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Assignment 1: Reflective Essay

By:

Thi Bao Ngoc Nguyen

February 11, 2021

Word Count: 983

Submitted to:

Professor Carolyn Meyer

In partial fulfillment for the requirement of

CMN216- Communication Revolutions

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As far as I remember, a camera is an essential thing in my family. It appears in our

holidays, family reunions or family trips and some of the vintage ones has been passing down for

generations. Growing up seeing members in my family had such an admirable interest in

cameras and photography has sparked the same passion in me. Until now, for personal interest

and learning, I already own for myself multiple forms of technologies that could be served for

taking photo purpose. I'm what you might call an "early majority adopter". Even though I love

new technologies, it is unnecessary for me to buy it as soon as it hits the market. I would like to

read reviews or hear others' opinions on the products and rely on word-of-mouth communication

before making the decision.

Back in the day, it is uncommon to own a camera in any family. Therefore, on special

occasions, we, as a big family with three generations, always visit a professional photography

studio to capture moments between our family. We always put on our best clothes and prepare

ourselves carefully before getting to the studio. To be honest, it was not the favorite activities for

my cousins or me as kids because we view it as "time-consuming" and tedious. The studio

charged by hours and only allow us to choose a few pictures out of the total for editing,

therefore, the expectation to get and maintain the perfect pose for the whole family was high. In

return, pictures were all in high qualities because they were taken by the professionals, no one

was missing in the image, and we got to enjoy our time to the fullest.

Then, when the time comes, our family decided to purchase our first camera. I was too

young back then to know which model, I just knew it was a film camera. It was quite heavy to

hold as far as I remember, so only adults in my family can use it. Also, films are limited, so all

must be ready in advance to not wasting any film. Everything was set up and captured

intentionally, which resulted in great photos that we are keeping until now. However, if all
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members want to be in the picture, we must ask the neighbors for help or buy a tripod. Also, one

more disturbing issue is that even though we can take photos by ourselves, we still had to go to

the studio because we need a darkroom to develop the images.

A few years later, when people started to familiarize with the digital camera and had

good feedback about it, my dad decided that it was time for us to buy one. I still remember it was

in 2008, my dad brought home a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It was the first industry's SLR digital

camera with full HD video recording capability. The disruption at this point was quite visible

since this new technology had totally changed the way we capture moments. We no longer had

to buy film rolls; we can see images right when we took it. The digital camera is much lighter

than the film one. Nevertheless, it can store more images than a dozen film rolls thanks to

memory cards' introduction. It was simple to use, everything was pre-set so even kids can

operate one. However, since our primary purpose at this point was to only keep memories, we

did not fully utilize all the great built-in functions of the camera.

At the age of 15, I obtained my first cellphone, an iPhone 5 from Apple. There are no

words that can describe my level of happiness at that point. It had minimal design and multi-

functional. It made me feel like I had the whole world in my hands. I can listen to music, chat

with my family and friends, and most importantly, I can capture anything, anywhere with just a

small tool that fits in my pocket. The cellphone market exploded. Like any other brands, Apple

was always on the run to upgrade their products to attract customers. And me, in my teenage

years, was caught up in that vortex as an Apple fan. I love its minimal design and how Apple

keeps improving its screen, iCloud and most importantly, camera quality. I soon graduated to an

iPhone 7, which is also the model that received lots of good feedback on its excellent camera,

even in today's market. The worry of not having enough space to store my images was gone with
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the help of iCloud. With the introduction of photo editing apps, I can take, edit, and share photos

on social media immediately.

As soon as I started university, I got myself a laptop, a Microsoft Surface, and a camera

for myself, Fujifilm X100F. I spent all my savings on these because I need more professional

tools to take photos, work on Photoshop and video editing, which are useful in professional

communication program. I chose Microsoft Surface over a MacBook albeit I am an Apple fan

because I'm growing up using PC or laptops with Microsoft browser, so I'm more comfortable

with it. In terms of the camera, at this point, I was able to make full use of the camera features,

for example, choosing filter, and edit right after shooting.

Now, I could proudly say that my family tradition has turned out to be my hobby. To

answer the question "Do we control and shape technology, or are we controlled by it?", it really

depends on the period in my life and my perception at that moment. As I get older, technologies

that I own no longer define who I am, but only to serve my purposes.