I think a serious social issue I would like to bring to the table is racism and black LGBTQ+ individuals who are discriminated against. Even in this growing age of understanding for one another there is still racism that festers in our communities, especially towards Black individuals within the LGBTQ+ community. This is important to me because:
There are many black people in the LGBTQ+ community that are harassed everyday, myself included.
Racism as a whole is a serious problem within the United States, and all over the world. The more we talk about it and stop pretending itâs not there, the better.
Its not talked about enough how black LGBTQ+ members arenât given the same value as other white members. Their seen more as outcasts and donât get the same sort of help, even from other black individuals.
You can read more about it in this article: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/news/2021/07/13/501484/black-lgbtq-individuals-experience-heightened-levels-discrimination/
An issue that I believe that should get looked upon that doesnât is the obsession of social media and how it affects our generation. It isnât all bad but a lot of negativity can stem from social media. Ever since the pandemic and with technological advances there has been a massive incline in its use. Some things that can come from it are depression, bullying, lack of self esteem, health problems etc. Modern day people donât go out and socialize like they used to because everything can be done on your phone now, social media has caused a lot of people to become lazy and this is a reason for the rise of obesity as social media becomes more and more popular. Some people are even getting surgery because of what they see on Instagram with people photoshopping pictures of themselves because they see that and that becomes the norm of what beauty is because social media says it is, and thatâs making a lot of people feel insecure. There are even studies that show 9/10 girls are unhappy with the way they look due to this idealized body image caused by social media. Social media can be addicting to the point it can literally control somebody’s life as some people adopt a fear of missing out which has been proven to cause things like anxiety and depression. I personally donât think social media is going to be the downfall of the world. But I do think that people should just be more aware of the cons of social media so that we can thrive. Even if it means putting down the phone for a second to take a look outside, we need to be more conscious of the world around us rather than whatâs going on in our phones.
The photo by Gordon Parks I was assigned to describe is called Man Emerging. In the photo an African American man is poking his head out of a hole in the ground. The man is looking towards his left like he checking the area to make sure he wonât get caught. The photograph was shot at a low angle and there is an interesting contrast between light and dark in the photo. I find the contrast particularly interesting in the way the light hits part of the subjectâs face. Another characteristic I see is rule of thirds because the subject is not centered in the photo.
When doing the reading for this photo, I learned that this photo is part of collective of phots based on a book called Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The book is about a black man surviving in 20th century America and the book deals with things like black nationalism, black identity, Marxism, etc. In the book the narrator tells readers, âI live rent-free in a building rented strictly to whites, in a section of the basement that was shut off and forgotten during the nineteenth century.â So in reference to this quote Parks takes a picture of a man poking his head out of a pothole, suggesting that this is how the narrator got in and out of his forgotten basement home that he was illegally living in. So, based on this info, it shows the lengths black people had to go through to survive in such a racist and classist era.
American Gothic, Washington, D.C., 1942, Gordon Parks
The picture I was given was a picture from American Gothic by Grant Wood in 1942. The subject matter of the picture is an individual in a polka-dot dress holding up a broom and a mop in front of the American Flag. The subject isn’t smiling and looks very tense. It’s also in black and white. The composition is centered, with the individual being slightly off center. The flag is also a little off center, and reversed, with the stars being on the right of the flag instead of on the left. There is a sense of the rule of thirds, where the broom and the mop is the first box, the individual is the second box, and the flag is the third box. With the flag being slightly blurred in the background, it also gives a sense of depth with the use of shallow depth of field.
The photo looks like it had been taken inside of a large room, at least large enough to hand the flag so high. In 1942, the Second World War and racism were the biggest things going on. During this time, racism was still rampant, and woman weren’t allowed to join the war effort, so they had to stay home to cook and clean. The person in the photo is Ella Watson, who was working by herself to support her grandchildren after her husband was shot dead two days prior to one of her daughter being born. This was going on in Washington D.C., and during this time, living conditions for African Americans were subpar, to put it lightly. They lived in trashy neighborhoods with houses that looked like they were falling apart. I believe Watson also allowed for Parks to stay with her in her home while he took pictures of her and the surrounding community. Parks’ intentions for the photo was to show the hardships of African Americans in ties with the government, tying a story of discrimination and prejudice. The photo sort of conveys a sense of hopelessness and sadness that is seen through Parks’ works. This one feels sad because the individual looks defeated, as if she had given up or is just tired of the things going on in her community and around the nation. The hopelessness comes from her smaller stature in regards to the flag behind her. This leaves looking much smaller than the things going on around her.
In the photo, Evening wraps, I had noticed the focus being a couple dressed in the earlier 40âs-50âs confiding with each other. They are walking across the streets of New York City with a sign pointing to the left saying âOne Wayâ. Though the main characteristics I have seen was the not so saturated background, making a light and dark contrast from the bright red to the duller/cooler hued grays and blues and back. Another characteristic is the rule of thirds concept that this picture carries since they are not exactly in the middle but leaning or standing more towards the bottom right corner. Everything is accounted in the picture. The background, the city, the street and the couple. Nothing is too distant and out of focus, therefore everything has detail.
The meaning of this photo, Gordonâs definition, was to get the essence and sense of fashion which he loves within his camera. He shot many photos for vogue and life and essence just for the timed fashion of New York City. He moved to New York specifically because of his interest in the fast paced life that was so actively and lively throughout many different places. His models in this line of work was regular people of New York. He wanted to embody the fun and fashionable New York that many suburban people does not see.
Recent Comments