Studio2:Bridge1:Part I

7 Days of responding to the collected images of Visual Culture based on the selected theme discussed in class.

Gender & Identity 

Day 1:
Moma 1

Laurie Simmons’s Photographs known as ” Walking House” from 1989.

I choose this photograph because this photograph makes me relate to the women’s general role in a household. Whereas women often play the role of housekeeping and taking care of the family in traditional society whether in the Western or Eastern culture. The image of the representation of women’s legs and heels holding the weights of a house was very ironic in which women are supposed to be weak (in strength) but are taking care of the whole family (taking on the weight of the house).

Photograph. “Walking House”
Laurie Simmons 1989

Moma 2

Wolfgang Tillmans’s photograph was known as “Lutz & Alex sitting in the trees” from 1993.

I choose this photograph because I see the resistance of the inequalities of human sexuality between men and women. This photograph reminds me of the choice of my theme — Gender. Whereas normally in the stereotype of our society, women are at a lower hierarchy than men.  In the photograph, the female is at the higher branches of the tress and the male is at the lower branches of the tree which emphasis women can be powerful or have the ability to outweigh men.  In another word, the composition of the male and female in the photograph sort of conveys to me that the female could be at a higher position of the male which is not so normal in the common society. At the same time, the female is being restricted that they should wear clothes to cover their upper parts of their bodies. But in the photograph, partial of her upper body is exposed outside and covering only parts of her body with a manly jacket. And at the same time, the male figure is wearing a red, shiny jacket and showing a very nervous body action holding on to the tree.

Photograph. “Lutz & Alex sitting in the trees”
Wolfgang Tillmans 1993

Moma 3
Wolfgang Tillmans’s photograph was known as “Friends” from 1998.

I chose this photograph because this from where I came from people had that stereotype where females could act more intimate with other females. But when males act too intimate such as what has been shot on this photograph; people would be arguing their sexuality. But not to talk about people have their freedom of choosing their sexuality. Males should also have the right to do what they want with their close friends.

Photograph. “Friends”
Wolfgang Tillman 1998

Internet 1
Movie still from the movie “Farewell My Concubine” directed by Kaige Chen, released on Oct 15, 1993 (USA).

I choose this movie still because the gender of the character was both men but due to the rule of the stage play at that time, even the female character in the stage has to be played by a male. This reminds me of my theme for this project — gender. Whereas even at a certain period of time for certain things, social rules or social expectations only let males take the play.

Film Still. “Farewell My Concubine”
Kaige Chen 1993.

Internet 2
Cindy Sherman’s photograph was known as “Untitled Film Still #84” from 1978.

I chose this photograph because this photograph makes me think of my choice of themes Gender or possibly Identity. In the setting of this photograph, it shows a woman with style in the kitchen with an action of picking up a broken paper bag of grocery. This reminds me of women’s social status and the social cognitions of women.

Photograph. “Untitled Film Still #84”
Cindy Sherman 1978

Photograph. “Untitled Film Still #84”
Cindy Sherman 1978 (Edited)

 Internet 3
Photographer Jenn Floyd’s photograph of a manly man with his 1 years old daughter from Jan 18, 2020.

I choose this photograph because this photography is showing a different kind of reality in today’s sociality which reminds me of my topic Gender and Identity. It is showing a father with his daughter in the photograph. Where in the photograph the father seems like taking the position of a mother. That reminds me of how women are being defined as the ones who supposed to taking care and bond with their kids more than men.

Photograph.
Jenn Floyd (Jan 18, 2020).

Photograph.
Jenn Floyd. Jan 18, 2020 (Edited)

 Internet 4
Photograph from the internet.
Website link: https://www.npr.org/2011/04/14/135417647/in-india-number-of-female-children-drops

When I think of my theme “Gender,” the thing that revolved around my mind is the incidents of Sex-Selective Abortion. It was a very common incident while the One-Child Policy law was being forced to take action in China. Not to mention it was common during that time period, it is possible in some part of the world this kind of incidents are still happening. In many places, people believe boys are better than girls. They would get the abortion if they found out they are pregnant with a girl even it is illegal to do abortions. This poster is trying to express the idea that giving birth to a girl is also a great thing. All gender should be equally treated. 

Photograph,
Raveendran/AFP/Getty Image. 2011.

Internet 5
Artist J. Howard Miller’s poster known as “We Can Do It!” from 1942.

I choose this poster because of the women’s actions of showing power in this poster shown the contrast between women’s social cognition and how the women’s actions appear on the poster. The women in the poster are showing the power and strength of women; whereas in the society even till today females were being stereotyped as soft and weak in comparison to males.

 

 

Reflection:

• The purpose (goal) of this assignment was to try to find photos that related to our choice of theme so we can explore more in-depth to figure out a topic for our future assignments.
• What I learned about Visual Culture is that it is like words in a visual form. The viewer can catch the cue from the photo to understand and figure out the obscure and direct message that is being sent to the viewer.
• It’s important because people could still understand the cues from the photos even if they speak different languages.

Finally, I think I wanted to focus on gender for my theme. And I want to explore more in-depth on how human was being limited by their gender.