WP1: Statement of Purpose

I want my audience to realize how lucky they are to have the family, friends, and job they have today. If all goes well, the audience will compare their lives to that of the shepherd in my primary photograph, and embrace their friends, family, and living conditions. If I fail, my audience will simply ignore me and continue living their lives, taking everything for granted.

The alignment and vectors of attention in my primary photograph both emphasize the relationship between the shepherd and his herding dog. The dog is sitting at the side of the herder, looking up to him as if waiting for his next command. This position reflects feelings of loyalty and respect, displaying the dog as a close companion. Despite this relationship shown in the photograph, the picture still feels somewhat lonely and depressing. This is most likely because the background is about as empty as backgrounds can be. The grassy hills seem to stretch past the horizon line, giving a feeling that this emptiness stretches on forever. This can also be supported by the audiences background knowledge of the sheep herding position.

Researching the historical and cultural context of this my primary photograph revealed to me Basque shepherding and sheep herding in general. One of the most prominent subjects mentioned in both of these contexts seemed to be the relationship between a shepherd and his herding dog. This relationship is the defining point of sheep herding and is said to require immense amounts of teamwork between the shepherd and the dog. I want the audience to compare this relationship to their own relationships with friends, noting that the dog symbolizes a loyal and respectful relationship. I also want my audience to closely observe the lifestyle of the shepherd. I'd assume that most people reading my post would be repulsed at the idea of living in solitude for years at a time. By comparing these two major aspects of sheep herding, I want the audience to see that even in one of the most lonely occupations of its time, strong friendships can still be found; here, in a more literal sense, dogs are called "man's best friend" for a reason.

Obviously, the main audience of my project is my professor and my classmates--if they so desire to read what I've written. Additional audiences might include sheep herding enthusiasts or maybe avid blog surfers. Because I'm writing this project as a learning experience for a college course, though, I need to instead imagine that I'm primarily writing to a larger audience that actually matches the purpose of my project. By writing for a purpose larger than receiving a good grade, my ideas will have much more meaning, and my audience can make a stronger connection with what they read. Thus, my primary audience is basically anyone feeling alone or out of touch with society, perhaps subconsciously rejecting close relationships with others. Of course, other audience members include anyone else on the internet who might chance upon my article via Google search or some other method.

Because my audience might include people that are knowledgeable of sheep herding, it might be a good idea to begin by admitting to the audience that I'm no expert in the area of sheep herding. This will help me to appear honest and respectful of the audience, contributing to ethos. Also, there may be a chance that some audience members prefer a life of solitude. Because of this, I need to show in my writing that I respect that decision and that I'm not trying to attack this life style. By taking into account these two audiences, I can appear more respectful and considerate, increasing the credibility of my blog post and my own credibility as a writer.

Blog Post 10: Research

This is a photograph of an area known as Gravelly Range, which is the location of my primary project photograph. This scene, however, shows taller mountains, more trees, and, as a whole, more scenic elements than the background of the project photograph. This is most likely because the focus of this photograph is the entire background while, the focus of the primary photograph is the foreground. But, more importantly, the featureless background of the primary photograph is being used to emphasize the emptiness, or loneliness that accompanies the various other difficulties of the shepherding profession. Note: This is more of a locational context rather than cultural or historical, but I wanted to include it because it altered how I perceived the background aesthetics of the primary photograph.

Many sheep herders around the time of the Great Depression were Basque immigrants. The majority of these people came to America with no intentions whatsoever of becoming shepherds; they simply ended up falling into it. Because of this, they weren't prepared for the lonely conditions and empty land, and, as a result, many of these shepherds were overwhelmed by a condition they called "txamisuek jota" which meant "struck by sagebrush" (Laughlin 18). I wrote about the lonely conditions in previous posts already, but I had no idea that it was severe enough to the point that a special term was created just to name it. Solitude is clearly a major aspect of shepherding and of my project photograph.

Sheep herding was (and still is) a form of art to many shepherds. It requires much proficiency, and the shepherd must always be mindful of predators. Additionally, shepherding "demanded total teamwork between the herder and his animals" (Laughlin 20). This, once again, makes me look at the dog in the project photo, and review the alignment of the dog and herder. Though the herder is positioned above the dog as the all-knowing master, they are also both close enough to be viewed as a team, side by side. This relationship wouldn't be seen if, for example, one were in front of the other, or on a cliff, overlooking the other. The fact that the herder is positioned on his horse above the dog is equally important, though. "Without a leader, without clear rules and without respect for the leader there is no team" (Nickelsberg 5). Thus, the leadership and teamwork relationships must be viewed both together and individually to fully understand the dog and the herder.

Many hard-working shepherds would have much rather put their efforts towards college or some other profession. They disliked herding sheep "24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays" on top of the loneliness (DeRuwe 12). This makes me look at the shepherd in my project photograph with even more respect. Maybe he was forced into sheep herding by conditions of the Great Depression. He has a rugged look, supporting the fact that he works hard every hour of every day no matter what conditions.

Works Cited

Laughlin, Mike. "Basque Ranching Culture." 2009. Lee Raine. 18 Sept. 2009 <http://www.cowboyshowcase.com/basque.htm>.

Nickelsberg, Ellen. "Large Flock Sheep Herding: The Working Relationship." 2009. Ranch Dog Trainer <http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/sheepherding.htm>.

DeRuwe, Milan. "Farming and Sheepherding during the Great Depression: A Reminiscence by Milan DeRuwe." 1 Jul. 2008 <http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8626>.

Blog Post 9: Further Analysis

The vectors of attention play some important roles in the project photograph. The element of the photograph that first grabs the attention of the audience is the shepherd himself. The photographer achieves this be keeping the background as simple as possible. Next, my eyes continue downward towards the horse. From here, I notice that the shepherd and horse are positioned on the right, and facing the left edge of the photograph. Naturally my gaze follows theirs and I notice the dog, which is looking back up at the shepherd. Finally I look at the background of the photograph, or, more specifically, the grass and hills then the sky and clouds.

The sky is a deep, fully saturated shade of blue, which really contrasts with the white clouds. In effect, this might challenge the audience to think about the weather conditions that are experienced everyday by this shepherd and his companions. In my case, the clouds make me imagine what it might be like for the shepherd to struggle through an intense thunderstorm with naught but his trusty horse and loyal dog by his side. As an afterthought, I also think about what it'd be like to keep track hundreds of sheep, too. However, the photographer most likely chose to leave the sheep out of the picture so that the audience would focus more on the shepherd himself and his relationship with the horse and herding dog.

The main hues used in the project photograph are greens, browns, tans, and blue in the sky. These colors are used to invoke thoughts of nature and earth. This is used to emphasize the fact that nature--grass, hills, trees, etc.--is what dominates the shepherd's life. While herding his sheep, the shepherd has no permanent house to live in and experiences little contact with other humans.

I found this picture to be rather interesting when compared to the photo that I selected for the first writing project. The herding dog is the main focus of this picture, rising above everything else, while the dog in the project photograph is placed in a submissive position at the feet of the shepherd. As a result, the shepherd's herding dogs are given completely different roles between the two photos. In this picture, the dog is shown as the leader--maybe even as the shepherd itself. Though this is nearly a completely opposite role of the dog in my chosen project photograph, it helped me to look at the general sheep herding dog in a different manner and, by comparison, more fully realize the role of the herding dog in the project photograph.

The role of the herding dog in the project photograph isn't that of leadership, but obedience, respect, and teamwork. The herding dog and the shepherd work together as a team to keep the sheep in line and complete the task at hand. The project photograph shows the dog looking up at the shepherd, waiting to jump at the shepherd's next command.