Hi all,
Just a reminder, the deadline for submitting essay two was moved to Tuesday, October 12th. Also, over the weekend please select one or more images from the textbook and put up a post commenting on the meaning, questions raised, the way the artist is using his or her medium or some other aspect of the picture(s) that you find significant. Best, Paul Holchak
I chose the photograph Image of Homelessness by Mark Peterson on page seven because it caught my attention. I noticed it is a picture of a box on a bench tied with several strings. The box has an old looking pillow inside and two or three rags for blankets. Based on my observation, I knew that this is the bed of a homeless person and maybe even his or her home. Unfortunately, there are many poor individuals living in the streets without homes and I believe that the photographer is trying to demonstrate the somber and bleak mood of it through this picture. I think Mark Peterson wants to prove the point of how horrible poor people’s lives are and how far it has come, that people actually have no choice but to sleep on a bench outside. I also noticed that the photographer made the background of the picture blurry to kind of emphasize and bring out the main idea. One question came to mind when looking at this picture. How can a person like that survive the rain, snow or any other uncomfortable and rough climates? I know these unfortunate individuals have it hard but I definitely give them credit for being able to find some strings and boxes to put together a bed or home for themselves. In addition, I also admire the fact that they try to never give up hope, which is not only portrayed from this picture but also when they are seen begging for money or food. This picture definitely can bring a tear to your eye. -Rebecca Aranoff
ReplyDeleteSara Ostrow
ReplyDeleteI chose the image on page 139, called Metro Bus Shelter, 7th Street at E Street, Washington, D.C., April 1995, by Joel Sternfel. I chose this image because it seems like a regular block that millions of people pass by without noticing anything. There is no significance to anyone about this block. But according to the blurb on the side of the picture, a woman died in this bus stop because she had been turned away from a home-less shelter the night before. Everyday when walking in the city, to college, anywhere we pass by so many significant things that we just never notice. Until something happens, like someone dies there, that spot remains like every other spot, un-noticed. So besides for the irony that the home-less woman died accross the street from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, i thought it was just interesting to point this out. Because thats what hit me when i looked at this picture- that its just like any other plain block to the eye, but really it has so much more significance.
I chose the picture on page 136 and 137 to examine because I feel it is the most interesting image. It is clearly a paradox because the billboard shown has a beautiful picture of two children playing freely by the sea while nature surrounds them. The heading of the billboard is “It’s the Nature of Business”. The billboard is placed on a worksite that is surround by things that destroy nature. This is a paradox because the heading and picture lead one to believe that businesses are naturally done and pure, but really they are corrupt and filling our natural world with pollution. I feel the artist of this photo, took this image to prove that businesses are not always truthful and many times the is more to a project than is presented to the customer.
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ReplyDeleteI chose a group of pictures put together by Peter Menzel from pages 30- 39. He photographs four different families with their weekly food. In the first picture, the Mendoza family is gathered around their weekly crop. Their food consists mainly of fruits,vegetable and seeds that appears as though they gathered it. There is chicken and other store bought food, but this family looks as though the really "live off what they make". The next family is the Hernandez family. They are photographed standing in their kitchen with all of their food in front of them. They are all smiling and seem very content with the amount of food, and the type of food that they have. They seem to be able to afford all the top brands of food and can enjoy delicacies such as cakes and cookies amongst the rest of the food that they have. The Ukita family, is from Japan and placed in front of them is mainly their traditional food: rice, sushi, and fish. The last family is from Chad. They barely have anything just a few bags of seeds and a bottle of water. Compared to the other families, they do not seem to have a sufficient amount of nutritious food. Furthermore, by looking at the backgrounds of each picture, you can determine their lifestyle. The first family, is standing out side a small house that is surrounded by trees and flowers. The second family appears to be living in a nice size house, the third in a small apartment, and the fourth in a tent. Menzel comments on how much each family spent ranging from 1.23 a week to 317.25 a week. Each family is from a different background and culture and I think the point Menzel is trying to prove is how different each culture lives. Different places have different types of foods and ways of living, and even though some items like fruits overlap, each culture has their own type of food/ lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteAs I was randomly flipping through the book, I came across Savulich's portfolio from pages 278 to 281. I find his pictures to be interesting because his purpose was to grasp humor in the worst cases of violence and accidents. He claimed that "we're at a point in our society where very weird things are happening in the streets," and he most certainly did not fail at capturing the most odd situations. One picture that really caught my attention was, "Woman Laughing After Car Wreck" on page 281. It shows an extremely damaged car with two people inside of it. A woman sitting upright, with blood stains on her face, has a big smile on as if she were posing for the camera. Most people under that circumstance would be crying for help or possibly be dead (looking at the condition of the car). At first glance, my initial thought was, "Is this woman crazy?" The reason as to why she was smiling will remain a mystery, but after examining the picture, I realized how there are people out there who make the most out of the worst situations. If you look closely, you can see that the person sitting next to her has a faint smile on also. Furthermore, I noticed how Savulich made the picture black and white, which was most likely to show the extent of how bad the circumstance was. Two people seemed to have found humor in such a traumatic scene. Evidently, I couldn't help but stare at the picture in awe, and I found myself smiling as well.
ReplyDeleteI opened the book to page 273 where there was a picture of Obama making history as he was the first African American to win the election for president of the United States. He is on the front page of the newspaper on November 5, 2008 with his family and they are all waving to the crowd. They are all dressed in red and black (which is ironic because Obama is a democrat and democrats are usually depicted with the color blue). The newspaper also shows which states helped Obama win the electorate. Americans were very excited that this election would go down in history as the beginning of a new government. It quotes Obama saying "change has come to America."
ReplyDeleteTwo years later Americans are not so happy because they don't see the change that they were promised.
On page 586, there is an african american boy holding on to a model of the earth. The captions say "imagine(you may think im a dreamer but im not the only one)." I think the point of this picture is that anybody has what it takes to do what they want. If you want to conquer the world(metaphorically) meaning if you want to become a doctor than you could. Even the minorities are allowed to dream big and accomplish their goals.
ReplyDeleteI chose the photograph on page 378-379 labeled Asleigh, 13 by Lauren Greenfield because it really had an impact on me. Looking at the picture, I felt troubled and bothered. This thirteen year old girl looked extremely thin and yet the photograph showed that both her parents and friend anxiously waiting for her “scale results”. These parents, along with her peers, were obviously making a statement that starting from a very young age one should be highly concerned with his/her weight. However, a very strong message that people can take out of this photograph is that a women should not make weight their main priority. I began to think to myself, “How many parents put this unnecessary pressure on their kids and how does it affect their behavior in the long run?” These parents are sending their daughter an inaccurate message that one’s exterior is more important than one’s interior. I think that unless a girl’s weight is affecting her health then parents and friends should not make weight an important aspect in her life.
ReplyDeleteI found the images on pages 72-75, very interesting in how prayer was being expressed. from page 72-73, there is an image of a sport team kneeling down before their game to pray for success. The players took their caps off and bowed their heads. The boy on the left hand side has a smile on his face, opposed to his teammate with a more serious demeanor. I wonder if all of the teammates are religious and would choose to pray on their own, or are only praying in order to continue a tradition of pregame prayer...
ReplyDeleteon pages 74-75, there is an image of a library in the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In the left of the library there are students at desks involved in work. on the right hand side of the library, there are shelves of books from floor to ceiling. Between the desks and the shelves, are three individuals kneeling with their heads to the floor in prayer. These individuals are praying in the middle of the day in a very public area. To me it seems these individuals hold religion as something very important to them and are not ashamed for others to know. From this image, I would like to state how amazing it is to me the meaning of religious freedom in America. In America, religion is encouraged and there is no need to hide when wanting to pray to your chosen G-d. This is seen in both images, for prayer is being done in public areas.
I found the images on page 256-257 very interesting. When I was a teenager my mom would take me to a Afgan resturant and the photograph on page 256 was framed on the wall. The photo was in a an antique or black white finish but the eyes were in color. The eyes were very captivating. I remember telling one of my friends about the resturant and I could not remember the name of the place. When I told her about the picture on the wall she knew right away the place I was talking about. To this day I remember that picture on the wall and the eyes of that girl. Every time I see that picture I remember that resturant.
ReplyDeleteI happened to stumble onto the image on page 678 and found it very interesting. The image is meant to be a disturbing political cartoon. It depicts President Barak Hussein Obama wearing a Muslim turban, standing next to Mrs. Obama wearing an army uniform and holding a large gun. However the artist doesn’t stop there. Behind them is a picture of what seems to be an important Muslim figure and just below it is the American flag burning in the fireplace, all in the oval office. The title of this picture is “The Politics of Fear”. However in my opinion it could be more accurately described as “The Fear of Politics”.
ReplyDeleteIm not sure what message the cartoonist, Barry Blitt and the author Virginia Postrel are trying to send, but whatever way you look at it and whatever side of politics you are on, I believe it has a very strong message about our world, our government and more specifically our president and his opinions. I think it is a pretty amazing image, and without giving my political opinion, it sends a very strong and important message. The message appears to be that the president and his wife identify more closely with the enemy than with the USA. It is hard to know, when they call it the “Politics of Fear”, whether it is implying that people are grossly exaggerating the president’s politics, i.e. that the president cannot possibly be as anti-US as the cartoon depicts him, or whether it suggests that politicians purposefully use fear to manipulate the public. In my opinion, the cartoon suggests that we need to be in fear of our politicians, because who they say they are and who they really are can be two very different things, which is why I think the cartoon would be better labled “The Fear of Politics”.
I chose a series of pictures from Pg.616-618 by the World Wildlife Fund.
ReplyDeleteThe message of the pictures were showing that climate change due to global warming is destroying the habitats of many endangered animals. This is leaving them without any place to live.
The artist the created the pictures compared the animals to people that were homeless, showing the animals that lost their homes living on the streets, as people who lose their homes do.
A polar bear sits on a grimy sidewalk, with no shelter, a penguin parent and its child search for shelter amid dumpsters, and a seal lays on a bench covered with newspapers because he has nowhere else to sleep.
I believe the artists wants to appeal to people by comparing how people would feel if they were in the same situation. It is hard to understand how global warming can have such a big effect on the animals in the world, without taking a closer look at what the animals are going through.
People that lose their homes live on the street. Animals already live in nature, where would they go if their homes are lost? Without their habitats animals would die off. It is an important message that the artist is conveying to the public.
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ReplyDeleteI'm choosing the picture on page 179.I chose this picture because it is connected to my life and I see myself there in a way.This pictures shows the road to success and failure.People have a lot of choices,where to go,which way to choose and there are all the "bad" and "good" places that people have ended up.It shows all kinds of personalities,from weak to strong to fake,to right and wrong,to laziness,lack of preparation,failure etc.When the viewer sees a picture like this,they might laugh because they see these people in there choosing their future,and the viewr laughs because they think of themselves when they made that right or wrong decision.What made me laugh,was the "Know it all Hotel".It has three rooms,the "nobody can tell me" room,the "i don't need to practice" room,and the "I'm a born genius" room.In the first floor there is also the "always right club".This building is located in the "I don't need system" place.I found it interesting,because at some point in my life,i have said all those titles,and now that I see those people there,all dressed up like they don't care,and being separated from the other world,I laugh.The "success",is all the way at the top of the mountain,to show that going there it is not easy and not many people get to be there.The failure,is the river to show that,to fail,is not hard,u just jump from the bridge.