Spring 2013 History of Photography

Both the images are very impactful. They account and document for the social segregation of people that occurred in the 50′s. the message of each photograph is very clear that segregation impacted society greatly. Robert Frank’s “The Americans” and Will Counts “Elizabeth Eckford” recount that African Americans in the 1950’s were studied, bothered and clearly identified as the outsiders of the American society just for their race. These photographs express the contemptuous reality African Americans had to endure and their unfair treatment. They didn’t glorify the 50’s instead they made notorious the flaws of society that majority of people would cover up. The truth of segregation needed to be expressed to the world so people could see a visual of the unfair treatment of people just for their skin color. I believe both images to address the points of segregation very clearly. In Robert Franks photograph you can see how the bus or train is clearly divided into two sections the whites and the African Americans and the direct interaction with the audience by the subject looing into the camera clearly expresses their emotions which makes us further understand the difference between the happy and snobby against the sad whom have no choice. In Will Counts “Elizabeth Eckford” photograph she clearly stands out amongst all the white people as they are mocking her. In both photographs none of the African American subjects are doing anything wrong they are just wronged by society. Both photographs to me are very strong because of the attitudes and emotions they capture about something so insignificant as race.

I think this Project is an amazing, thoughtful and overall fun exhibition all over the world that shows just how unique people are and that no matter where or who we are we are capable of all he same emotions and expressions. I think the combination of street art and photography is a great combination because both are very impactful. When we think street art we think of graffiti or murals however imagine what it is like to see your face with an expression posted across the side of a building or a park. It can be a new effort in making photography something people are capable of incorporating in their lives even If they just glance at it and smile or stare at it and understand the message. For my community I think expressing how people share the same expressions no matter what race or religion would be a great idea for a project. Because in my community I am right in between sunset park neighborhood and Boro park which creates things to be very segregated it feels almost as if as your walking you can feel the cultures change from Jewish to Chinese to Spanish to Arabic. I think it would be something nice to do to open my community up and express the different cultures uniqueness and the similarities that people can share regardless of who what or where they live.

After looking at the photos and the trailer I think Herthergtons vision was to show how life in the frontlines of war and on enemy territory really is. IT is not what people perceive it to be with just death and guns the military is more of a family. They all care deeply about one another and make the best of what they have. Though they do seem fearless and brave they are scared of not knowing what will happen of where hey are going they fear the reputations of certain areas and experience things that are extremely hard to cope with. As stated in the video one soldier tired a number of sleeping pills because he didn’t want to sleep he didn’t want to dream and relive the horror he had experienced. The photos of the soldiers sleeping show that with war there is peace it seems that when they are asleep their minds and body are not at war. One photograph that I thought was very impactful was “Specialist Tad Donoho, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 2008 
Digital C-print” it is the photograph of a soldier standing up screaming with some blood on him and he has a tattoo showing that says “living only to Die” this was impactful to me because out of all the sleeping photos this photograph just popped out. His expression is so strong you can almost feel the frustration and sadness that he is screaming about to relive himself. To me these photographs do not really express heroic. When I think heroic I think of soldier in battle and protecting each other or dominating a situation and helping people when situations are dangerous. I do however think that Hetherington’s Mission to capture war with his photography is extremely heroic such as other war photographers. He is risking his life in order to show people how soldiers live and what they are experiencing rather then sending like a team of people to do his work for him he is there in person documenting these soldiers and their army lives.

Seeing the trailer, one would have a sense of how intense it can be while in war. Whether it could be fighting in the war, or documenting every event that happens in it. But Herington’s vision was heroic because of making sacrifices in order to let the world what can happen during war or any other violent situations or confrontations, and what happens while being in hiding from being wounded. By letting the world know, we can have a better understanding of what to do to bring peace. The time that Sebastian Unger knew that Tim Herrington’s vision was influential and can be as well to any others, and he also respected him for all his work that he did. Whenever a disaster would be occurring in another part of the world, Herrington would be right there to document what happens no matter how dangerous the surroundings can be. Unger also respected him for how different he was from other photojournalists that would take any risk. But overall, Unger was deeply sorry that his life was cut short tragically when he would’ve want know about him documenting another worldwide disaster, like another war. Unger also simply believed that his vision “was an idea that our world very much needs to understand” with powerful photographs we will end up seeing and understand them more upon viewing and knowing the story.

I believe that both photographs are equal in the message they are displaying. During the fifties racism was very present however individuals wanted to put a blind eye to racism and swept it under the rug. The photograph by Robert Frank may have been more effective in some individuals opinions, it tackled a prominent and well known significant sign of racism (sitting African Americans to the back of a bus). The indignant look on the female who is sitting in the second seat gives an unsettling feeling, as if she feels that African Americans should not even be allowed on the same bus as Caucasians. In my opinion Will Count’s photograph contained more emotion, the story behind his photograph can easily be narrated while observing it. Although Hazel’s body language may look simple you can see the tension in her face as she tried to remain calm. The aggression and vile remarks coming out of the Caucasian women’s mouths can be seen also, I can also imagine one of them spitting as Will stated.

I believe that it is a good idea combining street art and photography because it creates awareness of how useful a photo camera can be useful in art, and it doesn’t have to be just a sculpture placed somewhere. JR had the right idea of doing these projects at Time Square, the downtown Manhattan area, and Red Hook. The reason being that it shows what kind of races would live around the area or even travelling around. Each person taking their own photography would have different expression of maybe being playful, giving others a sense of their personality and how they would like to have fun and be joyful. An art project like this wouldn’t be such a bad idea for where I live, or it could be for all of Queens in general so that they can be able to contribute. Since Queens can be diverse, it would show what kinds of races and cultures live in the borough. It can provide some enlightenment to people who would see these pictures, depending on where these pictures will be hung. Even JR claimed that everyone “encountered became a potential audience or subject for his lens”. It all depends on how much attention a certain attraction can manage to get.

Robert Frank’s photographs of America were very controversial because Americans felt he was not capturing the ideal America. His photographs were social realistic, and with no aesthetic beauty. His purpose was to deliver a message of his personal vision about America and society. I think Frank’s art photography and Count’s news photography delivered the same message which was their commentary on American society. Frank’s photographs in the Americans were very powerful pictures that portrayed how the American dream was not the same for everyone (blacks and whites). His freedom to take the photographs implied a more real scenario rather than an staged scene. Counts’ image of Elizabeth Eckford going to High school in Little Rock, AK is also a very powerful photograph that instead of being artistic is more journalist. Both photographs are visually powerful and socially realistic. They showed the contrast of lives between whites and black during the fifties and the inequalities.

After reading the story of both photographs I think that Will counts’ image of Elizabeth Eckford going to high school in little rock was more effective than Robert Frank, trolley, image from the Americans. Although Frank’s image was important because the image does show the segregation that they had during the 1950’s this image does not have that much impact because the image is outside and in some way people were already used to it. In the image you can see the people on the trolley without no problem. And in Will Count’s image you see something beyond than just segregation. In this photograph Elizabeth was experiencing something new, Besides from being a black student at a new school with only nine black students, she was also a symbolic figure because this was the first time they were putting together students in school and if they had fail perhaps the rest of the schools would have failed too. In this image she acts all normal but in the back you can see other students looking at her with hate. In this image you can actually see racism, and I say this because Elizabeth was thrown pencils and rocks at her. This is why I believe Will Count’s image was more effective than Robert’s Frank image.

I think Street Art, Photography, and the Inside Out project in Times Square was a great project started by JR because it wasn’t just an idea to share art through photography but like one guy in the trailer said, that they do it so when people see these photographs they ask themselves what are these photographs and perhaps get them an smile on their face. It was also a good idea that JR had because with his project people were able to share their art with the community without having to be famous photographer or any important figure. And seeing these photographs in New York City could mean a lot to those who share portraits that represent something for them. A photographic wall for my community could probably be a photograph where it shows the diversity among the people that live in it. I live in Brooklyn and you can see people from every part of the world and a wall photograph like this would be a great idea.

After watching the trailer Restrepo so many things come to mind, but the first things that I said to my self was, how can people suffer like that just to have some photographs and others just to protect a country. By watching the trailer you see soldiers crying, you can see suffering in their faces, they are counting down the days to go back home.  And In the article Sebastian Junger describes how he thinks Tim Hetherington probably died on his way to the hospital. In the same article he also says that one would never imagine of a place called Misrata but that it was there the whole time and at the end was the place where Tim Hetherington died. By saying this he also says that you would never imagine where you would go and die if you are a soldier or a photographer. He tries to make the reader understand that a photographer will go anywhere and face any danger just to have photographs of a war. These are some of the reasons why I think he had a heroic vision because he knew what he faced, he knew he might die and he still did it. With the trailer Restrepo and his photographs he proves that photographers will go anywhere and face any dangers just to take photographs of a war.