The exhibits were very linear in the way the photos were presented. One exhibit mostly had us moving around in a circle around the room to view all the photos while the other was a little more straight. As an estimate, I would say between the two exhibits, I saw over a 100 something photos. In the first exhibit, the photos focused on the daily life of chinese immigrants in America at different time periods. Many of these photos all portray the growth of chinese families documenting from when the kids in the family become adults, a span of 10-20 years. The other exhibit was about famous film director Stanley Kubrick’s early photography career. These photos did not have an explicit theme that connects them all together, but they did show various types of photos that Kubrick took over the years of life in New York. The photos ranged from models on scaffolding, to circus performers, and even photos of famous boxers and fights that he took.
Thomas Holton did a fantastic job at really capturing the odd balance of emotion that occured in many Chinese immigrants at the time. As many immigrants had to live in small and objectively depressing apartments, he managed to capture the joy in what would otherwise be a terrible lifestyle. He gives you the feeling that these people were not able to live in a more healthy environment, but that does not mean that they cannot have their fun in their lives. As for Kubrick, his photos of New York made it seem like there is something for everyone. He took photos of fancy, elegant models, he captured the excitement of boxing in New York and even accurately represented the busy streets at the time. This New York seems to be a robust, rewarding city, with something to see and something to do around every corner.
Holton took many photos of Chinese immigrants trying to make a living in America, which makes it hard to pick the best of his work since they all do a good job. As an example of his work, Holton took a photo of a woman holding a pillow with a couple on it at a presumably teenage girl looking depressed on the couch while on her phone. This image does a good job at demonstrating the contrast between the emotions felt living that lifestyle as the mother seems quite happy while the daughter seems bored or depressed. All this when taken into consideration that the background shows all sorts of clutter and junk behind the two women that would make a lot of people feel a little depressed living there. However, Kubrick took an interesting photo that I personally love of a man with goggles, holding what seems to be a glowing rod in his hands. Oddly enough, not much is known about this photo except that it is of a man that is working during in the science lab at Columbia University. Its little backstory and interesting contrast of the dark background and the light reflections from the rod make for it to be one of the most intriguing pieces of Kubrick’s work.
Thomas Holton photo(sorry for poor quality):
Stanley Kubrick’s photo
You capture the emotion in the Holton photos well. The most important thing about the Lam family may not be their tiny apartment but the emotional life that they have with each other which includes the same struggle all parents and children have.
The Kubrick photo you selected really looks like it could be one of his film stills. He succeeds here in making what was probably an ordinary person seem like a mad scientist.