Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #15

3/1/2018

Today you will be writing about this image made by artist and photojournalist Gordon Parks. This image is from a series Parks completed for Life Magazine. Life sent Parks to Alabama in 1956 to document 3 black families during one of the most turbulent times in American history. The project was meant to show how ordinary black families truly lived in the Deep South during 1956, and the images would serve to counter the misinformation spread that a racially segregated society was good for everyone.

Write 4 paragraphs, 5 sentences minimum per paragraph. Remember to post your analysis as a comment to the blog post that corresponds to your class. If you post your analysis to the wrong class's post, it will not be graded.

Remember, refer to your "How to See" handout for analyzing a photograph--

Describe specifics.
Describe form.
Describe the content.
Evaluate the image.

Your analyses will be graded on:

meeting minimum length requirements
depth of organization
evaluation of the content
grammar/punctuation

Melody Umsted

3/1/2018 09:31:12 am

This picture is of an older woman and a little girl. They are African American and are looking through a store window. They are looking at the mannequins, who are all white. There are mannequins for both children and adult’s clothes. You can see reflections through the windows of the display cases.

This image is pleasing to look at because of its realness. The scene is one that someone would see on a normal, everyday basis. The glare from the window adds to this. The point of view is from someone standing inside the display case looking out and the woman and the child. There are leading lines in the image. They are the lines around the border of the windows, as if they were framing the two subjects.

The idea behind this image was to show racial inequality in the world at that time. This image was taken in the south in the 50’s, where racism was very strong. This picture shows racism in a normal setting by showing that all the mannequins are white. The girl is looking at the clothes, and the woman has her arm around her, almost protecting her from getting too close to the white mannequins. This image is noteworthy because it is an image that shows a strong message, one that still is relevant today.

I like this image because I hate racism. I like that this photographer took this image to stand against inequality. This image is successful because it clearly shows the message he was trying to send. I think that anyone looking at this picture could have seen the racism without knowing beforehand that it has a message about racism. I also love that this image was for a magazine, so that everyone who read the magazine would see the racism that clearly exists.

Dylan Pegg

3/1/2018 09:31:29 am

The picture shows a picture of a black women and a child, presumably her daughter. They are looking in a glass box, which features mannequins of white children. In the background are mannequins of white women, and near the left side you can see a street. This photo likely takes place in a clothing store, since many of the mannequins have price tags on their clothes. The clothes are all different colors, but the palette is still relatively unsaturated.

The rule of thirds is used since the women and child are on one of the imaginary grid lines. The angle of the camera is headlevel, but is still unique as it is taken on the opposite end of the glass display box. It is a shallow depth of field since it is hard to make out details near and far from the camera. The picture is asymmetrical, with the left side showing light from outside the store and the right being quite a bit darker. The frame crops off some mannequins and the glass box in some areas.

A possible theme of the image is how the segregated society of the 1950’s supported whites more than blacks. This is shown due to the black subjects looking in at the white mannequins, who have new clothes. The setting and colors remind me of the Indiana Jones movies for some reason. The image definitely challenges the societal norms of the 1950’s and is clearly a statement by the photographer, Gordon Parks. The image is unique in its presentation and very clear in its purpose.

I personally like the photo because its unique frame and field of view. Additionally, it is a creative way to explain her message. The use of the mannequins and display case with the subjects looking in is a brilliant metaphor. The image is undoubtedly successful in that right, getting her message across easily and understandably. Overall, the photo proves a point in a unique and creative way, which I enjoy.

Leon Toursarkissian link

3/1/2018 09:42:35 am

This image is of an African American mother and daughter looking into the window of a fancy clothing store. The image uses cool and depressing colors, like gray, to give the image a gloomy feel, because the image is trying to portray that. The lighting in the image is very neutral and natural, and not too bright or too dull. The objects in the image include a girl, a woman, mannequins, glass, a telephone pole, various articles of clothing, glass, and a sidewalk. In the image, the little girl appears to have walking with her mother and has stumbled across a fancy clothing store, and is dreamfully looking into its display case.

The composition of the image functions well because it uses cool colors in accordance with neutral lighting which allows the image to function well. The rule of thirds is being used as the little girl is centered on a thirds line. The artist took this picture from the interior of the store that the girl was looking into, right across from the girl. The depth of field is shallow because the objects in the background are blurred. The images focal point is the girl and she is framed by the mannequins and her mother. The lines are all over the place and do not lead your eyes in a certain direction. The image is not symmetrical as each side of it is different. The subject takes up very little room and there is a lot of empty space. The frame crops off randomly at the ceiling, ground, and mannequins.

The theme of the image is that there is a less fortunate African American girl that really wants a dress from the fancy store that is usually reserved for white girls, and is looking dreamily at those dresses. The story of the image is of a girl that desperately wants a nice dress but is unable to buy it. The artist made this image to demonstrate the inequality in our world, exploit segregation, and show how little children can be robbed of their dreams because of it. This image does not remind me of anything. This challenged political and social beliefs such as racial inequality and poverty. I think this image is noteworthy because of the beliefs it challenges.

I personally like this image because of the story it tells and how it tells that story. I like when an image actually has a purpose and background to it and this one has that, which increases the level of how much iit appeals to me. I also like that the image uses both cool colors and a neutral lighting scenario. I am a fan of cool colors and in my opinion and image is automatically good when there are cool colors that are utilized well, and since this image also incorporates neutral lighting, it appeals to me. This image is definitely successful because it fights against racial inequality, segregation, and poverty, and it tells the story of so many people.

Catherine Clausewitz

3/1/2018 09:44:49 am

This image is of a little girl and her mom looking at mannequins through a window. The main focus of this image is a little girl looking through the glass into a department store display for children’s clothing. She is looking at one o the mannequins to her left and has her finger pressed against the glass. She is african american and has dark curly hair. She has on a blush pink dress that comes a little bit above her knee and her hair is put in braids. She has a very amazed look on her face that look like something caught her eye in the window.

Another main focus of this image is what is assumed to be the little girl’s mom. She is looking down at the little girl with a small smile on her face and her arm wrapped around her. She is wearing a short sleeve button up shirt with a pocket on the front that i beige and a long muted mint green calf length skirt. She has two rings on her hand and a watch and her hair is curly and short and parted to the side.One of the other main focuses are the mannequins. All the mannequins are in different outfits, different genders, different hair color and different ages. They all do have one thing and common and that is that they’re all white. They range from toddlers to older kids. They are facing different directions and all have on either red, white, green or a combination for their outfits. It starts with a little redheaded boy and a blonde girl to older girls with red and blonde hair.

They look to be walking out of a department store and are where the displays are that lead to the entrance of the store. In the background you can see gray walls with dark gray lines and the reflection of the lights in the display. You can also see the women's mannequins that are also all white and have on green as well. The tone of the image is a very cool tone. It almost has a muted look to it. None of the colors are super vibrant looking. The light is shining from the left side of the image. It isn't an intense light, but it does cause really deep shadows. It has such a dark shadow on the little girl that you can see part of the right side of her face.

This image was taking almost as if the artists was in the display or if there was another side to the display. You can see the bottom of the display case an you can’t see the mother’s and daughter’s feet. The image is taken directly in front of the little girl and her mom. I think the artist chose to take the photo was because it shows how there still wasn’t diversity and how there was still discrimination even in the littlest of things. I like this image a lot. It has a story to tell and it makes me want to find out the story. It’s a very bold image and there is a meaning behind it and it’s sending a very important message.

Estefan Zorrilla link

3/1/2018 09:45:43 am

This image is about a kid with her mom looking almost like a zoo into how white kids look. You can tell that the kid has never seen a white person by her facial expression. The white people mannequins are inside a display case with many more around the display case. This image uses a lot of white black and green and dark shades of colors. They use these dark colors test the gloomy mood for the scene. There is natural light coming in and it is bright on the right side of the photo and it gets darker as you move to the left. There are lot of faces including human faces and mannequin faces. There is a building which is the setting for the scene.

I think what is happening in the image is that the kid is super surprised at seeing the white kid. The parent looks a bit happy. Zim guessing because she is seeing another part of the world. This picture is pleasing to look at because of how everything is lined up. The light and the subject arem lined up really well. The photographer took this as if he was on the other side of the display case looking at them. There is a shallow depth of field being used here. The image is balanced and symmetrical. Nothing is wobbly everything looks stable. The subject does not fill the frame, there is still a bit of extra space. At the edge of the image there is part of a mannequin heads getting cut off from the frame. There is also some part of the building getting cut off.

The positive space i th mannuwin in the middle along with the people. I think some of the themes in this photo segregation and racism. Also there would be a bit off like learning something new and not being shut off from the world. I think the artist made this image to make us aware of the segregation that happened which we already have enough of. This photograph reminds me of American History X. Yeah this can definitely challenge some political beliefs and moral beliefs.

I do not like this image. It is giving out a message that i'm sick of. People everywhere in school, hollywood, and writers try to enforce the message of racial inequality. We have this message everywhere and in the things we love too like our movies, books and tv. There are people out there that are trying to brainwash us with this message. I've had enough of this i don't want this message stuck up in my face. Why can't we all be normal and not have this message so enforced in our daily lives.

Chase Blackwell

3/1/2018 09:45:58 am

The photo depicts a black woman and her little girl shopping for clothing in the 1950’s. It is taken from the other side of the display to capture the look on the girls face as she stares at the clothes on the mannequins. The mother stares down at her child with a sad face and is holding her back from the window. All of the the mannequins are are white children and women.
The photo is taken through glass, so it has partial reflections strewn about the image and also has a slightly grainy quality to it.
The image is taken from a direct facing point of view and shows frontals of both the mother and the child, while it is a profile view of the mannequins. The image utilizes the rule of thirds in that the subject, the lady and her daughter, are off slightly to the side with a little white girl mannequin is in the direct center of the photograph. The image has a middle depth of field, with the closest mannequins being out of focus, the middle subjects in foccus, and the women mannequins in the very back is less foccus the the subjects in front of them. The subject is framed by red doll and the central little girl doll, with their forearms and elbows creating lines to follow directly to the the little black girl’s face. The composition is pleasing due to it’s interesting subject matter , but is challenged due to the effect the glass has on the image, where it is hard to see and the reflections can distort the image in some places.
The theme behind the image is one of separation and oppression. This photo represents the lives of African-Americans in the 1950’s, and the little girls seperation from little white mannequins by the glass is representative of the times, as this was taken in the segregated south, where she was probably segregated from the white children. The white mannequins surround the mother and her child on all sides, representative of the oppression that the black people of that era faced. The story told by the image is all told through the differences in the mother and child’s faces. The child’s face is filled with wonder at the clothes, but the mother’s face holds sadness as she understands the fact that the girl will have to live in this segregated world that she does not yet understand. The artist made this image to represent the lives of ordinary black families in the southern 1950’s, and to speak out against the oppression and racism of the times.
I personally really like the image, as the image has a really good form to it. The way that everything is structured to build the theme of oppression and racism is moving. From the way that the family is separated by glass to the way the the mannequins are all white and surround them, every single part of this image was deliberately structured to lend to the themes. I think that the photo is extremely successful, as it does an amazing job of capturing the sadness of the mother because she knows that the little girl will one day have to experience the racism. I also think that the little girl’s innocence does a really good job of humanizing black people at a time when it was not uncommon for them to be treated as less than human.

Kaitlyn Evans

3/1/2018 09:47:06 am

This image is of a young girl looking into a store filled with dolls. This image was taken by Gordon Parks. The colors in this image are dark, dark green, dark reds, etc. The lighting in this image is coming from outside. In this image there is a young girl with her mom looking at the different dolls in the window of the store.
The composition is pleasing to look at because it’s a well balanced image. The rule of thirds is being used because the subjects are off to the side of the image. The point of view is at an eye level view. The photographer used a deep depth of field to capture everything around the subjects. The focal point is of the subjects looking at the dolls. The lines in this image come from the doll which direct the viewer’s eyes to the people looking at the dolls. This image is asymmetrical because it’s not even on both sides. The subjects do not fill the space there is extra room around them. At the edge of this image I think there are more stores and a large street filled with stores and also more people walking. The positive space is the subjects looking at the dolls and the negative space is the background.
The idea in this image is to show how black families lived in the South. I think the story in this image is that this girl who is looking at the doll is wondering why there are no dolls that are her skin color, they are all white. I think her mom is trying to pull her away because they know they can’t afford them. The artist was trying to get people to agree that a racially segregated society was good. The artist wanted to share his views in his photography.
I like this image but it’s also very sad. It’s sad that a young girl with different skin colors who if she were to buy a doll that the color of it’s skin tone would only be white. I like that the photographer is showing what his views are in his photography and I agree with him. I like that he’s using photography because it makes me more interested in it and I’ll actually pay attention to what he has to say. I like how he’s trying to prove a point in this image and that he’s actually trying to do something to fix how society was back then.

Julieta Vazquez Martinez

3/1/2018 09:48:14 am

This is a squared image by Gordon Parks during 1956. The image is about a black woman with who seems to be her daughter looking at a display case of a store. Gordon used daylight for it coming from the right side of the image, they are outside. There are a lot of green outfits, red outfits, and green with red outfits being displayed at the store. The little girls who seems to be around four or five years-old is looking at a dress while the lady is probably trying to pull her out of the store.
The composition works, however, with the light coming from the windows and all the glass that is around there is a lot of confusing reflection. The rule of thirds is being used, which is probably why the eye of the viewer is immediately directed to the Woman and the child. Gordon uses a regular point of view, known as an eyeball point of view. There are a few lines in the image but as it was already said, there is a lot of reflection that it satures the image a little too much. However, Parks was very successful in using this setting; all the red and green is almost even a little funny how even the woman and the girl are coordinated with the colors of the outfits.
I believe there is only one theme in this image, racism. This time in U.S. history is very harsh and Parks wanted to prove that things weren't right. This image along with the series that it is part of, was intended to demonstrate that black families were normal or the same as white families and deserved to be treated as such. It personally reminds me of the movie of Emma Stone that is about this same time in history called “the Help”. The story that could be being told n the image is just a regular day, mom and daughter walk by the store and something catche the girl’s eye; consequently stops to take a closer look and the mom tries to pull her away from the store since they have to be somewhere else.
I do like this image. To be more specific I like the right side of the image, where the mom and daughter interaction is. I like every aspect of this side, the story behind and the actual technical part of taking the image. This last element could be improved since there is still a bit of reflection there. The left side of the image is the one I do not entirely love, there is (as already mentioned) a lot of reflection that makes me a bit dizzy and it distracts the viewer from the main point. Regardless of this, it is a successful image overall.

Adriana Vazquez

3/1/2018 09:49:39 am

The image is of a little girl and her mom looking at some manikins at a clothing store. The colors being used are very light and not colorful. I think they are using this colors to show the feeling that the girl is having when she sees the dresses that she is not able to have. The lighting being used is natural light that is coming from the side of the picture. The left side of the image is very bright and it starts to get darker when it goes to the other side. I think what is happening in the image is that the little girl is looking at all of the beautiful dresses that are in the store and wanting to wear them.
The image is very pleasant to look at because it is full, there is not a lot of extra space, but just the necessary. The photographer took this image in a standing point of view. The focal point is the woman and the girl. The image is balanced, there are a lot of subjects filling out the image. The main subject does not fill out the space, but as said before there are other subjects that fill out the image. The image crops out what would be the inside of the store and the street. I do not think there is a negative space in this image, there is only positive space because the whole image is bright, there isn't any dark areas.

I think that the story being told in this image is about the woman and the little girl. The story being told is that the woman and the girl went on a walk and stopped at the dress store. The little girl wants to buy a dress, but her mother does not have enough money for it. This image reminds me of my hometown in Mexico. People from there that I used to talk to, were always dreaming about achieving dreams and having fortune, but they didn’t do anything to achieve it. They just kept dreaming about having fortune. I feel like this image shows a similar idea. The little girl wants to have one of the dresses that she sees in the store, but her mother does not have enough money for it, and she doesn't try to do anything to buy.

I think this image is very interesting because it can have a lot of meanings and people can see it differently and have a completely different stories and ideas about it. I like this picture. I like the message it gives. I think the image is successful with this image. He was able to show differents ideas, either similar or opposite in this image.

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Period 4 -- Critical Analysis #15

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