Annotated Bibs #'s 7 & 8

Observation:
- This photo is a self-portrait of Piper. She titled the photo, "Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features". Piper uses shading on the skin which distinguishes that she is a woman of color. The face is defined from the jawline to her forehead. The woman shows exhaustion with the bags below her eyes and she has a "mug-shot" type look on her face as well. Her hair looks like it was just straightened, but it is not as straight as a white person's hair and she shows this with the curls and the parts in between. Her hair has "nappy" features since its knotty and uneven in certain areas. Looking into her eyes gives me the feeling that this woman has been through a lot.

Inference:
- Piper used this self-portrait to display her feelings on black women being represented in art. In the article, "Acting Like a Man" Piper is quoted, "Perhaps I'm driving myself to schizophrenia" (230). The woman in the photo has this look of someone experiencing this disorder, and that she struggles with self-identity as a Black woman in America. The straightened hair stands out to me as well because to this day black women still believe their hair should be straightened all the time to appear more "white". The article also includes, "The Mythic Being is the first instance Judith Wilson can find of an African American artist depicting an Afro that is clearly not a sign of essential blackness" (231). Throughout the 70's and 80's the Afro was a symbol for black culture and it was consistently used to represent black art. Piper's photo above shows that you do not need a black woman with an Afro for the photo to have a significant meaning.




Observation:
-  There is a black woman with her back turned towards the camera. She is wearing a white nightgown and her hair is rough looking as if she just woke up. In her left hand she is pouring "water" out of a metal pitcher, and in her right hand she is pouring a clear liquid out of a plastic bottle. The woman is thin since her back is defined by her bone structure. The black background is darkness that could lead to anything. Below the picture it says, "SHE SAW HIM DISAPPEAR BY THE RIVER, THEY ASKED HER TO TELL WHAT HAPPENED, ONLY TO DISCOUNT HER MEMORY".

Inference:
- This photo represents the typical stereotypes for black women in America. The white gown could symbolize that she is a server or some type of maid. She is pouring out a pitcher of "water", and a clear liquid from a plastic bottle that resembles some type of cleaning material such as "bleach". She could be pouring these two objects out because it is a sign that she and other black women are more than just cleaners and servers and its time for bigger things.
- The quote at the bottom of this photo gives me a different inference on its meaning. This quote reflects another stereotype for black women being "promiscuous", used as sex objects, and being single mothers. The quote insists that the woman experienced some type of loss with, "SHE SAW HIM DISAPPEAR BY THE RIVER". She could have just been waking up to seeing the man she once loved leaving her . The man could be deceased an turned into ashes, in which were placed to "disappear" in the river.