Camera Lucinda

For our first reading on photography, I was expecting something like the Dondis readings we had earlier in class where we analyzed different components of photographic design and composition. So, I was somewhat surprised to find that this author’s accounts on photography is much more personal and subjective than I expected. I found the author’s take on being the subject of a photograph particularly interesting. From how he explained it, he sounds like a person who really dislikes taking his photo taken, as he recounts how unsettling it is to look at his own photographs, going as far as to describe it as “becoming Death”. I do agree with him that when we take photos, we find it hard to resist posing and we try to present a different version of ourselves. However, he seemed to make an argument that it is impossible to truly capture oneself through photography, which I disagree with. I think photos–even if posed artificially–has a way of bringing out different aspects of ourselves and doesn’t necessarily conflict with our sense of identity.

Gerz

I was pretty confused by the images and texts shown in the exhibition, since I couldn’t find a clear correlation between what’s shown and what’s written. The only common thread I could find between the pieces were their use of color—words “black” and “brown” are mentioned multiple times as well as shown in the displays. Collectively, the both the artwork and the text seem almost aggressive towards the viewers, as if questioning if we really understand the message of the artist’s work or not. Personally, I felt like the juxtaposition between the text and the image added to the feeling of failed communication, as I constantly felt like I was missing the point while viewing/reading the images and text.