When I am presented with a challenging image, it takes me a while before I can draw any conclusion. If it is a photo of a person, I need to look into their eyes for a while before I can really say what the photograph means. The photo of Omayra was a difficult one to look at, and represents just how powerful a photograph can really be. I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if someone had a camcorder there, or if a CNN news team was present. The video of the girls, the interviews with her, I don’t think it would have been quite as effective. Something about that photograph pulls at your heart strings. Just looking into her immovable eyes allowed me to try and put myself in her position. A photograph was the most effective medium to motivate people around the world to sympathize with the people of Columbia.
Outside of these readings, I was presented with a challenging image a couple of days ago. It was an anti-abortion image with what I assume to be a picture of an aborted fetus. No matter what people may think politically, certain images create powerful feelings. For me, I just have to try and balance out the feelings of pity and disgust. As it turns out, photographs working to accomplish a political end are usually skewed so as to give no room for questioning. Do you want this to happen? Of course not. Then vote for me. Likewise with photos of Innocent Iraqi’s brutalized by the military activity in the region, or the high contrast and desaturated photo of the electric chair we saw in chapter 7. These photos are powerful, but we have to not let only our emotions guide our minds as we decide how to react to these increasingly complex issues.
This book is presenting me with a lot to think about lately. It’s kind of overwhelming. The world is so different now. I find myself almost making up stories for the people I see around campus based solely on what they are wearing. Crazy.
wow, I feel like I know you better through this. I think it says a lot that you look at an images eyes so intently. The photo of Omayra especially affected me as well. Some photos are hard to look at, and in a way we feel kind of violated when we realize that a particular photo has been doctored. Almost as if our inner thoughts have been trespassed upon and now we're made to feel the way they want us to. The morals of photography in general can have so much gray area sometimes its hard to know what to think.
ReplyDeleteI think that you are absolutely right. Looking at an image not only allows insight into that person's character but also gives a glimpse into that person's life. By looking closely into someone's eyes, even if only in a photograph, we are drawn to make certain conclusions about that person and we develop a story or a background. A person's eyes have so much power to relate numerous messages. Other images, such as the abortion ad that you mentioned, are also extremely effective. Pictures that can get you to stop and completely alter the way you look at an issue are photographs that will challenge you and develop you as a person as you interpret and try to understand what it is that you are seeing and how you feel about it.
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