Blog #5: "Seeing" #2 p. 419
Because photographer Nikki S. Lee positions people in her photographs in a very specific way, it shapes the perspective and attitude of each photograph by showing more emotion in connecting people to others in the picture.
In the first picture on page 407, The Ohio Project, Lee has what appears to be considered a “redneck” pictured beside an “Asian woman”. The woman is pictured sitting on the right side of the man, leaning onto him; towards him but also facing the photographer. Even though she is positioned sitting on the arm rest and seems to have a taller level in the picture, she is sitting to where she is behind him as if he is protecting her or that she might be a little “afraid” of him. While the man is focused on the ‘rifle’, the woman’s focus seems to be on the photographer (or elsewhere). Body language speaks more than words in all the photographs, I would say. In fact, according to Carmine Gallo, 55% of communication is visual (i.e. body language and eye contact. I first started drawing inferences from studying Lee’s images when I saw the first photograph of hers. The first photo I came upon seeing was The Ohio Project. The inferences I drew from this picture were that the man was probably a “redneck” due to the big Confederate flag hung up on the wall with “I ain’t coming down” stitched into it, the rifle he is holding, and the way he appears. I also thought that the woman in this picture was a little afraid of the man beside her because of her body language and they way she is positioned in the picture. I don’t think they are friends. The woman doesn’t seem to be wearing a wedding ring and same with the man. After flipping through and examining Lee’s pictures, I can see she has named them “projects”. My overall impression of Lee’s work is that she is very interested in taking pictures of many diverse people and groups. Lee seems to enjoy diversity.
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