The photographs that had the most appeal to look at and analyze were the ones in the series on the matriarch and the domestic servant.  The two were isolated on the family couch and the issue was more or less contained within a domestic sphere.  The pair with the giggling younger servant and the matriarch wearing denim jeans was an interesting depiction of modernization in Bangladeshi families.

The only exhibit with no people (the urbanization one) was also a paradox.  Although there were no people, the photographer showed the results of people hauling sand onto the shore and the tire lots where many people worked and lived.  The photograph even managed to show hope in the football flags raised above the tires.

I volunteered at an event in this space last night where writers and poets brought works of fiction to read in front of certain photographs.  While they did not exactly hit on the origin and artist meaning behind the photographs, the sentiment was really spot-on.  The woman who read in front of the piece on the domestic workers and the matriarchs spoke about dichotomies in her own life that were similar to that of having someone cleaning your home but never sitting on your couch.  She spoke about the idea of practicing labor law but going to a restaurant where, just behind the back doors, underpaid and overworked laborers were snapping string beans.

The photography space was also really family oriented, which surprised me.  A lot of artwork is unaccessible, both physically and intellectually.  But yesterday night, there were the curator’s relatives placing used water bottles on the stand with the photographs of the mother with iodine-deficiency, or young children fighting loudly about who got to take pictures of the speakers.