Photography unlike paintings has the ability to capture reality and look more authentic. This group of pictures depicted everything from the human figure to social problems to the glitz and glam of Hollywood and the Jazz culture. Most of the photos were in black and white, which moved the concentration to the content within the photographs, not how colorful they had in them. Some of the first photographs were of nude women, human torsos, and human body parts, such as The Hand in Doorway. Others included pictures of regular, everyday people, such as a tenant farmer’s wife, a piano player, people at Venice beach and other places, etc.

However, the pictures that stood out to me were the ones that showed an image in a unique way, tried to convey a unique message or depicted well-known people. The first was of photograph of a statue of a man holding a bow and arrow pointing directly at a man walking down a long hallway. The second was of a female mannequin looking outside the window at a woman passing by the window. Both photographs show a strange interaction between inanimate human figures and real humans. The photographs of famous people included Jean Cocteau, Joan Crawford, Edward Steichen (self-portrait), Pablo Picasso, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie and the cast of The Misfits (Marilyn Monroe). These photographs either showed these Hollywood and Jazz greats in normal everyday life or doing what they do best, acting and performing.

The last set of the photographs had a serious impact on me. They were photographs of African refugees and child soldiers. The first photograph was of Rwandan refugees. Standing around in a group in the photograph, they all looked lost, without a home. The second was a picture of the chest of a girl from Sierra Leone. She was a child soldier who had the initials R.U.F. branded on her chest. This picture saddened me because it was as if she was being treated like an animal or piece of meat that belonged to others. The gallery really conveyed the broad views and aspects of human life.