Alexandra Zavala

 

Alexandra Zavala

James L. Stanfield, "Grieving Mother #4"

1978

I selected this image by National Geographic Photographer James L. Stanfield of a woman in Bulgaria mourning the loss of her youngest son. It was the first image of many that I looked through that grasped my attention. Though I did not initially know the story behind this photo I could tell this woman had lost a child. The darkness surrounding her shows emptiness of how she must feel without this person in her life. While the light peaks in the room and hits the picture frame and woman's face I could tell this person was the light of her life. I love the beauty and simplicity of the light shining on the frame and mother as if hugging her one last time. Loss is something that we have all experienced in our lives in some form. This quote I found seems to represent this image very well. "Think pictures aren't important? Wait till they're all you have left."

Alysa Anthony

Alysa Anthony

John Hanses "Lost Coast #4"

2016

I selected this photo because of the way it made me feel like I was in a relaxed and quiet place. I like how the long exposure brings life to the river running through the center of the photo. I also loved the way the trees were growing in all different directions, and how some were even laying across the river. This aspect gave the photo life, and made me feel as though I was actually there in this moment. John Hanses is a nature photographer who believes the best part of being a photographer is being able to be in the presence of Nature. He focuses primarily on giving the viewer of his photos the same feeling that he received while being immersed in nature while shooting his photos. He started his photography journey at age 5, when his family moved to a rural ranch surrounded by nature. He began exploring and taking photo's once he realized that he wanted others to be able to feel the medicinal effect that being submerged in nature gives. 

Kalena Cienfuegos

Kalena Cienfuegos

David Clapp, "Autumn Reflection"

2015

The reason I chose this photograph was because it was one of the first photographs that caught my eye when I was flipping through the pages of the book I was looking at. It made me want to go outside, especially in a secluded area, and just look at all the nature around me and see how beautiful is it. The warm colors in this photograph just go together so well and makes me want to stare at it all day. 

I love the reflection in the lake as well. It is so clear and so symmetrical that if you cover the top half of the photograph, the bottom would act as if it was the whole photograph. Its just to mesmerizing. I also like how its a lonely cabin in the middle of all of it. I, myself, love being by myself so I feel as if I could be apart of this photograph and its just so welcoming. 

Karla Portillo

Karla Portillo

Ed Panar "Animals Who Saw Me"

2011

This image by photographer Ed Panar caught my attention because the raccoon is cute and because the bucket next to it is so bright! I also chose this image because I thought it was funny.  By looking at this image, the story I depict is that the raccoon was caught misbehaving! The tilted flower pot on the bottom of the picture was most likely knocked over by the raccoon. It looks like the photographer took this picture at a high angle which might make the animal feel like he's in trouble because someone is towering over him.

This photograph is from a book called "Animals That Saw Me" by Ed Panar. The photographer's book if filled with pictures of animals that are looking directly into the camera. Five years later he released a second volume to this collection.

Emily Hidalgo

Emily Hidalgo
Dorothea Lange, "Man Beside Wheelbarrow"
1934

I chose this image by Dorothea Lange that was shot during the Great Depression. Dorothea states that the bent over figure and the upside-down wheelbarrow mirror each other, which implied that the Depression had slowly caused the environment and the people to breakdown. To me, this photograph represents a long day of hard work and suffering. Even though the face of the figure is not facing the camera, the environment represents the strong emotion in this photograph. The dirty concrete wall, the empty box to the left, the position of the figure, and the foreground of dirt all play a part in showing that this work environment is not pleasant at all and that this work requires a lot of energy. This photograph also represents strength and I believe that the figure is taking a break and will soon flip the wheelbarrow right side up and head off to complete this unpleasant job to fight the Depression.

Image chosen from: Gordon, Linda. Aperture Masters of Photography Dorothea Lange. 2014.

Sandy Pascual

Sandy Pascual
Diane Arbus, "A Child Crying"
1967, Gelatin Silver Print

This photograph is titled "A Child Crying", it was created by Diane Arbus, an American photographer who was known mostly for her photographs of people who were kept in the margins of society, by society. This particular image is a gelatin silver print, which is the term used to describe the most common process for making black and white photographs.The photograph was taken at the Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey at the 30th Annual Diaper Derby contest. Arbus wrote in a notebook in 1962, "It would be beautiful to photograph the winners of everything from Nobel to booby prize, clutching trophy, or money or certificate, solemn or smiling or tear stained or bloody." I selected this image because the child's crying face is the focal point of this image and it is so up close that its details called my attention. It captures the moment so perfectly that I can almost feel his sadness.

Gardenia Centanaro

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Gardenia Centanaro

Arnold Newman, "Kurt Godel" 

1956, black and white film. 

This is a portrait of mathematician and scientist, Kurt Godel, taken by photographer Arnold Newman in 1956 at Princeton, New Jersey. As I flipped through the book Masterclass by Arnold Newman written by William A. Ewing, I was fascinated by the portraiture of all these iconic painters, scientists, politicians, and celebrities. What is captivating about Arnold Newman's photos is the way he frames the subject by their art, legacy, etc. He is able to define a person in a simple photo. 

In contrary to many of his other portraits found in this book, the design itself follows the rule of thirds perfectly. The contrast in this photograph is beautiful in that the positioning of the subject's body is so that there is white on black. He maximizes the contrast between the suit and white background, as well as the blackboard on his white skin. The blackboard serves as a frame within a frame for Kurt Godel's head. He uses Rembrandt lighting on his face which gives an intense tone to the photograph. The subject isn't looking directly at the camera making it as if the photographer isn't there, almost like he is just thinking of an equation and all alone. The empty blackboard fascinated me. I could not understand why it was just blank with no equation. The board was in the center and took up most of the photo. What was its significance? Most of Newman's portraits had the subject next to their life's work or something that defined them yet Godel was just sitting in a specific placement with his head framed at the end of this empty board. I then researched Kurt Godel to learn more about this mysterious and intense man in this picture that caught my eye and found that he is known for his incompleteness theorems. So here is this well known mathematician from Princeton sitting in front of an incomplete black board with his head framed in the board. It's genius because he is framing what is inside Godel's mind- an incompleteness theorem. 

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Best,

Gardenia

Fany Reyes Ton

Fany Reyes 

Maria Varela "A young Chicanita Hawks" 

1968 

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. This photographic

images conveys what might take many words to express. I selected this image for its powerful stage that illustrates some sort of story. Seeing how the images range of perception, emotions. Creating and capturing moments of unprecedented records, speaking loudly by capturing the historic moment,sign and symbol of Chicano Activism. Reason being why I felt an attachment to this image. Re-capturing how it is now a days. Especially now upon the injustice of Dreamers like myself are experiencing. Breaking away from the chains of silence. Like the little girl standing up for what we believe.  

Paloma Amezcua

Paloma Amezcua
Nick Brandt, "Wasteland with Elephant"
2015

I chose this image because of its powerful message and the emotional impact it had on me. In the photograph, a life-size portrait of an elephant that lived in that very location only seven years before sits among piles of trash that were created as a result of human intervention. As one looks at the creature's face, it almost seems as if the battle-scarred elephant, too, is gazing sadly upon the wasteland that was once its home. The artist's use of black and white gives the scene an even more bleak and miserable appearance. By juxtaposing this hideous landscape with what it used to be, this shocking, heartbreaking photograph serves as a reminder that the natural world is vanishing little by little every day and that it might soon be gone if we don't do more to protect and preserve it. If this destruction continues, photographs like this elephant portrait may be all we'll have left of nature's most beautiful creatures.  

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Angelica Flores

Angelica Flores

Dan Winters, "Tupac Shakur

1994

Dan Winters started his photographic career in 1971. It was not until 1986, in which he began his career as a photojournalist in Ventura County, California. He is widely recognized for his celebrity portraiture, including the famous Tupac Shakur. The portrait of Tupac Shakur was taken in 1994, 2 years before he was killed in a drive-by shooting. I find this portrait to be intriguing because it was one of the first photos that I remember seeing of the late rapper and an introduction to the hip-hop world. From the perspective in which the portrait was taken it is a moment of self-reflection in which he is contemplating his next move and weighing how his actions have affected his life. The shadow in the photograph can be interpreted as one's past will always be lurking in the present. The shadows projected on the late rapper give a sense of mystery in one's life. The photograph makes me wonder what was going on in Tupac's mind at the time of the photo.