Artist Statement

Ben Steele

What I wanted to accomplish in this project was to take an image-world that I thought

was pervasive in our culture and make a statement about it. The main goal of this project as

defined for the class is to “…[produce] a digital photography project focusing on how images,

increasingly provided to us as/with information, are "mediators between all the different layers

of what are increasingly complex image-worlds” utilizing the program Comic Life.

What influenced me to use the subject of the American perception of Islam has to do with

two different things: my tour in Iraq in 2004 and a class that I took last semester called Roots of

Contemporary Issues. Before going to Iraq, I was pretty gung-ho about flying over to the Middle

East to protect country against the “growing threat of Islam,” but once I got there and met real

Muslims, my perception on the matter had changed. In my Roots of Contemporary Issues class,

we explored the similarities between the three Abrahamic religions and talked at length about the

relatively secular views held by most Muslims.

My project fits with the assignment by using heavy and graphic images linked by the

already well-established image-world held my many Americans that the nature of Islam is about

terrorism and religious conquest.

As I mentioned earlier, I used the program called Comic Life to compile my images and

text together in one comic style narrative. I also used Microsoft paint for minor image editing

and Google Images as the primary source for those images.

To make sure I understood the assignment so that I could make sure my work stayed

within the context of the assignment, I reviewed the class reading written by Ron Burnett called

“Vantage Point and Image-Worlds.” Once I was more confident that I understood the concept, I

thought for a while about different image-worlds that I could identify. Once I settled on my

topic, I scoured Google Images to find the image materials that I would need. I cropped them

using Microsoft Paint and inserted them into my Comic Life file. Once I had completed that, I

wrote down what each of the panels would say and then I placed those words on my comic.

My first desired result was to create a narrative demonstrating that I understood the

concept of image-worlds in a straightforward and simple sort of way. My second desired result

was to make an effective statement with the work since this was essentially an art piece.

As for actual results, I believe that I was able to accomplish them. A demonstration of an

image-world was present, and it makes a statement that should resonate with most people. One

thing that I’m a little worried about is whether or not I have explained the image-world concept

at a level that would satisfy the requirements.

I can be a harsh self-judge. Sometimes I think I’ve failed something and others will give

me praise; sometimes it’s the other way around. Overall, I’m proud of my work and I think that

I’ve succeeded in attaining my goal. There is a little voice in the back of my mind however that

says my message might be a little too pretentious. For future projects, in order to quiet that part

of me that questions my artistic abilities, I can show my work to someone I trust to get their

opinion on it.