Discussion 1 – Olivia VanBuskirk

1. Discuss how Dawoud Bey approaches the idea of using photography as a way of finding his voice. Describe one of his projects and the impact he sought to create with that project. Bey uses photography to find meaning and being able to walk away from the photos with something he did not have before. His photos of people going about their daily life in New York City gives the viewer a much more tender view of strangers and allows us to see outside of the scope of our own lives. A project of Beys is “Night Coming Tenderly, Black” which is focused on the underground railroads and the areas around them that went unnoticed. Bey’s objective with this project was to give a the audience an idea of what these runaway slaves were seeing and going through in the darkness of the woods. This is to allow us to empathize more with the people who bravely traveled through these tunnels to freedom.

2. Discuss how Carrie Mae Weems uses photography to find her voice. Describe the kitchen table project and the impact that she sought to create with the project. Carre Mae Weems took a minimalist place in her home and told a story of relationships, the challenges women face, and family life. She speaks of being able to do this in her own home whenever she wants and having control of the environment. Weems wanted to challenge the socially acceptable social living arrangements. She mentions how women hold the key to sex and future generations while men hold the key to power and I think that is depicted in her photos which sparks thought of how we can change that or how other relationships work.

3. How can you find your own voice? Finding my own voice must come from a place of passion and a message I want to convey to my audience to spark thought and change. It is important to feel something through the work because I want my work to make others feel something. It takes trial and error to find what it is that sparks that in me and seeing Weems work does bring inspiration since she did it all in one space with so many different emotion and messages.