Documerica

I really enjoyed this exhibition because it captures a time in America when awareness like pollution was starting to come to a forefront. I felt like these photographs really captured what Americans were experiencing a change in our environment. Growth in every direction from building on rural land to booming highways and ever growing factories our country was going through a pollution crisis.

 One of the photographs that stood out to me were one in which Arthur Trees did, Breezy Point. It looked as if he captured an abandoned apartment community that was now in the middle of a wasteland. This image looks like where all the junk in the world goes to rot.

Another photograph that stood out to me was Tomas Sennett’s in which three men were standing out in front of an environmental office. I like this one in particular because of the fact that one of the men is standing with a bike. I feel like this reflects of pre-pollution and the start of “going green” with riding a bicycle. I thought it was kind of ironic. I also liked his photo of the California Western Rail Road because the train looked abandoned in the way in which he had captured the image. It is like this place is the resting grounds for trains because highways had replaced railways.

I think my most favorite image from this series is by Flip Shulke. This image captures three elderly women sitting out on the front porch of a retirement hotel. I love this image because of the sign in the background stating the name of the hotel, “The New Bolivar Hotel” and then these older women are sitting under the sign. I felt like there is a little bit of satire there.

I think Documerica is really amazing because it helped me visually see the struggles in which America went through with pollution. I still feel like we are struggling with this in some aspect, but we have definitely have come a long way.

Touching Strangers by Richard Renaldi

I thought the exhibit Touching Strangers by Richard Renaldi was very powerful. I love the idea that he had with bringing strangers together and posing them in a way in which how close one would be with a loved one. I think it is interesting on how he was able to photograph two complete strangers in such a way that the majority of the people looked comfortable. I felt like there were only a few instances in which the poses looked uncomfortable, but I feel that would be expected between complete strangers. I love how he had most of the subjects look directly into the camera because I feel like it makes you more connected with that person. I thought it was interesting in how Renaldi brought together people of different races and ages as it shows how really connected we are as a society regardless of how different we really are.

My favorite image from this exhibit was of the older woman and the man who was kneeling in front of her their hands interlocking together. I love how these two people are so different in age and they are giving the exact same expression. It is almost like they are reflecting their pose to make the viewer more connected to them, like they are one person. I think it is a really great exhibit because with these portraits I feel like one can picture their self in each portrait. It makes me wonder how comfortable I would really be if I had to be this close to a complete stranger. I would feel like I would give an awkward pose showing how uncomfortable I really would be, but looking at these portraits I feel like you really do not get a sense of that. I think really the only ones you do get a sense of people being uncomfortable are the few where some of the subjects are not even looking at the camera, giving us insight of these are actual strangers brought together to create a powerful portrait.

Day 1

I've never blogged before so this will definitely be an interesting learning experience.