US... OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE

McLuhan idea of a global village :

“Ours is a brand-new world of allatonceness. “Time” has ceased, “Space” has vanished. We now live in a global village...a simultaneous happening...we have had to shift our stress of attention from action to reaction.”

(McLuhan, p. 63)

The first thing that came to my mind for this project is the idea of Lawrence as a global village.

I wanted to illustrate Lawrence global aspect with a photo shoot highlighting the cultural diversity and interconnectedness of the community. By focusing on the spatial aspect, the photo shoot highlights the disappearance of boundaries between different places and cultures, and the interconnectedness of people from all over the world.

To do this, the photo shoot my featured people from different backgrounds and cultures, each with their own story and voice. Chinese, Moroccan, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Congolese, Beninese, Jamaican, Malian, PuertoRican cultures (and more..) were represented in my photoshoot. My original goal was to have each person express themselves in their own language or in English, sharing a favorite quote or message that represents their culture and identity and (it would be used as a legend for their portraits), however due to the lack of time it was not done.

I wanted the photos to look spontaneous and not planned which is why I decided to take the photos at a gathering, thus showing the different ways people gather and interact in this "global village".

Overall, the photoshoot is an attempt to highlight Lawrence's rich cultural tapestry and how its people have come together to create a truly global community. I was unfortunately not able to gather everyone as it happened close to finals week but I would like to think that the images can still serve as a reminder that regardless of our backgrounds or origins, we are all interconnected and share a common humanity.