Carrie Mae Weems

       Looking through the list of artists, I felt the most moved and impacted by Carrie Mae Weem's work. I felt that her photography has a great deal of meaning. It is very powerful in the sense that it instantly had me thinking about the content of her photos. One in particular that stood out to me was, "The Healer". The healer shows a Cuban man working on the body of what I am guessing to be a hardworking mother or provider. Most of the images we see in popular media are unrealistic views of woman and in this image I am not bombarded with photoshop corrections or a ghost of a human. I am looking at a real person with a story or message. Weems offers honesty and humanity, but shows the struggle as we make our way through life. I respect her work because she is so brave and wants to be as true to her message and to people as she can be. These are very admirable traits. 

The photo itself is rich in hues, light, and texture.  Her decision to position herself so she gets the view of the back of her subjects created more depth to the photo and shows she has a good sense of composition. Controlled chaos always appeals to me in a photo and I appreciate it when people are able to balance everything going on in a photo to create a certain kind of balance in the photo. There is also a certain nobility and grace that I see in this image. The grace of the woman as she leans her head forward and strength that you can see emanating from her person. Overall, I enjoy the honest beauty that is portrayed in this image. We are often trained or directed on how we should interpret beauty. As a result, seeing something so genuinely beautiful can get lost if we have not cultivated our perceptions to the true beauty in life that we may become blind to. Looking at Weem's work reminds me what honest and powerful work can achieve that more contrived photography cannot. To do this kind of work takes a great deal of strength and courage and I admire Carrie Mae Weems for being able to create such evocative work.

The power of chi through motion.

Stories of home.

Black & White Landscape

Terry Barrett

The Terry Barrett article, Photographs and Contexts, delved into how the context of photographs changes by the manner in which the image is presented, how aesthetic demands are placed by culture, and how to properly define photography. She used Robert Doisneau's photograph of two people drinking wine as an example of how an image can change based on context. The photo was used in various magazines and his photo began to convey different meanings based on the who presented it. His photograph was used with and without his permission. The original, as is quality of his photograph began to change and transform based on what the agenda was for each person or group. Another interesting point was made by the photographer Susan Sontag. She believes that culture demands both aesthetics and information from the photographer. She also expressed that if photos give sympathy, they also create a distance and apathy as well. Crimp expresses his concern on how the iconic persona behind the photograph is becoming the focus rather then the context of the photo itself. He stated, "In order for the new aesthetic understanding of photography to occur, other ways of understanding it must be dismantled or destroyed". The article helped me to see what the issues surrounding photography are and the challenge in defining photography as an art concerning photojournalism. Is it the person taking the photo that gives value to the image or the information and aesthetics used to present the idea/person/place/ or thing? These are very important things to be thinking about if one wants to make meaningful work.

Stephanie Alia Darkness & A Bad Feeling #1

Stephanie Alia Painting & Knowledge #2