In all honestly, I didn’t really think that much of the gallery. I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time, but it just felt boring and didn’t catch my attention. The gallery consisted solely of old photographs that I probably could’ve found on my own in a textbook or something. The woman guiding the “tour” didn’t really seem that engaged in the photographs either. My memory of the photographs themselves is very limited, but there was nothing that stuck out or resonated with me. I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t appreciate art.

https://www.google.com/search?q=working+hard&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS485US485&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5auPUpPBHoXLsATL04CQBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=508#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=HzVMvRIBVHkU8M%3A%3BNhZHIwOW5EuX6M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fus.123rf.com%252F400wm%252F400%252F400%252Fmammothis%252Fmammothis1202%252Fmammothis120200004%252F12475224-office-worker-working-hard-and-waiting-for-the-end-of-the-working-day.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.123rf.com%252Fphoto_12475224_office-worker-working-hard-and-waiting-for-the-end-of-the-working-day.html%3B1200%3B864

I feel the picture represents my time at Baruch best. I mostly relax but when the midterms and exams come up i have to study. I work really hard and put a lot of effort into everything i do and the results are As and Bs. College isn’t as hard as people told me, i mean i was expecting readings and essays every week but the only time i have to actually do work is when the exams come up.

My First semester at Baruch was definitely  an eye opener.

In the beginning my eyes were closed, not literally but in the sense that i based my decisions and judgements solely off my experiences. I quickly learned that this was not the way to go, so as the semester progressed i gradually opened my eyes, again figuratively, allowing new friendships to form, and with those friendships came new experiences. When i think about my first semester at Baruch now, my eyes are wide open, i think about everyone Ive met , all the new friends i made and all the good times I had.

https://www.google.com/search?q=an+eye&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uZqPUrCTEOHIsAS6rIK4Bg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=911#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=9Kd6Ow8ojhMOpM%3A%3Bl7Okajqy74bn7M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimgs.steps.dragoart.com%252Fhow-to-draw-an-eye-in-pencil-step-5_1_000000022023_5.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.dragoart.com%252Ftuts%252F4431%252F1%252F1%252Fhow-to-draw-an-eye-in-pencil.htm%3B1788%3B1224

Although the museum trip is barley hanging on in my memory, i can recount two pictures that were burned into my mind, The portrait of the woman who lived during the dust bowl, and The police walking through a town in riot gear and bystanders watched. What caught my attention in the woman’s portrait was the fact that this woman showed absolutely no emotion in the picture itself but i was able to sense her pain, and suffering from living during that time period. The other photograph of the police in riot gear, i feel that based off the bystanders faces this was a normal occurrence because they did not look scared or angry, they were calm even allowing their kids to watch what was going on. As i think about my experience, it is astonishing how works of art can impact, and influence somebody. And i guess as the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

The museum itself was quite boring. The lady speaking dragged on trying to be interesting and looked kind of uncomfortable. Most of the images looked as if they were taken from the forgotten pages of textbooks begging for their 15 seconds of fame. One photograph did catch my attention however. A photograph by Larry Fink. I learned more when I went home and researched Mr. Fink then in the hour spent in the workshop.  The way he catches moments at parties and social events in black and white really opened my eyes. It shows how there are two sides to everything. The side which is obvious to everyone, the skin deep meaning, and the meaning you have to look for, how each moment is precious and can make or break the moment following it. That one must seize not the day, but each moment and make the best of it all.

In more ways than one, this picture (a fan drawing of characters from “Ouran High School Host Club”) depicts my current experience at Baruch. The first, and sadly not humorous, way is that it represents the various stress that school is putting on me, mainly from getting no sleep and having increased responsibility. Now onward to the humorous parts.

The main reason I chose this picture, even after saying that I would not choose something from this anime, was because of the personality of the main character, Tamaki (the blonde haired guy). He is portrayed often thinking highly of himself, but also has his clueless moments, the latter which is shown in this picture. This is basically how I feel in Baruch right now, as I have various moments of thinking of myself in such a manner (eg. calling myself an adorably amazing being) but also get left clueless. The picture also shows Tamaki willingly giving up power to Haruhi (the person in the doctor’s coat), something that he does not do often. Most of the time, I find myself giving up power in different situations (willingly or unwillingly), whether it be me never choosing where to go eat food or saying something differently after being given a stern look. Lastly, when I look at this image, I somewhat see Tamaki asking himself “What the hell did I do to be in this situation? Better yet, why the hell am I here right now?” Those questions are two that I find myself thinking waaaaay too many times.

Image location: http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5000000/Haruhi-and-Tamaki-ouran-high-school-host-club-5005628-1024-768.jpg

Sean Brock

Personally, I did not really find the ‘trip’ to the gallery intriguing at all. Sometimes when I look at art, it gets me thinking, however, the fact that majority of what was shown were photographs makes me seem like I wasted time on something that I could view on my laptop in the warm and comforting confines of my inner sanctum (my room) or in a history textbook. If we were shown more paintings, sculptures or other works of similar nature, I probably would have found the gallery more substantial, but because that was not the case, I feel like I spent my time in a library rather than an art gallery. This is not to say that the gallery was bad, I just feel like I was mislead into what I was going in to see. I also find it sad that the only thing that resonated with me was the fact that there was a kid that had an afro that looked like me……

The gallery at the Baruch museum was a very interesting place, from which  I perceived and learned a lot. There were many interesting photographs one of the most interesting ones was the one with New York during the 1920s. IT showed how packed NY was and how everyone was rushing to get to work.  Another interesting photo was the one of the child soldier and the brand that they had. But the photograph i liked the most was the one of the riot and how the police were going through with shields and batons while the people were just standing there.