Romina Romani
Annie Liebovitz, "Meryl Streep, New York City"
1981, Archival Pigment Print
Movies are a huge part of my life. The happiness, the sorrow, the laughter, the joy it brings me when watching a film. Movies have the power to take you away from reality all while also teaching you about reality. When watching the Annie Leibovitz documentary, I was so inspired by her body of work, I bought one of her books that showcased her artwork and the image that stood out to me was the photograph of Meryl Streep, the goddess of the Oscars and film in general. What first caught my attention was the white on her face and the action of pulling her skin. It is a very peculiar photo. Questions popped in my head and my first thought was she is hiding either something or herself and the white paint is a type of mask. The meaning behind this photograph is the life of a woman working in the industry. Women are expected to undergo mutations and change themselves to be what society expects them to be and wants them to look like. The balance of color plays out well with the lighting. The close-up shot captures Streep's emotions through her eyes, a smirk forming in her face as if she knows she is going against the norm and wants viewers to know it. This image struck me because being a woman working in the industry, specifically dance, some teachers have told me I have to be a certain way if I want to be a dancer and what happens behind the scenes is a great representation of a dog eats dog world.
Movies are a huge part of my life. The happiness, the sorrow, the laughter, the joy it brings me when watching a film. Movies have the power to take you away from reality all while also teaching you about reality. When watching the Annie Leibovitz documentary, I was so inspired by her body of work, I bought one of her books that showcased her artwork and the image that stood out to me was the photograph of Meryl Streep, the goddess of the Oscars and film in general. What first caught my attention was the white on her face and the action of pulling her skin. It is a very peculiar photo. Questions popped in my head and my first thought was she is hiding either something or herself and the white paint is a type of mask. The meaning behind this photograph is the life of a woman working in the industry. Women are expected to undergo mutations and change themselves to be what society expects them to be and wants them to look like. The balance of color plays out well with the lighting. The close-up shot captures Streep's emotions through her eyes, a smirk forming in her face as if she knows she is going against the norm and wants viewers to know it. This image struck me because being a woman working in the industry, specifically dance, some teachers have told me I have to be a certain way if I want to be a dancer and what happens behind the scenes is a great representation of a dog eats dog world.
