Wait for me, Daddy

"Wait for me, Daddy" by Clause P. Dettloff


"Wait for me, Daddy" is the touching photograph of a young boy chasing after his father who had just signed up to the war effort during WWII. In the picture the little white-haired boy is tugging away from his mother’s grasp and is rushing up to his father in the marching line. The mothers outstretched hand, the boy's reaching hand, the fathers turning smile, and the long line of marching men in the background, makes this an unforgettable image, and a heart-grabbing moment frozen for all time. In the picture the dad shifted his rifle to his other hand to hold his son's for a moment. This picture is also mesmerizing because it looks like a haunting snapshot of wars ability to tear families apart. Something that also adds an affect to this picture is the line of soldiers that looks to stretch on for miles and seems to be never-ending. You get the impression that these soldiers are going off to war as their wives and children walk alongside them, trying to hold onto those last precious moments with their loved ones.

Some may say this picture is sad or depressing because of its gray coloring and the fact that the line of soldiers stretches on to the horizon, which is full of many men who won’t return home to their families. But i don't think that's what this photo was trying to capture. I think it was trying to show the innocence of a child who doesn't understand or care about things like war, but just cares about love and family. I think this photo shows that love is the only thing that matters to a child. It's not war, or military tradition or anything else. This child's act doesn't just warm the father’s heart but it also warms the heart on the surrounding soldiers because you can see the smile on their faces.

Sometimes pictures are more affected by the colors and contrasts, but I believe this picture is mostly affected by its subject. The color and techniques could have an effect on the picture, but I don’t think they would have such an intense effect that it would change the importance of the picture. 

Gerald Cyrus

On Friday March 25, I attended an event which featured photographer Gerald Cyrus. He talked about his years of photography, what he loved to use as subjects and about his book. What I was most fascinated with is how the first ten years of his adult life he spent them as an accountant and was just doing photography as a hobby. It really helped me to understand that I can do anything I want and you don’t have to know what your passion is, or what you are going to do your whole life, when you are only 18 years old. What I liked most about his photography was that he mostly focused on his family and things he really loved like jazz.

The picture above was one of my favorite ones from his slideshow. What I find so interesting about this picture is that it stops time in a moment of happiness. Something that wasn’t planned or staged but just a moment in someone’s life. A moment that people look past and don’t really appreciate until the time has passed. I love that it captures the feeling of family but it also captures the feeling of happiness. When Gerald Cyrus was showing these pictures on the slideshow, this one especially caught my eye because it is such a sweet innocent moment in time.

I also really loved all of his pictures from the jazz clubs. They had such intense focus and precision and they showed the movement of the artists in such a different way. What I really love about his pictures is that you can tell he is focusing on things that he is very deeply interested in. I think it is important for photographers to capture something they love, rather than just something they think will sell. All of his pictures contain heart and soul. Every singly picture he showed were all unique and special in their own way, and I was really fascinated by his story and his career. 

Cigarette-Candy

Cigarette-Candy, Sally Mann, 1989

Cigarette-Candy is a photograph created by Sally Man in 1989. The main focus of the photograph displays a young girl holding a cigarette (candy). The image contains three figures; the iconic blonde holding a cigarette, another young girl in the right foreground and a young boys lower body can be seen in the left background where he is climbing a ladder. The main girl in the photograph is slouched away from the path behind her, unlike the other children in the picture who face the path ahead of them. Her stubborn pose, and cigarette in hand could symbolism the rebellion phase of a teenage girls life. Due to this cigarette in hand it may cause her to go down a different path in life than that of the other children in the photograph

I think one big thing that Mann was trying to do with this photograph is to illustrate the problem of children trying to mature too fast. A girl that age shouldn't be smoking a cigarette and I believe that is what she is trying to address. That children now think adulthood is so glorious and amazing that they try to speed up their childhood to get to it. What they don't realize though is that childhood is one of the greatest times of someones life and there is no point in trying to speed up that process.

It seems like Mann almost purposely added light on the young girl, because it seems as if she is so clear and in focus that she is glowing, as to signify her importance. As the viewer I felt very drawn in by the apathetic expression on the girls face. I feel like the further we try to look into this picture the more we will see. There is more than meets the eye. This is something that I think is very crucial. You never know what someone is going through and why they make the choices they make, but like this little girl, guidance is the best thing for them.

The Violin of Ingres

The Violin of Ingres by Man Ray, 1924

This photograph taken by Man Ray in 1924, transformed the female body into a musical instrument by having sound-holes painted on her back. This photograph is used to display the idea of objectification of a female body. However, this picture also creates a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female body. Man Ray's intentions are not completely clear in the photograph and it is so interesting how it operates on so many levels. It’s still confusing as to why he doesn't show the woman's arms, and it makes it harder to contemplate. He points out the irony of the shape of the women's body in comparison to a violin. He depicts this portrait of the woman with such delicate care given to her back and profile. The colors of this photograph seem so smooth and light, and create a sense of delicacy. The light grey and whites of the picture creates a warm touch to her body and the photograph. 

As he represents the woman as an instrument, it seems as though he is trying to assert things about women. I believe that he created this photograph to show that women are predictable and can be manipulated just like a violin. Man Ray models this women with the care like one would use upon an instrument of high craft. Her head and back make up the frame, modeled in precision like a violin. I love how he can use her body to make it look more than just a body, but something more interesting. Also what makes this photograph so interesting is that her head is wrapped, so that her hair doesn't fall down her back, which makes the subject slightly more ambiguous. This photograph depicts a time past, however, it’s meaning and representation is still true and relevant today.

Sailor kissing girl in Times Square

Sailor kissing girl in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt, V-J Day 1945 

Yet again here is another iconic photograph of the United States history. This photograph shows a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square when our triumph of World War II was announced. This photograph seems to represent to people what it felt like when World War II ended. I can only imagine how palpable the energy and excitement was at that moment. Imagine standing there in the middle of Times Square hearing the thousands of peoples cheers and screams and having that one moment stopped in time with this photograph.

The photograph is structured to have the kissing couple as the focal point and the one part of the photograph that is supposed to catch the viewers gaze. The contrast of the colors is just one of the ways in which the photographer creates a space around the couple. Another way the photographer creates space is by the focus of the camera lens. The camera focuses on the main figures, allowing things in the background to become blurry and out of focus, making the main figures even more prominent. The photograph features blacks and whites of different contrasts, and it creates an emphasis on the main figures because they are the most sharply defined colors.

70 years after this photograph was taken and every single piece, shade and line of the picture has been viewed, analyzed, and studied by millions of people, which it makes it hard to believe that the picture was, at one time, a reality. This photo is, and will remain to be, an iconic part of the United States history. That is what is so amazing about this photograph, even years after it was taken it can still represent the emotions of that day, so that we can all hold on to such a great feeling like that.

The Migrant Mother

The migrant mother, taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936

This iconic photograph was taken during the Great Depression in 1936. The picture shows a mother with her two children leaning on her, and an infant in her lap. This picture became so popular because it showed the world what was happening to people at that time. I think the most emphasized part of this photograph are the worry lines on the mothers face, frown of her mouth and hand placement on her chin. These three qualities add together to create an intense sense of worry, sadness, and lack of hope. This a photograph about class, which evokes not just sympathy but compassion, an impulse to help this struggling woman and her children. It seems to be a simple photograph of a woman and her children, but actually it tells the struggle of a time of our history.

One reason I really love this picture is because it portrays the emotion of a struggling mother, trying to figure out what she must do next to help her children stay alive. What I have always wondered was if the children were clinging to their mother and hiding their face because of shyness, or because they were trying to cling to any hope left to keep alive and looking for their mother for support. That is what is so interesting about this photograph, that there are so many things left unanswered and open to the interpretation of the viewer. Also there are so may qualities of this photograph that make it interesting, such as being used as a symbol of beauty, motherhood, Depression, loss of hope, or simply just a photograph. It is so interesting how one picture can exemplify so many different things and express so many different emotions. What I love the most is how this photograph can still be relevant even 80 years after it was taken.

Contemporary Indian Photography

Contemporary Indian Photography

The exhibit for Contemporary Indian Photography is one that shouldn’t be missed. The photographs express different scenes, themes, but somehow each one still catches your eye. What is really interesting is how the artist/artists in this exhibition make use of the camera’s power to document reality. To catch a moment in time that most people pass over and don’t ever think about. A lot of the photographs are so interesting because the pictures seem so spontaneous and not very planned or posed. Their pictures pose questions about identity, self-representation and truth. Also the photographs create visions and experiences such as desire, love, and self-empowerment.

Some of these photographs, or the ones I have posted here, include an emphasis on the lives of women and girls. I love how the pictures of the girls express themselves and female power. Their poses express empowerment and encouragement, with a strong visual appearance. These were my favorite pictures from the exhibit and that is why I decided to add them here. One reason why I was so interested by these pictures is that it seems like the girl are in control, that no matter what they have the power to overcome anything. Somehow I get a feeling of strength and encouragement just from their positions and facial expressions.

This exhibit was very interesting. There were some photographs that I was not a fan of, but even so I could still  find something interesting in them. The subject matters of the pictures were vastly different, but that’s why I think I liked most of them, especially since I was walking around an exhibit with different photographs with different meanings, instead of pictures that looked exactly the same. I enjoyed the vastly different emotions and objects of these photographs and I really enjoyed being able to visit the exhibit.