How Instant Photography Works

Instant cameras were a real revolution in the world of photography. Their invention made it possible for people to take a picture and hold the actual photograph in their hands only a few seconds later. How does that work? The film inside the camera is a plastic base coat with particles of silver compounds that are sensitive to light. Color films, such as those in instant cameras, have three layers of silver compounds – the top layer is sensitive to blue light, the middle layer to green and the bottom layer to red light. Underneath each layer, there is a developer layer containing dye couplers. All these layers sit on top of a black base layer and underneath the image layer, the timing layer and the acid layer. When exposed to light, the sensitive particles at each layer react to light of that color, forming metallic silver at that layer. The developing process is then started by the reagent. It is a mix of light blockers, alkali and white pigment. It is collected in a blob at the white bottom of the film sheet, away from the light-sensitive material to keep the film from developing before it has been exposed. After taking a picture, the film sheet passes out of the camera through a pair of rolls. The rolls help spread the reagent out in the middle of the film sheet where it reacts with other chemical layers in the film. The opacifier material stops the light from filtering onto the layers below. The reagent then dissolves the developer dye so it begins to diffuse up toward the image layer. Only the dyes from the unexposed layers will reach the image layer. The acid layer in the film reacts with the alkali and opacifiers in the reagent, making the opacifier become clear. The timing layer slows the reagent down on its way to the acid layer, to give the film time to develop before it is exposed to light. When the film sheet gets out of the camera you are actually able to see the last chemical reaction, namely the acid layer clearing up the opacifier in the reagent and making the image visible.

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Migrant Mother - Description

Depressed, hopeless and gazing into space, Florence Owens Thompson depicts the sorrow surrounding her. She is in the center of the photograph, taking up most of the image. Her arm is supporting her head, looking like she is in fear of the future. The long and bony fingers are touching her narrow and dry lips, which have not tasted proper food and clean water for quite some time. Deep wrinkles around her mouth and eyes make her look older than she probably is, as well as revealing her concern for the family's future. The mother is wearing a checked shirt and a vest that look old, torn and itchy, as if they were made out of burlap. Hidden in her arm lies an infant wrapped in a dirty blanket. Next to the mother are her two older children leaning on her shoulders. Both children are not facing the camera but have instead buried their faces in their hands. It seems as though they are trying to hide behind their mother where they feel safe and protected. What can be easily noticed by looking at the children is that they have the same hairstyle, namely a bowl haircut. The light hair color of the child standing on the viewers right side makes a good contrast to the mother’s and other childs dark hair. Last but not least, the pale background illustrates the hopelessness and bleakness of her situation.

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XOXO A.

A day in the life of...me! :)

“I need more sleep”. My first thought in the morning is how I need to go to bed earlier today and finally get a good night’s sleep. I usually have troubles falling asleep and most of the time end up staring at the ceiling. Therefore, I really appreciate the days when I am so exhausted that I just crash.

After getting out of bed my thoughts wander on what my tasks for the day are. I think about what I have to study for and the homework I still have not finished. The work keeps pilling up and my initial motivation for the day is starting to drop. University is a must on almost every day of the week. Although hard work is ahead of me there I also know that it is the place where I meet my friends, where we talk about our hopes and fears.

This leads me to another very important aspect of my day, my friends. My friends keep me going, they help me get up when I fall and encourage me to be the best possible version of myself. Whenever I feel like giving up, they are here to push me back into the game. I cannot imagine my life without them, I probably would not be the person I am today.

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"What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?" 
Jacques Lacan

Anonymus summary

Anonymus summary:

Ambrose Evans-Pitchard’s article in The Telegraph of the 23rd October 2013 analyses the

approaching European deflation in connection with debt.

At the beginning of the text, the author mentions that deflation had already occurred before.

Deflation can influence the economy of countries positively if they are not too heavily in debt.

This, however, is not the case in Europe: As many countries are overburdened with debts,

repaying it becomes more and more difficult if the inflation is too low. This problem does not

only affect national but also private debt.

It is argued that the ECB should try everything to maintain an inflation of at least 2% in order

to prevent from an economic disaster, but according to the author Europe seems to be

paralyzed. Italy, France and Spain should gang up on Germany and dictate a new policy,

which combats deflation and could therefore help restoring the damaged economies. Yet, they

fear that Germany might leave the EMU and leave it up to the rest to solve the debt problem.

Summing up, Europe is far away from a proper solution. It still seems to be in recession but

prefers to wait for an economic miracle instead of taking the initiative.

[201 words]

Dear anonymous writer,

What I like about your article is that you have a topic and a concluding sentence. I also like how you divided your summary into paragraphs; it makes it easier to read. However, your first sentence in the second paragraph makes no sense to me. Of course deflation happened before; it would be kind of naive to think it did not. Furthermore, in your third paragraph you are saying that Italy, France and Spain should gang up on Germany. Why Germany? Why not the UK for instance? I think that you should have explained it better. I do understand what you mean by that but someone who has not read the original article and is not familiar with the European economy might ask the same question. I know that we had a 200 words limit but I think you could have done a better job with explaining why Germany is to blame. Also, there would be no “rest to solve the problem“ if Germany leaves the EMU. Something like that would probably lead to the collapse of the EMU. From a perspective of someone who read the original article I think that your summary is fine although certain changes should be made. Please, do not take this personally. I am only doing my homework.

[217 words]

XOXO A.

"It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything." Joseph Brodsky