LC 09

I enjoyed listening to the interpreter talking about all background stories while our class was browsing certain photographs. Unfortunately, the interpreter didn’t guide us through every single photo. However, I was still glad our English professor arranged this visit for us so I had a chance to see some historical photos from Baruch collection and to be reminded that there are identities people want to escape. I should feel content with what identities I have right now.

The museum is very small and quiet. Before going to museum, I was expecting to see more paintings, arts, prints and sculptures. The Sidney Mishkin, the name of the gallery is very interesting to me. Why did the gallery name after Sidney Mishkin? From the home page of the Sidney Mishkin Gallery, I learned that the museum is named after Sidney Mishkin. He is a child of the Russian immigrant, he contribute the arts to Baruch which make up the Mishkin Collection. From the visit to museum, I know that people donate these collections to Baruch College as gift. This is kind this teaching Gallery to give us a lesson about a brief background information about the photographs. The speaker is willing and happy to explain each photograph and take us go through each photographs. Even though I like to see more paintings, sculpture, print and photograph, still I enjoyed this visit; know the crisis that each different group is facing. In high school, I saw a movie about Rwandan Genocide which talks about the conflict between Hutus and Tutsi. In this gallery, I saw a photograph about it. I can really connect the movie this photograph.

Before we went to the gallery, I image that gallery is a big place with many interest pictures. When we went into the gallery, I was disappointed, because the gallery is small and only like 20 photos. All photos look old and with no special effect. I started feeling boring. However, after explanation, I gradually became interested in those pictures. At first the image is referred to the individual’s identification; identify our identity in our society. Everyone in the society have their own identification, and belongs to a group.

       After identification photos, there is something about certain people or events photos. One of the most interesting photo is that a black girl in the picture. The picture is a child soldier in Africa, branded with RUF on her chest. After knowing the background story of this picture, and make me started think about a very familiar movie, bloody diamond. I saw this movie last year in high school, it is about some black criminal leaders arrested or killed some people in villages for them to dig diamonds. Children became their slaves and trained to kill. When I saw this movie, I didn’t really think about it. But while visiting the gallery, it brings back my memory and makes me think about their circumstances. They are misfortune to get into wrong group, but that also encourage me a lot. Because we have opportunity to gain a better life and we have a better group.

By the visiting of the gallery, I see a lot of special photos. All of those photos identify some special people. Such as soccer fans are eating at the time of the Soccer World Cup, movie stars and an adolescent girl who is violated. These three photos impress me deeply.

The photo of soccer fans is taken in 2006. In the photo we can see some Swedes went to German to see the Soccer World cup. They dress the same clothes, wear the same kind of sunglasses, and even draw the same picture on their faces. They really like this sport. Sports are without border, they beyond race and language. I remember the first time I saw the NBA on TV. I can not understand what the narrator is saying; I do not know what the names of those basketball players are. However, they make me like this sport.

Another photo amazes me because I see Marilyn Monroe when she was young, Clark Gable and some other movie stars. This photo is funny, because although they are in the same photo, they almost have no relation to each other. Everybody has a special position. Marilyn has a cute smile and Clark has the deep eyes.

Among all the photos in the gallery, the photo shocks me mostly is the one of an adolescent girl who is violated. Her breast is carved. Furthermore, a lot of girls like her at that country would be slaves or sex toys. We can not imagine what their futures will be. We even can not imagine whether they can have their own futures.

Except these three, there are a lot of excellent photos in the gallery. Some of them have the happy time; some of them have the war background. From this visit, I can see how different the whole world is.

My point is the difference between my high school in China and my college life in the USA. I think the most different part is the way of teaching from the professors. In my High School, my teacher focuses on how to solve every problem, and try to find different ways to solve every problem. However, in my college life, my teacher focuses communicating with students. They encourage students to solve problems by themselves. I can not say which way is better, but the different cultures make me exciting.

The visit to the Mishkin Gallery was really special to me, because I do some drawing myself, too. Though drawing is different from photographing, but they both are art. I was fascinated by the topic of “group”. As we all know, every single one of us belongs to a group. It may be your family, your class, your career, or your country. The photo in the gallery shown many types of group, the first one we saw is the group of FIFA world cup fans. The picture shown us their happiness and excitement of the soccer ball fans; it seems that I can feel the joy with them. The way that these fans dressed up perfectly demonstrated the theme of “group”. These fans wore the same shirts, pants, cap, and even sunglasses. Right away you can tell that they are a group. Being in a group is also an honor. I remember in one of the picture, where a company hosted a dinner party, with all the employees wearing the exact same shirt. I think this photo shown us that it’s an honor to be in a group, and be passionate about it. I was surprise to see a picture of Marilyn Monroe there, where she’s also in a group. As far as I have known, Marilyn Monroe was always an individual in pictures, with no one else in the picture to flaw her beauty. The picture was somehow funny to me. Marilyn Monroe poses like a celebrity, but other men were just like rednecks and rude cowboys. It’s such a huge contrast against Marilyn Monroe. The picture was a group of irregulars with no similarity.
In conclusion, the Mishkin gallery was really interesting; I learned a lot of things there. Being in a group is very important to us, because that’s how we learn about socialization and interaction with other. Maybe sometime you involuntarily become a member of group, but you know that you can never live alone.

On Tuesday, we visited the Sidney Mishkin Gallery. “A Social Context: Group Photography and Identity” is the theme of current exhibition. The photos include images that come from different groups, such as family, ethnic and organization. One of the most shocked photos that I saw was Candace Scharsu’s portrait of a female child soldier in Sierra Leone, branded for life with RUF (Revolution United Front) etched on her chest. It is unbelievable human can be so cruel.

 Mishkin Gallery is the first workshop I visited. We got there last Tuesday. There were many photographs which make me enjoyable. The theme of the photos is group identity. The employee introduced the Gallery and explained some photos. Many photos were original to me because I have never gotten in touch with these groups. These photos show happiness, sadness, kindness, distress and so on. That was a good experience to know some group i don’t know before. I hope there will have more interesting photographs.

Visiting the Sidney Mishkin gallery was a pleasant and valuable experience for me.

When the tour around the gallery began, it took my interest completely at once. The gallery shows different exhibits. Now you can enjoy viewing some photos taken by well-known photographers like Larry Fink, Garry Winogrand, Andy Warhol, Lucien Clergue, Neal Slavin, Gilles Peress, Candace Scharsu and Elliot Erwitte. These respected artists are considered as “icons” of the world of the Photography Art. The Mishkin gallery represents mostly black-and white pictures, but you also can see some color pictures. Nevertheless, black-and-white pictures seemed stronger.

Looking at the pictures I admired simplicity of many pictures and got assured in one Russian proverb that “All genius is simple”. All of these artists learned and developed an amazing skill of going far more away from the “box” thinking. That’s why everyone of them has a unique style of photographing. Some pictures show events and objects we would never think to capture. Some pictures show celebrities but majority shows unknown people and ordinary events. Andy Warhol said, “I’ve never met a person I couldn’t call a beauty.” I think this is the main driven force why real artists can find something/someone unique among ordinary people and places.

All pictures shown in the gallery are unique and worth respect. What really touched me were the pictures made by Gilles Peress and Candace Scharsu. They shock people and sometimes disgust. I think I am not the only person to think this way. The pictures of Blood Diamond War Series would never leave someone indifferent. Neal Slavin, one of the artists of the exhibit, once said, “Every picture tells a story.” And this, I think, is absolute truth. But pictures of Blood Diamond War Series tell us an extremely dramatic and sad story of suffer and death of small children. It’s just impossible to forget.

Being under the influence of power and uniqueness of those pictures, I came home and started browsing the web in searching for more works of these artists. I really admire people, who can familiarize us with the beautiful world of the Photography Art.

hello~

on thursday I went to the photo gallery in baruch and saw many pictures with groups that defines their identity. Some of them were in a group that they liked to be in and some of them wanted to escape from the group that they’re in. After looking at all the pictures I thought about my own group and I felt lucky that I have a group that I like!~