Observations
In this close up photograph Piper is photographed from the neck up. From the caption and the reading we completed for this week I know that she is dressed in her Mythic Being costume and has taken the appearance of a man. The image here has her in big circular glasses with a big and curly afro on top of her head. She is also smoking a cigar. The lens on the right side has the reflection of the letter "A"and an air bubble to the left of her face reads "I embody everything you most hate and fear".
Inferences
From the reading I gathered that the main point of Piper's dressing up as the Mythic Being was to liberate herself from the preconceived perceptions of race and sexuality at the time (in her case being a black female), while forcing others to assess their own ideas of race and sexuality. That being said, I chose this picture because I feel as though it is a perfect exemplification of her goal for the viewer. While she doesn't appear to be too controversial at first in the picture, the caption on the side speaks largely to the viewers beliefs. By including it I feel as though it forces the viewer to look at the Mythic Being and then analyze whether or not the picture truly does embody what they hate. The article by Bowels noted, "The
artist has staged herself as an object for inspection but in a way that
ultimately reveals less about the artist than about the viewer’s attitudes
toward race, gender, and sexuality." Here he is agreeing that the picture entices the reader to think about their own preconceived notions about race, gender, and sexuality. However, while I understand Piper's tactics from the reading, I feel as though it is hard to make a distinctive claim on those three things from this photograph alone. For starters, since Piper is in costume, one is not immediately aware that she is cross-dressing to prove a point. At first glance it simply looks like a man (whose race in indistinguishable) smoking a cigar. However, the caption on the side suggests that this man is portraying something that people hate and the afro being worn by Piper could suggest that this quote is meant to shame those with hatred towards African Americans. The man's ambiguous gender might also indicate that the caption is referencing the fear of non traditional gender roles and sexuality that many people had during this time period. Overall, I feel that Piper was attempting to change opinions on sexuality and race by mirroring stereotypes and attempting to embody pride in the face of oppression.
Annotated Bibliography 8
Observations
In this photograph, a black woman is pouring water out of a plastic jug and a silver pitcher. She is holding the pitcher in one hand and the plastic jug in the other. The plastic jug is being held higher than the silver pitcher. She is wearing a white sleeveless dress and has short dark hair. Additionally a caption is placed below the picture that tells a part of a story.
Inferences
After reading the assigned article I have a better understanding of what Simpson is doing in this picture. At first, the picture appears to be very vague with an unclear message. It could be argued that the different heights of the picture and the plastic jug represent some theme of sustainability and wastefulness, but the text at the bottom of the image discounts any environmental theme. However, after reading about Simpson in The Cinema of Feminine Illusion I've received a greater insight as to what she could be saying here. In the article, Als asserts that Simpson insisted on her female subjects remaining absolutely still in her photographs (145). Additionally, Als focused largely on Simpson's cinematic style of photography that places women in the central frame along with text to create a narrative (145, 146). With this knowledge in mind I was then able to see the image more like a still-framed story that draws on the viewer's interpretation to create a story, regardless of what Simpson intended. Therefore I believe that the text is meant to represent the discredit that is given to the girl based on her African ethnicity and female gender. This seems to be a common theme between Simpson and Piper, and I think that the water jugs being held at different heights symbolize how its easier for society to give in to the cheap, mass produced stereotypes (the plastic jug) as opposed to the true beauty that lies within these discriminated persons (the silver jug). Ultimately, the water jugs, combined with the text and the fact that the woman has her back turned remaining faceless, tells a story of the discriminatory belittlement that society has imposed on African and African American women.
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