Irving Penn’s gallery was probably the most interesting exhibitions we went to, in my opinion. Two major themes were present at the gallery—animal cruelty and the mistreatment of women.

The first set of artwork that I saw was Morocco Vogue 1971. It features a set of women all covered up from head to toe in scarves. There are no colors in the photo. Instead there are blacks and grays. I’m just going to come out and say it, these photographs made me angry. My initial thought were the Middle Eastern countries, and how women are treated like complete crap. They are beaten if their dress is a little high and shows a part of their ankle. They are beaten if they only look at another person. They are beaten if they do not bear a son. Women are constantly being oppressed and mistreated, even if the reasons are complete nonsense. Now do not get me wrong, I respect the Islamic faith. And for anyone who is Muslim and is reading this, I do not want to disrespect you in any way and if I do, I will take the time now to apologize. Anyway, I understand why women wear the hijab or the burka. These clothing are sacred in that it shows modesty. But, when people, especially men, exploit that and use it as a way to keep women inferior, its just wrong. They are actually going against Islamic views by mistreating women. They keep women subordinate and deprive them of saying or doing anything to fight against the oppression.

Just as Michele said in her post, I also agree that Penn was trying to give these women a voice, to show how despite being locked up and despite not having the right to do anything, they are still human beings just like the rest of us.

The second photograph I saw revolved around animal cruelty. The artwork was called Extreme Beauty from L’Oreal 1986-2007. You all probably saw the photo of the dead turkey head. In one of the posts below, Karen mentions that this was symbolic of how one can find beauty in everything. While I agree with that statement, I do not think that is the case. I think Penn is trying to show how much of an effect testing makeup on animals can have. All of our everyday products—makeup, shampoo & conditioner, body wash, lotion, etc. may have all been tested on animals. And yet we are selfishly using the product. We are all technically supporting animal cruelty. Animals, like little cute bunny rabbits, cats, dogs, etc. are all being forced to subject to the torment. These products are harmful to animals and most, if not all, end up dying painful deaths from being forced to be test subjects. This photograph is an ugly reminder to think twice about that shampoo that “guarantees volumizing hair.” It was probably tested on some poor animal that was left to die right afterwards. Plus, chances are your hair will remain as flat as it was before (I would know, I have thin hair and am always looking for the best volumizing shampoo and conditioner). About a couple of months ago, I started looking and using products that were animal cruelty free and I feel like everyone should do the same. Besides, I started using this new shampoo that was not tested on animals and is actually working for my hair!

The other day, my boyfriend and I went to the World Trade Center memorial. We both had assignments to do (I had one for Art History) so we figured we’d go check it out together. However, what I thought would simply be an assignment turned into something much more. The memorial is absolutely breathtaking. For anyone who has not gone or has never seen pictures, the memorial is a park that features two huge pools with mini waterfalls in them. These pools are the footprints of the Twin Towers—they are where the buildings once stood. The pools, called the North Pool and the South Pool, feature engraved names all around the edges—names of people who lost their life on 9/11. Instead of going full on tourist and snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow, I just stood by the South Pool and just stared down into the water. I thought about 9/11 and how, just 12 years ago, America’s biggest tragedy happened right at that very spot. I thought about all of the people who lost their lives and read the names that were engraved. I thought about how fortunate I was that no one I knew lost their life, but how others were not as fortunate. I thought about how I was 6 at the time, and did not fully understand what was going on. On that day, as soon as my mom got to her workplace, she left and rushed over to my school to take me home. Her eyes were glued to the television when we got home. I remember talking to my dad that night, who could not come home because he was worked in Pennsylvania that day and when the buildings were attacked and fell, the police closed all of the bridges and tunnels, prohibiting anyone from coming or leaving. And yet, 12 years later, the memories were still fresh in my mind.

I highly encourage every person to go see the World Trade Center memorial. Even if you did not necessarily lose someone, still go. It really was a captivating experience and is one of those things that you cannot just read about. I promise you will not be disappointed. Just get your tickets in advance. The lines to get in without a ticket are horrendous.

We are all photographers. With the advent of technology, each and every one of us is able to take a regular photo and make it look better with filters and camera settings. I’m talking at you, Instagram! However, meeting an actual photographer gave me a completely different perspective on photography. Photography is not only a pastime. It is a job, and most importantly, it is art.

Greg Bloom, whose major clients include Bath & Body Works, Ann Taylor Loft, and Hourglass, loves his craft. Bloom showed us his newest work, which was taking pictures of food before and after they mold. It was interesting and, uh, rather smelly. However, his main purpose was to show us how photography can help show the little details of how the food changed over the past few days. When Bloom put the before photo and after photo side-by-side, it made me think about time and how given just a couple of days, the food changed. Before, it was perfect and delicious; after a couple of days, it was disgusting and moldy.

Just the other day, I was talking to my mom about my brother and how I wanted to start prepping him for high school entrance exams (SHSAT, Hunter High School Exam, etc.) It was then that it hit me—I was thinking about what high school my brother should go to. Just the other day, my parents were telling me I was going to have a little brother and now all of a sudden, he is in middle school. I literally had an “I’m old” moment. But then, I realized that I while I was always concerned with how older my brother was becoming, I did not necessarily look at myself. With every year, I have also grown older and changed as well.

I am currently 18-years-old and am attending Baruch College. WHAT. Didn’t I start Pre-K like the day before? Wasn’t I riding my bike with my friends outside, where the only worry I had was going around the block by myself? Wasn’t I waiting for my parents to tell me a secret they were keeping from me—that I would become a big sister? Where did the time go?! Holy crap, I’m old. And right there and then in Bloom’s studio, when I saw the pictures of the food side by side, this was all going through my head.

This is probably going to sound weird, but food before and after it became mold made me think of me, how before I was small and tiny and constantly needed Mommy and Daddy but now, I’ve grown up. No, I am not comparing myself to moldy food lol. But the point is, we all want to grow up. We want to become older. But, given such short time, we could all change and not even realize it. Sometimes I find myself yearning to become younger again, where things were simpler. Where I did not have an over-abundance of schoolwork. Where I did not stress myself at work so that every single one of my students got 4’s on their state exams. Where I did not worry that my friends secretly hated me because they thought I was ditching them every time I cancelled plans even though I was just completely swamped with work. Yet despite wanting to be younger again, I realized that I will only be getting older (unless I’m Benjamin Button). I should embrace it. Even though the moldy food has met its untimely end (seriously, moldy food is disgusting) and will be eventually thrown out, that is not the case for me. Even though I am now considered an adult and I am currently on Chapter 18 of Lisa Puran’s Life, it is simply the beginning. It is a time for me to find out who I really am—what I like and dislike, who my friends are going to be, what my career will be. It’s a time for me to still remember my past, but to also look forward to my future.

P.S. I didn’t take a picture of the moldy food and since just putting a huge block of text is boring, I included a picture of me when I was wee little (I think when I was a year old and a my high school graduation photo). I know, I know. I’m adorable 😉