I was so intrigued in class as I looked at images produced by Lorna Simpson. I've dedicated alot of time to race and gender studies, though mostly to race. I'd spent time thinking about ways that I could combine my love for photography with my love for African American studies and a light bulb went off in my head as I looked at her images and I came up with a project that I want to work on. I am indeed very exciting. I left class and went to Gorgas library and picked up one of her books. The most compelling thing to me is her use of text with the images she produces.
The most compelling series is titled, "She". It features four images of a single woman, however, her nose, eyes and hair aren't visible. She has no make up on and so it's very difficult to tell if the subject really is a woman or not. There are no distinct features and it says of myself that gender is a part of one's identity. Can I really know who a person is if I don't know their gender or even how the self identify. So, the series definitely presents a problem for me. Nonetheless, as I read the photos I learn more about myself.
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It is interesting when distinctive signifiers if identity -- especially the eyes are "amputated". What does this leave us? Maybe just generalizations about the subject's race versus their individuality. I'm glad you are inspired.
Based on your reaction in class, I gather you feel that Kara Walker missed the mark in her engagement with race. It seems like a particular challenge to create work that is provocative, but which doesn't undermine or negate one's intended message.
I really appreciate Lorna Simpson's work. Race seems to be a touchy subject still today, perhaps because our nation hasn't dealt with segregation and things of the like for quite some years now. Many of us don't believe race to be much of a big deal because we don't consider ourselves to be racist anymore, but I think we all are in certain aspects. We're still a generation that has been around a separate generation that had the problems facing race in it's face. Simpson lets us be very aware that race is still a problem we all face today, and she lets us know just what she means and what to look for by putting text with her photos. We don't have to really question what the photos are of, we just have to question ourselves and where we stand on certain topics.
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