Shapiro,+K+1RA




 * @1RA Rough**


 * Thesis:**

Maier’s candid portraits of people in cities from the 50’s to 90’s depict the American values of hope, hardwork, and progress, because they portray different versions of the new post-war vision of the “American Dream”. Using symbolic representations of identity, the images are able to metaphorically represent the ideas/hopes/possibilities of the growing American upper-middle class.




 * 2/23**

For my series I think I am going to use the first 2 pictures posted below. The trend that I am going to show has something to do with loneliness and hardships in Chicago city life in the 1950's and 60's.
 * Trend**

I plan to employ a lot of terms borrowed from Ramage, such as the three aspects of identity. Other tools I am going to apply are signs, the linguistic message in relation to the titles, and connotation/denotation.
 * Standards/ Rhetorical Tactics**

Overall I plan to string together ideas about identity and the anonymity of living in an urban city combined with historical and culture information about Chicago from 1950-1960. A rough sketch of my ideas for the first photo are below, the second photo follows a similar set of signifiers and signified.


 * 2/13/12**

The image makes a metaphor for the struggles of city life. The expressions on the people's faces, as well as the city backdrop, is what contributes most to this idea. The characteristics of the woman, one being overweight and one being skinny, make this more relate-able to many women. The children in the picture make a possible reference to being a single mother, which again is supported by the tired and stressed look on the women's faces. The children in the image further emphasize this idea of struggling city middle class because they are also frowning. Seeing a frown on a child's face is much less common, making the unhappiness of those in the image even more clear The Pathos of this picture comes straight from the expressions. The viewer feels sympathy for the people in the picture because they looks so sad and miserable. At the same time this sympathy is slightly contradicted by the city and the stereotype of mean angry city people. Place in front of the skyscrapers the viewer almost feels intrusive on these city people, a kind of walk quickly away with your head down kind of feeling.
 * Photograph Number 1**
 * Context Notes**
 * **Rhetor**: The author of this photograph is Vivian Maier, who was a street photographer in the 20th century. This shot, as well as all her others, was a spontaneous moment that she captured while traversing New York City. Her perspective in this photograph is that of an outsider, as is implied by the questioning and disgusted looks on the faces of the people photographed. It emphasizes her role as almost a poparazzi, capturing moments without the permission of or any concern for the feelings of her subjects.
 * **Audience**: The audience for this image is two-fold: on the one hand, there is the audience that has seen this image when it was published by Maloof, and there is also the audience intended by Maier. Interestingly, Maier never had any intention of anyone other than herself seeing the images, making this a photograph for her pleasure. Its intended purpose could almost be considered as a memento, something she saw that day that she wanted to remember and capture in a photograph. For the audience today, this picture shows an interesting example of everyday life in NYC. It gives a glimpse into the type of characters that Maier encountered in her day to day life.
 * **Text:** The image depicts two women and two children, all of whom look dissatisfied. The buildings in the back make it evident that this is New York City, so maybe their expressions are a reflection of the stereotypical attitude of New Yorkers. Since they are standing on the side of a street, next to what looks like a telephone/light pole, it could potentially be read as a bus station. This tells us that maybe these women are middle class.
 * Metaphor & Identification**
 * Ethos & Pathos**

Paper 1
 * 2/10**

Vivian Maier Vivian Maier photographed mainly in New York in the 20th Century. Though she took over 100,000 negatives, she printed few pictures and her work was unknown until accidentally discovered. The pictures included here are taken from the Maloof Collection.