Blog Entry #4

Phyllis Galembo


Snow white, 1950's

phyllis galembo

primary subject matter: A women dressed in a 1950's Halloween costume of Snow White standing in front of a tree and blue backdrop.

form:
1.color
2.light and value
3.positive/negative space
4.contrast
5.directional forces

Interpretation:
Galembo is trying to convey with this photograph the ways that people hide themselves, to get along in society. The costume of Snow White is from the 1950's when there were many race issues and I believe that by having a model of color wearing this Snow White mask parallels to this time period. The color in the photograph plays an important part in bringing emotion to the picture. The background is very dark and blue. This gives a more depressing and dark feeling to the photograph. It gives the feeling that she's lost in the woods like the character Snow White. This mood correlates to how many African Americans felt during the 50's as the were pushed to act in a way whites would accept. Light and value also contributes to the mood of the photograph. The background is in very dark tones, where as the model is all lit up as if she is caught in a spot light. It's as if to show that she's caught in the middle of this societal conflict. The negative space and the positive space both play a part in the photograph. The negative space shows the mood/atmosphere of the 1950's where as the positive space represents the people in the that time period. Contrast is important in two places. First the difference between the background and the women. Then the contrast between the mask and the model's skin. For the background, it is trying to keep a focus on the model but also set the mood. The mask is a very fair shade of skin while the models has a darker more medium tone of skin. This brings the mask and model to attention. It seems like it refers to the 1950's, when whites wanted other races to be separate and would usually only accept minorities if the acted "white". The tree uses directional force to bring you from the corner of the frame to the women and then to the other side of the frame where the tree's shadow fall. This helps tie in all the elements to show that people will sometimes hid themselves through some kind of "costume" to get along in times of conflict or unrest.