Photography: Capturing my Culture

I took this photo to share with you the Christmas tradition I grew up with. Every December my mom decorates the inside of our house with Black Santas and places a Black Angel on top of our tree. This is a consistent tradition in most Black family houses as well. This is significant because the way media, television, and movies stereotype "Santa Claus" as a white figure even though he is imaginary. So as a child I grew up believing Santa Claus was White, and whenever I would see a Black male disguised as Santa Claus I would automatically assume he was a fake because of his skin color. In the scene with "Baby Jesus", they are all people of color and for years Jesus has been portrayed as a White man, although there are theories of him being a man of color. At the end of the day nobody really knows the exact race of Jesus Christ either.

I captured this image at the local barbershop I attend almost at a weekly basis back home. The barbershop plays a significant role in Black/Latino culture. The barbershop has been known as the "Black Man's Country Club". Its a place where men of color of all ages go on a daily basis to get haircuts, argue about sports, and talk about women. I have practically grown up in a barbershop since I have been going to them since I was 4 years old. You can ask any Black man about that feeling after you get a fresh cut because you will walk out of the shop feeling like a new man!

Photography

I chose to take this photograph of a young Caucasian girl and Starbucks. The stereotype surrounding the younger general of the stereotypical "white girl" always if not ever involves their obsession with Starbucks. She is looking up in awe at the sign of Starbucks anticipating her craving of the beloved coffee chain. 

Photograph and My Race

I did not know how to answer to the question whether my race matter as a photographer or not. I know that for some photographers, their races definitely matters like Gordon Park who used photographs as a weapon to fight against racial discrimination against his race. I also know that there are things that shape my photos as an Asian, but it is more cultural than race. For example, my home culture, people are very conscious about their look and there is a fine line of beauty standard. Real Asian Asian like my friends in Korea do not post pictures of themselves when they are not wearing make up or not dressing up nice. However, I am sort of Americanized in that sense, I find lots of pictures of me without make up. I explored my Facebook photo albums and went through my phone, where all my records of life are. Looking at all the photos, my race, Asian, does not really matters to me as a photographer. 

 These two photos are me with my lovely roommies. I love them so much. 

This is with my American mother and grandmother, who adopted me by heart. (Not by paper. It is technically unofficial, but we are serious about our relationship.) Race does not matter to us be a family, what matter is our heart. 

This is me with my host mother and her daughter that I used to live with. Race did not matter to us to live together and be happy.

This is me with my younger brother and two friends who visited me in Philly over the summer. This is to prove that I do not neglect my own race or to show that I do have my Asian relation. Once again, they are my friends not because of their races, but because of who they are.

This is me with one of my favorite little friends. We are best friends! And there are more friends that I met while volunteering at Camden NJ.

And more friends! We often joke, "white, brown, and yellow combination"

The effect of picture, Black and White, is not intended. It is just how my friend posted the picture on facebook. I guess she thought it looked cooler making it black and white, although it could have been nicer for this assignment to have colors in the picture.

In conclusion, for me, race does not matter. What matters is what is happening in my life, and capturing all the moments with my sweetest people. 

Andrew Heller's Photography Reflection

 

While I believe that the race of the photographer does not matter, these two photographs of my best friend Samara reflect what I believe my race as a white college student essentially looks like. On the left Samara is smoking a wine flavored black and mild cigar near the dumpster of our smoke free apartment complex. Now, despite the obvious white trash joke, the fact that Samara is smoking by the dumpster reflects the extent to which many college students like us go to relieve ourselves from the stress caused by scenes like the picture on the right. In that photo, Samara is plugged in on several levels. Between the music coming from the laptop, the numerous unfinished homework assignments, the disgustingly necessary beverage, and the phone that’s just waiting to cause a distraction, it’s totally reasonable to see the appeal in a little self-destruction by the dumpster. Additionally, the sweats she’s wearing throughout could reflect the laziness and comfort us privileged white kids have become accustomed to, but I think the most consistent representation is the active mind clearly present in both pictures.

 +

 

The two pictures seen above represent my argument for why race doesn’t matter. In my mind, we are all here to treasure the time we have with our loved ones, and regardless of skin color, we’re all the same in the love that we receive and pass on each day. However, the time we have is limited. So it’s important that we save these moments as often as possible, and photography gives everyone this grand opportunity. The picture within a picture is one of me looking up at my late grandfather on my first Christmas. He was a great but troubled man, and I’m looking up at him with a confused and startled expression. Although, now that I’m older and see the many resemblances between us, I don’t feel as surprised when I see his wild hair and big glasses. In the other picture a family is getting their portrait taken at Everhart Park in West Chester. Knowing I had to take pictures for this assignment, I sniped the photo discretely as I walked by. The quality is not the best, but the fact that you can’t immediately tell the family’s race makes my point. We know that they’re taking a family portrait and that alone is enough.

Amber McNeila/Fun Reflection Assignment

This first image is a canvas I created using crayons and a hairdryer. I then manipulated the image by using an app to create to separate frames. I decided to make one side of the image colorful and the other black and white because I do believe that race plays a role in the photographs taken by photographers, but it is not always the direct intent. I feel that an identity or our perceptions of what our race should be are socially constructed. The rainbow colors demonstrate all the outside factors other than race, while the black and white shows the interpretation of race as one of the only factors that effects an image. I think the audience or society has a very significant role in the creation of a photograph. I chose the word imagine to represent all other factor and possibilities considered when it comes to the concept of race and construction of any photograph. 

For anyone who has ever graced a Starbucks on a college campus, there is a stereotype that "basic", white girls drink Starbucks coffee. On many Instagram (social media) accounts there are pictures of Starbucks cups and hashtags such as #typicalwhitegirl #whitegirl #starbucks. As a white, female college student who enjoys Starbucks beverages, I fit this stereotype and by taking a picture to document it while in Starbucks I further ferment the idea. 

I have scene an image like this one on the social media sight Facebook, however, it just so happened that my roommate happened to find a small zebra figurine in her pursue. When I saw it I instantly thought that I needed to document it. Much like the controversy of the gold and white striped dress versus the blue and black striped dress and how people saw it (google reference actually quite amusing), this zebra represents the same concept, but with race specifically. As I look at this image I automatically assume this zebra is white with black stripes and as a child I would color it accordingly.  As I took this photograph, despite what I know now about race I still cannot seem to think about it as a black zebra with white stripes. I believe this may be because of my schooling, in a predominately white classroom. By no means do I think one interpretation is right or wrong, but it is intriguing that, that is how I initially perceived it. I think the important aspect to take from this photograph though is that regardless of its coloring, it is still a zebra. People are the same. Regardless of their skin color people are people and should be treated the same way. I also have it looking into the mirror to demonstrate the reflection process regarding race, photography and identity.

Lastly, is a picture of a Christmas tree. Now as simple as this image seems (mostly because of the holiday season) there is a more complex reason for photographing it. As a white female who grew up in an Irish Catholic household, I celebrate Christmas. When I took this picture I did not even think about those that were not white, female Catholics in regards to my audience. I assumed everyone would understand my picture because Christmas is apparently a well-known holiday and everyone should know a tree with lights, ornaments and giant ribbon is a representation of that, when in reality that may not be the case, which is why this image reflects my race as a photographer. 

Photo Project

  

I chose this set of photos because race is a very charged subject that always causes opposition, but it is an opposition that needs to be addressed. The pieces all start on different sides of the board, but as the game progresses, they all are given the chance to move closer together. But even as they move closer together there is conflict, and that conflict causes pieces to topple. The power of photography, in this case, is that the frame restricts the full scope of the game by showing only individual pieces. The white pieces may appear to be in power in the final photograph, but that is only because the frame zooms in on the one instance that the black pieces are shown in a state of weakness. It is only when we pull back the frame that we find that that weakness is not a representation of the whole board, and that race is not a game where one “side” is put into checkmate. 

Lyndsay Tipton - Photo Assignment

This photograph is of a stack of the rings that I wear on a daily basis. The one that is on the top is a Claddagh ring. I wear this ring due to my Irish heritage. The heart is representative of love, the hands of friendship, and the crown of loyalty. I believe that this photograph speaks to my race and my heritage as the photographer because of what the ring symbolizes for me. 

This photograph goes along with the previous one. This is a close up of my hand. In addition to the rings that I wear, I also have a four leaf clover tattooed on my finger. I got this tattoo to represent my grandfather who is Irish and happens to have an uncanny knack for finding four leaf clovers amidst weeds. I think this photograph is representative of my race and heritage for the same reasons that the first photograph was, its symbolism for me. 

This is a photograph that I took of my sister. Her red hair has always reminded me of our Irish heritage and the photograph in the background is a scene from Ireland. I think that this photograph is representative of my race/heritage for similar reasons as the first two photographs were.

This last photograph is a little bit different from my previous ones. I was actually at my graduation party talking about this photo essay when my best friend (pictured above) told me I should take a picture of her because she exemplified the typical "white girl" stereotype: wearing Uggs and a North Face jacket, while holding her brand new iPhone 6. This sparked a conversation about different stereotypes among races and why they come about, which is why I think this photo is representative of my race as the photographer.