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October 23, 2005
Getting personal..
In Our Glory: Photographs and Black Life was a very powerful piece. I never really thought of photography as being a mode of identifying a specific race, gender or class. I always percieved it as something that everyone could share. I have a new view of what photography shows for specific cultures and in particular, the visual politics that characterize photography overall.
It was interesting to read about how one photograph led to different reactions among Hook's siblings. The picture of her father in earlier years appealed to some of the siblings, and not to others. Art and photography rely heavily on the view of the person analyzing the piece. And photographs are visually appealing when people have a relationship with what they are observing. But for me, the picture seemed powerful, giving me a clear picture of who Hook's father really was. There is boldness and courage in the picture. Also, the white of his shirt brings the focus right to him and his facial expressions.
Also, over the summer my mother and I organized and re-chronicled our family photographs, some of which were quite old. It was interesting to see how photographs started out as very stiff, serious and distant family moments. But now the pictures we take have become more momentary, spontaneous and show the emotion we are feeling at the particular moment. In photographs you can note the techonological advancements. The oldest pictures we had were a very muted and mossy look. As we progressed on othe pictures became clearer and glossier. Furthermore, there used to be only black and white, then when color became availiable to use, the pictures were dyed certain colors, but weren't very bold and there was a limited number of colors. Now we have the ability to take both black and white pictures.
And one last thing...it is very interesting to see pictures of your parents from their teen and college years- if you ever get the chance, I would definitely capitalize on that.
Posted by lcissearls at October 23, 2005 11:38 AM
Comments
Hey Lauren, I took the same meaning from the essay that I think you did, and that is that pictures mean and represent so much more than just an image. While I was reading your post I remembered an experience I had in the Dominican Republic at one of the Bateys. The people living in the Bateys are really poor, they mostly work in the sugar cane fields for less than a dollar a day. They aren't able to provide for their families, so children are often shoe-less, sometimes clothes-less. One thing I was told though before going there was how much the kids love getting their picture taken, and it was so true. The second they see a camera, they all flock to whoever has it and form a sort of mob around that person.
Their motivation for getting their photograph taken wasn't so that they could look at the photo and reminisce about the experience because they would never get to see the photo. These kids wanted to be photographed because it made them feel important and like they mattered. Knowing that they were worth taking a picture of put a smile on their faces, so to them photography is a sort of self validation.
I think it's amazing how photography represents so many different things to different people.
Posted by: Brenna S. at October 27, 2005 10:42 PM