Susan Meiselas

1973

USA. Essex Junction, Vermont. 1973.

17 January 2008

Photograph: Walter Astrada/AFP

Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya



These two press photos were taken almost 30 years apart and were still able to capture a little bit about the person being photographed and at the same time get an emotion out of the viewer. The first photo was taken by Walter Astrada in 2008 of a child in Nairobi, in the photo a policeman is approaching his home. This picture captures the innocence of a child who does not understand what is going on around him which strikes fear in him. The second photo was taken by Susan Meiselas of a carnival stripper in Vermont in 1973. She stands on top of a podium as men watch her from all directions. I chose these two photos because both photographers where able to capture the subjects in a way that draws the eyes directly to them even though there are many different things going on around them in the pictures. They are also well executed press photos because they instantly get an emotion out of you; in this case it is an almost uncomfortable one. The first picture making wonder and have sympathy for the little boy the other being offensive and objectifying of the woman. The main differences is the use of technology the difficulties capturing the photos and the importance of lighting to each photographer. Meiselas might have had a harder time capturing the photo in the right kind of light, judging from the photo it was night time and the element of flash was still quite new. Whereas Astrada might have had a harder time capturing moment like this based on circumstances and boundaries. I think that in some way both pictures capture the innocence of the person and also show the viewer two different harsh realities of life. For the little boy it might be war or crisis and for the woman it might be ways to make money, or last resorts.











Minkkinen Arno Rafael, Le Bouquet d´Arbres, Malmö Castle Prison, Malmö, Sweden, 2007 Vintage silver print









Man Ray, Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924
Silver nitrate print with markings in pencil and Indian ink "























These two art photos where taken almost 85 years apart. The first photo was taken by Minkkinen Arno Rafael a photographer from demark, and the second from Man Ray the very popular photography of the 20s. Just from first glance we can see the5re are many similarities in these two photographer’s work. Both have taken the surrealist approach and made a simple photo of a subject been seen it two different ways. Ray has taken the figure of a woman and compared it to the shape of a violin; he has added the element of both women and violin so that you can see both at the same time. The mind switches back and forth between the two thoughts. Rafael has also done the same with his photo; he has compared the trees in the background to a bouquet of flowers, by putting his hand up to the base of the tree as if he is holding it. Again he has been able to get the viewer’s mind to switch back and forth between what they see and what he wants them to see. Another similarity is the photographer’s choice of production; both used the same kind of method of development even though there is an 85 year difference. a difference would be the kinds of technology each photo may of under gone and also the time frame to make the photo. Another difference would be the types of subjects, each one has the element of human and object but Ray’s work is portrait art while Rafael’s is landscape. I chose these two pieces because I wanted to display the fact that technology and methods of art photography have not changed that much even after almost 100 years. The same looks and feel of photos are there it has only been perfected in the development of actual pictures.


Sources

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2009/07/interview-extending-frame-interview.html

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox&ALID=29YL53586SXI&IT=ThumbImage01_VForm&CT=Album (From WebCT)

http://www.ellen-k.no/%E2%80%9Cas-i-gaze-upon-the-stars%E2%80%9D/

http://www.manray-photo.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?categories_id=32&inc_subcat=1&products_themes=Women&largeur=1280&sort=3a&page=8&osCsid=378b4d2814543272fcdca8bf26a0bedf (From WebCT)