The Study of Drew Kittredge

Introduction

I have a friend, Drew Kittredge. He’s our Product Designer. But before that, in the Fall 2020 Spiralling issue, we needed someone to wear a gorilla suit for a photo. The only problem was that we didn’t know anyone tall enough who was ready, willing, and able to be in the photo. Then, someone referred us to Drew. So, the first time I saw him, he was in a gorilla suit. I call him Gorilla Drew sometimes if I need to clarify who I’m talking about. Ever since then, whenever I see him across campus, there’s always something slightly different about his appearance, almost as if his facial structure has shifted overnight. I thought I was seeing things, so I asked some of our mutual friends. I have yet to meet a person who does not feel the exact same way as me: Drew simply looks different every day.

It’s become a little bit of an inside joke, but we can no longer hide this information from the public. The world must know the fantastical discovery we have made on this brick-laden campus in Williamsburg, Virginia. The only logical way to put everyone’s vision and memory to the test is to compile photos of Drew and settle this issue once and for all. I will be reviewing weekly photos as a point of scientific comparison to determine if he truly ever looks different, as hypothesised, or if I am simply a bad friend, as well as everyone else who knows him.

Materials

- Drew Kittredge (1)

- Photographer (1)

- Camera

- Consistent location to take photos

- Curious but potentially bad friend (1+)

Procedure

1. Set up a time, place, and interval to take the photos. We decided weekly was realistic and would result in a manageable amount of data that would not be too overwhelming to analyse while providing enough results to make a valid comparison.

2. Take photos in as similar of a pose and location as possible each week for consistency. Take one photo smiling and one with a straight face, as well as any other important differentiation that you’d like to make, to see if there is any difference in multiple contexts.

3. After the project timeline, compare all photos side by side based on the pose, as well as across poses. 4. Share results with Drew and the entire school.

Results

See pictures.

Analysis

Looking at these photos, you might be confused. Clearly, they’re all of the same person. However, doesn’t it seem like the bones in his face shift each day, just enough to drive us all crazy, but not enough for him to notice this scientific phenomenon? Sometimes his face appears longer than it does other days. This is especially clear in the photos with a straight face, as opposed to the ones of him smiling. Part of this may be due to the way he styles his hair each day, causing the rest of his face to look different.

Conclusion

Considering the changes to Drew’s facial structures present when he is expressionless, the confusion about Drew’s appearances is valid. This is especially relevant considering that when randomly passing him on campus, he might be wearing a mask, and he also would likely not have a huge grin on his face all of the time — these factors would only emphasise the differences. Drew is a campus icon, and now we have another reason to be amazed by him.

This study begs the question: do we really know what we look like? Further from that, do we really understand how others perceive us? In a way, it is true that our perception of ourselves is unclear. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, everything is flipped. And when we take pictures of ourselves that don’t flip our image like we’re used to, it can be strange and off-putting. On top of that, when we see ourselves, we are almost always posing in some way, ready for the picture, so we also do not have a great sense of our unguarded, relaxed selves. The same is true for our voice. The way we hear it is different from how we sound to others, so when we hear a recording of ourselves, it makes us uncomfortable. This is because, at this point in our lives, we feel that we have an understanding of our identity and anything that questions that part of ourselves feels like it is challenging us directly.

How does this relate to Drew? After speaking with Drew about this experiment of sorts, he was not aware that he seems to always look slightly different, and yet, so many of his friends and acquaintances are. Either way, though, Drew himself is always genuinely himself. Maybe this means that no matter how other people see us, we’re always ourselves, and we shouldn’t base our identity on others’ opinions.