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Blog #6

This blog is a holistic analysis on the photographer Annie Leibovitz and 5 of her celebrity portraits. 

The first picture I will analyze is a portrait of Meryl Streep taken in New York City in 1981.  It shows Streep in front of a classic white backdrop, with casual white clothing and white face paint.  The lighting is spotlighted on her face from a straight forward position, while she pulls at her cheeks. The only unnatural color in the photograph is the outline of her lips and thin streaks across her cheek bones.  This now iconic photograph was taken for Rolling Stones Magazine.   Leibovitz had Streep pull at her face as a metaphor to show how the actress can play versatile roles that she executes greatly. 

This particular photo of Streep plays at her iconic and influential platform that she worked so hard towards.  The intention of Leibovitz was to take a nontraditional route to express how much of an important person Streep has become in Hollywood and as a household name.  The color scheme is very light and undisruptive to keep the focus on Streep and the straight forward position of the camera is to preserve power and strength.  

This photo of famous basketball player Michael Jordan was taken in 1991.  This profile view is a heads-hot that shows a focused emotion on his face.  It is cropped just above his head to his shoulder, concentrating on his face.  He is not wearing a shirt, and has a diamond earing which is the only unnatural item in the photo.  Much like the photograph of Meryl Streep, the camera is faced head on, with spotlight lighting and very little color with a classic backdrop.  The only color that stands out is the warm color of his skin.  His stance is relaxed but determined adding to the power that Jordan is encompassing.  The lack of props and costume means the entire focus is on Jordan himself.  This photo is iconic because it drives the viewer to think about all of his achievements and everything he has done to change the world of basketball.

This very recognizable and iconic photo of Yoko Ono and John Lennon was captured by Annie Leibovitz in 1980 for another Rolling Stones Magazine cover.  This photo is shot from above with Ono lying on a cream colored carpet with Lennon covering her in a fetal position completely nude.  He is kissing Ono’s cheek with his eyes closed while she is turned towards him with a vacant expression.  While Lennon is nude and has his arm framing her face, Ono is clothed in a black long sleeved shirt and blue jeans.  Her hair is fanned out around her and him.  This photo is recognized as one of, if not the most iconic photo in rock n roll history.  Just hours after this photo was taken, Lennon was shot by a jealous former security guard.  Because this photo depicts so much more than a couple being romantically involved, but the last moments that had and even possibly their last kiss, it stands as history’s greatest image of both love and loss.  Lennon refused to be photographed without his wife but wanted to be nude while Ono wanted to be clothed.  This perfectly depicts their own personalities and the relationship to one another.  Ono seemed to be his grounding figure and he adored her for that.  They were very close to one another and it shows in this image.  It remains to be a shocking and intimate moment that will be remembered in high regard. 

This photograph of the famous actress Whoopi Goldberg was captured in California in 1984.  Leibovitz has now become highly known as one of the best photographers of notable faces in Hollywood.  This photograph of Whoopi Goldberg is no exception.  She is captured in a milk bath in a porcelain tub which is a stark contrast against her skin and hair.  Goldberg’s arms and legs are sprawled out in all directions and she has a huge smile on her face with her head barely emerging from the milk water.  The photo was inspired by one of her latest comedian routines in which she plays a little girl who uses clorox to try and make her skin white.  Much like the photograph with Lennon and Ono, this image is taken from a bird's eye view.  Looking at this photograph with no background information, it is an amusing shot of a well known actress who is known for making millions laugh.  When asked about the photo, Leibovitz said "I thought 'Oh my goodness, this is graphically amazing and interesting,' and we took that picture,".

The last photo of Leibovitzs’ I chose to analyze was the one she took of Caitlin Jenner in 2015 for her Vanity Fair cover shoot.  The photo captures Jenner’s statuesque physique laying across a beige couch.  Her hair is made up in a low pony and she is wearing a tightly fitted dark blue dress with silver earrings and a ring on her pinky finger.  In a home setting, she looks relaxed but modelistic while looking into the distance.  It captures Caitlin Jenner in her natural habitat.  The color scheme is very natural with the only pop of vibrant color being Jenner’s red fingernail polish.  Like most of Leibovitz’s other iconic photographs, the setting, costume and makeup is toned down to keep the focus on Jenner.  Leibovitz mentions in an article that she felt pressure to make the cover perfect for Jenner because of how important the moment was for the Olympic Athlete to come out to the universe. 

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97103150

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-annie-leibovitz-perfectly-captured-yoko-johns-relationship

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/annie-leibovitz-caitlyn-jenner-cover

https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.95

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/wall-decorations/photography/annie-leibovitz-photograph-meryl-streep-dated-1981-signed-numbered-4-40/id-f_11719361/

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Blog #4

Sociopolitical Art 

The well known political artists Banksy, Emory Douglas, and Diego Rivera have used many different art forms to express their views on politics and use their social platform to demonstrate those beliefs.  Graffiti, design, and typography have been just some of the types of art forms that these artists use.  For this blog post, I found a piece of work by each of these artists that exhibit the views on some of the political issues they found important to portray. 

This street art was done by the world-famous Banksy, who has become recognized as one of the most well-known graffiti artists of the contemporary art movement.  He has repeatedly targeted problems with violence and war with this piece being one of them.  This work depicts Banksy’s dark political sense of humor with a serious undertone of how he views war.  He uses a stencil to design an outline of a little girl hugging a bomb, making for a controversial image that causes debate on whether we should be advocating for war or not.  The use of the pink background shows the juxtaposition of the meaning and the happy color and emotion on the girl's face.  By using a young girl to symbolize innocence and a large bomb to symbolize mass destruction and violence, this image holds a complex marriage of two sides of an argument.  While always using an underlining battle against street art being ostracized, this work also brings heavy political issues to light.  Ethically, Banksy is forcing the public to pick a side on what they prioritize.  This art will impact people who favor violence and war more so than people who are already against it.  It is meant to force people to look at this issue from different perspectives especially in countries where people are privileged enough to experience the tortures of war first hand.

Where Banksy uses graffiti for his design, Emory Douglas has used a lot of typography in his work.  A newspaper called The Black Panther run by the Black Panther Party who was a revolutionary socialist political organization based in Oakland California used Douglas for his design skills.  He offered a powerful voice for images that positively impacted the poor communities due to illiteracy rates.  He would use terminology that was impactful and also relevant to the text so that readers would know what the context was, and could also empower the oppressed black community.  This picture that was printed May 6, 1972, includes text that says “Hey, Mister, what you doin to the poor man.  Lord knows you oughta quit it.”  with people holding signs “Freedom now!” and “U.S Govt stop killing people now!!!”.   There is a mixture of silhouette drawings and cutouts of black males and females in a range of ages with a blue-lined background.  Since newspapers were predominantly black and white pictures, the blue grabs hold of the attention and add to the importance of the message being portrayed.  Funny enough this poster was created nearly 50 years ago but remains extremely relevant in history.  The ethics behind this image are clear and speak fluently in the field of black justice.  Douglas, his collection of artwork, political work, and this specific image are crucial to the culture.  He created an expressive outlet that gave an influential voice for the black community but also to educate the public if they (and often were) ignorant of the abuse of the oppressed.  

    Diego Rivera was also a great influencer and advocate for his political views.  He was a part of the Mexican communist party and was active in movements like social realism, surrealism, and other modern art subjects.  He created a lot of paintings but also worked on murals, which he often got commissioned for.  This period, murals were accepted and a celebrated form of street art, because it was paid for.  In 1933, Rivera created a mural for the Rockefellers in New York for the Rockefeller Center.  The subject of the mural was “Man at the crossroads” and was supposed to depict how the 20th century would change socially, politically, scientifically, and industrially.  The Rockefellers were very offended when Rivera painted a portrait of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in the near front.  The mural was destroyed but Rivera recreated it once back in Mexico.  This mural was social realism mixed with primitive Christian art.  A lot of Mexican art followed this overcrowded and overstimulating sense.  The multitude of colors was important to the outcome and the largeness in scale added to the overall finish.  The addition of Lenin in the painting was a rebellious act on Rivera’s part.  He was knowingly unapologetic about his views and this mural proves that.  He was crucial to the politics and social development of Mexico by the art he created. 

Sources:

http://ahuskofmeaning.com/2011/11/the-passsion-the-majesty-and-the-

politics-of-diego-rivera/

https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-emory-douglas#slideshow-1-5

https://guyhepner.com/banksy-art-as-a-political-weapon/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party

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Blog #3

Typography and Design

Typography has been used in graphic design for years and has become very popular in artist’s work as of recently.  Artists will use this specific form of design by adjusting the text to the form of the image creating something that is no longer text, but a piece of art.  The way a good piece of typography design can be portrayed is in between digital art and poetry.  Oftentimes using one-liners, or strong but short quotes, the design will make an impression on its viewers.  There are many different ways an artist can achieve this.  Many designers will create a poster with typography for a brand, but some artists create for causes or inspirational posts as well.  Some of the types of typography designs are chaotic, cropped, bold, creative, hand-lettered, and many more.  But the ones I'm going to focus one in this post are creative, cropped, and concrete/visual. 

   This type of typography would be categorized in the ‘creative’ field of design.  It adjusts font and the curve of each letter to become tangled and create a harmonious design.  It is easy to read but looking at it quickly and overall, it appears to be an array of abstract lines.  This work is done by Pavlov visuals, and the artist likes to use a lot of intertwining objects or letters to create a soft, pleasing outcome.  This image was created for artists or people who like to expressive themselves in various forms.  It is meant to be inspirational, and encourage those to keep creating.  The way it is represented and the timeline of which digital art has become popular, I can assume that this piece was done in recent years, but the message could be relevant in any decade.  I find this message inspirational and relatable.  Whether I am in a creative roadblock or busy doing non-leisure activities, this image would be a nice compliment to any timeline.  It’s a positive and supportive outlook for each viewer and can help boost confidence in the creative community.  

This image was created to bring awareness to the public about water situations based in Africa.  I think this piece is very intriguing and informative.  The black and white contrast gives a sense of importance to the topic and the cropped lettering of the word water grabs hold of the viewer's attention.  Having the biggest and easiest read word being ‘water’ also gives an urgency of what it is speaking on.  The way the letters look like a dripping faucet makes this a successful piece of typography.  Historically, the image voices concerns on the unsafe water that so many Africans are experiencing every day.  It has been a topic of concern since 1997 and still to this day suffer from the consequences of unclean water.  The image provides information on how to help the cause and also gives information on why you should.  It is meant to be a poster to provide knowledge and gain supporters which are ethically for a good cause.  It helps support the culture and society of Africans in many countries who are suffering from water stress.

   This empowering and motivational message is done in the form of concrete poetry which can be a type of typography for visual design.  It is when there is an arrangement of linguistic elements that form the shape of imagery that is meaningful to the subject matter.  This particular design is in the recognizable shape of a fist that is often used by the Black Lives Matter organization and those in support of the case against police brutality towards minorities.  The words ‘Black Power’ is repeated in white font and different sizes against a stark black background.  The message is straightforward and powerful for all those who believe in it.  Historically, the context behind the image has been well known since the beginning of the protests and the development of the foundation in 2013.  Although the fight against a racist system has always been relevant.  With the coming of age technology and social media connections, artists who are capable of designing images for black freedom, are different from any other time in history.  This way we can share and have easy access to ideas and images.  For ethical, and cultural purposes, the perspective is clear on where it stands and who it is rooting for.  Especially in today’s society, this image could be conversational and possibly frowned upon by others with different opinions.  I believe this form of typography was successful in its endeavor and I support it fully. 

Sources :

https://www.instagram.com/pavlovvisuals/

https://graphicmama.com/blog/graphic-design-trends/

https://graphicmama.com/blog/graphic-design-trends-2018/

https://www.designspiration.com/save/376831566777/

https://mymodernmet.com/15-design-posters-that-pertain/

https://www.creativebloq.com/typography/what-is-typography-123652

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/beginning-graphic-design/typography/1/

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Blog #2

Question #2

It’s no secret that large businesses advertise to a target market, which oftentimes crosses into gender stereotypes and helps suppress societal equality.  It is difficult to achieve equality due to people holding onto gender norms, and especially when we are observing and ingesting nonprogressive aspects.  Advertisements can play a bigger role in the way we live and view the people around us.  It influences how we view race, class, sexuality, and gender.  For this blog post, I’m going to focus on how some gender norm Television ads that are emphasizing social stereotypes.  

 Mr. Clean “Cleaner of your dreams” (2017) Super Bowl Ad 

The company Procter and Gamble have seemingly always used gender stereotypes to advertise Mr. Clean products.  They will try to appeal to women by showing off the quality of their products while a man shows a middle-class housewife how to clean her kitchen.  If that concept wasn’t bad enough, this 2017 ad exhibits a man meaning to be Mr. Clean himself as a sex symbol, adding sex appeal to house chores.  The tag line was “You gotta love a man who cleans” meaning that if a man ever decides to help the female of the house with normal cleaning duties, she should find him sexy.  This ad uses symbolic and indexical signs to convince the audience to purchase their supplies.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozuWoZITX3Y 

Kay Jewelers “Storm Commercial” 2009

Kay Jewelers has had some of the most shameless, gender-specific advertisements on modern television.  Every ad features a 30 something man and woman and a handful of cheesy one-liners.  The worst being “Every kiss begins with Kay” being translated to “If you buy me expensive diamonds you will be rewarded”.  It may not be that dramatic, but Kay jewelers could be society’s largest grossing pimp.  There is a lot of symbolism in this specific commercial that embraces gender stereotypes.  It is named ‘the storm’ because a couple is in a house in the woods where the female becomes illogically scared of thunder and squeals into the man's chest.  To that, the man says “Don’t be scared, I’m here, and always will be.”  Then the narrator comes on and encourages the male audience to buy this necklace to ‘surround her with the STRENGTH of your love’.  There are so many sexist little parts to this, I had to use the gestalt theory to examine the overall sexism of the commercial.  The main part symbolizing an old school perception of love and how each hetero member plays their role.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltA50HKyM14

Barbie “Imagine The Possibilities” 2015

The intentions of this commercial were good.  The brand Barbie has gotten backlash in the past for symbolizing a stereotypical role in gender geared towards little girls.  Which is why I imagine they were trying to be more progressive in the advertisements.  This commercial starts with the text “What happens if girls are free to imagine they can be anything?” suggesting girls are currently not free to do as they want but maybe one day they can be.  Also by secluding boys out of the discussion, they are segregating the genders and also showing their products are solely for growing females.  There is a gray line where empowering females can also be substituting the trend of feminism for something that is not pro-equality at all.  Through-out the commercial it exhibits little girls pretending to have careers in fields that seemingly that wouldn’t have been able to with-out women empowerment; such as doctors, professors, and other intelligent requiring positions.  It encourages little girls to strive for those positions but also suggests that it would have been impossible before.  I believe this gender norm-based ad was technical with its flaws but not undetectable.  I also acknowledge that many large companies are hesitant to embrace a gender less society where so much of their marketing is based on that.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vnsqbnAkk 

Budweiser “Tune Out” 2004

Budweiser, like many beer companies, caters to men in their advertisements.  Beer itself has become a symbolic sign for manhood and Budweiser uses that stereotype to market to a gender-specific market.  This commercial shows a referee during a football game (which has also been used to embrace societal stereotypes) not listening to a screaming man in his ear.  Later on, the viewer is shown that the ref knows how to tune out this screaming man because he is used to his nagging wife at home.  This commercial plays on the specific roles of hetero couples as many of the other commercials I mentioned before do.  This stereotype is quite negative in its display creating a sense of humor for the male purchasing parties and therefore creating a sense of normality through tolerance of women but also the privilege of male dominance.  This type of advertisement uses beer as a sign to suggest an ‘escape’ from their significant other.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr6JHOptvcI 

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Blog post #1

     This post is about an American conceptual artist who uses photography to criticize issues in today's society, mostly concerning feminism.  Barbara Kruger uses popular images, short attention-grabbing sentences, and bold black outlines with red to emphasize the context of her illustrations.  Her work shows a lot of inspiration from Andy Warhol and contemporary feminist artists.  It is meant to be to provoke and shock her audience.  Taking interest in pop culture, she uses current, common knowledge to push boundaries and further the way of thinking that we have grown accustomed to.  

    Untitled (your body is a battleground) is a piece Kruger made for the women's march in Washington to support reproductive freedom.  The image captures a woman’s face split into positive and negative exposures, and covered by text and outlined with a vibrant red.  The image is a protest designed for a specific time in history but remains relevant to feminist culture and art.   The very direct text is both eye-catching and compelling.  In terms of cognitive perspective towards this specific work of art, the contrast of red and black with white font catches the eye and also makes the picture flat.  Therefore demanding the viewer to take a few moments to register and digest the image.  The complex photo and meaning help the viewer to formulate their own opinions.   Acting very much like the way a computer processes information.