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Representation in Photography

I love the internet, of course. It lets me access a whole wealth of content, my favorite being photographs. I’m very interested to see what everyone else is seeing through their perspective. I look at a lot of photo blogs, flickr accounts, so on, to get to see peoples photos. However, I am often disappointed and a bit confused. When I look at photographic work done by my generation, most of it looks the same. Most of what I see is white people,specifically ‘pretty,’ thin girls, doing whimsical things like running through a field or laughing while their hair blows in the wind or something. If you have a Tumblr I know you know what I’m talking about. Let me find an example…

I don’t want to discount anyones photographs. I’m not saying these photos are bad or should not be taken. This isn’t an issue of quality or validity of work. Its an issue of representation in youth photography. Where are the fat photographers/ photo subjects? The photographers of color? Trans photographers? I could even venture to ask where the financially lower class photographers are, as the people in these photos often appear to be well off (taken with high quality equipment, or color film which is pricey, but this is an assumption). I would love so much to see the perspectives of a broader range of people. I’m wondering, is it there and just hiding in an unfound corner of the internet, or are the only people my age using photography as an outlet white skinny people? Of course there are layers of nuances here relating to socioeconomic issues, the narrative visual media maintains, and so on. But I hope that a wider demographic of people will being to be represented in photography.

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How?

I’m not surprised in the slightest by the failure of the justice system to indict Darren Wilson. In the eyes of our society, black bodies and lives do not matter, and it’s no shock to anyone who knows any statistics on black male imprisonment that the law would side with an armed police officer’s right to self-defense before coming to the defense of an unarmed black man. The correlation is direct, it is salient, and it is hiding in plain sight behind the bars of our prisons. The justice system in no way favors black men, and so even one who was killed by said justice system is at the mercy of the same racism as those being charged with crime. Were Mike Brown still alive, it’s possible that he could be the one facing time for aggravated assault of a police officer and attempted robbery of the convenience store which he allegedly stole cigars from.

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What’s the deal with looting?

I’m not going to count this as one of my actual blog posts, but I would just like something clarified a bit. What is the deal with looting? I think I understand that it involves going to stores in mass chaos and taking anything you want from them (this is my understanding from the media’s portrayal, which I understand is most likely pretty skewed). I am just interested to know more about the connection between this and the Ferguson case. Does it have anything to do with race? I must admit, I was a bit confused by Dr. Kate’s question at the end of class today. What is the connection between boycotting and looting? Are they the same thing? What’s the deal? I figured this was the best place to ask a question like this, because I am always interested and curious to see what my classmates (and others) think about this.

Any help understanding this would be very helpful. Thanks!

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Create Love. Create Beauty. Create Art.

Just a few days ago I got into a heated debate with a stranger online about whether models are “artists” or not. I was just scrolling down my twitter and saw, “Models really consider themselves artists??” Normally I would ignore something like that, but recently I’ve made the decision that I personally will learn how to express myself better as an artist, so that the world can perceive me the way that I see myself. With that being said, I do not consider myself a model in any way or form but I felt the need to defend it…..for the sake of art. Like, who are we to judge who is and who is not an artist? There are a ton of various forms of art and I believe that if you, as a person, believe that you are creating art who am I to say you are not an artist? I believe that art is subjective, there is no way I can give you any one definition of what art is. It’s all in the individuals perception. Continue reading →

To Insinuate or to Transform
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To Insinuate or to Transform

Whether I’m wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I am always the same person inside.

-Lady Gaga

As a child up until about 7th grade I would consider myself to had been a tomboy with girly qualities. I never wanted to put on a dress, wear dressy shoes, heels, get my hair done, and not even thinking about makeup. As I got older from high school on out, I believe I fell more into wanting to get dolled up. So makeup was a big part of that right. I soon became interested in buying foundation, and eyeliners, mascara etc. I liked doing my makeup to an extent and now, I almost wear it everyday. I personally don’t feel bound by makeup because I still go out without it. Another part of me wants to always wear it for the extra confidence boost because its insinuating. But here is where the real problem is; when is it overboard and no longer only insinuating but more trans-formative.

Society now gets on women for wearing too much makeup or making themselves look different from their natural look. When I am around my dad, boyfriend, or brother its always the “ohh she is wearing too much makeup” judgement. Many are now concerned they won’t know how someone really looks. But should that be the main concern and why is it this way. I feel society puts pressure on women to look a certain way. People now go out their way to have a certain look and to still be judged.

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Mental Illness, Society, and Work

I have been thinking about this past class’s questions a lot and how disability can really take a toll especially in the way our society is built. Being in a capitalistic society means that we must be constantly producing and consuming, but people with disabilities can’t produce/ work in the same way as people without disabilities can. People with mental illness can’t predict when they will have panic attacks and can’t plan their work schedule around them. And other mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia) can keep a person from working at all which in turn can keep them from receiving treatment (since they can’t pay for it). A lot of this also has to deal with stigma and ignorance when it comes to mental illness. Continue reading →

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Black Bodies Matter

*Trigger Warning* Mike Brown’s death discussed in detail

I wanted to write about American Horror Story but I got sidetracked and sickened by the foul display of an American Horror Story of my own, the disregard for black life. As you may already know, Darren Wilson was not indicted for the shooting death of Michael Brown, a teenager that was heading to college mere weeks before the shooting. Why did I put that information about college?  Because that was told to me since I was young that I should go to college to make something of myself so that I could be more accepted by the overall white patriarchy. He, unarmed, was shot six times, twice in head, twice in the torso, twice in the arm. Why did I give that gruesome information about his unnecessary death? To let you know that being unarmed won’t fucking save you from your eventual demise as a black person in this country. His body was left in the street for a total of 4 and half hours. Why did I give that detail about his body after the shooting? It is clear that to much of the public that black bodies are dispensable and a hassle to clean up.

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Hands Up, Don’t Shoot

Yesterday I participated in the Mike Brown protest at UMBC in front of the UC. Not just because I’m black and i felt i HAD to but walking past the people who have been there since 8am and thinking of what they were fighting for, I felt at that moment that was the best way I could show my support. I’ve been following the since August, when we first learned of the shooting. Continue reading →

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On Being a Twin: Or Please Stop Pointing Out To Us That We Are, In Fact, Two Different People

Scan 3

Lookin’ cool in our favorite JC Penny’s sweats

As many of you know, I have a twin, and she’s pretty damn cool. Growing up as a twin was the best thing ever.  While I won’t pretend I wasn’t annoyed when Annie would steal my favorite lion shirt or would get on my case about not cleaning up my half of the room, it was pretty amazing having someone who you shared everything with so completely–someone who knew you better than anyone in the world. Annie and I are fraternal (not identical) so while we tried to switch places and pretend to be each other once or twice, nobody bought it. We were forced to accept that there weren’t going to be any Mary Kate and Ashley-style shenanigans in store for us, and after getting over that initial tragedy, we became comfortable with the fact that we were just totally different people, inside and out. Continue reading →