"International keywording is fun!!!"

When I recently made the above post on Facebook, my friend (we'll call her Sara) promptly spoke up, requesting that I explain myself.  While she and I have completely different businesses and thusly differing clientelle requirements, "keywording" (as it's called) is an incredibly useful method of driving traffic to our sites which both of us already employ!

It's simple enough - in my case, search-engine-optimized (SEO) photographs are "tagged" with keywords, as is my website. Keywords help search engines, and those using them, more accurately find what they're looking for by providing pertinent, recognizable clues as to what context and/or content a photograph or website contains. An image search using the single keyword "Sara" will be less likely to pull a photo of her than the keyword "physician", though both are applicable. Combining two keywords can prove both powerful and confusing.  By searching for they keywords "blue" and "moon", for instance, you may find images of both a blue moon and of musicians who sing the song, "Blue Moon".  When you specify a location, combined with 'physician' and 'Sara' - she lives in Georgia - you create more accuracy: your search will more likely generate photos of physicians named 'Sara' who live in Georgia than with the other two methods.  Most internet users are pretty aware of this process as they have performed this kind of search for
well over a decade.  However, it doesn't always "translate" well.

In a "professional", globally-utilized and promoted online discussion forum, of which I'm a contributing member, the predominantly active participant is an English-speaking North American.  When someone utilizes translation software to write in a non-native language, often times there are grammatical and/or spelling errors.  I've unfortunately borne witness to offensive posts in this forum such as "why don't you foreigners go back home and learn to write".  Offensive and inane as these posts are, and while still inexcusable, they may perhaps be somewhat understood at least in that grasping the concept of global community is still difficult for those who have not been exposed to so much diversity as others.  It does identify a flaw in thinking, though, that is also slyly present in how we promote our businesses, no matter how internationally savvy we are.

International, or more specifically multilingual keywording involves the obvious but oddly uncommon assumption that many more languages than one are spoken in the world and therefore must be accounted for in keywording. The internet, while global, is largely perceived as local, at least in terms of business promotion.  "Caballero" is probably not the default go-to keyword for an American looking to learn about being a "cowboy" on a dude ranch.  'Photograph' is not how someone from China would necessarily search for an image.  Though I don't know Chinese, a popular translation program tells me that "照片" would be a far more appropriate keyword.  Oddly enough, Blogspot will not show the Chinese characters in the sentence above after I post this entry but it does show them while I edit, a clear example of how much opportunity for growth there is.  A search engine will not require that I know a language's grammar or pronunciation.

In Sara's case, if she wished to reach a patients who spoke exclusively Spanish, she could keyword both her website and photos with "médico" to have her site listed higher up in the "found set" order for Spanish language search engines, which that demographic is more likely using.  While English will likely be spoken in her practice, the "net" that is cast by her broadened keywording will give her a greater opportunity to serve a larger community.  In my case, fine art photographs speak largely for themselves.  Context being a very large motivator, however, may prompt me to tag my photos in a less language-limiting manner.  I have tagged my Facebook fan site, for example, with keywords from almost a dozen languages.  My hope is that people from all over the world may be able to find my photographs, enjoy and share them and ultimately support my business.

Yesterday, my site received more traffic from Hong Kong than from my own country, the United States.  I find that beautiful...

and wish I could photograph it.

Cheers to all!

Kyle
http://www.kylekuykendall.com/
http://www.ashleyandkyle.us/

Impressive Impressionists

'Impression, Sunrise' did not impress as much as it interested me. While the subject was evident to my 1980-something-nouveau-teen brain, the context clear, I thought the style choice a combination of ingenuity and laziness and not the movement-inspiring icon-creator of what would become the Impressionist movement. Frankly, I had more interest in impressionists for their societal impact than their method. Putting a few strokes of paint on a canvas to create a semblance of mood and scene was clever only as much as it caused a stir and with umpteen million books written of their specific style one could hardly ignore its presence in the world; they were important and I, therefore, wanting the same for myself and unaware of my subconsciously chameleon-like fickleness, liked them immensely. This was not atypical of those earlier years in my life.

With Monet's painting now staring down at me from the "audio-visual segment of the class", I wondered whether the extent of my impression would be enlarged vertically or laterally; was I to now understand a greater scope of worldly impact or would I merely cleave to the shallow form of intellectual inheritance? Rakow said something. I don't remember verbatim nor do I recall the placement in her lecture, but she effectively startled me with a summation which I will now quote, paraphrase, embellish, completely butcher to the hopeful benefit of this blog post:

"The purpose of this class is to illustrate these artists' works not as stylistic choices but as functions of the artists' increasing visual dysfunction."

Mrs. Rakow may not agree and may be followed by as many as all the attendees but me. It doesn't matter, really. This was the "impression" I had from her statement...and it floored me. Somehow, tardy though I was, there appeared within the final thirty minutes of a last-minute, end of day class, a singular understanding of any and all art ever created.

Parents probably recognize the rough, haphazard, sometimes violent, sometimes feathered strokes evident in the early paintings of childhood. In most that I've seen, there is little to distinguish one page from another and yet when asked, the child will recall precisely what each blob and smear means, with the occasional re-interpretation as memory fades. For these "artists", in other words, there is a remembrance of the sensation of painting, an association with thoughts and feelings experienced during the process, those packets of associations being so strong as to mold their recognition of an appearance of orange-green in the middle of mudlicious blue.

"That's you, Daddy, and we're reading books outside at the pool"

Sure, WE don't see the car, the tree, the mommy or dog in the work. There may even be an appearance of donuts or broccoli but we miss the fact that the family was sad since their neighbor couldn't read and dine with them. The child doesn't paint initially with the intention of recognition by any but themselves - they do not paint with icons, but with feelings, and they assume other people can see what they felt while they painted. It is only as they learn what society has collectively associated that their paintings begin to take on more "traditional", less symbolic form. In a sense, they are limited in communication by both their associations to that point (which will take us outside the scope of this blog) and by the ability to guide brush to paint and then, with directional control, to canvas; they are limited by their abilities: mental, emotional, physical.

Two months ago, I witnessed a painter forming carefully directed and very methodical strokes with his brush. On the canvas was forming a recognizable icon to which I had lifelong exposure - the mascot for the University of Georgia, "Uga". Colors were vivid, lines were intentional yet personal, the intended impression was evident. The artist had no arms...

http://www.kylekuykendall.com/
http://www.ashleyandkyle.us/