to anyone. He believes that college has its advantages and disadvantages but that everyone must follow their own path. In his case, he got lucky and put in the work. He does, however, explain how he gained success and that it can work for anyone willing to put in enough work. 

What can cause people to fail preemptively is a lack of perseverance. You need to be willing to give it your all for at least two years before seeing profit. You also have to know how to network. Most people who get into the same business as Winchester produce for years to master their craft before buying or starting a label. He did the opposite; deciding to take a social approach and use the label as a fallback plan. He began by becoming friends with as many people as possible within the scene, to get both himself and his label in people’s minds. This got them curious and he was invited to more events. His key was establishing friendships before he ever mentioned business. 

Now Winchester’s aspirations are growing. The goal moving into the future is hosting a festival, which he is working on now. He also wishes to expand the label to cut back on the workload for himself and Anna. 

Winchester teases at big projects coming up soon but warns that the scene is fickle and he can’t give any more information. He believes that promoters are often cut-throat as they try to boost themselves above their competition, making it a constant fight to stay relevant and keep up with trends. 

Oftentimes label owners decide to sell when the business is well established or pass along the responsibilities to others. Winchester refuses. While he explains that he would like to shed some responsibilities, he’s too proud of what he’s created to let someone else take over. 

“I don’t want to put my entire life into one thing,” he says. After a few years he wants to step down a little and focus on building a family and taking time for himself. But he isn’t going to stop. “I’ll keep going until the wheels fall off,” he says, “and then I still might keep going.” 

Beyond the Frame

Beyond the Frame

Beyond the Frame:

An Interview with Lina Bessonova

 

Polina Bessonova is a Russian born analog photographer working in her own lab in Florence, Italy. Analog is a method that combines photography with chemistry to develop and process the film that you shoot photographs on as well as to create physical prints. She is a graduate of Webster Geneva and continued her studies by getting a photography masters at Studio Arts College International. Her focus is on film photography and she teaches workshops in her lab as well as showing her work in exhibitions and in her newly published book “At Home.”

 

  1. How did you end up at Webster?

Before Webster, back in Russia, I was working as a radio presenter so I went to Webster to get a Media Communications degree with an emphasis on Radio Production. But then I discovered analog photography and never took a single radio class!

  1. When did you start photography?

I have always had the urge of documenting my life, so I started blogging and doing digital travel photos when I was 16. I was also doing some paid digital photoshoots, as I really liked showing people their own beauty. However, the medium didn’t satisfy me much, as it was way too easy, and I was spending too much time in front of the laptop. I consider the real date of starting photography to be September 2010, when I processed my first roll of film and fell in love. Another important date would be the summer of 2011, when I made the commitment to stick with analog no matter what.

  1. Who are your mentors? Both in and outside of Webster? 

I would not be where I am now without Francesco Arese Visconti, who back in 2010 was just teaching the Photo program. It was so important to see that analog photography can actually be a real job. You can teach, do documentaries and art, travel with a large format camera, and get published. Witnessing him do all of that made me believe that I could too. Since then I just did it.

  1. Why do you think your photography is important?

I don’t think it is. The world wouldn’t notice if I never photographed at all. However, since I started being more active on social media, I got hundreds of messages from people who watched my videos, read my posts and got inspired to set up darkrooms or buy film cameras.

  1. What type of photography do you work with most? Do you have creative freedom or are you pressured by demand?

I have zero pressure about any kind of specific subjects, because my actual work is on the teaching side. I’m researching, reading, testing and learning every day, but the images themselves can be anything I wish. It’s such a nice and rare setup. I can go from portraits to reportage to still life to landscape; whatever I feel like on this specific day. I generally like metaphoric images of random objects.

  1. What kind of clients are attracted to film and how do you find work?

There is an increasing amount of people wanting to learn analog photography and darkroom printing. They make time and money investments, come to workshops or take individual courses. I mainly encounter film lovers with engineering/IT backgrounds, but there are also artists willing to learn a new medium of self-expression, doctors who have a hobby darkroom in their basement, or digital photographers wanting to get their hands into chemistry.

  1. Why did you decide to create a book of your prints?

It was a big shift from taking random photographs to making a series. It’s like you’ve always been rhyming two words, and suddenly you have to put together an entire poem. It’s a challenge, and I love challenges. And you can certainly express yourself more in a poem. The book’s title was “At Home” I would love to make a second one, or do another edition with extra images.

  1. What advice would you give to people who are into film photography as a career?  

Good luck, and keep a backup second job, at least in the beginning. And make sure you aren’t allergic to chemistry.

Powerpuff Painting Vlog

Powerpuff Painting Vlog

Powerpuff Girls Cap

Quarantine has given me a lot of free time on my hands, so to stay sane I have turned towards books and art for the first time since high school. When I graduated high school I bought a pair of white Converse sneakers to customize. I gave one shoe to my best friends and the other to my art teacher and told them all to paint whatever they wanted to, no restrictions. My teacher, who taught me from ages 8 to 18, painted the Powerpuff Girls along one whole side. This had been a running joke for a long time and now at Webster the joke has resurfaced because of my roommate. So, when I painted the Powerpuff Girls on this hat, I wanted it to be cute and goofy, but it also has personal meaning to me.