Homework #2

After reading and watching Carrie Rae Weems, “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried”, I saw the major differences between her and Louis Agassiz’s intention. What were once meant to be used for scientific and objectifying purposes, Weems turned into a powerful message convening to many others that race and separation was established far back in so many ways. She narrates the fact that these black men and women were overlooked and abused, basically treated as lowly beings, just because of the color of their skin. The way the photographs were changed in color and added text, she gave life to the once sterile-looking photos. Based on these photographs, appropriation definitely helps to convey an important message. Without the texts, the photograph would still be quite shocking to the modern world as it is today but the texts are so important in that they personify the photo and tell unique stories of each individual photographed as if they were speaking to an audience. I think that Weems’ photographic photos are very successful and mind-provoking in delivering an important part of history, racism, which is still quite a prevalent issue in society today.

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