Annotative Bibliography #6

Observation:

In this photograph, I see a black woman and a young black girl sitting at a table. They are both sitting in front of vanity mirrors and doing their makeup. They are sitting at a wooden table in a room with dim lighting. There is an empty seat at the table and a door behind them.

Inference:

This photograph is very interesting because of the information I now know about Carrie Mae Weems and her personal ideals. I especially was interested in Weems ideas about beauty in relation to black females. In the article entitled "Photographing Between the Lines; Beauty, Politics, and the Poetic Vision of Carrie Mae Weems" by Deborah Willis, it states; 

"Weems has long been consumed and galvanized by the idea of beauty. The notion of beauty encompasses and reaches beyond aesthetics. It is not a simple concept, as often there are unspoken political implications in her use. Beauty is a powerful adjective in her hands and an important tool in her work. Her work is always about beauty and purposely so. She seduces the viewer through the very process of creating luscious prints, or beautiful images, without ever using beauty purely to seduce." (Willis 33)

I believe that this picture is Weems' way of very blatantly discrediting the entity of beauty. Showing this picture of a woman and young girl both applying makeup in order to achieve this coveted "beauty" that seems to be so important in society. I think that this photo is interesting in many ways; however, the most striking part of this photo comes from the fact that this young girl (I am making the assumption that the two are a mother-daughter couple) is attempting to emulate her mother in the application of her makeup. I think that this shows a lot about the message of the photograph. I believe that by showing this young girl learning about the "importance" of beauty from her (assumed) mother, Weems is making a mockery of the idea of "beauty" as a whole. The beginning of the article quotes an art critique when she states, "'Each body of her work poses a question and then, through the work, image and text, answers it.' - Thelma Golden" I believe that this photo poses the question, "Is this idea of physical beauty being paramount for women something we should be passing down to our children?" and I believe that overall, through Weems' body of work (including this photograph) she answers by saying, "No. Physical beauty is not important. Women (especially black women) need to make more of themselves and not just rely on their physical appearance."