Gaza Girls- Lubiana
I chose the photobook Gaza Girls by Monique Jaques. In this photobook it depicts the reality of girls living in the Gaza Strip. The photos in the book are very raw and real, as the photographer takes pictures of their daily lives. Some photos are lighthearted showing girls enjoying their own time, and coming together. Some show photos of the realities of war photographing houses being destroyed, women living in violence and unfair treatment. One photo shows a child living with their mother in prison, another showing a women passing by a mural that is painted to discourage domestic violence. I like that the book focuses on showing both realities. Monique Jacques photos showcase girls finding peace in a place where it feels impossible to be free. It shows photos of girls dancing in their homes, catching up with their friends, graduating, and playing sports. Every photo feels sincere and real and I could feel the resilience of the young women in Gaza. At the end of the book the girls share anonymously about their secrets, hopes and dreams.
On the Street – Bill Cunningham
This collection of Bill Cunningham’s photography spans five decades, providing a glimpse into the city of New York throughout these eras. His work captures the fashion, culture and history of the city, and provides a visual guide through the changes that took place.
In his photography, Cunningham explores the defining features of each decade–from bold patterns and textures in the 80s to printed shirts and denim in the early 2000s. He captures these finer details, as well as the tone of each decade through
Cunningham’s eye for detail is evident in his photography–he notes how New Yorkers accessorize (intentionally and accidentally) with statement jewellery, animals and random objects. His captures highlight everything from monochromatism–the way people incorporate colour in unexpected ways such as in hair colour and eccentricism in the 2010s–patterns, funky shoes, and outfits matching the environment.
His work is linked by the threads of fashion and New York life that allow each photo to exist both alone and as a part of his collection.
Yadira Gonzalez – Jerome Ave
Jerome Avenue contains portraits of the local people and businesses of the eponymous street captured by 18 photographers of the Bronx Photo League from the Bronx Documentary Center. Many of the subjects work in auto repair shops, hair salons, grocery stores and as street vendors. The photos, all in black and white, were taken by the photographers using 30-year-old Hasselblad film cameras, which have 12 pictures to a roll, and manual-focus lenses; the photos were developed in the BDC’s darkroom. Photographers spent the summer and fall of 2015 documenting the community. As many other photographers have tried to capture before, this book is a compilation of photos of a neighborhood desperately trying to evade gentrification and rezoning. Through the various images, it becomes clear that faith and family play a crucial role in maintaining optimism. Many of the photos that stuck out to me include families attending religious services, and parents who continue working as mechanics in order to support their children. The fear and overprotectiveness that the people feel for their community pervades the photographs, many of them accompanied by quotes from locals expressing their desire to preserve the culture of their thoroughfare for posterity. Alone, each photograph tells a story about a particular family or an individual that has established themself among the streets of the Bronx. Together, the photos work harmoniously to lead us into this world as if the viewer just hopped off the 4 train and took a stroll down the avenue, while keeping a respectful distance.
Undocumented, John Moore
Nicole Ramírez
Diagram of The Heart- Nayhla N.
Diagram of the Heart by Glenna Gordan is about women from Northern Nigeria who write romantic novels in secret. The strict ways of society there are due to a terrorist group called Boko Haram which translates to “Western education is sinful”. Women aren’t allowed to write about love and marriage but they do so anyways. Glenna Gordan made sure to document it in her own way. Snapping pictures of various women in their safe spaces where they create and write their books. Most photos taken are of people in vibrant clothing surrounded by a dark background. Bringing your attention to the subjects of the photo.
The pictures of different hand writing is the one that stands out to me the most. Your hand writing is your signature. To capture the drafts of these women crafting their books makes the story Gordan is trying to show the world, real. Especially knowing that these women are being told to do something they love to do. Some would lose their lives over expressing their words to share with the world.
The photo book I chose was “When We Were Strangers”. The book itself is different from a traditional book, from the way it’s bound to the papers it uses. The first few pages are see-through with words on each page, giving it the illusion that the further you dive into the pages, more is revealed. It shows a lot of intimate moments between the the two lovers. The picture subjects vary: the two men, a messy bed, moments during dates. The feelings the pictures emit are cozy and offer a sneak peek into their lives. The casualness and how laidback the pictures are are what makes this photo book work for me. It’s the quiet life. There’s no grand display and spectacle of love, it’s the moments in between.
The way the book is designed plays a role in this as well. Just like how the two lovers grew to understand each other, peeling back the layers to show their true self, the book has unconventional pages. Some of the pages fold, allowing you to “peel back the layers” just as they did. Because this book has two authors, the few pages that do have writing on them are written with two different languages, English and Spanish. They all recount when they were dating and how they each felt during certain moments.
The photo book certainly evokes that feeling of getting to know someone. Slowly, you learn likes and dislikes, what makes them who they are, and what it means to stick with someone. Flipping through the pages, I was able to get an idea of what their love looks like. Having a photo book like this as a testament and proof of one’s love is so powerful to me. It immortalizes them, and their love lives on even longer then they will.
Infidel
“Infidel” follows a US platoon in the Korengal Valley. Shot by Hetherington and written by Sebastian Junger. Each shot focuses on building a relationship with the soldiers. These shots show us their physical attributions and their personality. Their tattoos on their body, their facial expressions, and even the way they pose in the portraits. What mostly stood out to me is Sleeping Soldiers. Individual shots of the soldiers sleeping. The photographer took different moments in his stay to capture the soldiers sleeping. It shows how vulnerable they are, they are human just like the rest of us. The sleeping portraits didn’t show any action but it spoke so much of who they are. The peace that overcomes you when seeing the portraits, you think to yourself how they can be sleeping in the middle of war. Their platoon isn’t a team it’s a family, they care for each other and are so similar. The tattoos not only were visually impactful but they were very symbolic. Eagles and guns to symbolize the dead. Graffiti in their huts to foreshadow death and power. It’s almost as if they were preparing to die and weren’t afraid to invite death in. The second most impactful photo was “Loved ones”. It shows a soldier showing the inside of his helmet where a photo of his loved one is. A woman in a black shirt and gray skirt. A picture to remember who he’s fighting for, who they are all fighting for.
TESTAMENT CHRIS HONDROS
The most striking thing when reading through Testament is the wide breadth of locations and conflicts that are covered. The genuine nature of humanity shines through despite the suffering in these different conflicts. I found the spread framing of a car window to be the most visually engaging images throughout the entire book. I also should warn anyone who is interested in reading this book that there is a lot of violence and death on display. There is a shot of bodies being buried in a mass grave, and there is just a dump truck of trash being unloaded on top of them. This is not a read for the faint of heart or uneasy of stomach.
The aspects of humanity on display relate more to the response to violence rather than the violence itself. There is the famous shot of the young girl who’s parents had been shot in their car, and this book shows all the images related to that accidental execution. The images following the events are much more involved than the singular shot we had seen in class before, and show all the steps that the soldiers took to try and right their wrongs.
Overall I found this to be a very powerful book. I had gratitude for my life and how little violence I have had to endure in contrast to these people who’s entire lives are either ruined or ended by war.
Thursday, April 27
Reminder: If you have not yet completed a breaking news story assignment (the Ukraine one-year anniversary, Phagwah parade, or the Trump arraignment) you must complete one by the last class of the semester (May 16). I have been trying to give options that will work for as many people as possible, and I will continue to keep an eye out for stories that would work for this assignment, but if you have not yet been able to complete one of these three options, you should start looking for a breaking news story that will work for you and your schedule and pitch it to me ASAP.
Photo Book In-Class Exercise
I’ve brought a pile of photo books from my personal collection. Today’s exercise will be about looking not at a photographer’s individual images or assignments, but at a larger body of work. Most of these might be classified as “documentary photography,” an umbrella term used to describe photography that captures a real moment as it happens, often conveying a message about the world. Sometimes this can include personal projects, a type of photojournalism that often ends up in gallery shows or photo books, but may be less likely to be found on a wire service.
Take some time to browse through the books and select one to read more in depth. Some of them are quite extensive so I obviously don’t expect you to read through them in their entirety but give it a good skim—enough to get a sense of what this photo book is about, who the photographer is (or plural photographers), how it is structured, and what it aims to convey. Some of these are more personal in nature, others involve more hard news reporting. Some are a sort of combination of both. Some were written by the photographer, and some were compiled after the photographer’s death.
Write a short blog post (250-300 words or so) about the photo book you chose, and be prepared to talk about it in Tuesday’s class.