The Migrant Mother

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothea Lange’s photograph of the Migrant Mother, taken in the Depressional Era, came to be known as one of America’s most powerful matriach works of art.
Dorothea Lange’s collection of images tried to depict conditions of the lower class and the working poor.
While in 1936, working for the Farm Security Administration to capture how life was like at this time, the Migrant Mother resulted.

The Migrant Mother’s portrays a woman, at the time taken unknown, and her kids, who turn away from the camera, showing the backs of their heads.
By the surrounding conditions, is especially powerful photo due to the expression that the Migrant Mother. Not smiling, sort of sad on the upper half of her face.
On the lower half, unhappy. Yet the feel of her and the importance of her life and what she must work for stands out, not by her expression, but with her tight grip on her children.

Woman in Curlers

Talking about taking portraits for our next assignment, I came across this photograph  by Lise Sarfati on Magnum Photos and saw a potential portrait. This photograph isn’t exactly a portrait, since there’s the other woman in the doorway in the background, but if a profile of the woman in the front was taken against the dark-colored wall, and perhaps if she would hold something, like a blow drier, or something else particular to her, it would have been a portrait type of photograph.

Lise Sarfati. France. Paris Haute Couture spring summer 2004.

But looking at this one, I can’t help but think of what could possibly be in her hand! It looks like she might be holding a  TV remote control, changing the channels, or watching an engaging morning news show. I just think there could be so much more to this photograph that isn’t there. Frankly, as a viewer, I care more about what’s going on with the person in front. Perhaps if she was posed differently, looking at the other woman, maybe looking down in a waiting type of posture, then it would have had a different type of meaning. But this pose just leaves me very curious!

Peace.

The Memory isn’t Quite the Same

 

After listening to the song, there was one line that really stuck out in my mind and it was “the memory isn’t quite the same.”  This line immediately made me think of my Grandpa.  My Grandpa was the kind of guy who love spending all his free time out on the lake in his fishing boat in the North Woods of Wisconsin, and like any fisherman his fish stories are never quite the same. The fish always seems to get bigger and bigger, and the struggle to real becomes exponentially more intense per telling.

This image is titled anciano pescador, the old fisherman.  What I like about this fisherman is the smirk on his face, it looks almost youthful.  From this picture I can see this guy is enjoying his day, he is outside on a beautiful day with a fishing pole.  I like the weathered look, it makes me think that he has spent his like working hard and its pleasant to sit back and fish.  Also I love the hat in the picture, my other Grandpa always wears a hat like that so I immediately peg him as a Grandpa that is wrapped around his five-year old granddaughter’s little pinkie.

The Picture That Worth 1000s of Words

This is a picture of the Russian musician Igor Stravinsky.  It was taken by one of the greatest photographer in history Arnold Newman.  This picture has a lot of meaning when, and it also describes many moments.  I like this picture for some reasons.  When you look at the picture you see the guy is looking at the camera without any smiles, and the piano is showing to give you the hint that he is a musician.  In addition, the fact that the musician Stravinsky’s face is not centralize, gives value and a better meaning in it.   The picture has a little bit of mystery that keeps the other people to think about it all the time.  Especially that the picture was taken in New York in 1946.

http://www.areaofdesign.com/americanicons/newman.htm

Picture a Metaphor

 

I think this picture is the coolest thing ever.  It was taken by James Insogna.  The best part about this image is it captures the many references between horses and lightning.  At every barn there is always at least one horse name thunder, lightning, or storm, and the sound of thunder is often compared to running horses.

What is also so cool about the picture is the statue of the horses looks like they are reacting to the storm, they look life-like.  The way the lightning lines up with the bucking horse makes it look almost as if the horses were part of the sky too.  The lightening frames the statue perfectly.

 

–Julia

Confession: I love hats too

I absolutely love the image.  I am in love with rockabilly culture and the “classiness” of the 1940’s and 50’s style and clothing.  The intensity of her gaze is amplified by the netting across her face and makes the viewer focus on her eyes. On the other hand the netting across her faces makes the girl almost mysterious and alluring.  I believe the netting absolutely makes this unique and very interesting.

The color of her hat is also an eye grab.  The red is so intense and helps to bring out the darkness of her eyes.  I like how the red in this picture is on a gradient, the actually hat is stop sign red, the netting is more like an apple, and her lips wrap it all up with a dark robust cherry.

I am drawn to the shape of her actually eyes and eyebrows.  She has perfect almond eyes with perfectly arched eyebrows.  What I read from her expression is she wishes she had lived in an earlier decade but she doesn’t care how different her style is, she knows she is classy.  A new age Audrey Hepburn or Irene Dunne.

–Julie

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe

I like this portrait of Marilyn Monroe taken by Richard Avedon.  It shows a different side of Marilyn Monroe.  Usually photographers would take pictures of people doing a pose they direct them to do, or something person decides to pose as.  However, Avedon does the opposite.  Instead he takes portraits of people showing their real personality.  He took this photo of Monroe as how she felt. Monroe usually poses as if she is happy (a smile) in her modeling photos.  I admire this photo because of her facial expression.  It looks so real and the gray background stands her out more.  She has this stare as if she is afraid, disrupted, or in deep thought about something.   This picture is a mystery and makes me wonder what Monroe was thinking about.

Avedon

I’m blown away by Avedon. The way that he captures the true essence of every subject that he photographs is truly inspiring as a photographer and the goal that I have myself. For some reason, I’m completely blown away by his portrait of Picasso’s children. Glad you introduced us to him!

Inspiring work by Richard Avedon

This picture of Dorian Leigh,  taken by Richard Avedon is an inspiring picture. It reminds me of the point of view pictures we took at various angles and I think it also falls into the recent assignment topic of portfolio picture as well. This picture portrays Dorian Leigh in her natural element, just her looking in the mirror admiring herself. Since she was a model her appearance was a big part of her life.

There are a few things that make me really like this picture. One being that I love the fact that you can see the flowers reflect in the mirror but not her. I love her body language in this picture as well. I also like how he captured her dress, like it was flowing in the wind or something. I also like the fact that she has a very limited to no expression on her face. It makes me wonder what she is thinking about. I really enjoyed look at Avedon’s pictures. He is a very inspiring photographer.

http://www.wornthrough.com/2008/07/11/the-passing-of-iconic-model-dorian-leigh/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photograph really sticks out to me for some reason. The boy looks very confused and almost insecure with the world around him as he stares at the camera. I feel as if the way he is hugging himself may sort of exemplify innocence and insecurity that most children face due to their vulnerability. I have 4 younger siblings, and every picture with a young child always finds empathy with me. Now, in the photograph, I cannot tell if it is a burn of some sort on the boy’s face or if it is just a birthmark he has had for a long time. No matter what the situation, there is still some sort of glimmer in his eye that seems almost courageous and steadfast, almost defiant. The blurriness behind him makes me wonder where he is and what his average day is like, the caption says Timbuktu,Mali in 1986(I believe). I like the mystery behind it overall though, especially wondering why McCurry has the boy’s arms the way they are.

~Josh