David Goldblatt

This photo shows a beauty contest being held at a market on a Saturday morning. In the foreground are the beauty contestants holding up their number, I am guessing they are getting judged. In the background are the "audience", the shoppers. The podium and the contestants are all in focus, focus starts to blur a little in the first row of onlookers. The motion is not frozen, but tends to blur. I think the shutter speed is probably slow, maybe 1/60. The lighting used is flourescent, we see the bulbs on the ceiling.

My first impression of this photo was how odd it was to have a beauty contest in the supermarket. And a "lovely leg" contest. Why would that be held in the market. Maybe the market is an important gathering spot. Also, the contestants are all white, the onlookers are mixed, with mostly blacks watching. I think how they must feel not being included, and how unfair it is. I can see the expressions on the women and girls' faces. Perhaps jealousy, perhaps its just how silly they think the contest is, and how unfair society's view of beauty is. They have their arms crossed, almost like this ridiculous contest is wasting their time. The contestant on the end is smiling and confident, somehow I feel she thinks she should be winning the contest.

Right before this shot, I think probably the finalists were announced, and the girls walked out onto the podium. After the shot, the winner is announced, and finally after having to watch this, the shoppers can resume their shopping.

There is no comparison with seeing the photos in person and looking at them online. Seeing them in person, you can really feel what the photographer was trying to convey. They are much more dramatic. You can see the details and the light much more clearly. And in my opinion, you almost feel like you are there.

David Goldblatt was trying to convey how life is/was for South Africans. How prevalent racism is in society. How people went about their lives even through such unfair treatment. Maybe even how resilient people can be. No matter how difficult life is, we find a way through it, and we go on. The photo I chose portrays racism, the beauty contestants are all obviously white, apparently only white girls have lovely legs. You can tell there were no black girls in the contest by the expression of the girls in the audience. Also, normal mundane things go on even amidst turmoil. Amid such violence you would think a silly beauty contest for lovely legs would not be held in a market.

Portraits Part 1

Portraits Part 2

Writing Assignment #2

Pino del Oro #3, 25/2/2005 11:57 © Bert Teunnissen

This is a photo of an old woman sitting in what looks like the kitchen. There are photographs and artwork on the wall. The photographs are of family members. There is a table in the middle of the room covered with a tablecloth and there is a vase of flowers and a bag with something in it, maybe bread. There are yellow tiles on the wall. There is also a moosehead hanging on the wall. The old woman is sitting in the corner looking towards us, she's all dressed in black with an apron on.

The picture makes me think about what it must be like to get old. I assume she's a widow since she is dressed in all black, and she probably lives with her family. She has spent her whole life caring for her family, and now she probably doesn't feel as useful as she once was. I am sure she wants to cook and clean for them as she's done her whole life. But given her age, her time is spent mostly sitting. It's interesting that she chooses the dining room to sit, it seems like its a sunny day outside. The kitchen is probably where she feels most comfortable.

The picture makes me feel a little sad. Her life has probably revolved around her husband and family. Now her husband is gone, and her family has grown. I feel like she's never really had a sense of who she is or had a chance to find out about herself. Most likely, she hasn't traveled much, I bet she hasn't even left her town that often. I am sure her family is nearby, but I still feel a sense of sadness. Is she happy about her life? Is there something she wanted to do but never did? On the other hand, maybe being with her family makes her happy, and that's how she wanted to spend her life.

Self Portrait Assignment

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The first thing that comes to mind about myself is that I don't like talking about myself! I think I am a much better listener. I am not sure how much I am willing to reveal, and that probably says a lot about me. I hate how I look in pictures, I always want to delete them. That being said, this assignment was not that easy for me! I am very self conscious about photographing myself.
I was born in New York, Jamaica Queens to be exact. We moved to Long Island when I started high school. My parents are both from Italy, and as a child I visited often, and I still do since all my relatives are there. My family is very important to me, and I do miss them since they are so far away. I can be very shy, but with friends and family I can be loud and boisterous. I think people often have the wrong impression of me.
I am a computer programmer, I really like my job but my hobby has always been art. I don't paint much anymore but I would like to. I love listening to music, the outdoors, traveling. I am married, I don't have any children.

Robert Adams

On Signal Hill, Overlooking Long Beach, CaliforniaOn Signal Hill, Overlooking Long Beach California, 1983; photograph; gelatin silver print, 9 in. x 11 1/4 in. (22.86 cm x 28.58 cm); Collection SFMOMA, Gift of John "Launny" Steffens; © Robert Adams

In this photo by Robert Adams I see two trees on a hill overlooking a city. There is grass on the hill, and the trees are bare, suggesting to me that its probably late Autumn or possibly Winter. It looks hazy, there are no visible clouds and it seems like the sun is breaking through the haze. There are houses, roads, and buildings in the city below and I see the horizon in the distance. There must be a substantial population in the town considering the number of buildings and the roads. The trees are more prominent in the photo and the city below is in the distance. The colors closest to us are much darker and the photo gets lighter in the background. It has a serious feel to it and is a bit gloomy.

Adams is showing how the natural landscape is getting smaller and smaller by human intervention. What's left of this landscape are the two trees, and they look somewhat pathetic. Partly because they are not blooming and partly because there are only two trees but thousands of houses. The way they are growing they seem to be leaning over, sort of like they have given up, or even reaching up asking for help. They seem weak against the big city that they overlook. But at the same time, the photograph has a glimmer of hope. The tree on the left is younger, the bark is much smaller, so even though our natural landscape is decaying, there is hope for new growth.

I think this photograph is representative of Adams' work. It shows a natural landscape against a backdrop of a man made landscape. He's trying to tell us that we do not have unlimited resources, and that we should appreciate the beauty of what we have. It's also representative of his use of light. It has a stark and somber feeling to it, as do many of his landscape photos. The natural landscape is the prominent subject but we feel the presence of humans and there is a sense of the relationship between the two. I think it makes a statement about nature, like much of his work. His view is important, we must think about our natural resources and how to preserve them. It's interesting that he started taking these photos in the 1970's, and his message is just as important today as it was thirty or forty years ago.

Practice Shots

I went for another walk today at lunchtime, and this time the scenery was much nicer.