#worldofimagination

In this week's lesson, we learned about phenomenology, a bridge between our internal consciousness and the external world through purpose. According to my research, this approach is not just about personal opinions, but about discovering the "essence" of an experience.

I realized how people don’t interpret experiences in the same way because each person’s "lifeworld" is shaped by different bodily comforts and emotional associations. Our bodies and senses are constantly being affected by the environment, particularly through our experience of temperature. For example, while some Westerners may see Singapore’s humid weather as a sunny escape from their cold, temperate winters, many of us who live here tend to appreciate the cooler temperatures that come with seasonal changes. For me, I have a strong preference for colder environments because they offer a unique sense of safety. To some, the cold feels harsh or lonely, but for me, it acts as a quiet, grounding force that allows me to retreat into my own thoughts

Through photography class, this became very clear to me. We were given the same 16 topics to photograph, When we compared everyone’s photographs, the results were very different. Even though there were some that came out similar to each other. Although the prompts were identical, our imagination, emotion, and personal associations guided what we chose to capture.

Both my research and this experience connect strongly to my design training. They reveal the gap that can exist between a designer’s intention and the audience’s lived experience. According to the phenomenological framework, a viewer doesn't just "see" a design; they "inhabit" it through the lens of their own history, culture, and current emotional state. Understanding this encourages me to move beyond purely aesthetic choices and design with deeper empathy.

Week 1 made one thing clear. We understand the world not only through logic but through lived experience.Merleau Ponty explains in phenomenology, perception shapes insight beyond what objective data can claim. Developing from real experiences rather than fixing certainty because interpretation is influenced by how we physically and emotionally experience through situations, understanding is not neutral. Photography and design both reflect this idea.

In Photography Project 1, I realised that photos often communicate more than what is immediately visible. A shadow moving across ripples, grains of sand falling in an hourglass and small cocoon resting alone carried meaning beyond their physical form. Not every image presented its message directly, some relied on mood and context, while others requires closer observation. The choices I made were not accidental but shaped by the project brief, which encourages intentional decision making before taking each shot. Framing became less about simply recording what I saw and more about expressing a concept.

Photographs became more than frozen moments. Roland Barthes explains in Camera Lucida that images contain emotional meaning beneath their surface. What appears in each frame reflected not only the subject but also my mood and memory at the time. Truth is therefore not purely external it is shaped by perception and personal experience, a single image can communicate different meanings depending on who is viewing it.

This understanding influences how I approach creative work. Meaning is created not only through composition, symbols, or technical skill, but also through how viewers interpret and respond emotionally. Recognising that each person experiences through images differently encourages me to consider both visual structure and emotional impact in my work.