MEXICO. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas (Border). 1978. Prostitute outside nightclub.
Taking this photography class allowed for me to experience several locations throughout the city. One of these locations being Aperture which is located in Midtown, Manhattan. Aperture is a gallery which features works of well known photographers from around the world. During the time that I was there, the featured photographer was the well renowned Alex Webb.
Upon entering the gallery I was immediately taken in by the vibrant colors of the walls which held Webb’s photos. The focal subject of this specific exhibition was Mexico and the everyday lives of the locals. Most of the photos included several factors that embodied the country which allowed me to interpret how life may be for the locals. I also found it interesting how he was able to capture emotions through the use of colors and shadows in some of this photos. Most of the subjects in his photos are people and some of these subjects didn’t show their faces. This didn’t matter to me because I was able to interpret their mood through the way Webb captured shadows and colors in the photo.
One particular photo that stood out to me was the prostitute outside the nightclub. I was interested in this photo because of the color, decisive moment and shadows. The color that is dominant in this photo is blue. This tends to give off a more somber emotion since that it is a very cool toned color. The subject of this photo is presumably a prostitute who is reading a book. I would think that is the decisive moment that Webb is trying to capture since that prostitutes aren’t usually engage in reading. Another factor that stood out to me was the sign on top of the club. The sign is red which greatly contrast with the overall color of the picture. The shadows of the subject is also predominant is displaying the mood of the photo.
I found this exhibition to be very intriguing and encourage anyone who has the opportunity, to check it out and see his work as he embodies the country of Mexico.
The photo certainly does turn on the way Webb humanizes the prostitute by showing her reading. She is shown to have a mind not just a body.
It isn’t exactly a decisive moment. Its just too still. A decisive moment is usually in the middle of an action. We will talk about this more later in the semester.