This is photograph of a few of the UNR Sorority houses on the corner of Sierra and 9th Street.

1.   Personal-   My personal reaction to this photograph is recognition of my home.  I live in Kappa Alpha Theta which is the center house in the photograph (yellow).  I have been apart of the sorority for 2 years and have lived in the house since September.  Looking at this photograph reminds my of all the great memories that I have shared here.  This is also the path that I walk to school everyday so My mind also goes towards memories of school.  I’m also thinking about what a beautiful day it was on the afternoon that I took this picture and how I wish everyday in Reno could be like this.

2.  Historical-   There is a somewhat long history of the sorority system.  Currently, they are easily described as social organizations for women in higher education.  For centuries, men have had secret clubs and social organizations that were very exclusive and included an initiation process for membership.  These types of men’s fraternities evolved onto university campuses and eventually women wanted to be apart of this as well.  Since women were not allowed to become members, they created their own organizations with various symbols and, of course, the Greek Letters.  Originally, before the term sorority was used, they were called women’s fraternities.  Greek letters were originally used to disguise the name or the meaning of the organization.  Today they are used to identify the fraternities and sororities, giving them the title of the Greek System and their members, Greeks.  Many Greek sororities have house that their members can live in.  This photograph is an example of such houses as well a displaying their close proximity to eachother.  To see a indepth history and further information.

3.   Technical-  There is not much technical photography in play here.  The photo was taken outside so there is diffused ambient light throughout the photograph which comes from the sun.  There are graph vectors in the horizontal line of the sidewalk infront of the houses and in the crosswalk moving towards the first house on the right. 

4.   Ethical, Cultural, Critical-   Cutural elements of the photograph are the symbology behind greek organizations.  There is level of secrecy maintained by these prganizations so nonmembers often have misconceptions about the workings of the Greek system.  As a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, I can consist that most of these assumptions are false and the greek systems has offered me chance to get involved in the university, make great friends and furthur connections, and have support in my social, academic, and expanding life.  The fact that the photograph shows these three greek houses all in a row is a signifier of the closeness of the the Greek community.  This is a sign of the tight social network of fratnerities and sororities.   There are two different reactions that viewer may have towards this depending on one thing: whether or not the viewer is Greek or not.  A Greek viewer will observe this photograph and remember the good or bad times that they shared.  They would be able to relate to this photograph because their Greek organization would have had a house or a place that was their home base. A non-Greek viewer would probably dismiss this photo since they couldn’t relate to the symbolism behind these houses.  The sorority subculture is very strong and is one that girls will immediately identify themselves as.  We proudly wear our sweatshirts with our greek letters on them and we mainly socialize in the Greek networks.  There are many stereotypes that come along with being a member of this subculture but the costs don’t out weigh the benefits.  Even once a member becomes an alumnae , they will still identify with their Greek organization.