Hello All,
For Monday's post, choose one of these self-portraits to analyze.
What persona is the artist exhibiting? Why do you think he or she chooses to show this mask to the world?
Frida Kahlo's Self-Portait, 1940
Diane Arbus's Self-Portrait with Infant Daughter, 1945.
Ansel Adams's Self-Portrait Monument Valley, Utah, 1958
Helmut Newton's Self-Portrait with Wife June and Models, 1984 (Warning: Nudity)
Chika Nwanonenyi
ReplyDeleteDiane Arbus exibits the persona of a mother in this portraint. This is the face that she wants people to see and define her as. She is showing the world that not only is she a woman named Diane, but importantly a mother. Someone who is a mother is seen as strong woman. The first portrait shows a caring, loving, and tired side. While the other shows her anticipating the adventures that lie ahead with her new baby girl.
Kevin,
ReplyDeletemr newton is nude but also showing that she is free and what she is really doing is a famous form of art and self expression of what she stands for and proving it to the world and whoever else
Rogelio Alvarado
ReplyDeleteIn Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait, 1940 the artist is exhibiting a persona of a women with bad luck who is not attractive or whom does not seem happy about herself. With respect to her facial features, we can see her facial hair with the continuous eyebrow and mustache and her hair is so tight it makes her face look stretched out. The artist chooses to show this mask to the world to demonstrate the daily struggles of a woman who has bad luck, along with the symbols of the black cat, monkey, and thorns around her neck that makes blood begin to drip with the dead black bird hanging from it. Additionally, in this portrait of Frida her persona demonstrates her attitude in a manner that makes the observer feel bad for her in a sorry feeling.
Amber Gilliam
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Diane Arbus is portraying "Motherhood". It is both a joy and a strain. The first picture shows the joy with her cuddling closely with the baby and the second picture shows that while she loves her child the way she is holding the baby has changed as though it is becoming heavy and she is straining with the weight of motherhood.
In the Ansel Adams self portrait, from in 1958, in Utah, the man has chosen to take a picture of himself in shadow of the outdoors. Then Mr. Adams further exhibits his talent by allowing the natural beauty of the surrounding environment to come through for the viewer to analyze. We see hints of the ridge line, and crackling in the sky as if there is a lightening storm about to hit, directly over where the subject is standing. The message that I took from this picture is that adversity faces all of us, and the true challenge is how you choose to face it. When my own problems jump to face me like obstacles that seem larger than mountains, will I cringe and give up in despair or will I go forward in faith that I can overcome anything in my path? I hope that I will have the courage to stand proudly looking onward, and not hide in fear feeling that all is lost. Melissa L. Sherman
ReplyDeleteBaleria A.
ReplyDeleteIn Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait, 1940, Frida portrays herself as a lost person facing challenges on her own while her world around her is peaceful and colorful. Thorns around her neck shows she is trapped and scars her and cause her to have blood dripping down her neck. Birds are symbolic of freedom and in her portrait she has a dead black bird hanging from her neck, which referrer to her not being free once again feeling trapped, while her surrounding is full of wild life insects and animals free to roam. She is not smiling but not crying just with a serious face not showing her emotions in her face but in her surroundings.
Rosa Mendoza
ReplyDeleteI think that Frida Kahlo is exhibiting the persona of a women that suffered in life. This portray shows that she wasn't happy and that she struggled throughout her life. For example, she has a black bird hanging from her neck, and that makes me think that she suffered a lot though out her life. Another clue that makes me think that she suffered are the black monkey and the black cat that are next to her. The colors of these animals represent sadness, pain, loneliness, suffering. I think that Frida chooses to show this mask to the world because this way she can illustrate the sad reality of her existence.
Sandra Garcia
ReplyDeleteIn Diane Arbus’s self portrait she is putting on the mask of a mother with her infant daughter. She appears to be a young mother. In the first picture, she doesn’t appear to be to happy, but she is holding her daughter very close and carefully. In the second picture, she looks as if she is struggling to carry her daughter. This could signify the struggles that motherhood may bring.
Thalia Rios
ReplyDeleteIn Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait we see that Mrs. Kahlo shows herself as an unhappy woman her face shows emptiness and seriousness in her expression. She also demonstrates how she is tied down with thorns around her neck. The thorns,black bird, and black cat are symbols of luck. Concluding, with Frida Kahlo showing she is an unhappy woman.
Francisco Hernandez
ReplyDeleteIn the picture, Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait, Frida's persona seems to portrait a person who suffers silently. For instance, the thorns seem to be cutting her because she is dripping blood, but her facial expressions show no such feeling. Furthermore, maybe her freedom caused all this silent pain because the bird is attached to the thorns. Also, the black cat in back of her symbolizes her bad luck. The background of this self portrait shows green leafs as well as a blue sky. In conclusion, this might be letting us know that there is color in her world, but she can’t see it because she is facing us. Personally, the fact that she stares right at me causes me to reflect about my own life. Maybe she chose to look directly at the viewer, so we can also ponder about our life and not only criticize her life. As a result, she chose this persona so we can reflect about our own.
Frida Kahlo has been one of my favorite artists because her paintings are very raw, filled with bright vibrant colors and contain lots of detail. In her 1040 Self-Portrait I believe displays a mask of sadness and confinement. The thorn necklace cutting in to her skin don’t seem to be bothering her since her facial expressions are not of someone in pain, but looks as though she is either numb, or has accepted some kind of punishment. I do know a little about her history, I know she suffered from spinal problems that eventually lead to her death. To make matters worse she had a very turbulent marriage with another famous painter (Diego Rivera) so many of her paintings display a lot of what went on in her life, which in her case was a very hard and painful one. - Zully
ReplyDeleteDiala Nimri
ReplyDeleteIn Diane Arbus's self-portrait with her infant daughter, I see a woman who is hardworking and exhausted. She looks like she is extremely tired. By including her infant daughter, she is saying that she is a mother. In the first photo, I see a loving mother because of the fact that she is holding her daughter in a close position. She has her close to her chest and her arms wrapped around her. In the second photo, I do not see the same love and care she showed us in the first photo. The second photo, she is having a hard time carrying her daughter in her arms. She is by her waste and it looks like she’s about to drop her. By having these two photos side by side, I see two faces/personalities. She is telling us that she sometime has everything under control, but other times, she does not.
Ariana Branson
ReplyDeleteDiane Arbus’s Self-Portrait with Infant daughter
In this portrait Diane portrays first and foremost a mother. She shows that she has a infant daughter who is important enough to be a part of her self portrait. In the picture on the left she is showing a very motherly and protective image of herself. Allowing the world to see that she really loves and cares about her child and that it is important for people to know she is a mother. In the picture on the right she is looking away allowing the baby to slip a little. It seems that she is pondering all the things she could have done without a baby and is not solely focused on her child. This allows people to see that she has dreams and other ambitions for her life. But now she will always have her baby with her and that puts her other dreams on hold. However, no matter where life takes her she chooses to take the baby with her and make being a mother the most important.
Regina Says...
ReplyDeleteAnsel Adams Self Portrait in Utah clearly shows his persona as a Photographer. The Camera in shadow along with himself are the same size. To me this says that his camera is just as important as he is. It is what he does and who he is. This portait also shows his interest in landscapes and nature.The lightning in the picture seems to show turmoil and adventure like living through a storm. This portrait is in black and white which is also a signature mark in his photography. He really does not show any other part of his being other than him as a photographer.
Frida Kahlo is showing a persona of someone who is depressed and lost. Frida is very open about who she is and lets everyone knows how she feels and what she is going through. This was just another phase she was going through in her life and that is who she was for that moment. It seems as she is showing her wildness and how chaotic she really feels inside. She shows the monkey and the cat on each side of her shoulder whereas, we usually see the Devil and an Angel on each side. I think she feels so chaotic that she struggles and sees these wild animals as her guidance. It seems like the monkey is trying to save her because it is looking at the twigs with thorns and holding it as if trying to take off the thorns. The cat is looking at the twigs of thorns very viciously. The dead bird hanging probably resembles how she feels inside. Seems like she is depressed and she wished she didn’t feel that way but she already feels numb, lonely, confused, and dead inside.
ReplyDeleteJavier Calderon:
ReplyDeleteDiane Arbus’s Self-Portrait with Infant Daughter, 1945.
In this self-portrait the artist is portraying the persona of motherhood, shown clearly by her carrying a young child. She chose to show this mask to the world because her life revolves around the needs of her infant daughter, making this role the most important. Her role as a mother is for her a source of purpose and meaning in her life, bringing her great pride.
Ashley Corvera
ReplyDeleteEnglish 310
Frida Kahlo Self-Portrait 1940
Frida Kahlo was very in tuned with her culture and the politics of Mexico. Her depictions of herself represent two important aspects of how she lives her life. In all Kahlo’s paintings she has an exaggerated unibrow and mustache but in photographs her facial hair is limited. In this painting Kahlo surrounds herself with nature and animals. The monkey is seems to represent the good in her life because of how tender the monkey is in this painting. The cat on the other hand might represent the bad in her life. The way the cats back is arched and the mean look in the cats face. The thorn around her neck and the blood dripping down portrays some religious views. Throughout her life she has had a lot of misfortunate and I think the bloody thorns represent that.
Diane Arbus chooses to show herself as a mother and care giver. By showing herself embracing the child and holding the infant it is automatically assumed that she is the mother and nurturer of the child. By showing this side of herself she wants the world to see her skill and ability as a mother. It is also possible that Diane Arbus wants to give the viewer insight into her personal life and everyday life as a mother. She is not all made up. Diane is in her cloths that she would wear every day she is also barefoot instead of in heels or something more formal. The choices that are made in this self portrait are very significant in showing what she wanted the viewer to see. This face seems to be an important one to her because she choices this persona and face to display to the viewer over any other face and persona she has.
ReplyDeleteJoanna Marcial
ReplyDeleteAnsel Adams shows the persona of a proud photographer in Monument Valley . It is a self portrait of himself at the top of the mountain with his hand held up high and with the background looking very intense. Ansel wants to show everyone the beauty of nature he sees when he photographs.
Frida Kahlo's Self-Portait, 1940
ReplyDeleteIn this self-portrait, Frida seems like she is a person who is suffering deep inside. The thorns around her neck, might mean pain.The bird usually means freedom and it seems like she doesn't have any freedom because the bird is blocked by thorns. The leaves, monkey,cat and insects in the back might represent a wild life that she can not live. Black cats also represent bad luck according to superstition.Yet she shows no emotion.
Hilda
ReplyDeleteFrida Kahlo's Self-Portait, 1940
I choose to critique Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait. This portrait is quite interesting; she has both a feminine and masculine features that are pointed out. The jungle was the background choice and it’s almost like she is trying to tell the audience that this is where she belongs. In a sense like she is saying she belongs with wild things. It feels like she almost felt manly and misunderstood. Her facial expression is very bland, almost like she is in pain or angry. It makes the audience wonder what made her feel like this.
In this portrait Frida is showing “the self”. This is because this is the core constant of herself and what does not change. The reason she most likely decided to show this to the world was because she is tired of hiding how she really feels. Frida is trying to say that she is tired from trying to hide from herself. Art is to the interpretation of the artist so it might mean a whole different thing to her, unless she was asked in person.
Bryce Rankins
ReplyDeleteIn the Ansel Adams self-portrait, Adams is simply silhouetted onto a beautiful scene of nature. This silhouette shows little detail of the man himself, but instead shows the world around him, a world he very clearly is passionate about. Adams takes this photo of not only himself, but of the nature aroud him. Perhaps he is advocating a Transcendentalist 'Return to Nature' ideal. Or perhaps he is advocating that we are all a part of this world. He is stating that he is simply a part of this big world, and that this big world is a part of him, and who he is, and who he perceives himself to be.
Gonzalo Heredia
ReplyDeleteIn Frida Kahlo's Self-Portrait in 1940, she seems to be in pain. In the painting she is surround by nature and animals. this can represent her wanting of another life, but the thorns around her neck seems to suggest that she is trap an in deep pain. The bird hanging is can view as she wanting to be free.
Maricela I.
ReplyDeleteDiana Arbus is showing her motherhood. This portrait shows that sometimes being a mother can be caring and sometimes it can be difficult. In the left side, it shows her hugging her baby with love. The right side, also shows her holding her baby but this time with difficulty. This portrait can also represent that it is wonderful to be a mom, but also can have hard times.
Nicole Lackey
ReplyDeleteI found the self portrait of Diane Arbus very interesting. First off the fact that the two pictures are almost identical except for the positioning of the baby and a slight difference in facial expression. The first photo is obviously the persona of Mother. She is holding the baby in a very fragile position as if she is protecting the baby from something or someone. From father/husband maybe or even from the world. The second photo is more relaxed. Her expression has lessened and the baby is no longer in a securing protective position as before. Does she feel safer now? Maybe something happened to relieve her worries and doesn't feel the need to shield her baby so much. This self portrait is a great expression of motherhood though. Simple clothes, no shoes, and the baby as the main focus point.
Calie
ReplyDeleteAnsel Adams persona, that is shown in his self portrait,is a man of mystery because he took a picture of his shadow instead of taking a picture of himself. He also wants to be seen as adventurous because of the location of the picture. It also shows his love of photographing things that can be found in nature and in the out doors.
Ansel Adams is an extremely talented artist as demonstrated in this self-portrait. He is an artist wielding his craft incorporating everything he sees. Mr. Adams’ persona shows confidence, courage, strength, and a passion for nature. Mr. Adams used the light from the storm and flash bulb with help of the mountains as the backdrop he was able to produce a shadow of himself, a self-portrait. I am comfortable with who I am, but not what I look like?
ReplyDeleteSelf-Portrait, Monument Valley, Utah, 1958, By Ansel Adams
Cristina Elizondo
ReplyDeleteThe self-portrait of Diane Arbus is very intreaguing. Diane is portraying the persona of a mother. The fact that she lowers the child in the second picture tells me that although she cares about her child she is exhausted, as if ready to put him down and taking a break. Her trouble may be because she is a young mother and has very litte experience in parenting. Also she could possibly not have a secure income to raise her child, this could be assumed because of her simple clothing and the childs lack of clothing.
Ashly Anfield
ReplyDeleteIn Frida Kahlo's self portrait, I feel that she is exibiting a persona of being dealt a bad deal of cards in life. She is dispaying her lifes struggles, although she is not showing any real type of emotion on her face. I think she must feel suicidal with those torns that are around her neck. I think she chooses to show this mask to the world, because she has no shame in what she has been through in life.