Elijah Walker

Elijah Walker
Graciela Iturbide "No Title"
1972, Silver Gelatin Print

I selected this image because I have lost people close to me due to drinking and/or smoking. Many of them being immediate family. When I first saw the photograph I instantly thought of my lost loved ones. Drinking and smoking are two very unhealthy habits that can lead to death. With the shot glass on the table and a cigarette in one hand, I see her to represent death. I also believe she could be facing death herself instead of being it. The distress on her face when confronted with death as a soon to be victim. The skull in the background represents nothing but death with "RIP" written above a grave inside the skeleton's nose. The eyes also seeing nothing but death as it displays what looks like to be people on their deathbed.

Undergoing further research I learned that Graciela Iturbide's mentor was named Manuel Alvarez Bravo, who was known for his "poetic" images of Mexican people and places. He was also apart of the artistic renaissance that happened after the Mexican Revolution. What I learned was despite not titling this photograph, it was apart of her series called "Hay Tiempo" which translates to "there is time." This was a practice that her mentor taught her who "urged her to slow down, observe, and patiently wait for the right moment to release the shutter." I found this to be fascinating as she continued to carry on her mentors legacy throughout her own work as well.

Julio Diaz

Julio Diaz 

Todd Hido, #3737 

2005, Archival pigment print 

 Todd Hido is best known for his photographs of haunting suburbia in "Homes at night". Hido uses only available light and long exposures that make these saturated images come to life. He gets inspiration by driving around at night taking pictures on anything that captures his eyes. The reason why I decided to pick this image because it has horror elements. If we take a look around at the photograph we see horror elements such as the long lonely road, cloudy with rain, and the sense of loneliness. It didn't just catch my attention because of the horror aspect but the more I started to stare at it, I felt as if my journey will be long and tiring. As of right now I am stressed and can't get enough sleep. Looking at this picture makes me feel like the road ahead of me is going to be long, but yet worth it. As if the light at the end is what I am trying to reach. 

Alex Aquino

 

Alex Aquino
Clara E. Sipprell, " Moment of Life"
1966, The John Day Company

Clara E. Sipprell was born in Canada in the early 20 century. She was well know for her pictorial landscapes and for the portraits of many actors , writers, artist, and scientists. When I was looking for the perfect photo I was in the state of sensibility. People think that have my life together or I'm always happy. Sadly, it's the opposite of what I always feeling inside. I have this pain in my chest that not able to breath because I'm not able to be my truth self in front of two people that I love the most my parents. Every time I come from school I lay on my bed and start crying and screaming my pain away. It's the only cured for my soul and able to survive another day in hell . This is one of the reason this photograph hit likes home/soul and all my roots in my entire body. The reason may ask why I'm not looking for my happiness in the moment is because I'm not ready for my other consequence can bring my freedom. I'm trying my best to work for it and i will never going to give up on.

Daniel Siguenza

Daniel Siguenza

Richard Kalvar, "Woman looking at herself in store window."

1969, Silver Gelatin Print

Looking through Richard Kalvar's book, this is the first photo I encountered. Kalvar focused a lot on street photography and combined timing and framing into his work. This photo of a woman looking at her reflection caught my attention for that reason. The way the photo is framed is interesting, almost centered perfectly. There is a fire hydrant only visible in the reflection. The photo makes me think of analyzing oneself, taking a look in the mirror. It also sparks curiosity in me. Is she analyzing herself? Was she studying her face?

Nestor Raigoza

Nestor Raigoza
Martha Cooper, "Banksy The, The Bronx"

I choice this photo because graffiti has big impact on me. You can express what's going on the world by graffiti art. Banksy is a big street artist and he came from Europe. He does painting on the walls of what's troubling the world. Martha Cooper took this picture in New York, The Bronx. This work of art in this picture has a lot meaning to it. Ghetto for life it showing how there's a lot of people that are growing up in poor areas. This painting has a unique drawing to it has butler serving spray cans. Butler are not usually working for the poor class. The couch on the picture wasn't always there. Martha Cooper added the couch then had someone seat on it and take a picture with him on it. Some people were getting offended with the painting because people weren't moving into the Bronx to be ghetto.

Arianna Gilmer

Arianna Gilmer
Sharon Core, "1885"
2011, Chromogenic print

I choose this image ,because it challenges the idea of photography that subconsciously been ingrained in my head from childhood. Popular photography is often classified as "pretty image" that is to be what the masses want to see. However, Core challenges her audience to view the stereotypical flowers in a pot image in a different lens. The picture captures the moment of the flowers beginning to wilt and and go limp in the black pot, this being the point in which people are to discard the flowers. Growing up my mom loved the idea of hanging flowers to dry around the house and eventually them into wax. For me the image evokes a nostalgic memory of the flowers drying around the house in my childhood .There is beauty to be seen at every stage of life a flower goes through and Core does a great job of capturing the beauty in the chiaroscuro of the image.

Elijah Collins

Elijah Collins
David Jackson, "Emmett Till"
1955, Medium: Gelatin Silver Print

A huge part of the reason, I chose this photograph over many was that the relevance to today.
When I see this photo, I see pain, I see a mother and father who just lost their 14-year-old son
off of assumption. In1955, Emmett Till, a black young man from Chicago, was visiting relatives
in Mississippi when he went by a Grocery store. The store owner Carolyn Bryant, a white
woman accused Till of flirting with her and whistling at her. A couple of days after the alleged
issue, The white woman's husband Roy and his half brother, J.W. Milam, took the boy from
his great-uncle's house. The two then beat Till until he was unrecognizable to his own parents,
shot him, and dumped the lifeless body in the Tallahatchie River. Although that is bad, it only
got worst when a white jury quickly acquitted the men of the massacre. When Till's mother
Mamie came to identify her son, she told the funeral director, "Let the people see what I've seen."
That is the reason for the open casket funeral. This touches deeply with me because although
this was taken in 1955, this is essentially the same violence that is happening to my people,
where they are being accused of something or just even going about their day as normal
and are beaten and killed by law enforcement and anyone. Just like Emmett Till who died
for nothing and received no justice is the same way that Black people are dying in 2019 and
the people who are killing them are white and they are continuously being acquitted
of these wrongful deaths.

Grace Scott

Grace Scott
Anne Brigman, "The Breeze"
1910, Warm-toned gelatin silver print

I selected this image because it speaks to me about female empowerment. When I look at this photo I see a woman standing tall, proud and nude in nature, which makes it absolutely beautiful. That is who Anne Brigman was though, she loved the nude female figure, she used women to represent mythical spirits and sprites. Anne would usually photograph herself or other female photographers because models would refuse, they didn't want all of their flaws on display. The scarf/ shawl flowing around her shoulders represents, to me, the complete freedom this woman feels in being so exposed in nature. The fact that you can't see her makes her seem as if she is a spirit in another world. This photo has taught me a lot about the effects light and a filter can have on an image, they can make an image appear to be something completely different than what they truly are.

Jonathan Cortez

Jonathan Cortez
Dave Jordano, "Ben, Southwest Side"
2010

I selected this image because it reminds me of my childhood when I was growing up. Growing up in East LA in a common Hispanic community, all I saw were lowriders every Sunday strolling down Whittier blvd. What caught my attention most about this picture was that it reminded me of my uncle who passed away a couple years ago. It reminded me of him because he had the same exact car in the same exact color which really tripped me out. This picture simply just takes me back to my childhood days.

Faiz Hussain

 

Faiz Hussain
Joe Rosenthal " Marines Raising the Flag On Mt. Mirabachi at Iwo Jima"
1945

This photograph has a good history behind it. This photograph shows five U.S. Marines and a Navy sailor raising the American flag over the battle-scarred Japanese island of Iwo Jima. It was during the World War II, it was one of the flag that was raised during the war. Earlier that day they raised a small American flag, but because of the size troops were not able to see the small flag. Then, they have to raise this flag that was a lot bigger in size and it took six soldiers to raise it.

This photograph made me feel safe and protected. Because this photograph shows how U.S. Army is standing for us and protecting us day and night. They are sacrificing their life for our safety. And this picture also shows unity, how we all together to raise the flag. I think we all should appreciate and be thankful to them for what they all are doing for our safety.