(no subject)
These two images, a still photograph from the movie Kandahar and a Persian painting, depict two separate ideas is Islam. In the photograph, the woman is the main focus of the viewer and the viewer’s eye is drawn directly to the woman. In the Persian painting there are three different individuals in the picture, and the people are not the main focus of the painting. In the Persian painting, the eye of the viewer is drawn to the people last. The Kandahar photograph depicts the strength of the woman through Islam. She is an individual woman, who becomes more because of Islam. In the Persian painting, the religion of Islam itself seems to take it’s strength from the number of people that believe in it.
The content of the photograph is a white woman dressed in a dark-colored burqa, dark shirt, and a brown jacket, surrounded by a light blue-green shelter. She stares past the camera, looking sad and forlorn, yet strong on the inside.
The face is the focal point of the picture, the light complexion of the woman contrasting with the dark clothing and surroundings inside of the shelter. The balance draws the viewer’s eyes to the woman’s pale face in the center.
The face is the first thing to catch the viewer’s attention. It is a light focal point surrounded by dark. Even her hair does not vie for attention, as it is not very visible and does not draw away from her face.
The use of black, light green, light blue, brown and white, creates a contrast between the subject’s pale face and dark surroundings. The hues used make her face the main focal point of the picture.
The complementary interplay between dark and light in the photograph privileges the subject’s face. Her pale face is in stark contrast to her surroundings. Further, the subject’s scarf is an intricate blue, white and green, which offsets her dark clothing and serves to draw attention back to her face. Thus, the drastic change in color value emphasizes the subject’s pale face as the focal point.
The burqa drapes the subject’s head to high light. The burqa covers her hair. The geometric patterning incorporated into the burqa covering the hair represents the subject’s Muslim heritage. Hair is presumed to have an erotic power in the Muslim culture. Here, the subject’s hair is covered, yet she is lifting her burqa, suggesting an internal struggle. The struggle is further suggested by the subject’s failure to look at the photographer.
In the photograph, the individual person effectively predominates over the Muslim culture, as the individual’s face is emphasized over the burqa as symbol of Muslim culture. By contrast, while in the photograph the Muslim culture complements the woman and makes her strong, the Muslim culture predominates over the woman in the Persian painting. In so doing, the painting effectively depicts the Muslim culture predominating over the individual.
As for the issue of gender as it relates to the veil, my impression is that the veil in the first picture represents the “shared essence,” as pointed out in the commentary, of the male and female. The artist is very effective in showing the cultural view of the relationship between men and women, it seems like, if that cultural view is one of unification. In donning each other’s garments, they become indistinguishable, equal, it seems.
In photograph from Kandahar, though, there is only one figure. I don’t know what to make of this. The coy pose suggests a female, but the appendage in the middle obviously suggests a penis. What does this say about the relationship between the male and female? In this picture, as the commentary suggests, a patron would have to be in charge of unzipping the person-literally, the viewer would see what he wanted to see.
The content of the photograph is a white woman dressed in a dark-colored burqa, dark shirt, and a brown jacket, surrounded by a light blue-green shelter. She stares past the camera, looking sad and forlorn, yet strong on the inside.
The face is the focal point of the picture, the light complexion of the woman contrasting with the dark clothing and surroundings inside of the shelter. The balance draws the viewer’s eyes to the woman’s pale face in the center.
The face is the first thing to catch the viewer’s attention. It is a light focal point surrounded by dark. Even her hair does not vie for attention, as it is not very visible and does not draw away from her face.
The use of black, light green, light blue, brown and white, creates a contrast between the subject’s pale face and dark surroundings. The hues used make her face the main focal point of the picture.
The complementary interplay between dark and light in the photograph privileges the subject’s face. Her pale face is in stark contrast to her surroundings. Further, the subject’s scarf is an intricate blue, white and green, which offsets her dark clothing and serves to draw attention back to her face. Thus, the drastic change in color value emphasizes the subject’s pale face as the focal point.
The burqa drapes the subject’s head to high light. The burqa covers her hair. The geometric patterning incorporated into the burqa covering the hair represents the subject’s Muslim heritage. Hair is presumed to have an erotic power in the Muslim culture. Here, the subject’s hair is covered, yet she is lifting her burqa, suggesting an internal struggle. The struggle is further suggested by the subject’s failure to look at the photographer.
In the photograph, the individual person effectively predominates over the Muslim culture, as the individual’s face is emphasized over the burqa as symbol of Muslim culture. By contrast, while in the photograph the Muslim culture complements the woman and makes her strong, the Muslim culture predominates over the woman in the Persian painting. In so doing, the painting effectively depicts the Muslim culture predominating over the individual.
As for the issue of gender as it relates to the veil, my impression is that the veil in the first picture represents the “shared essence,” as pointed out in the commentary, of the male and female. The artist is very effective in showing the cultural view of the relationship between men and women, it seems like, if that cultural view is one of unification. In donning each other’s garments, they become indistinguishable, equal, it seems.
In photograph from Kandahar, though, there is only one figure. I don’t know what to make of this. The coy pose suggests a female, but the appendage in the middle obviously suggests a penis. What does this say about the relationship between the male and female? In this picture, as the commentary suggests, a patron would have to be in charge of unzipping the person-literally, the viewer would see what he wanted to see.