After browsing through all the photos, I found the photo of Terri-Lynn Swain most striking. This photo seems to portray a native individual living in big city. The first thing you see is her native clothing and the big buildings behind her representing an urbanized city. This seems to symbolize that she values her culture and it is important to her indicating that although she lives in a different society, her roots still are shape her identity. Living in an urban area has not weakened her native culture, she strongly shows that by the way she looks.
Another aspect of this photo is her body language. The woman stands with great confidence like a leader based on the look on her face and her hands to her hips. She seems to be standing proud to be a Native individual wearing her traditional clothing and being in a civilized society. By standing with courage and confidence, she is not facing the city but is looking away from it. Her eyes are looking up towards something perhaps the woman is looking into the direction of a rural area by imagining her roots.
An interesting feature about this photo is that the image of the woman is clearly shown whereas the background of the city is a little blurry. This can represent the importance of the woman and her clothing. The city is probably seen as not important to look at. By taking the photograph this way, the woman stands out and is shown being proud of who she is.
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ReplyDeleteWow! I really like you analysis, it was very thorough. I agree this photo looks like a very independent, strong woman who is not ashamed of her roots.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that she is the main focus of this picture. By having the city in the background we still know that she lives in an urbanized place, but by having her more defined it shows more of her independence.
Look at those intense eyes! It made me curious when I first saw the picture what she was looking at, but when I read your blog you make a valid point by saying she is looking,"into the direction of a rural area by imagining her roots". Maybe she is actually looking at her own tribe and longing to go back, since her eyes look like 1)just a really intense look more of like a "grrr"/angry intense (kind hard to explain I watch way too much American Next Top Model) or 2) angry/sad which though she is independent she still wants to go back to her native lands.
Good post!
I really enjoyed the photo and analysis that you wrote! I love this picture as well. The first thing that struck me was how confident this women looked. Her posture is strong, her arms are resting on her hips and her head it looking forward, as if she is looking towards the future.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this photo represents the huge gap between the traditional Indian culture, and the American culture. This woman seems confident that she can overcome the diversities that she is facing in a sometime cruel world.