The VAC (Visual Arts Classic) competition theme this year is "Art and Social Issues". I thought for me, being fairly involved in government and probably less ignorant than most, this assignment would be easy. The darkroom photography prompt is: Create a single portrait of a person documenting a personal struggle or triumph that pertains to a specific social issue.
This has been much more challenging than I had expected. First, there's finding a relevant social issue. Poverty and homelessness are too obvious, but many less obvious ones are challenging to portray without being tacky. Even if I were to portray poverty, it's not as obvious as it used to be; achieving a beautiful portrait in the style of Lewis Hine would be hard.
"One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mill. She was 51 inches high. Has been in the mill one year. Sometimes works at night. Runs 4 sides - 48 cents a day. When asked how old she was, she hesitated, then said, "I don't remember," then added confidentially, "I'm not old enough to work, but do just the same." Out of 50 employees, there were ten children about her size. Whitnel, N.C." -Lewis Hine
I'm leaning toward gay rights or health care at this point, but I'm not really sure. My mind is going in ten different directions, and none of them are that good. Yet. Hopefully I can streamline my ideas and come up with one or two that are really poignant and easy to portray, without being too obvious or tacky. Maybe I'll go to the anti-war protest at the library on Sunday. I'm not sure. Any ideas?
1 comment:
I am Joe Manning, an author and historian. I am conducting a nationally-known research project to track down and interview descendants of some of the child laborers who were photographed by Lewis Hine. I have been successful for over 100 photos. I identified the spinner in Whitnel and interviewed her daughter. You can see the whole story at www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/coragriffin1.html
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