"At the end you are by yourself"
Susan Sontag excerpt from On Photography
“Photographs furnish evidence. Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we're shown a photograph of it”.
“A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened. The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what's in the picture”.
I found these two quotes interesting since sometimes it is taken for granted that photographs are irrefutable proof of something that has happened, and that it can be the result of evidence of a fact or crime. That resonated with me about the power of photography which creates emotions with evidence, as is the case with the image of Nan Goldin - Bettered
Revisiting Carrie Mae Weems’s Landmark “Kitchen Table Series”
“Everyone can relate to this work,” Sann said. “It’s not just Black women; it’s white women, Asian women. Men can see the women in their lives—memories from their childhood or scenes from their marriage or their family life. It’s so universal and yet representation like this is so rare.”
“I knew that I was making images unlike anything I had seen before, but I didn’t know what that would mean”
These two quotes remind me of how vital it is for an artist to create something unique. However, even if the artist has no idea what it will mean to the audience, that is what makes it more exciting, since each person crafts their own interpretation, which is ultimately what gives it meaning and value to the piece.
NY Times: How Carrie Mae Weems Rewrote the Rules of Image-Making
“In the art world, too, Weems has always been before her time, and this has made her a singularly eloquent witness to the shifting landscape of race and representation”
“I came to understand one day that I had to accept that he was a man and not a god”.
The first quotation more closely aligns with my earlier remarks regarding the audience, interpretation, and the innovative work produced by the artist. Carrie Mae Weems spoke the second statement after learning that her father was a womanizer, which changed the way she perceived men and led her to choose temporary singledom.
It gets me thinking about how often we forget that our parents are imperfect human beings and instead idealize them.
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