No sight exercise
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/sb10068434c-001/Photographers-Choice
Being blindfolded was an exercise to see our reactions. The reaction depends on the environment the individual is in and the people they are surrounded by, also any other experiences they have had in their life.
As for us in class we felt; trust, depending on this we were either comfortable or uncomfortable; we were able to communicate with each other freely; felt in power as our other senses became more aware; some experienced vulnerability that comes along with not relying on sight for most interactions. This would be another story all together if someone was born without sight, the person does not rely on it for interactions, their other senses are stronger.
Power and politics in images.
What we see in images, what we denote from them and what is left out all effect our reaction.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weegee-Arthur-Fellig/15860841434
Over the ages since photography has been made possible, politics and power have always been a 'hot topic' and people like Arthur Felig, otherwise known under his nickname 'Weegee', famous for his provocative images in striking black and white. He worked as a press photographer in the 1930's and the 1940's, given his nickname because he always knew what was happening (as if he knew before it even happened, thanks to a police scanner) and producing scandalous images.
As seen below in "Their First Murder" 1936, Weegee took the picture of a crowd of people (of all ages) seeing a murder on the street. The image records the horrific reactions of the onlookers, of both children and adults.
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hamiltr/1b03image5.html
This images records the natural response to the grim murder scene, the havoc and their shock, it also calls attention to the act of looking and the forbidden. In relation to today, this image is almost identical when a car accident happens, the onlookers are shocked and intrigued all in one reaction, the forbidden scene elicits a range of emotions and Weegee ever-famously let his viewers see this up close and personal.
Weegee worked from the back of his Chevrolet (1942), he would make it on the scene almost before everyone else (even the emergency services like the police, etc), after taking the photograph he would develop the image in the back of his car, mixing chemicals and bringing the photo to life.
His images that were produced when he worked as a press photographer were mostly based around power and devastation. He was around in time when racial inequality was very prevalent. Weegee shocked the public with his images.
Racial inequality was a huge issue in the 30's and 40's that Weegee caught the story of Emmett Till. The African-American child was tortured and brutally murdered by white men, after a story was told that Emmett had woof whistled at a white woman. Weegee caught the boy's profile, before the murder and after.
http://www.nndb.com/people/263/000073044/
http://www.himho.com/emmet-till-jet-magazine/
At the time this horrific incident was a catalyst the Civil Rights Movement, the images were a constant reminder of such an injustice that was happening at the time. Emmett's mother insisted on an open casket, where 50,000 people attended (1955).
The trouble with awful events such as Emmett Till's story is that it can be told and be horrible but the images tell of the gruesome reality, words cannot describe the emotional response. In Emmett's case the monstrous nature of the crime stands out in the photograph, more than what words can say.
Robert Frank, is another famous photographer whom spotlighted the issues and inequalities in American society.
http://www.steidlville.com/books/695-The-Americans.html
Frank is from Switzerland and is well known for his 1958 photographic book titled Les Americains (The Americans) where he captures images of trams and buses that had the 'white people' in the front seats and the 'black people' in the back seats. This image 'Trolley' taken in 1955, the same year as a Rosa Parks (a 'black' woman) refused to give up her seat for a white man. Reality was dawning on every individual.
He is much subtler than Weegee yet just as shocking, giving an outsiders view on American society and influentially the post-war period.
I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love. It is important to see what is invisible to others. Perhaps the look of hope or the look of sadness. Also, it is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph. - Robert Frank
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4972301
I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love. It is important to see what is invisible to others. Perhaps the look of hope or the look of sadness. Also, it is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph. - Robert Frank
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4972301
Rosemary Laing, an Australian photographer that was trained as a painter and explored performance art.
She has been exhibited all over the world and is one of Australia's leadig contemporary photo-based artists. Her concepts are mainly air related, her images are staged (often by stunt people), they are very evocative, poetic and gigantic in scale.
The photographs look to be painted but are in truth captured by a camera and lusciously printed, radiating an awe-inspiring atmosphere.
http://www.ozarts.com.au/artists/rosemary_laing
She has been exhibited all over the world and is one of Australia's leadig contemporary photo-based artists. Her concepts are mainly air related, her images are staged (often by stunt people), they are very evocative, poetic and gigantic in scale.
http://nga.gov.au/jump/details/134462.cfm
The photographs look to be painted but are in truth captured by a camera and lusciously printed, radiating an awe-inspiring atmosphere.
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Connotative Meaning
All the social, cultural and historical meanings that are added to a signs' literal meaning. Relies on the cultural and historical context of the image and it's viewers; lived and felt knowledge of those circumstances. Connotation thus brings to an object or image in the wider realm of ideology cultural meaning and value systems of a society.
*Discuss in relation to Robert Frank's photograph, "Trolly".
Denotation: 
Trolley-- New Orleans, 1955 by photographer Robert Frank.
http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/the-photography-of-robert-frank-the-americans-50th-anniversary-tribute/
- a row of passengers segregated by colour, age and sex in a trolley car.
Connotation:
- The hidden aspects of 'living the American Dream'
- Inequalities prevalent in American society in the 1950's
- Midst of the Cold War; big issues of fear, isolation and alienation
- At the time there was panic surrounding the American Communists actions and possible espionage; resulting in further isolation of sub-cultures within society (rich/poor, blacks/whites,leaders/followers). Encapsulated in Franks' "Trolley"
- Symbolically captured "institutionalised Southern racism"
- Profound tension captured in absolute purity
- Reading the image from left to right we see a hierarchical descent – white man, white woman, white children, black man, black woman – all isolated from one another and all seated as if ranked by birthright. http://www.brianappelart.com/art_writing_robert_frank_2007_Oct_17.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weegee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frank
http://www.tolarnogalleries.com/rosemary-laing/
http://www.annettelarkin.com/content/bio-detail.asp?idArtist=3017
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