The Seven Stages of Floors

The concept behind this project is to document the life of someone through the environment that surrounds them throughout their day. The main inspiration for the title of the project comes from the Shakespeare monologue the 7 stages of life the main impact it has is that the collage is divided into 7 main sections that slowly go through the stages of life each subdivided into 12 subsections showing what the environment was like around them as they go through one day in their own existence. Since I am as of the creation of this project not a small child or on death's door from old age I went out and found 7 people who could help me by capturing what their surroundings were I chose floors because no matter where you are on your journey through life you will always be surrounded by them and photographs of the floors also somewhat conceal the photographers identity to the viewer so that more people can relate to the image. The ages are numbered 1-7 and correspond to the ages in Shakespeare's monologue. The goal of this project was to get the viewer to think about their past, present and future and to reflect on if they are satisfied with their life overall. Because a small child cannot hold a camera much less listen to and execute the instructions I wanted it to do, and the fact that it is hard to find someone who is on the verge of deaths door I decided for the final two stages to find people could somewhat stand in as one was a father to a small child and the other worked in a hospital.

If anyone wants to read it the monologe is below the work

thanks to the following people for helping with this project:

Peter Shirts

Adam Call

Jesse Shoop

Alex Newey

Jim Davis

Randall Shirts

Brian shirts

from Shakespeare's as you like it:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

The focus of this project was to document the life of a person through the floors that they see every day to do this I gathered 7 people I know and asked them to take pictures of floors that they see throughout their day and then send the photos to me so I could turn them into a collage that shows the story of a human life

Special thanks to: