All for the Tribe

Jacob Cavenee

15 March 2016

Art 177- Photography

Professor Pease

All for the Tribe

            Zig Jackson also known as rising buffalo, was born in North Dakota. Zig Jackson is from Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara descent and was raised in an Indian reservation (Jackson). Zig Jackson was the first Native American to enter the Liberty of Congress photography collection (Portland Museum). Starting off his education in the Indian boarding schools, Jackson received his general studies and training in the arts. After being interested with cameras from a young age, Jackson then moved to his second education in Utah where he picked up his first camera (Jackson). In Utah, Jackson learned about all the Native American difficulties surrounding all the tribes. After graduating college from Oklahoma State in education, Zig Jackson furthered his interest in art learning about pottery and painting (Jackson). Deciding to pursue photography, Jackson enrolled to the University of New Mexico to study photography icons, while also teaching photography to an institute in Santa Fe (Jackson). With an even deeper interest to further his knowledge in photography, Jackson enrolled in San Francisco Art Institute receiving a master in fine arts (Jackson). With photographing powerful messages through cultural standings, representation, and appropriation, Jackson received the Residency Fellowship in California. I didn’t find any information on what Jackson uses to shoot with, but he wants his images to display educational and provocative meanings. “In one sense, it is intensely personal; yet, in another—by virtue of my background and native roots, as part of an indigenous group struggling for autonomy in the shadow of a dominant one—my work cannot escape an implicit politicism” (Jackson).

Jackson takes photos of his background to show the different culture and problems that they face everyday. After looking at some of his images, I wouldn’t necessarily find them funny, but I think that every photo that he takes is significant and really good. I think that if his images were taken by another photographer they would 100% be different. It wouldn’t display the same messages and feelings when looking at his work. His images reflect everything about him in some way, so yes it would be different. Jackson’s work aims to end stereotypes and paternal modes of thinking, drawing attention to the power relationship between photographers and their subjects in different series to end the treatment of Native Americans as exotic subjects (Portland Museum). “As an Indian artist, I feel a responsibility to deconstruct the pervasive myths and misconceptions about Native Americans, in order to reveal more accurate and informed representations. I use my art as a means of de-mythologizing my own history and breaking down the prevailing stereotypes, social constructs, paternalistic attitudes, and romanticized images perpetuated by popular media and folklore” (Jackson). Zig Jackson wants to use photography to document and show to the world all about his culture, giving them a face for people to see and experience all that they can in the pictures that he takes. Leaving the people with a better understanding of what it is like to be a Native American.

(All photos from zigjackson.com)

Works Cited

Jackson, Zig. "Rising Buffalo Arts." Rising Buffalo Arts. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

"Coming in Spring 2016: Zig Jackson, Wendy Red Star, Will Wilson - Portland Art Museum." Portland Art Museum. Portland Museum, 09 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Gordon Parks

Jacob Cavenee

8 March 2016

Art 177

Professor Pease

Gordon Parks

            Grown into poverty, Gordon Parks was born in 1912 in Fort Scott, Kansas as the youngest of fifteen children. His parents who worked in the farming industry lived very modestly and practiced the Methodist religion (Biography.com). Gordon Parks faced harsh discrimination as a child, being neglected and unappreciated (Biography.com). After his mother passed, Parks moved in with his sister and her husband in Minnesota (Encyclopedia.com). On Christmas eve, after an argument with his brother-in-law, Parks was kicked out of their house (Encyclopedia.com). After taking various jobs and touring with a band for a little, Parks ended up in New York City. After getting married to Sally Avis, Parks moved back to his hometown St. Paul to find work and had three children (Encyclopedia.com).

            Parks had always had interest with photography since he was a boy. Seeing photos of migrant workers in magazines inspired him. He bought his first camera at a pawnshop when he was 25 (The Gordon Parks Foundation). “I bought my first camera in a pawn shop there. It was a Voigtlander Brilliant and cost $12.50. With such a brand name, I could not resist” (Encyclopedia.com). Parks first pictures were taken in Seattle towards the beach front. After dropping them off at Kodak, “The man at Kodak told me the shots we very good and if I kept it up, they would give me an exhibition. Later, Kodak gave me my first exhibition” (Encyclopedia.com). After experimenting with his photography, he gained popularity as a fashion photographer (Encyclopedia.com). After being recognized by Marva Louis, the wife of the famous boxer Joe Louis, Parks moved to Chicago to pursue more into fashion photography. After winning the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942, Parks relocated to Washington D.C. to work for the FSA (Encyclopedia.com). He was assigned to show the social injustice of discrimination in the Washington D.C. area. After photographing Ella Watson, a cleaning maid at the FSA offices, it became one of his famous images (Encyclopedia of World Biography). In 1969, Gordon Parks became the first African American to direct a major film, for the movie The Learning Tree. (Biography.com). After producing another film and writing his own books. Receiving various awards like the National Medal of Arts from Ronald Reagan, to writing a ballet tribute for Martin Luther King (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Gordon parks passed away on March 7,2006 at 93, due to high blood pressure and prostate cancer in his Manhattan home (Encyclopedia of World Biography). I really appreciate the type of photography that he did. The way he displayed a powerful message of segregation in his photographs is so real and dramatic. From all the hardships he went through in his life, he really left his mark in the photography world. Showing everyone that if you persevere, you can achieve any greatness you work hard for.

Photos from: Mutualart.com and Gordonparksfoundation.org          

Works Cited

"Biography." - The Gordon Parks Foundation. The Gordon Parks Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Biography.com editors "Gordon Parks." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

"Parks, Gordon." Contemporary Black Biography. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Mar. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Gordon Parks Biography." - Life, Family, Children, Wife, School, Mother, Young, Son. Encyclopedia of World Biography, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Time Exposure

Shutter: 4 seconds Aperture:16

Shutter: 29 seconds Aperture:4

Shutter: 30 seconds Aperture:4

Shutter: 15 Aperture: 4

Shutter: 5 seconds Aperture: 22

Shutter: 4 seconds Aperture: 4

    Working on time exposure was really fun. It took a couple tries for the right aperture, but one I took a couple it was easy to figure out. The hardest one to take was the water picture, I'm not completely satisfied with how it came out, but I still think all my pictures were really good.

Light Trails

Word: Yuma

Person: Savannah

Glass: Object

Experiment: Feet

Light Trails- long exposure shots that involve a moving source of light. Light trails are a cool photography tool that create an over exaggeration of light.

Farm Security Administration

Jacob Cavenee

Art 177-Photography

Professor Pease

1 March 2016

Farm Security Administration

            The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was created in 1937. The purpose of the FSA was to help rural rehabilitation, farm loans, and subsistence homestead programs (DPLA). The FSA is not considered to be a “relief agency” but a reliable network of cooperation between states and county offices (DPLA). The FSA helped distribute loans to companies who couldn’t receive them elsewhere. After the loans were distributed, farmers used this cash to buy land, equipment, livestock, or seeds (DPLA). Another great contribution to the FSA was the assistance for family care and well-being.

            One part of the FSA was the implication of photographers. Photographers were used to document rural conditions, cultures, and landscapes of different towns (DPLA). Some of the more noticeable photographers working for the FSA were; Dorthea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, Russell Lee, John Vachon, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks (Ganzel). The FSA photographers collected more than 80,000 pictures. Roy Stryker, an economist from Columbia university, was hired as the head of “History Section” for the FSA (Ganzel). His main task was to show others what living on a farm looked like. Although Stryker was a photographer himself, he sent a big group all around the US for nine years for the pursuit of “visual encyclopedia of American life” (Ganzel). Stryker wanted to publish the photos on every outlet that he could, sharing to everyone what the New Deal was about to agriculture and the economy (Ganzel). US politics had a heavy influence on the FSA. All of the FSA’s graphic record was produced by the Roosevelt administration (Meyer). It was used as information for the public and propaganda for Roosevelt. The photographs were also used as to show off the New Deal plan that was just implemented. The photographs displayed during the FSA show the poverty and struggles that some families have gone through. The bare and desert landscape show the harsh conditions of the dust bowl and the hard working families working in the fields. 

            Dorothea Lange, considered to be the greatest documentary photographer, is best known for her photographs with the FSA (The History Place). Migrant Mother is considered to be Lange’s most recognizable photo. The story behind the photo was to show the poverty that was happening during this time. It portrays the struggles that mothers had to face with trying to give the best for their children and themselves. It is an amazing picture with a powerful message. Some of the photos taken for the FSA were tweaked and fixed to really impact the media. Arthur Rothstein was accused for moving the skull in his picture, making it false. The FSA photography is considered to be photojournalism. They were assigned to take amazing pictures of real life scenarios and then were published to the media from Stryker. The FSA photographers really helped capture troubled times for some families.

Works Citied

"America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal." Omeka RSS. DPLA, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

"Farm Security Administration." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2003. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Ganzel, Bill. "FSA Photographers Document the Great Depression." FSA Photographers Document the Great Depression. Ganzel Group, 2003. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.

Meyer, Chris. "Boston University Arts & Sciences Writing Program." Writing Program The FSA Photographs Information or Propaganda Comments. Boston University Arts & Sciences, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.

"The History Place - Dorothea Lange Photo Gallery: Migrant Farm Families." The History Place - Dorothea Lange Photo Gallery: Migrant Farm Families. The History Place, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.

 
(All photos from livinghistoryfarm.org)