Conference Schedule and Reminders

REMEMBER that Conversation Paper #1 is due this Friday (tomorrow) by 5pm. No class next week, since we're doing conferences Monday-Friday. 

If you didn't sign up for a conference, or want to change times, please choose one of the times with an X in them--those are available. Thanks and see you next week! 

MONDAY
9:00 Mason
:10 Holly
:20 Maddie 
:30 Addison
:40 Alexis
:50 Eva

1:00 Chandler
:10 Ashley
:20 X
:30 X
:40 Michael
:50 X

2:00-2:30 :X 

WEDNESDAY 
9:00 Caleb
:10 Conner
:20 X
:30 Yemi
:40 Jorden
:50 X

1:00 Stelon
:10 X
:20 X
:30 Amber
:40 X
:50 X

2:00-2:30 X

FRIDAY IS ALSO OPEN FROm 9-9:50 and 1-1:50. 

(9:30 Caitlin) 

For Monday: Pick an Image and Answer the Questions Below

As I explained in class, I want you to start thinking about the paper assignment seriously now, so instead of reading more of Morris for Monday, choose an iconic image (a photo, a painting, etc.) and answer the questions below--all FOUR. Bring these questions to class on Monday, since we'll be discussing your answers and different approaches to answering them. 

Remember, the links to some iconic paintings and photos are a few posts down from this one, though you can choose anything iconic, or any of the images in Morris' book. 

Answer all FOUR of the following:

Q1: What is the title or name of the painting/photo? How does this shape your understanding of what the work means or is about? If you didn't know this, do you think you would have seen the same thing? Why or why not? ALSO, do you know if the artist gave the title to the work, or it came from someplace else? Why might this matter?

Q2: Morris asks in Chapter 4, "photographs function on so many different levels and mean  so many different things to different people. Are they fine works of art? Are they documentary photographs? Can they be both?" (167). Discuss how your image could be seen as a documentary photograph and a work of art. Also, could it be seen as propaganda as well? Which way do you feel is the best way to appreciate/understand it?

Q3: Morris quotes the philosopher Norwood Russell Hanson, who famously stated that "There is more to seeing than meets the eyeball," to which Morris adds, "if we believe we see a rabbit, we see a rabbit. If we believe we see a duck, we see a duck...Our beliefs can completely defeat sensory evidence" (84). Discuss two completely different ways people could view this image--as a "duck" and as a "rabbit". In other words, how could people see two very different or even contradictory readings in this one image? You might also consider what we can be fooled into seeing/thinking that isn't actually in the image.

Q4; In Chapter 3, Morris writes that "Photographs reveal and they conceal" (118). He also reminds us that a lot of things occur behind the scenes, since photographs gain power by what they don't show us as much as what they do. In your image, what isn't shown in the work of art that might be important? What don't we see? Why do you think the artist didn't include this? What story do the missing people/objects/context tell?

 

For Friday: Morris. Believing is Seeing, Chapter 4 (Part Two)

NOTE: Remember to choose an iconic work of art for your next paper soon! Once you pick an image, everything will get so much easier. Start researching slowly, reading an article or a website here and there. Before you know it, you'll have enough to write a paper--or two! 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: In talking to some of the experts, one of them tells Morris that photographers at that time sought "the kind of expression people are supposed to wear in documentary photos dealing with social problems" (161). What kind of expression is he talking about? How might this relate to the Migrant Mother image we looked at in class on Wednesday?

Q2: Morris quotes the photographer Walker Evans who claimed that "what matters in photography isn't the camera, it's your eye. It's seeing what's beautiful" (163). So if every picture is a document of what a photographer finds beautiful, how does this also complicate the idea of "true" and "false" in an image? What other questions do we have to ask?

Q3: Another famous photographer, Rothstein, claimed that "Photographs concern belief, not truth" (170). What's the difference between the two? How can a picture be "false" but contain a "true" belief? 

Q4: How does the modern picture of Florence Thompson and her grown children change the context (or belief) of the Migrant Mother photo? If we put them side by side, what would we now see? Should we know the future (or the past) of an image? Or just its present? 

For Monday: Morris, Chapter 4, Part 1 (pp.125-157)

Answer two of the following as usual for Monday's class:

Q1: The article starts with newspaper articles that accuse a photograph of being "fake" and "staged." Later, the photos are proven to be "true," that is, to reflect the reality of their times (a major drought, a capitol that has cattle nearby); and yet, people continue to insist that the pictures are "fake." How can the pictures be "false" if they've been proven to be "true" (not staged or manipulated)? 

Q2: Why do so many people, especially historians and photographers, get angry when Curtis suggests that famous FSA photographers often staged photographs and made things up? Why do they want to believe that the photos are the absolute truth? Would they be less important if they were?

Q3: In the middle of his discussion about the clock on the Gudgers' mantel, Morris writes, "The reader might ask, "Who cares? Does the addition or subtraction of a lock on a mantel really change our view of the Gudgers?" (144). This is called introducing a naysayer into your argument, and tries to acknowledge what your readers are probably thinking. How does Morris answer his own question? Why does this matter, in a small way and a big way?

Q4: Morris writes that "Our lives are partially defined by ephemera--address books, bus tickets, campaign buttons. A trail of detritus" (146). Look at your desk, or your nightstand, or a kitchen table. Would people see the "truth" about you based on the objects they found there? What idea of who you are would they glean from the scattered objects they found? Would you be tempted to add or subtract some objects so they could see the 'real' you?  

For Friday: Morris, Believing is Seeing, Chapter 3

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In an article in The New Yorker that first introduced these pictures to the public, the writer, Seymour Hersch, wrote, "The photographs tell it all" (117). According to Morris, why can a single photograph not tell the entire story--or really, any story? What makes it especially hard to tell this story with one photo?

Q2: Morris uses the Cheshire Cat from the book Alice in Wonderland to preface the essay and to end it. What is the significance of this? How does it help us see one of his main points from a different perspective?

Q3: Morris consults a "smile scientist" to help him decode the picture of Sabrina smiling while leaning over the dead body. How does the scientist use several pictures to prove that Sabrina isn't as guilty as everyone believes she is? What does a "Duchenne Smile" have to do with it?

Q4: Ultimately, Morris argues that we're asking the wrong questions about these photographs, and coming to the wrong conclusions. How are these pictures uniquely manipulated to help us "believe" that we're asking the right ones? What do they leave out? 

Conversation Paper #1 and Sources

The Conversation Paper #1 assignment is below...but first, I wanted to share some sources with you to help you find the image for the assignment. You can choose any iconic image (one that is popular and familiar enough that many people would recognize it, or has been reproduced in more than one format), either the ones below or one you find yourself. Here are a few ideas:

* Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Pictures of All Time: http://100photos.time.com/

* CNN's Most Famous Paintings: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/most-famous-paintings/index.html

* 30 Striking Photos from the History of National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/130-anniversary-gallery-culture-spd/

* Rolling Stone's Best Album Covers of All Time: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-best-album-covers-of-all-time-10324/10-the-velvet-underground-the-velvet-underground-nico-256611/

Conversation Paper #1: Seeing and Believing

For this assignment, I want you to choose an iconic photograph or work of art (a painting, etc.) to write about. By “iconic,” I mean a work that is fairly well known and that either most people would recognize, or that is in books, in a museum, or in advertisements. I’ll give you a list of possible works on the blog, but you’re welcome to choose your own. Then write a paper that responds to the question below:

Q: Is this work famous because of what it is, or what people think it is? In other words, do people ‘see’ this as a work of art first, or do they ‘believe’ in this work before they even see it? For example, when you see de Vinci’s Mona Lisa, you’ve seen it everywhere already—on T-shirts, coffee mugs, in advertisements, etc. So you’re seeing a manipulation of this image, what people have made you believe it is, before you ever seen it for what it is. So how do we ‘unsee’ it and learn to appreciate the work itself? Are we looking at an idea, or an artwork? How do we know?

SOME ISSUES TO ADDRESS IN YOUR PAPER:

• Where do people see this work today? How do we encounter it?
• What makes the work iconic? Is it important because people respond to it, or are we told to like it before we even see it?
• Is it used to sell anything? Is it manipulated for reasons outside the art itself?
• What context is important to know about the work? How does it change what we see, or what we think we see?
• Has the work become more “true” or more “false” over the years? How can a work of art become “false”?
• What do people say the work means? Do you agree with them? Is there more than one interpretation?
• Is there a question of the work’s authenticity? Is there more than one version of the work? Is this the “best”? Or just the one we know?

REQUIREMENTS

• Use Morris’ book Believing is Seeing as one of your main sources. Quote from the chapters so you can respond to his ideas as you write. Consider the ‘big ideas’ we’ve discussed in class and in your daily responses.
• At least 4 secondary sources about your work of art, or anything related to it, that can provide context, history, culture, or more of the conversation. You must quote these in your paper as ideas to introduce and respond to.
• You can use Humans of New York as one of these 4 sources, or as an additional source to help you discuss your image. But it has to be relevant; don’t just use the book as an empty source. Either it aids your conversation or it doesn’t.
• At least 4-5 pages double spaced, though you can do more. You might need to do more depending on your image!
• DUE Friday, February 28^th by 5pm [no class that day]

For Monday: Morris, Believing is Seeing, Chapter 2 (pp.76-95)

Answer TWO of the following for Monday's class:

Q1: How does Qaissi's story relate to Fenton's from Chapter 1? Both are accused of fabricating their accounts and offering a "fake" story to the public. Yet Fenton actually took the picture, and Qaissi only claimed to be the subject of the picture. Was he intentionally "manipulating" an image for a specific effect? Or were his claims, true or not, unable to substantially change the image?

Q2: Morris writes that "Our beliefs do not determine what is true or false. They do not determine objective reality. But they can determine what we "see" " (84). What does he mean by this? How can a belief be false but also make an image seem true?

Q3: Similar to Fenton's two "ON" and "OFF" images, there are multiple images of the Prisoner on the Box. According to Morris, why did one image become more iconic than the others? Is this image more "obvious" than the others?

Q4: In Chapter 1, Morris writes that there is a significant difference between "information and knowledge" (63). How does this chapter prove this point once again? Why does the information around this photograph not translate into knowledge in the article? What prevented the journalists investigating the story from becoming informed? 

For Wednesday (?): Morris, Believing is Seeing: Finish Chapter 1

NOTE: We may have a snow day on Wednesday, so if we do, we'll discuss these questions on Friday. If school isn't cancelled, use your own judgement whether or not you can make it to campus (if you commute). These questions will only be due on Wednesday if school is in session (you can e-mail them to me if you can't make it), and if it isn't, they'll be due on Friday. 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: On page 45, an expert tells Morris that the photographs have been doctored, which is the only explanation for cannon balls that are all the same size. Morris rejects this, saying that people often prefer to find a conspiracy in things that are difficult to understand. Why is this? Why would we prefer to see a 'trick' rather than the 'truth'?

Q2: How did the rocks, which Morris and others give human nicknames, ultimately unlock the mystery of the ON/OFF photos? What do they conclusively tell us about the "truth" of the photos? However, why doesn't this completely solve the mystery: or rather, why does it solve one thing and leave another unsolved?

Q3: On page 54, Morris asks an expert, "Are you saying: to interpret a picture we need more than the picture itself? We need context." Why might this idea bother Morris, particularly in pictures like these? Should the pictures themselves be enough (or just one of the pictures)? Is there a danger in insisting that we know more?

Q4: Morris also argues that every photograph is "posed because every photograph excludes something" (65). So in his mind, taking a picture is staged and makes it somewhat inauthentic. The only way to be authentic is not to take the picture. Do you agree with this? Does this idea help us appreciate the photos and their mystery?