Happy Friday to everyone! :)
Can't believe this week is over, I did not even notice it was Friday until just now. They say happy people don't notice the time flow... Today I am going to share with you something I know about one amazing girl doing amazing things.
Once upon a time I was invited to take part in a focus group study and there was she - beautiful, smart, hilarious and stylish Boya Shen - an extremely talented girl living in Glasgow (graduating from The University of Glasgow in December) and making this world brighter with the help of some extraordinary art. So after the focus group we met for coffee a couple of times and than she told me of her dream to own an art gallery somewhere in NY or London and that her first step towards pursuing this dream is an art project 'Me plus 5'.
'Me plus 5' project is described by the artist as 'portrait photography/visual sociology project', that is:
'...all about dreams and the future'.
As a sociologists I couldn't be more happy to see a phrase 'visual sociology' in the description, because this online photo album that project represents has a lot to do with a qualitative data of method collection gaining popularity in a digital world. Moreover, there also exists International Visual Sociology Association that organises annual conferences, publishes journal articles and does a lot of research. The method itself reminds of any other qualitative data collection expect that the information obtained from participants is photo/video recorded and maybe also used as a part of life history method (when a sample of people is 'followed' during a certain period of their lives in order to see how their values/beliefs/attitudes towards different issues changes or how they perception of social reality is changing and the role time plays in it; or when a historical period of time wants to be captures through the prism of a certain person's perception etc).
Enough about sociology...:) So the projects 'Me plus 5' aims to capture people now and in a 5 years period to find out what their expectations, dreams and plans for the future are. On the other hand, one can see this project as being a motivator for its participants to follow their dreams as by looking at their portraits and reading what their hopes were 5 years ago, as the time passes by, people will be able to see whether they have done enough to make those dreams come true; to re-think life objectives or maybe just have a little laugh saying 'I looked hilarious in my twenties' or something. I guess if you are one of those 'Secret' book fans who are all about visualising their dreams - there is no better thing for you to do than take part in this project. :-)
The bigger social value of 'Me plus 5' lays in its ability to become a huge collection of valuable data for social researchers. At the moment the project is taking part in Glasgow, but in just a couple of months/years who knows where destiny is going to take Boya Shen. I do hope she will have her gallery opened in New York and I will have an exclusive VIP invitation, though. :) The thing is that this project has a prospect of becoming a visualisation of the whole generation of young people all over the world. By looking not only at the participants hair styles, cloths etc, but their thoughts regarding their future, researchers will be able to make conclusions about the values of the young people; their priorities; their ability to pursue their dreams and so on. To illustrate, having read all description below participants photos one friend of the artist has already made a conclusion that modern youth is quite concern on the money-side of life as most of the dreams involve being rich and, therefore, successful.
Overall, I think this project is fabulous and must be supported with at least Likes, shares, Tweets and public attention. You can also make a historical contribution (or at least make your face and your sacred wishes Internet-popular) by taking part. Unfortunately, for now you would have to travel to Glasgow for the photo-shoot, but it is totally worth it - Glasgow is fabulous. :) Check this Facebook page and leave a message to the artist to get to know how you can become a part of all of this.
Let us also make #meplus5 hashtag extremely trending!
Love you all and thanks for reading. :)
Can't believe this week is over, I did not even notice it was Friday until just now. They say happy people don't notice the time flow... Today I am going to share with you something I know about one amazing girl doing amazing things.
Once upon a time I was invited to take part in a focus group study and there was she - beautiful, smart, hilarious and stylish Boya Shen - an extremely talented girl living in Glasgow (graduating from The University of Glasgow in December) and making this world brighter with the help of some extraordinary art. So after the focus group we met for coffee a couple of times and than she told me of her dream to own an art gallery somewhere in NY or London and that her first step towards pursuing this dream is an art project 'Me plus 5'.
'Me plus 5' project is described by the artist as 'portrait photography/visual sociology project', that is:
'...all about dreams and the future'.
As a sociologists I couldn't be more happy to see a phrase 'visual sociology' in the description, because this online photo album that project represents has a lot to do with a qualitative data of method collection gaining popularity in a digital world. Moreover, there also exists International Visual Sociology Association that organises annual conferences, publishes journal articles and does a lot of research. The method itself reminds of any other qualitative data collection expect that the information obtained from participants is photo/video recorded and maybe also used as a part of life history method (when a sample of people is 'followed' during a certain period of their lives in order to see how their values/beliefs/attitudes towards different issues changes or how they perception of social reality is changing and the role time plays in it; or when a historical period of time wants to be captures through the prism of a certain person's perception etc).
Enough about sociology...:) So the projects 'Me plus 5' aims to capture people now and in a 5 years period to find out what their expectations, dreams and plans for the future are. On the other hand, one can see this project as being a motivator for its participants to follow their dreams as by looking at their portraits and reading what their hopes were 5 years ago, as the time passes by, people will be able to see whether they have done enough to make those dreams come true; to re-think life objectives or maybe just have a little laugh saying 'I looked hilarious in my twenties' or something. I guess if you are one of those 'Secret' book fans who are all about visualising their dreams - there is no better thing for you to do than take part in this project. :-)
'Five years is 1825days. I believe that if you believe in yourself and keep fighting for your future, you get closer to your dream every day.
'But first of all, have a dream. Your plans may change along the way but you will always be moving forward'. - says Boya.
'But first of all, have a dream. Your plans may change along the way but you will always be moving forward'. - says Boya.
The bigger social value of 'Me plus 5' lays in its ability to become a huge collection of valuable data for social researchers. At the moment the project is taking part in Glasgow, but in just a couple of months/years who knows where destiny is going to take Boya Shen. I do hope she will have her gallery opened in New York and I will have an exclusive VIP invitation, though. :) The thing is that this project has a prospect of becoming a visualisation of the whole generation of young people all over the world. By looking not only at the participants hair styles, cloths etc, but their thoughts regarding their future, researchers will be able to make conclusions about the values of the young people; their priorities; their ability to pursue their dreams and so on. To illustrate, having read all description below participants photos one friend of the artist has already made a conclusion that modern youth is quite concern on the money-side of life as most of the dreams involve being rich and, therefore, successful.
Overall, I think this project is fabulous and must be supported with at least Likes, shares, Tweets and public attention. You can also make a historical contribution (or at least make your face and your sacred wishes Internet-popular) by taking part. Unfortunately, for now you would have to travel to Glasgow for the photo-shoot, but it is totally worth it - Glasgow is fabulous. :) Check this Facebook page and leave a message to the artist to get to know how you can become a part of all of this.
Let us also make #meplus5 hashtag extremely trending!
Love you all and thanks for reading. :)
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