Carrie Mae Weems

Thoughts:

Kitchen Table Series

What I loved about the first collection is that each image can have multiple interpretations. All of the pictures in this collection are taken in black and white and that keeps the focus on what is going on in the picture. It also emphasizes emotion and provided a stronger connection with the subject. Another main point in this collection is the lamp hanging above the table. The lamp is the light source and keeps the focus the subjects.

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1. What stood out the most in the first picture was the shutter speed. A slow shutter speedway used and thats what caused the three girls to come out blurry. I believe it gives the image more context. It shows the girls playing around while the mother is trying to concentrate and not be bothered. The blur also makes it seem like the mother is in a trance.She is trying to focus but in the background the girls are playing.

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2. I was able to feel the tension by just looking at this picture. Its as if I can almost hear the silence in the room. The image really shows how body language can tell a story. You can tell there is something wrong, that one of them is going through something and the other two are trying to emphasize. It can be marriage problems or problems with their kids. 

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3.This last one from this collection shows a lot of emotion without even showing her face. Her emotion is shown through her body language. You can clearly tell that she is upset about something because of the way she had her head down on her knees and the bottle on the table. There are so many situations that can be made up from this picture but I believe that she just got off the phone and got bad news and now she is drinking her pain away.

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Colored People

What captured my attention with this collection were the colors and then I realized the name of the collection. She took the title literally and added color on top of people of color. So it gives the collection two meanings.

 

1. All of these are close up portraits so it's harder to figure out what is going on in the picture but by the facial expressions you can make different interpretations. I like how even though its in color, you can tell where the light source is coming from and it directly focuses on the girl. By her facial expression and her body language, you can tell that she is upset and that adds emotion to the image.

 

2. This picture is interesting because of the double vision effect it has. That is because of the slow shutter speed. The blur of this image gives it more context. It's a possibility that the boy didn't his picture taken and tried to move away from the camera or Weems purposely wanted it to come out like that.

 

3. This last picture says a lot within itself. Even though you can only see half of the girls face, you can see all her emotion. She is clearly upset or angered about something. The color Weems choose also adds to the emotion. Blue is usually known as a “sad” color and by making this picture blue it makes the emotion more real. Ween also has good use of leading lines with the background.

 

Overall, Weens work has a lot of thought put into it and it shows. Every picture tells a story that can be made up by the viewer and that's what I loved the most about her work.

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