Photo 1: Untitled

         This untitled piece of photography shows the transcendentalist theme of individualism as the subject stands tall in a vast landscape alone, "Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world" would be a very fitting title given to this untitled piece. As the subject is alone here, he is still standing tall and confident. 

Photo 2: "And These Feelings Won't Last" by Evan Atwood

         This piece by Evan Atwood uses the Transcendentalist idea of connection to nature.The quote from Ralph Emerson's Nature "The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child" perfectly describes this picture, with the main subject in a fetal position, the subject appears as a child, and is showing the surrounding reliance to nature.

Song 1: "How Much a Dollar Cost" by Kendrick Lamar

       

         Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost" screams the fundamental transcendentalist idea of humanity, with the Kendrick telling the story of him running into a homeless man asking for one dollar which Kendrick refuses and soon is revealed that the homeless man was God, and that he had lost his place in heaven because of his lack of humanity. "The nerve of Nazareth, and i'll tell you just how much a dollar cost, the price of having a spot in heaven, embrace your loss, I am God" along with the quote from Ralph Emerson's Self Reliance "A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace". Lamar's tale of selfishness gives Emerson's essay of humanity credibility.

Song 2: "Disparate Youth" by Santigold

        Santigold's track "Disparate Youth" focuses on the transcendentalist theme of individualism. She explains how she has to overcome the obstacles to being individual and defining oneself. The lines "So let them say we can't do better, lay out the rules that we can't break, they wanna sit and watch you wither" pair very well with the quote " Nothing can bring you peace but yourself" from Ralph Emerson's Self Reliance. Santigold is telling how the people around us extinguish individualism while Emerson explains how you need to ignore them and be yourself. 

Song 3: "Overgrown" by James Blake

        James Blake's "Overgrown" explores the ideas from the quote "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. to a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it." in Ralph Emerson's Nature. Emerson means that nature will take on a personality based on your present feelings. Blake's lyrics in this song builds off this idea with him describing how he feels not like a star, but like a stone on the shore, and describes how he feels 'overgrown', "I don't wanna be a star, but a stone on the shore, a lone doorframe in a wall, when everything's overgrown". As Blake describes how he sees the nature around him through his eyes, the listener is dragged into a world of self-loathing and resentment.