Hands Up Dont Shoot: Photos from Ferguson

Robert Frank’s photos are now just a window of the past injustice amongst blacks living in America while Scot Olsen’s photos are a vivid reminder of the failed times we live in. I would consider both sets of photography as first hand documents in the process and long history of the fight for equality in America. Feelings of inferiority can be felt in the times that Robert Frank has taken why the sensations of anger, violence, and pain can be felt through the images of Ferguson. After decades of fighting for equality, one would have thought that by now America as a country would have made some drastic improvements. However in the past few weeks with photos surfacing from Ferguson, it seems that the some odd decades that have past has just been a continuing cycle of injustice. In a sense, if both Robert Frank’s and Scot Olsen’s photos were shown side by side it would create the feeling of deja vu.

hands up don’t shoot

When i look at these photographs it really upsets me to see how these police men are heavily armed and the way they are treating these civilians. One of the photographs shows about six police men pointing a gun at one man who has his arms up. these shows that the police are at war with civilians. How can they mishandle civilians as if they are in a war zone. The police should know that they are dealing with civilians and that they are not at war and they should know how to handle demonstrations like these without hurting anyone. i think the police need to be retrained on how to handle the civilians, they are being too aggressive on their approach they need to calm down and stop being on urge all the time. the police need to regain the trust that the public have in them in order for them to do their job right. Their job is to maintain law and order and also to protect the public and if the public no longer has the confidence in the police how are they going to do their jobs well if the very people they are sworn to protect do not trust them.

The New American Dustbowl: Documenting California’s Drought

The photos from the article and the short video were quite interesting. Both pieces shed more light on the problem of California’s farming lands going through a terrible drought. As the average person that does not live in California or is not involved in farming, it is hard for us to find out or even be directly effected by what is going on in California. People as a whole wouldn’t have realized that a drought was even occurring in California until they would have gone to the store one day looking for a case of their favorite tomatoes or fruit, only to realize that they are no more. The video and photos help raise awareness and hopefully with enough recognition some sort of mass action can be taken in order to combat this issue.

Documenting California’s drought

Looking at these pictures you really get a glimpse to what these farmers are going thought and the effects these drought have the lives of the farmers and the country as a whole. Since most of our produce come from California not only does the drought affect the farmers it also affects the country because things become very expensive because we have limited amounts. Looking at these pictures you can see how these drought affects the land and make it very difficult for farmers to grow any crop. It is very difficult for crops to even survive without water and even if they do survive they do no look as fresh as they will usually do. These pictures look more realistic i grew up in a country where i did not rain most of the time and the land was very dry and dusty and i have experienced it before so when i look at these pictures i can see the frustration that these farmers go through. Without rain and no irrigation system it would be very hard for these farmers to be able to work and feed their families. They do not only work to feed their families but they feed the nation as a whole so it is a national problem which must be solved .

Week 13 Hands up Don’t shoot

By reading the article based on the ferguson protest, starting off by saying that these photographers really put their lives in danger because they have police that are very strong armed and in any shot being fired you can die. Comparing it kent state I believe that in both ways photographers that specialize themselves with this risk their lives to show us what goes on around the world.

Robert capa and the greatest war photography

Looking at the photograph i do not think that it was staged most people are believe that he could have staged this photograph. but looking at this picture up close there is no way he could have staged this photograph and gotten this perfect image without it being real. Looking at how the soldier is falling on his back you can tell that he has been shot in his arm that is the only explanation for his body posture and how he is falling on his back. Most people also argue that if he was really shot then he must have blood and that they can not see any blood. first this is a black and white photograph it would be very hard to detect any sign of blood from this photograph and also from the angel that he was shot which seem to be his left arm it would be very hard to see any kind of blood. The way the soldier is holding the gun and the way his foot is placed there is no way he staged this. capa just happen to be at the right place at the right time to be able to capture  that soldier at his last moment before he hit the ground and died.

rock star food behind the scene

when i looked at all the food that this stars order behind the scene i am like they must be crazy people to want these specific things and some of them do not even make any sense to me like cheese on ice what is that, what is the ice suppose to do make the cheese cool that is ridiculous. Most of these foods also say alot about the musicians like Beyonce with her chicken and spices, you can tell for her food choice that she is not a boring person she is very daring and very strong and independent woman who is not afraid to take chances. Looking a Busta rhymes you can tell he likes to sleep around with women alot that is why he would order a box of condoms with his chicken. Maria Carey you can tell she is a very classy lady who likes to  do things very professionally and is also very serious about her work. Looking at all these ridiculous things that these star order i wonder if they do eat regular food that we do eat then again why wont they order all these ridiculous things when they have all these ridiculous schedules and they work without rest. at least they get to have all they want at the end of their busy schedules.

Robert Capa and the Greatest War Photograph

I completely agree with this article. There are simply too many factors that promote the theory that this photo was staged. One must think, in the midst of a gun battle or battlefield how is it possible for a photographer to capture such a photo with absolutely no gore? Another question I personally thought to myself was how is it that the cameraman left that scene unharmed? The trajectory of the shot and the soldiers physical response did not add up to me, but if the photo was not staged I salute Mr. Capa on such a powerful photo. However if it was staged, I would probably feel the same way. The photo was distributed in order to portray and evoke some sort of feelings, and in my opinion the photo did just that.

Week 11, The New American Dust Bowl

By looking at the short film about California’s agriculture, I realized that this issue has gone to an extreme, it is really sad, there really isn’t any water in that land, everyday it is dryer and dryer and it doesn’t rain at all. Sometimes we may fear what is gonna happen next, is there going to be enough vegetables and fruits for everyone in the world? I also noticed that all the pictures were in black and white and they look so real because the people in the picture don’t notice that they are being photographed.

Photography and the early effect

I am not a big fun of the these old kind of movies but then the movement of the people in the movie suggest that the camera being used its one of the earliest camera developed because the quality of the picture is not that sharp and clear and it is really hard to follow. This is similar to the earliest photography as it was also in black and white and most of the objects seem to be out of focus not really focusing on one particular thing. The music in the video is  very destructing and just could not focus with that kind of music playing at the background. this shows how much film has developed over the years as it has got perfect picture and everything seem to be in focus and perfect. I am impressed about how it has film making has evolved over the years and really improved as photography has also improved over the years. With photography the camera has now become very portable and handy and it takes pictures really up close and sharp and everything seem to be focused, so has film it has also changed over the years which is very impressive.