Month: May 2018

 

 

 

 

For my photo essay, Breaking Gender Roles, I wanted to display how men can be fragile, full of emotion, and gentle. Often in todays and past societies, it has been a taboo for boys to share their emotions because they may come off as ‘weak’. I wanted to challenge that thought and showcase boys enjoying simple things that are beautiful such as makeup, flowers, and little stickers; but because of gender norms, it’s unusual for them to like it. I also wanted to demonstrate how powerful women can be while being fierce. I displayed strong women in this essay and had one pose with her boxing gear and another recreate the “We Can Do It!” poster. I hope to reveal to the viewers of these photos how everyone finds joy in different things so we shouldn’t let traditional gender roles get in the way of allowing them to still enjoy it, nor should they be judged for liking it.

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                                                                   I chose to do my photo essay on my grandfather because I wanted to show how terrible it is once people forget about what is important. Family. My grandpa used to be my best friend, we did everything together but one day he decided to kick my family and I out. He chose someone who was toxic to take care of him instead of us. Ever since then his diabetes has been affecting him more than ever, he lost his leg because the person who was supposed to be taking care of him wasn’t, he grew bad lungs because of the housing circumstances therefore needing an oxygen tank and things to help him breathe, and he has now tripled his number of pills that he needs. It amazes me that he can still crack a smile and a joke even though he is going through so much, I admired him for all the work he has done before he got sick. I love him dearly don’t get me wrong but if he would have let us take care of him then he would be okay and happy. I named the essay “Death Is Becoming My Friend” because he has gotten so sad that when he was in the hospital he said, “just send me home to die with some pain killers.”. This was the first time I’ve seen him since he got out of the hospital, no one should ever have to go through this. Please keep family close especially if they want to do nothing but help you. R.I.P.

In my photo essay I decided to document my cousin Joseluis Guzman First Communion. In this event is about getting for the first time the bread and wine of Jesus Christ. Our family is Catholic and takes this event very seriously by attending the mass in the morning and then in the evening the parent next to the Godparents throw in a party to celebrate the occasion. In my first picture I documented what is the most important part of the mass which is when he blesses the bread and wine of Christ. The next picture that I took was of my cousin taking a sip of wine for the first time in his life. I wanted to capture this moment because it usually funny and I wanted him to save this moment of his life so he can look back on it. On the third picture I photographed Joseluis in the middle of the alter of the place where he got his First Communion and will forever be the place where he experience this holy sacrament. In the fourth picture I photographed the cake. I took a picture because I found it funny how we celebrate this event like a birthday because it is a new time in his life and that deserves some cake. In the late picture I took a picture of the tradition that we have for any religious events which is called a “bolo.” This is where the Godfather brings change and throws it for the kids to gather just for fun. I really had a great time photographing this event.

I decided to make my photo essay on my twin sisters and kind of due a “day in the life” of what they do. My sister’s names are Jeannette & Gisselle there 27 years old making them older than me but not in appearance hahaha. Their special needs so even though their 27, in their heads their actually about 5-7 years of age. I decided to do a day in the life of them because most people think that special need kids can’t do much so this is my attempt to change their minds. In the first picture I just took a simple picture to introduce them, so on the left that’s Gisselle she’s the nice one, on the right is Jeannette she’s the more sassy with an attitude one. The second picture is them at their baseball game, they play soccer, basketball, and obviously baseball. The third picture is Gisselle singing, both of them lovvvvve to sing, my bedroom is right next to hers so I get to hear her sing Let it Go from Frozen almost every single day, fun. The fourth photo is of movies, it’s a simple photo but has meaning to it, so my sisters leave there room a certain way, so the movies are just an example of how they organize their rooms, but let’s say I switch the Scooby doo movie with the high school musical movie, THEY’LL KNOW, if you move anything in their rooms they’ll know, idk it’s just crazy to me like they’re really smart. The last and final photo is of Jeannette crying, there obviously not real tires because I would just take a picture of her crying, but I just wanted to show this because it happens. Many days my sisters come home crying, so my mom asks why and they say people are staring at them all weird and they don’t like it, it’s really sad because you would think they don’t know why people are staring at them, but they do, and it breaks our hearts because if people were staring at you all the time I don’t think anyone would like that, their normal people like us and shouldn’t be treated differently.

Describe: The photos in the photo essay Performers by Gordon Parks display various types of famous performers such as Oprah Winfrey, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and many more. He captured shots of them performing, candids of small and large groups of people, and a few portraits. It shows us a behind the scenes insight of the life of a performer.

Analyze:The photos were taken using eye level angled shots. He uses framing subject in the photo of Geraldine Page, He uses butterfly lighting on the photo of George London. He uses rule of odds for a many photos to create a natural effect and help one subject stand out from the rest. Leading lines is also used in the photo of Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet. Rule of thirds is also used horizontally in a few photos. The types of lighting used varies from natural lighting, butterfly lighting, short lighting, and broad lighting.

Interpret: The photos create a lighthearted mood because it reveals the true essence of many performers, allowing the viewer to feel a connection with the photos. I hadn’t originally expected there to be many off guard photos taken of the performers; I thought it would be more of them in action, so it was nice to see them more as a person, rather than a performer.

Evaluate: The photographer was successful in making his message clear throughout the photos. I liked his style of shooting, the way the photos came out are visually stunning and easy to read. There isn’t really anything that can be improved but I may have added a few more portraits of some of the artist.

1.Describe : In the first picture it shows a man laying on the floor who has just been murdered and a woman who can be his wife hugging him. The second photo is in a funeral, the man is in a casket and his wife is looking over him, she has her mouth open and I can imagine she’s talking to him. In the third picture she seems calmer, she’s sitting on a chair on her phone with her hand over the casket. In the fourth photo there’s many people around, and the wife is laying down on chairs. In the fifth picture the wife and her or his family are sitting around a table, she looks very upset.
2.Analye : In the first picture the angle can be birds eye view or high angle also the light is coming from the right side so it makes the shadows be on the left side. The second photo is eye level, also the lighting is all over not focusing on one specific spot. The third photo can be rule of thirds because she’s sitting on the right side and there’s nothing to balance her on the left side. The three other photos are all eye level and they all have outside lighting I don’t studio lighting was used.
3.Interpret : These photo’s obviously communicate that it’s about dead and about someone that passed away. The emotion it presents is sad, depressing, it’s a very emotional topic. Before I read what it was about just looking at the pictures I thought maybe the man on the floor got ran over or something like that because he’s in the middle of the street, but after reading everything it has to do with someone thinking that this guy was selling drugs even though he wasn’t, but I guess where they live people just have to think you’re doing it and they can kill you.
4.Evaluate/Judge : The author definitely expressed what he was trying to show in his photos. I like that he showed what happens to a family after someone they love dies, I think it’s very cool because if people are doing bad thinks they can see that it isn’t only going to affect them, it destroys there whole family and friends. They could of improved by incorporating more compositions into the photos, for me the only one that had a wow factor was the very first one because it was a very good picture on its own and then he edited it and it made it look even better.

Describe 

In these pictures, I see women posing with clothes. Some of the pictures have men in them too. Some pictures are in black and white while other pictures are in colors. The pictures that are in color are very bright. They demonstrate the evolution of the fashion and the evolution of the camera technology because some are in black in white and then there are ones that are in color and look more modern.

Analyze

The picture vary from rule of thirds and then breaking the rule of thirds. Some of the pictures are low angles and high angles. Some of the pictures are in black in white. All the pictures have good lighting. Some of these pictures look like they are environmental portraits. And on one of them it looks like they are using wind to make the clothes look like it floating. The scenery is different in each picture. Some of them are portraits while other have like a story going on in the back ground.

Interpret

I believe the story that Gordon Parks is trying to tell is the story of women and their fashion. I feel like he is trying to show the evolution of fashion throughout the years of 1945-1965. My first impression was wow because I love the clothes from the 1950s. The color pictures got most of my attention because the colors are bold and pop in the picture. It was pleasure to my eyes because all the color are colors I like to see and wear. What was a surprise to me that the colors of the women’s clothes were actually so bright because I thought that women had to dress formal with formal colors such as black and white and other soft colors.

Judge/Evaluate 

I believe the pictures overall are amazing. I really loved that he captures what women wore and how he made them in color. Most people believe that history was all about men and almost never about what women did. What I thought that was unique was that he staged and used props to make the women stand out with their clothes. I think that it is important to look at the history of fashion because how fashion now a days get to where people wear less and less clothes and people are okay with it. I think Parks demonstrate how respectful the fashion was in these years. I feel like Parks was successful because I could see what women wore and how the evolution of fashion was in these years. Not just the dresses but other the accessories, hair styles and makeup.

Describe: In all the different photos it shows different Philippine people writing stuff down in front of pictures of themselves. They are attending their own mock funeral. They are all wearing the same type of rope and they all get into their own coffins. There are pictures of other workers tying up their wrists and covering their eyes with cloth. There are lots of people ad lots of coffins.

Analyze: These photos were taken almost all at eye level angle, some at a low looking angle, none at a ground level angle which would have been a good one. They all probably had a fast shutter speed and a high f-stop with an ISO of maybe like 1600. The area didn’t have much light so the photographer had to have changed all these settings. The photographer used lots of patterns in the pictures with the coffins and with the preparation of the coffins.

Interpret: They say the reason was a type of therapy and that could be it but I think that these people were depressed. If they were all curious to see how it would feel to be dead, then they really have things that they are just not talking about. I think that these people came out of it with a wakeup call. They realized that their life is precious, and what their families would go through if they really died.

Evaluate: I think that the photographer did a good job, I feel like he or she could have gotten better images of the tears. I also feel like they took a lot of the same pictures. They should try to use many different angles rather than just eye level. But all in all I would have to give this piece an eight out of ten.