ICP Thoughts
As I was coming off the rainy sidewalks and into the International Center for Photography (ICP), my eyes were met with an unusual sight. It was a large suitcase gleaming on the wall with what appeared to be rolls in the suitcase. I never for once believed that this gleaming picture on the wall was of any significance until the history behind it was explained. The Mexican Suitcase as it was known, was a compilation of photos of a civil war to photos of families. The over 126 rolls of films in the suitcase were taken by several photographers: Capa, Chim, Taro, Stein, and Seymour. Yet, this was still not the most interesting part about this suitcase, the over two thousand negatives were recently discovered in Mexico City, even though many people thought they were lost.
After the introduction to the giant suitcase I began walking around the exhibit and noticed a certain photograph of a woman nursing a baby with airplanes flying on top of her. Chim was the photographer of the woman nursing the baby; however, the pictures of the airplanes flying on top of her were edited in. For a long time this photograph created a great amount of controversy because there was some question as to whether the airplanes flying over the woman was edited or not. However, since the recovery of the Mexican Suitcase, the original negative revealed that the airplanes in fact were edited in. This already shows the significance of uncovering the lost negatives because it would help in clearing up many questions.
The lower level of the exhibit featured photographs of the Cuban Revolution. Many of the pictures depicted young soldiers fighting a war that they were dragged into. The photographs often were of civilians or innocent bystanders traveling. One photograph that remains etched in my mind is one of an old woman traveling with her family. She was carrying a large amount of supplies and appeared to be escaping from a war torn area. The photograph was very effective at creating a sense of disparity and evoking emotions of pity.
As I traveled back up the stairs I noticed something that I missed before. I was presented with the actual suitcase itself. Contrary to my beliefs, it was not actually one suitcase but three suitcases, each of which held many negatives. The suitcase itself was nothing extraordinary, but it is obvious that the old brown boxes are of great value.
The exhibit was a revealing experience. It opened up my eyes to different types of angles and photography. As a photographer you are not limited to just one or two different themes, you can choose to focus on different subject matters and shoot just certain type of people.
