Partner: Rachel Laing
Discipline: Interior & Environmental Design
When first told about this assignment I was a bit worried about who I would actually ask to pair up with and although Rachel is in my class, I didn't know her very well and thought that this was my opportunity to get to know her better. Rachel has allowed me to post her pictures online so below I have the picture and my thoughts directly underneath and then feedback for each one.
Rachel, Her Brother and Cousin around a Birthday Cake
In this photograph what caught my eye the most was that all three children were around the birthday cake even though it was only one child’s birthday. This could mean that her parents don’t want any of their children feeling left out or more special than the other and therefore make sure everyone is involved in blowing out the candles. I also presume from the picture that it was possibly one of the boy’s birthdays as the candles are blue and the candle holders are green and blue; both of these colours are quite masculine. However, I’m not too sure whether both of the boys in the picture are Rachel’s brothers or whether one of them is a friend. Rachel’s parents also seem to be very proud of their children and like to always be involved as well as be there for every moment. Rachel’s body language in this also shows her leaning slightly towards the left male child more than the other, possibly meaning she has a closer relationship with this person more than the other. The clothes she is wearing shows that she is into quite girly things such as the Spice Girls but she is also wearing track bottoms which make the outfit more tom boyish. It appears that she has her own sense of what she wants to wear, possibly indicating that she knows what she wants and has a unique way of dressing. She doesn’t conform to the crowds and likes being an individual. I also noticed that she is wearing a necklace which looks quite hand-made or possibly even a souvenir, maybe from a holiday or something.
Feedback
As it turns out the cake in the picture was her brother’s, who is also the boy on the left hand side of the photograph and the other young boy is her cousin. This explains why Rachel is leaning more towards this left, as she would have a stronger bond with her bother than her cousin. However, it was hard for me to distinguish between the two boys as to whether or not both of them where her brother because they both look very similar to one another, especially facial features like their nose. When I pointed this out, Rachel had to look at the photo closer and only then did she realise this resemblance. It wasn’t something she had ever really picked up on before. The gathering of the children around the birthday cake has always been part of family tradition and as it turns out no matter who’s birthday it is to this day, younger cousins or her dad’s, everybody still gathers around the cake to blow out the candles. Rachel also told me that she was a huge fan of the Spice Girls but she was very much a tom boy; she used to play football, loved collecting Pokemon cards and her best friend was a boy who taught her everything she knows about skateboarding. The necklace that I thought was possibly a souvenir was actually given to her by her mum and even now she’ll wear her mum’s jewellery (the bracelet and watch that she was wearing at the time belonged to her mum).
Rachel’s Bedroom
The room is completely spotless, very tidy and not a thing is out of place. This in itself shows that Rachel is a very organised person and likes to keep things tidy; a bit of a neat freak possibly? Within the room there are a lot of wardrobes and storage space which makes me think that she enjoys going shopping and buying clothes but it also made me wonder if some of the space was just used to put things away in because she doesn’t like a cluttered or messy room? The picture above the bed is clearly hand-made showing that she is a very creative person and is obviously an avid football fan and Liverpool supporter. It seems that she has aspired to see Liverpool play from a young age as this picture has pride of place in her bedroom. The tickets in it also show that she is quite a sentimental person and this obviously meant a lot to her. There’s a picture of her with whom I presume is her dad in amongst this which shows that she has a close bond with her dad, with them both supporting Liverpool. Is this her dad’s influence? Does she have a closer bond with her dad than her mum? This picture and the hand-picked cushions on the bed show’s that Rachel likes to make a space her own. There was only one thing I noticed out of place in this picture and that was the hoodie hanging on the handle of the wardrobe. Is this one of her favourite pieces of clothing? Is it that she likes to have it handy so that she can just grab it and pull it on, as she likes to wear it all the time?
Feedback
The white and black pillow on the bed is nicknamed the ‘Paris Pillow’ as she was on a trip with a group of friends and they all bought one of these pillows for on the plane and so on; again a very sentimental and personal item on display in her room. She loves shopping and buying clothes but she also admits that her wardrobes aren’t exactly clean and tidy. Her room was only recently redecorated and so this is why it is also really tidy, as she wants to keep it clean and new looking. When I asked Rachel about her dad it made her think a lot about the bond between them and she discovered that in a way she does have a slightly closer bond with him but it wasn’t until I pointed this out that she had ever really thought about it and realised.
Living Room
This living room looks like a very cosy and homely looking room. It appears to be somewhere that all the family would get together and enjoy spending time together. The ironing board in the picture gives this impression and makes it seem like a room that if you had something to do, you would still go there to be in the company of everyone else. However, the fact that the ironing board is in the living room suggests that this is quite a busy household. The decor of the room is very modern and stylish, therefore showing that the family likes to keep with the times and take pride in their home. There is a very feminine look to the decor as maybe her Mum had more to do with it than her dad? Although this appears to be a very family orientated room and household there doesn’t appear to be any family pictures on the walls. Why is this?
Feedback
I was actually quite wrong about this room in some respects as Rachel told me that they hardly spend any time at all in this room together because everyone in the house is usually so busy or always have something to do. It is very rare for them all to get a chance to sit down together in the living room. It is more likely for them to sit in the kitchen rather than the living room as this is where her parents would be most of the time. The decor though was mainly her mum’s influence and she thinks that her mum tried to make the room more homely so that they would possibly spend more time in their together. It has also been recently redecorated and previously used to be a room dedicated to the family but since it’s been decorated the photo’s weren’t put back up again. This is due to her mum wanting all the picture frames to be the same, as she would be quite picky like that but couldn’t find any she liked and due to the fact that Rachel and her brother were getting older and embarrassed by the pictures.
Rachel and Her Brother Asleep
This picture really caught my eye due to the close bond that it showed between Rachel and her brother. The fact that they have fallen asleep holding hands and facing each other shows the loving relationship between siblings; a very strong body language that shows how close they are. It also appears that Rachel’s dummy has been removed and pushed away implying that she was quite grown up and mature from a young age, as she had no need for a dummy to help her to get to sleep. Perhaps also the fact that she was with her brother was enough to pacify her. It also looks to me as if they both in their parents bed asleep but I’m not too sure as to why this would be?
Feedback
Rachel told me that from a very young age she has always had a close bond with her brother but doesn’t understand why they are asleep in their parents’ bed. She thinks it could be because they have been waiting on their parents going to bed and instead have fallen asleep.
Rachel and Her New Baby Brother
Once again this picture shows that from a young age Rachel was very mature because instead of being jealous of the new baby, she is giving him a kiss and welcoming him into the family, in her own way. This shows that she is a very loving and caring person. The photo also shows that her parents always make sure that she is involved in everything, as much as she can be and wouldn’t want her to feel left out. Rachel clearly comes from a very good family, with very caring and loving parents and she has obviously been greatly influenced by her parents in this way. It also seems that this family is a very sentimental family, as they seem to like taking pictures at every chance and special occasion they can. However, in most of the other photos it seems to be Rachel’s mum taking all the pictures but this is one of the rare times she isn’t. Is her mum very sentimental? Or does she have an interest in photography?
Feedback
Her mum is a very sentimental person and is always behind the camera because she loves having keepsakes of everything and hates getting her photo taken. She reckons she does get her sentimentality from her mum but not in the same way, as her mum likes to display things where as Rachel would have hers hidden except for the cushion on her bed and her Liverpool picture. She also still recalls this day like it was yesterday and remembers never really being jealous of her brother at all. Her cousins would always be fighting and being jealous over each other toys and presents but she doesn’t ever remember being like this with her brother.
Nursery Outing
In this picture, along with many of the other one’s Rachel gave to me, it is clear that she is a very happy child/person. Her arm around the group of children she is with shows that she likes to bring people together and get everyone involved. She doesn’t like people feeling like they are being left out, possibly. It appears that she is a very social and outgoing person even from a young age, as she liked to be involved in day trips and being part of things with her friends. The clothes that she is wearing are very similar to those of the children around her. Is this deliberate? Do her parents want her to have what other children have, doesn’t want them to not be like other children? The colour blue also appears throughout the photographs, is this maybe a favourite colour?
Feedback
Rachel explained that she has always liked making people happy and doesn’t like to see people feeling down or sad. If she seen someone alone or sad she would go and talk to them and try to make them feel better. However, her favourite colour is actually red not blue and there is an on-going joke in her family that blue isn’t allowed due to it being the colour of Chelsea FC. She also explained that her parents have always tried to give their children as much as they could but the outfit in this photo has probably been chosen more for practical reasons and thinks it’s just coincidence that it is similar to those around her.
Afterwards
Once we had both spoken about all of our photographs and got all our questions answered, we asked each other things we had learnt or didn’t realise about ourselves. One of the main things that Rachel picked up on about me was that I like to hoard things which I already knew but it was amazing to see just how quickly after looking at half a dozen photos, someone that hardly knows you can pick up on so much. This is what I found most interesting and enjoyable about this assignment, even though it was quite hard. The thing that I learnt about myself the most though was that even in some of my favourite pictures I had missed out on very important body language and hidden messages within them. It wasn’t until Rachel pointed a few things out about my photos that some things became clear to me. It’s simply amazing how someone else can look at your photographs and get a whole other meaning to what you see and sometimes see things that you didn’t even notice. This was the same in reverse too, there were things I was pointing out about Rachel’s family and her photographs that even she hadn’t noticed or didn’t think were that obvious. However, some of the things that Rachel had said about my family were very touching and it meant a lot to me that others see things in my family that I also see. Her family appears to be very close knit and I would think this is something someday Rachel would also want of her own. It is also clear that she comes from very loving and caring parents which she has been greatly influenced by, as she has these qualities herself. At first I found it quite hard to delve into someone else’s life but in the end found it a very enjoyable experience.
Thank you to Rachel and Her Family :)
Johari Window
This model helps individuals within a group to improve self-awareness, mutual understanding and understand how we as humans react. It's called Johari 'Window' because it's split into four areas, based on a four-sqaure grid i.e like a window pane split into four sections. The areas are as follows:
1. Open - What the person knows about him/herself and is known by others
2. Blind - What the person does not know about him/herself but others do know
3. Hidden - What the person knows about him/herself but that others do not know
4. Unknown - What is unknown by the person but is also unknown by others.
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