This photograph is from August of 1990. I know this because it says “Lavonda 8/90” on the back of the print. The photograph is a 4 x 6 satin finish. The photograph depicts a woman (my aunt, Lavonda) when she was 20 years old. She is wearing a white t-shirt with a red overall dress over it. She is wearing silver jewelry and a patterned belt around her waist. She is looking in front of her off to the right of the photograph. Her facial expression is dull and bored. I picked this photograph because it looks like a fashion photo. I love the colors with the green trees in the background and the bright red in the foreground. I also love the expression. I do not know where this was taken because the background is very vague. It looks like a suburban area or like she is on vacation maybe since she looks like she is tired from walking or something. There is also a red shirt in the foreground that is on someone in front of her. That means that she wasn’t alone, but that it was probably a family event. She wouldn’t have been in the photograph if it wasn’t a vacation or some sort of family gathering.
Time: I know that the photograph was taken in August of 1990. This explains her outfit and her hairstyle choices. She is wearing oversized clothing and her hair is fluffy and teased to the max. She also has oversized earrings which is a very late 80s, early 90s trend. The photograph itself looks pretty faded in color and it is not super high quality, which makes me think I would guess the 90s even if there was no date on the back of the photograph. Also the month of August does play a part in the fact that she is dressed in thin clothing and looks like she is pretty hot and tired.
History: The photograph shows the history of my aunt. It captures a single moment in which she was in that could never be physically recreated. In this photo, she is 20 years old. It feels like a different version of her lives inside this photograph as the real her has moved on and grown up. It also shows the history of fashion and the landscape. If we knew where this photo was taken, we would be able to tell a difference within the landscape between 1990 and the present.
Memory: This photo makes me think of when I was younger because my aunt still had this hairstyle and looked similarly when I was born and fairly little. It makes me think of how nice she was. It makes me think of the sound of her voice and the way she talked to me and asked me questions. It makes me also think of how everyone tells me I favor my aunt. I am now 21, which is around the same age as her in the photograph so it’s weird to see the similarities that we share. I used to think people just told me I look like her because we both had dark hair, but this photograph really makes me believe everyone’s accusations. I think that we have the same expressions, same posture, and the same body type.
Things I dig: I’m interested in how she is a canvas for the 90s with no expression. She is all made up with makeup, jewelry, and clothes but she is so unamused. You see the clothes before you see her. I’m also interested in the idea of people looking like their relatives??
Other ideas: Cindy Sherman and how she photographed herself.
Final Project
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls First Impressions
The book I chose for this project is the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls published in 2005. This is a memoir by Jeannette Walls, who is a journalist in New York City. She talks about her unconventional upbringing and her very liberal parents. Her parents could be considered as child neglecters since they did not always provide Jeannette and her siblings with the general care that children get such as education, shelter, and food. However, all of the children love their parents and believe in them still well into their adult years even though their parents are now homeless in NYC. The parents seem to be lovable based on their creativity and intelligence. They are the type of people who are very smart and clever, but just can't hold down a job and care for their children because the mother is too into her art and the father is a drunk. The book also goes into the father and mother's childhood, where we can see the cracks in their foundation and why they are the way they are now.
I chose this book because I have been wanting to read it for a while now and it finally hit me that it was nonfiction a couple weeks ago. I'm interested in the conflict the reader has between loving and hating the parents for their parenting styles and how they are as people. I'm also curious to see how this affects Jeannette and her siblings in their adult years and if they have any remorse towards their upbringing. I always have thought that people with the least resources are often the most resourceful. I think it's amazing how Jeannette is very successful now and she must have fought her way through financial and internal struggles.
Summary & Ideas
This was an incredible book about Jeanette Walls life. It starts out with a story from her childhood of her being caught on fire when trying to make a meal for herself because her mom wasn't keeping a complete eye on her. The rest of the book explains her complicated childhood with her parents. Her parents were both very liberal people. The father had a drinking problem and couldn't hold down a job for very long. He was constantly running out of different legal situations so that he wouldn't be stuck with the fine or bill. The mother was too consumed with being an artist and painting that she didn't think to care for her children. She let them take care of themselves. When the father was sober, however, he was actually a very creative and smart man. He taught the children how important it is to question what society tells us and to read constantly to learn new things. He knew a lot about random topics, but he wasn't extremely practical at times. For example, he would avoid buying groceries for the family because he wanted to spend what little money they had on liquor instead. The times in the memoir that he did have a job for a little bit, the family was doing well and owned a small house. This is where the father wanted and promised the kids that he would build them a glass castle. He would map out the plans and tell tall tales about how amazing the castle would be, but ultimately he never followed through. Jeanette and her siblings couldn't take it anymore and knew they had to save up all of their money to get educated or they would live like this forever. Jeanette and her siblings each saved up and moved out one by one to New York, where Jeanette becomes a famous journalist and later author.
Ideas, Concepts, Thoughts
the american dream- that you can come from nothing and still become successful if you try hard enough
unconventional parenting
being blood relatives with someone creates a bond for life no matter how bad they hurt you
broken promises- not following through on one's word