Saturday, August 08, 2020
Beirut
So often, Beirut has been the site of war and terrorism. But the explosion there this week was the result of graft and incompetence.
Of course, the harm from that came six years after bad decisions were first made.
What might we be finding out in six years?
Labels: Rants
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Dorothea Lange and Tragedy Trails
On the first day of PR, I included among the art we viewed a wonderful photograph by Dorothea Lange, entitled "Damaged Child, Elm Grove OK." It shows a girl in the 1936 dust bowl of Oklahoma, probably living within a world of despair as food and money ran out. Lange's photograph captures the dignity and sadness of that child, and always makes my heart heavy:
When I discussed this photograph in class on Tuesday, I mentioned that the image of the girl was similar to pictures of models on parade in Bryant Park in New York this week, as "Fashion Week" continues:
I could have put any number of photos from Fashion Week up to make my point-- the ideal of beauty today somehow seems to replicate the aesthetic features of a starving child in the Great Depression. Most obviously in both places, the effects of starvation, whether chosen or not, seem clear. And somehow we are surprised at eating disorders? But what else-- the unsmiling mouth, the sad eyes, the distant affect...
When did tragedy become beauty?
When I discussed this photograph in class on Tuesday, I mentioned that the image of the girl was similar to pictures of models on parade in Bryant Park in New York this week, as "Fashion Week" continues:
I could have put any number of photos from Fashion Week up to make my point-- the ideal of beauty today somehow seems to replicate the aesthetic features of a starving child in the Great Depression. Most obviously in both places, the effects of starvation, whether chosen or not, seem clear. And somehow we are surprised at eating disorders? But what else-- the unsmiling mouth, the sad eyes, the distant affect...
When did tragedy become beauty?
Labels: Rants
