The fact that Parks has photographed Ali at an angle where the proximity is close, contrasting to how athletes were normally captured on camera, as Parks was able to capture such an intimate moment of Ali during a fight.

The black and white, as well as the lighting directed towards his face, is able to highlight details such as the sweat dripping down his face and neck, emphasising the momentous tension and suspense. Gordon Parks may have wanted to portray the sweat as a symbol of the strain and pressure Ali experienced—including when he changed his name—when he sought to represent himself (and later, a whole community) as a figure that was as dominant and powerful as his white coequals—while being a black muslim man.

His expression, serious, looking somewhere other than the camera, expresses that his concentration and focus is elsewhere, enhancing the profoundness of this photo. It embodies, or represents, the role he played in generating discussion, voices, and action to promote civil rights. As I observe the photo more and more, I’m beginning to see slight traces of worry in his expression, which is completely opposite to the conventional method of portraying athletes :  unbreakable humans who were capable of perfection and strength to a whole new standard. This photo, as powerful as it is, also seems to contain elements that represent Ali as an ordinary human being, which is a weighty decision, of Gordon Parks, to make considering the extent to which Ali was admired by the rest of the world.

In one way, the photo is capturing Ali to be the figure that everyone knew him as : a strong, determined athlete. On the other hand, it reveals him as a confrontational presence during a period of controversy and division, someone who people should be prepared to listen to, someone people should respect.

 

 

Fashion photography is about more than “merchandise.” It attempts to convey a world, an atmosphere, character, maybe even values.

 

In this photo, Parks has created an atmosphere of grandeur and elegance. The simplicity of black and white, as well as a single subject in the photo is contrasted by the glamour of the woman’s dress, expression, and pose. She is looking directly into the camera while casually resting on the chair behind her, her expression slightly authoritative and challenging. The light is focused on on the woman while the background is dark with shadows, which directs viewers to the woman first.

Some values that Parks might be expressed with this photo are related to the theme of women’s empowerment and gender role. The fact that the subject is dressed up like a woman but holds a powerful, compelling gaze might tie into the idea that women can have as much authority as the opposite gender despite being associated as the inferior community in society.

This photo might also be hinting towards themes such as white privilege, where the richest, most educated individuals of society enjoyed privileges they earned because of their race and inherited wealth. This photo might convey values such as the exclusivity of this community, and also how their standards (beauty standards, for example) were adopted as standards for all of society.

Do you feel Parks’ race is a factor in his fashion photography?

I think that Parks’ could have made decisions in his photography to capture moments or scenes in a particular manner that aligned with his opinions and values as a black photographer in the 1940’s. This would have definitely played a role in how viewers perceived images, depending on the light they were portrayed under, what moments Parks chose to include based on the messages he wanted to convey about segregation and oppression in his photography. Photography is a tool used to sway peoples minds by presenting real-life evidence about history that hasn’t been drafted or narrated by an author, rather observed and captured just in the moment. However, I think that photography is more of an objective tool in this scenario, because there is an extent to which a photo can convey the bigger picture over what is actually being shown in the frame. I think Parks’ race plays a factor in his fashion photography, but only to a certain extent that photography allows, which is, at its center, an objective form of evidence.

Is Stockett’s race a factor in her writing? 

I think that Stockett’s race is definitely a factor in her writing. Her writing is a fictional story based on the perceptions, values, and visions of a white woman  living in 2009 (post-segregation), while the plot was centered on the struggles of a black woman during the 1960’s (segregation period). I think her race is definitely a factor in her writing, since it plays a role in the level of knowledge she has about the struggles of a community she has no relation to. The contrast between her plot and life could have impacted aspects of the story where characters are portrayed or relationships between characters change and develop (Eg: Aibileen and Skeeter)

 

There are a few things to consider when evaluating the importance of two texts that describe events during a similar period. Firstly, the time when it was written. In this case, Stockett’s novel was written in 2009, way after the civil right’s movement had been addressed, and segregation was non-existent. Parks’s photographs, on the other hand, act as primary sources that show life in the midst of racial segregation and white supremacy in the 1950’s. This could mean that Park’s photographs are more accurate in conveying to the reader how life was during that period, and hence, could mean that Park’s photographs are more powerful.

Secondly, it is also important to consider the identity of the author, which could reveal possible bias that has affected their produced text. Stockett, being a white woman, has no connection to the oppression and violence suffered by the black community. She is writing fiction on behalf of a community that she has no common experience with, including the generational gap between the era she was writing in compared to the era she was living in.

The form of text also plays a role in deciding how powerful a text is. Stockett has used a fictional story to depict real-life events, while Parks is using photographs taken during moments that convey real-life stories of individuals who actually lived and experienced the affects of segregation.

 

 

 

Stylistic techniques : their expressions, the layout of the page and how they are falling down the page, making it clear that one is supposed to stand out

Context : 1952 – Racially stereotyping a man of color by contrasting him to the other men who are wearing the advertised ties and are white. This was a common during the 1950’s, most schools in the south were still segregated.

Reception: This could be interpreted in very different ways. Obviously today, this is very explicitly racist and discriminative stereotyping. However in the 1950’s it may have conformed to society’s assumptions of the cultural identity of a coloured person.

Audience: This ad is directed to white men.

Purpose: To use exaggerated and discriminative stereotypes to promote the lifestyle and appearance of a particular community while demeaning the other. Even the caption below the coloured person explicitly states that the maker of this ad is was intending to make a clear comparison to make a point : that a particular lifestyle/appearance is preferable, maybe even more sophisticated, than the other.

 

The text itself :

The poem describes a young girl, 16, who lays her eyes on wolf in the woods. She ends up seducing him and spending the next 10 years in his lair. During this period, she ends up learning a bit more about the hidden secrets of woods, and the poem ends with her killing the wolf and finding her grandmother’s bones inside.

Intertextuality:

The mentioning of a girl venturing out into the woods and encountering a wolf holds a very strong association with the common folktale character Little Red Riding Hood. Especially the moment in line 40 where the wolf’s insides reveal the grandmother’s bones, which shows a parallel moment in the folktale when the wolf eats the grandmother. However, there are moments where the poem diverges from the classic tale. For example, the poem doesn’t include the wood-cutter’s character, and obviously, the relationship between Red-riding hood and the wolf is completely different. The most significant difference, however, is Red-riding hood’s character. She is independent, and she seeks the wolf’s attention instead of avoiding it in the classic version. Not to mention, she ends up killing the wolf at the end and leaving his lair unbothered.

Context :

This poem may have been influenced by the past experiences of the author, Carol Ann Duffy. As she herself was in a relationship with an older person at a very young age, this poem might be the product of her life experience applied to a classic tale with a few similarities and differences.