This piece is meant to be a commentary on the imbalance of
labor between men and women, especially when it comes to domestic
relationships. Even though women have been part of the labor force for a very long
time and today especially are required to be to be able to survive as the cost
of living continues to climb, women are also widely still expected to be able
to manage caring for children, getting an education, taking care of their own well-being
and the well-being of others, and maintaining a home. Many of these tasks are not
expected of men to the same degree, as traditionally they have been made to be
the roles of mothers, wives, and daughters. It pulls from my own experiences
living in a household where getting the men in my family to do an equal amount
of housework as my mother and I is like asking them to hike barefoot up Mount
Everest: they aren’t going to do it, and they think you are unreasonable for
asking in the first place.
In this piece I used myself as the subject and
placed myself in the role of a woman who is expected to be responsible for
everything. I modeled the costuming after Rosie the Riveter style women who
worked in factories and shipyards during World War II. I set up the scene to
show some of the tasks that the character was responsible for: household maintenance,
cooking, and cleaning. The posing and the wrench in the pot represents being
overwhelmed by having too many different tasks to handle at once and becoming too
tired and underappreciated to care anymore. The car visible through the window
is meant to indicate the presence of a man, but one who is not actively
assisting the character. I used several images from the Library of Congress to create
a frame that ties together the overwhelmed subject of the image and the distressed state
that the image is in.
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This work Old is New Again by Miranda Santana is a black and white photo composite with features that make it feel like it was taken in the wet-plate days. The photo focuses on a female dressed in an apron and hair cloth leaning onto a kitchen counter with a distressed look on her face. The context of her being in a kitchen comes from the stove to her right with food cooking, the tile backsplash, and the items placed around the counter. Some of these items include a cleaning bottle, tool box and she is wrapped in a tool belt. To convince the wet-plate look, there is a lot of wear and tear added to the photo along with a few layers of dark frames and blur.
ReplyDeletePutting time back in the 18th, 19th century, I know that women were treated as house maids. In this photo specifically, you can tell the woman is tired because she is leaning over, her face is unhappy and looks worn out. She seems to have multiple things going on like cooking, cleaning, and fixing things around the house. I would also assume this is not her paid job, because the setting feels like it was taken in her home. If I were to interpret this photo I would say this is a woman showing what labor looks like to men, who believe a woman's job is easy.
The wet-plate process was a process that captured images by exposing a light sensitive mixture coated on glass. I think this artist did a good job with adding multiple layers of what looks like the liquid mixture bleeding into the photo. One recommendation I would have is to blur the background a bit more than the main subject because with the depth of field of this process, I do not know if everything would come out the same clarity, or you could also just add more focus to your face. The crack going through the middle is also a nice way to show the wet plate process, and taking this a step further you could add a little piece of tape to show how it was kept together.
This is an overall well done project. I felt a deep connection to its meaning and knew almost exactly what the story was. One thing I did not notice until after reading was the wrench in the food (I didn’t zoom in and it’s a little blurry), I think this is a really subtle but good depiction for your story.
The piece I’m writing my review on is by Miranda Santana. At first glance, it’s very well crafted. I noticed while watching the gif, that almost each object is its own layer. The blending is done so seamlessly and the size compared to its surroundings fits beautifully. If you asked me if this was just a snap and go photo of a woman in the kitchen, I would have believed you.
ReplyDeleteWithout reading the description, I would assume that this would be about a woman’s hardships and struggle during the old times. I see a stressed out individual surrounded by a pot that’s boiling, a toolbox, and washcloths. Her body language looks distressed and her facial expressions scream out anger and frustration; she is clearly exhausted and or tired of this endless cycle. In the background of this piece, outside the window, there’s a truck and I would assume the owner or husband has just gotten back from work. This would only accentuate her emotions and lead to a more aggressive attitude and that’s what this image captures wonderfully. The scratches and torn edges add so much more aggression to the image and help captivate the audience into empathizing with this woman.
I think that the artist has blended everything wonderfully and as stated in my previous paragraphs, if you had told me this was just a photo of a woman in a kitchen with a filter thrown over it, I would believe you. From a kitchen area with plants and a couple of instruments to the current throwback environment, again very well done. My only suggestion for this would be removing the black spots just because they are a little bit excessive and throws off the “authentic-ness” of the piece. I’ve watched the gif multiple times and I feel like the filters right before the black border suit it better, unless you could blend in the black borders and spots more, I do think the piece would look more realistic without them.
DeleteOverall, the shadows, lighting, and color matching of each individual item is blended very well. The outfit and facial expression as well, are done excellently. After reading the description of the image, the meaning is executed effectively. I see what the woman is going through and with the compositing I can feel it as well. The planning that was put into this project ended up into something very authentic looking and well crafted.