Hybrid Arts Lab: Picturing Power & Privilege

My favorites that I found were the blue and red photo with the three black individuals with the message about ending systemic racism and the photo with the man and his son and the words "That's my dad" emphasizing that these people are human beings just like everyone else; furthermore, you should not just see a black man, you should see a son, a father, a husband, a hard worker, an art lover, whoever that person really is.  Two more of my favorites were the photo of the woman and the words "Black is beautiful" which addresses the white standard of beauty and the man with the purple glasses which reminded me of the image from F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" of the billboard with the eyes that watched over the characters. These photos reflect evolving understandings of white privilege and the oppression of people of color and how our society needs to change.

The concept was straightforward because I was able to think about the privileges I have that others do not have and to document pictures of them. I did not edit my images because I wanted my pictures to show my reality and if I were to edit it then it would be distorting my privileges. The most meaningful part was reflecting on how lucky I am in my life. Having grown up in poverty, the 5-year-old me would never imagine himself driving a new car, living in a beautiful home, with an expensive laptop. Because of this assignment, I am able to be more grateful for the privileges afforded me. One connection I was able to make is from the videos that show African Americans as not having the same opportunities to succeed. I look around the car meet where people bring expensive cars, and the majority of people are white. I also look around my neighborhood and everyone is also white. I came to think that this kind of shows how society is unfair top certain groups of people which we have explored in this class. I think my photos show a pretty standard picture set for my social identity. I feel like many people who are similar to me have access to the same resources. If I never participated, then I would have never come to terms on how privileged I am to have what I have. Many would sacrifice a lot to have my circumstances and I realized that with this assignment. Someone very different from me may look at my photos and wish for the same opportunities because they are born in communities that do not allow them the privileges I hold. For me personally, I grew up hearing people around me saying that everyone is born equal and that all cultures should be respected. As I grow up (evolve I guess), I have realized that people are not born equal. Many people are born in positions of power while others are born in positions of underprivilege. 

The next photo I chose is located on South High Street. The photo is an illustration of Black people that asks other citizens to beware of racism and its causes so that Black people do not have to combat the pain and suffering caused by them. I think this photo is also a response to the unrest that is happening in the world now and it shows that Black people of all genders and ages have to deal with the effects of racism, bias, and police brutality.

The final photo I chose is a selfie of a group of college friends and I. I chose this picture for this assignment because I think it shows my privilege. I am privileged enough to have my own apartment and a place to host my friends. I am also privileged to have a diverse group of supportive friends. The people in this photo represent many different races and ethnic groups.

For my selecting strategy, I kind of just chose pictures as I encountered them. I found the artwork while walking along High Street and the picture of my friends and I is from last weekend.

I think that privilege is a difficult concept to capture and I had to think out of the box in order to relate it to my image.

The artwork was more straightforward because the concept was conveyed quite clearly through the image. 

I think what was most interesting was just how I had to alter the way I view the world around me. Instead of just observing things, I had an intention in mind to see things as photo muses.

What came to mind during this project was our discussion assignment about White Privilege. We had to read an article that a woman wrote about the daily privileges she experiences. Some of her privilege came from aspects of her life other than just her race. For my third photo, I commented on my financial and social privileges.

I think my photos relate to my identity as a Black woman. The majority of the pictures I chose, we centered around the Black Lives Matter movement and what is means to be a Black person in America right now.

If I had never taken this course, I probably would not have attached the concepts listed in the directions to these images. I think that they are powerful images on their own, but I probably would not have analyzed the images further than just looking at them and appreciating them.

 I think that a person with different social identities would have different feelings about my pictures. For example, a White person that is not directly affected by police brutality may not find my image as powerful as I did.

My photos show how important it is to check and realize your privilege as well as how racial violence is affecting the world. They also show how people convey their feelings through different forms of art.

My last picture is one I took over the weekend of an apple orchard some friends and I went to. I thought this was a good picture to use because it highlights something that I often take for granted, but it is definitely a privilege. This being access to a car. Although I do not personally have one myself, I have friends who have constant access to a vehicle which is a privilege that many people do not get even in their adult lives. My strategy was to take in as much as I could around campus and open my eyes to the things I see every day and how they could apply to these topics. In this strategy, I found it hard to find things representing power. The easiest thing for me to find was examples of privilege. I think this was largely because I was on campus and in that space there’s a lot to remind me of how privileged I am. Something I found interesting when I was brainstorming was the idea of anti-homeless infrastructure. I thought this would be a good example of oppression that would likely be present on this campus but did not come across any examples myself. These pictures definitely relate to my identity in the fact that most of them reflect that I am a college student, they also reflect views that I support. Someone who does not support the same views I do may even try to argue that the chalk writings are a form of vandalism, whereas myself and many others view it as a positive thing. This assignment made me stop and look at the things in my everyday life in a different way than I normally would. 

This next image was one I took when I went to visit UC. In ways, this photo shows oppression. It may not be clear, but this person was attempting to force his beliefs on others, and berating people who spoke out. There was a larger crowd not pictured, and he was attempting to yell at others that they were going to hell if they did not believe in what he said. The university police had to escort him off campus, but it was a very strange thing to see. This is somewhat common also at OSU. Sometimes it isn't blatant but forcing religious beliefs on others and reprimanding people who don't agree is a form of religious oppression.

These two images may look different but have the same message. Both images represent privilege. The first one is an image of my Japanese textbook. I chose this because I am very privileged to be able to learn a different language. Not a lot of people have access to learning materials and are able to do this. The second image shows a neighborhood near my hometown of Liberty Township, Cincinnati. There are streets upon streets of mansions and large houses. This is a huge privilege because not many people can afford housing such as this, and they do not have to worry about not being able to afford most items. They do not have to worry about crime as well, since the neighborhood is gated. They do not have to worry about people judging them based on their living arrangements and income. 

Before taking this course, I never really realized how privileged I am or how oppression and social justice have this profound of an effect on the world. Even the smaller things, such as the man forcing his beliefs on others, did not really phase me much back then, but now I think differently. I always thought of graffiti as art, but never really investigated the messages behind some of them. My perspective has changed, and I believe before I took this class I would not look as hard into these images to find the deeper meaning.

And the second photo I took is a car. I can see that this car is much cheaper than other cars in this apartment. So even in the same place we live, people still have different life quality. Car is just a transportation tool for him/her. However, other expensive cars are a way to show off. These drivers make lots of noise on the road, especially in this apartment. So there comes to my bias. I dislike who drive sports car drivers. I think they just like to make noise because that is the reason why they buy sports car. The third photo is a moving car. At 7 A.M, I just wake and ready to take a breakfast. However, some people have already started to work. My student social identity let me can stay at home and my family let me not to worry about the tuition, so I don’t have to work for part time job. But there are lots of students take the job and take online course. They have much less leisure time than me.

The 3rd photo reflects my privilege, how I have the privilege to learn and go to college. Additionally, the photo reflects how I have the mere privilege to have shelter, a bed, and the financial stability to afford decorations. Granted these are very small things to relative to the gravity of privilege today and what it has become. How it now literally puts other individuals at a disadvantage in life losing the equality every individual deserves in this world. My strategy in taking these photos was trying to be as creative as possible using surrounding objects that have deeper meaning than what meets the eye. At first it was difficult to think of a concept to capture in a photo but once I began to think outside the box it flowed from there. At this point it was straight forward what I was looking to capture in the pictures. I recognized how many of the objects we have another may not for various reasons one being the simple fact of lacking the privilege to attain it, or being oppressed to the point where this object can't even be attained. Additionally, this made me think how an individual can lose opportunities and face many various struggles because of oppression. Therefore, I tried finding objects to resemble that concept and develop on the story to create its meaning. I did not need to edit my photos as I helped create the scene I was looking to capture. The most interesting aspect of the task was when I was taking the privilege vs oppression race picture. This really exemplified and resembled the struggles an individual that faces oppression has throughout their life relative to an individual with privilege. I had to do some deep research on oppression and privilege to help spark my ideas. The photos resemble my social identity because I do have a lot of privilege and I am more than cognizant of that. I would not have viewed these photos any differently because I have always been educated on racism and understand the privilege and oppression that goes on worldwide. Someone with a totally different social identity then me may directly relate to these problems and concepts. Which is quite frankly just unfair and definitely not equal. These photos reflect new and evolving understanding of the n world as the concepts illustrated in the photos are currently prohibiting many people from the equal social justice all humans deserve. This course was directed towards helping us understand these topics and to further be the change the world needs.

I think this concept was slightly difficult to capture, as just by looking at bathroom signs, those who do not feel this struggle may not immediately think this is was the image is conveying. Because of this, I chose to make edits to the photo. I chose to highlight the typical norms in our society at pink being associated with women and blue being associate with men. I also chose to edit a distinct black line into the photo to emphasize the way our society tries to make people conform to these two genders. This was an interesting task because it challenged me to take a deeper look at the things I see in my everyday life, as put them into the perspective of someone different than me. This relates to the ideas from the book about social identity. Everyone has a different social identity, and this affects how they view certain things, such as bathroom signs. Having not participated in this course, I do not think I would have ever been pushed to look past what deeper meaning bathroom signs can hold, especially for those who are not cisgender.

The next photo I took was of various yard signs within my neighborhood. When viewing this image, I see privilege. These yard signs represent people's political views and who they may be choosing to vote for. The right to express our political views and be able to vote in elections is a huge privilege that we as Americans have, as many other countries do not allow their citizens this right. I think just by looking at yard signs one might just be angered by seeing ones that do not align with their beliefs. This is why I choose to edit the images to be within an outline of the United States. While I certainly do not agree with some of the yard signs pictured, I understand that our country grants us the right to be able to express our beliefs which is a privilege. I think this was an interesting task because normally when I see yard signs that do not coincide with my beliefs I am normally just offended. But through this activity, I was able to look past the surface of what was being stated on the yard signs and into the deeper meaning of them. I was able to see that yard signs, whether agreeing with my political beliefs or not, are a way for citizens to express themselves and take advantage of this right, that citizens of other countries do not have. I think this relates to my social identity of being an American citizen. It can also relate to the social identity of my socio-economic identity, as I live in a neighborhood where people have yards and are able to place these signs in them, as some people do not have this.

The final picture I took was of various pins that I have at my house. I received these pins at my work, as a way to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. I think these pins represent social justice. The message on each of these pins demonstrates clear ideas of working together to help solve the racial injustices in our society. I feel like the pins conveyed this message pretty well on their own, but I chose the edit the pictures I took of them to make it more enticing. I make duplicates of each picture I took and created a background with three of the pins. I feel like the pins in the background all had the same overall message of working together and standing by those who are being attacked. I feel like these pins all worked together to promote the main goal of stopping racism, as depicted by the fourth pin. I think this task was interesting because it forced me to be creative with these objects and try to emphasize their message in a new way. This forced me to see what message I could highlight based on how I edited the pictures, which was slightly difficult given their straightforward nature. I think relates to my social identity because as a white person I need to use my white privilege to advocate for Black people, in order to help end racism. This idea also relates to the chapter on racism in the book, which discusses how racism is present on both individual and institutional levels, and it will be up to the people to work to change this. I think someone with a different social identity would view this image slightly differently than I do. As a white person, I see this image and understand that I need to use my privilege to help end racism. A Black person might view this image and understand that they need to keep the fight going and hope that others in their society will also commit to this fight.

The voter registration booth shows privilege and social justice, because we live in a country where we are privileged that we get to vote, and we have a say in what happens. It is also social justice, because right now with everything going on most people are urging others to vote, so we can get someone who will create change elected. My strategy was to just walk around and really pay attention to my surroundings and try and notice things I haven’t before. It wasn’t hard for me to notice things for privilege or social justice. They were straight forward because they are easy to be seen. I didn’t really notice anything I could take pictures of for power or oppression, because I think those are things that are harder to be actually seen. Physical things don’t represent them as much. I didn’t edit my images at all. The most meaningful thing to me was just paying more attention to my surroundings and noticing things about the street I walk down all the time that I never noticed before. For example, I never noticed the Black Lives Matter sheet and I walk down that street all the time. Some connections that came to mind for me were our discussions of white privilege, because I actually recently looked up the diversity statistics of OSU and with those stats it is obvious that white privilege exists when it comes to college and specifically OSU. My photos relate to my social identity, specifically the picture of the oval, because going to college and going to a good college is just expected from where I come from and my family. I think the Black Lives Matter sheet someone could connect to social justice if they have never taken this course, but if they saw the other two photos, they wouldn’t think anything of it. Someone with a very different social identity probably wouldn’t think anything of my picture of the oval. But they probably would view the photos of the house and the voter booth the same as me, but maybe not think of voting as a form of social justice. These photos reflect new understandings of the world for me because I would have never just been walking around campus thinking about how privileged I am to be going to OSU. I also never realized how important voting was until this year, because I always thought my vote wouldn’t matter and I am not informed enough, but now I realize it is my responsibility to become informed and that everyone’s vote matters.

The aspect of this project that was a struggle was attempting to put myself was trying to recognize or relate the things in my life that represent these ideas and somehow capture them in a simple photo. With little knowledge of the area around me and not being an experienced photographer, it was tough to know exactly where I should go and what Exactly I should be looking for. I edited the photos using my iPhone in order to enhance their quality. The most meaningful part of this experience was getting to connect myself with a more creative side. As a math major most of my studies are very logical, so getting to use the other side of my brain was a fun task to escape from the regular grind. The recent videos about white privilege regularly came to mind during this project. I tried to think of parts of my life I take for granted and things that others inherently do not have. My social identity relates to my photos because it is easier for me to think of the privileges I have rather than the social injustices of other people. I think that if I had never taken this course I would look at art in general as a more straightforward concept rather than trying to look deeper and focus on how I feel when I see it. Someone with a more oppressed social identity might view these images as less meaningful. Because there is a divide between myself and those that are oppressed there is less meaning for social justice for me and what I see as social justice could be completely inaccurate. These photos reflect my new understanding of the world because I am beginning to see the oppression that lives in our country more easily and seeing this divide in my own life has changed drastically.

This represents social justice and the fight for equality. My strategy was to find different pictures for different words rather than for the same word and I just looked all around the past few days. If I had chosen privilege images then they would have matched with my social identities more, but using social justice, oppression, and power doesn't relate as much.

My second photo illustrates privilege. While shopping at Target, my friend, Summer and I took a quick stop in the cosmetics aisle. We realized how nearly all of the shampoo brands were not meant for people of color that have 4C hair. It is almost like the shampoo brands offered at Target have completely alienated people of color. For a White person with naturally straight hair, it is very easy to go to Target and buy shampoo. In my opinion, that is privilege. Before taking this class, I never reflected on examples of White privilege that are visible to us in society. Struggling to find the right shampoo brand for myself for years seemed very normal to me. I now understand that this is an aspect of my life that I am not privileged in.

The final picture I have are the stairs. The stairs symbolize the fight for social justice. As a minority, I believe that we must take the fight for social justice one step at a time. In America, it always seems like White people are at the top of the stairs while minorities continue to remain at the bottom. Those at the top are often considered too powerful. Those at the bottom are powerless. This pipeline must be broken. The problem may be that we face obstacles like systematic racism. We might find ourselves looking up and seeing how many stairs we have left. However, I believe we must keep going. 

My strategy for taking my photos was to just take photos of random things and see how they could be interpreted as a privilege. For example, the third picture could easily be skewed as a privilege for the car on the right. The argument could be made that they have the privilege of being closer to getting a brand-new car since their current car is so old. I didn't find this too difficult because anything can be portrayed as being a privilege. Sometimes our minds like to view everything as negative, so it is good to take a step back and be thankful for what we have. The concept was somewhat easy to capture however the thing is privilege is a very tricky concept. Privilege could be as deep as skin color or it could be as simple as having a pet dog. That is also what is so interesting about the topic. If I had looked at these photos before taking this class, I would probably think nothing of them. I would just see them as photos and not at all understand the meaning behind them. I think if someone else outside of this class looked at them, they would most likely think the same way. That is because they are just normal pictures. And without and description it is hard to tell the true meaning behind them. This kind of helps me to realize how it is hard for me to understand the things that black people feel. I am not seeing the world through the same lens as them. I don’t interpret things the same way as them.  So, unless they explain something to me and why it bothers them it takes me more time and more thought to understand what is going on. Just like if someone who had no clue what my images were about would have no clue what they meant without a little bit of help. 

Photo 2: Social Justice

To me, this photo shows a unique perspective of social justice in how each group sees its relationship to another. Would you ever see an alt right wing group setting up shop next to an antifa meeting place? Would an open-boarders ministry be permanently posted next to an ICE center?

This social justice to me is one of the most interesting because both groups believe they’re working for good within the same social group. Anti-racism fights the disparity between (usually) white and black people. LGBT groups advocate for a variety of social changes regarding those with non-heterosexual identities. Meanwhile, pro-choice and pro-life groups both act with women in mind. 

Photo 3: Power 

Knowledge is power. First thing we ever learn, to the point where we forget about how accurate it is. “Isn’t protesting more powerful? Isn’t voting more powerful?” We unconsciously ask. But consider first that you can read. Consider that you are getting an education which opens up many fields of work to you. Consider that your new field can open up a position in which your voice is heard. 

I’ve been in several conversations where new information can turn the tide of perspective. Even in my own experience, learning more can change my own views and then my behavior. 

We’re often told that networking is the way to get what you want in this world. But the skills of networking often need to be taught, and the knowledge of people–who you know–is what can be the difference between making it into the public space. I often think about how the wealthy know each other, and the rich tell their children the skills they need to build a name for themselves. 

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2. Most of these photos ended up being serendipity when I took them, where I was thinking about the meaning of each prompt and how each would fit into something I saw in my everyday life. I had previously known about the location of my Social Justice picture, so I was able to get that one first, but the others I took on the go. 
3. I struggled with getting my photo focus correctly on many of them, trying for different angles to catch the best perspective. I also found it hard to pick subjects at all because I’m usually focused on my school work during the day, (The grind never stops y’all) so I had to change the way I looked at the world. 
4. I feel like the general emotion or idea behind each image was easiest to catch because they have their own connotations that most people would understand. 
5. I edited the Privilege and Power photos to change the colors and make them stand out. Meanwhile, I drew lines around the two contrasting subjects in Social Justice to drive home the dichotomy despite the proximity. 
6. When I was looking for photo subjects, I considered how this task forced us to look for scenes attached to each prompt. Normally I just notice my surroundings and continue on, but this assignment said: Stop. Consider these things. What do they mean? 

So that was the most meaningful thing to me. 

7. X
8. I noticed how two of the photos both are about how I see things as a woman, and the second one about how I can read/speak English and am well educated. 
9. I don’t think I would have had as profound a view on some of these photos if I hadn’t participated in this course. The Privilege photo might make me a little worried, but I wouldn’t exactly think of how this is a lack of privilege, just as my normal life. 
10. I think that a man might not be as worried about either of the first two photos. I figure that a black woman would probably be more worried about both of them because they have (at least) one extra social disadvantage. The last photo I feel might be more internationally important since there are areas that prevent people from learning how to read or write, whether because they are poor, lower-class, women, or of a different ethnic group. 
11. Since taking these photos, I’ve thought a lot more about how other people can see the everyday things of my life from wildly different perspectives. It makes me think a bit more how I take for granted a lot of my own privileges, and how other people think differently from me. 

Life can be hard, but I have a lot to appreciate and to be thankful for. My mom and dad who are my best friends, my pets whom all have their own personalities and stories. My boyfriend that sticks by me through my depression no matter what. We have the privilege of having each other and being able to be weird and be against social norms in that way. My grandpa's picture is incredibly vulnerable but just a couple of weeks ago he was released from the Hospital after we had a scare of almost losing him. I was facetiming him in this picture and he had just gotten settled back in at home in a new way. He is just so happy to be back home. My photos relater to my social identity because I am white and privileged, and I am privileged to have the family and support that I do.

These three photos, to me, represent how privileged I am in aspects of my life. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about my privilege lately so my strategy for picking photos for this assignment was to choose ones that show this privilege that I am recognizing.

These photos weren’t hard to find but I spent quality time trying to find photos that I’ve taken that would best explore the opportunities that my socioeconomic status has given me.

I think the most meaningful part of this assignment was looking through my photos and contemplating how they may display the privilege I have. I had never thought to check my privilege by looking at photos that I’ve taken, but now I know to look at my photos and memories with more attention focused on why and how I got to be able to take these photos or make these memories.

While doing this assignment, I thought back to page 20 in This Book Is Anti-Racist. Specifically, the section about privilege. The quote “There are parts of us that hold some power and other parts that are oppressed,” connects to this task because I am trying to recognize the parts of my life that do hold power. For this assignment, I focused on how my socioeconomic status has given me power and opportunity.

I think these photos represent the socioeconomic part of my social identity. The fact that my family can afford to go on vacations, pay for my college, and treat each other with gifts on Christmas makes me incredibly lucky because there are a lot of people that don’t live the same life that I do. I truly am privileged to have the family that I have because they allow for me to have opportunities to broaden my horizons whether it means traveling or getting a college education.

Had I not taken this course, I don’t think I ever would have viewed these images as ones that show my privilege. Before, these pictures were just cherished memories, but now I know that these photos show opportunities that I got which other people didn’t.

Someone with a different socioeconomic status than my family may view these photos and think that I am extremely lucky and privileged while others may not see anything. People that don’t have the money to be able to travel, for example, will see my vacation photo differently from someone who has a lot of money and has the ability to travel frequently. 

I think it’s so interesting how two people can look at one photo and feel two completely different things. I really think that this comes from our backgrounds and the experiences that we’ve had which have shaped us into who we are today. This idea is new to me after having done this activity. I normally would just see a photo as a photo but there is so much more to the story of each picture that we all see.

However, I could have lost my mom that day I took that picture, some people are not as lucky as me, and might have lost someone due to cancer. My strategy in picking my photos was to think of all the little ways in my life that I may be more privileged than someone else and why. This was more straight forward for me than a struggle because I enjoy photography and I feel in many ways in my life I have been privileged in experience. I chose not to alter my photos in anyway because I wanted to capture the real and true moment of the pictures. The most meaningful part of this task was that it was brought to my attention that no matter how bad my days may get, I can always think about the experiences I was privileged to go through and still have to this day and that you should never take for granted what you have in this life. The connections that came to mind is how privileged I am as a white person in comparison to a black person. Hearing the word privilege reminds me that I am white, and I already had privilege to begin with, just because of the color of my skin. I feel my photos relate to my social identity because each photo tells a story about some specific moment in my life and what I learned from it. If I had never participated in this course, I feel I would have never realized how privileged I was just by a couple simple photos. These photos open up new and evolving understandings of the world and culture because they show how privilege some people might be in comparison to others. You never understand how privilege you are until you sit down and really think deeply about it.