While viewing this image, visitors responded to one of the questions Catherine Opie posed about portraits.
- What do you think makes a portrait interesting?
- How do the titles of these photographs make you think differently about the people they portray?
- Some of these images are made spontaneously while others are carefully staged by the artist. How does this difference in approach affect your response?
To read more about Catherine Opie's work, visit Catherine Opie: American Photographer
Even though I know a bit about Sally Mann and her work, it's always interesting because of the ambiguity pervasive in her images...especially this one which is of her daughter. I want to know what the marks on the Jessie's body are. Is it magic marker gone crazy, or something more sinister...like blood. The title makes me think it *could* be blood. If Jessie bites other people, has she drawn other people's blood? If Jessie's been scratching mosquito bites, has she drawn her own blood? Jessie's stare is very intense...it seems an oddly wise expression for a little girl...as if she's run amok doing little girl things, but is now resting and pondering all she has done....and perhaps destroyed.
_____________________________________
Hmmm. The Sky is so big. I wonder where it goes.
There is so much to understand, but I don’t yet understand how to understand it all. Tell me a story please.
-Kate
_____________________________________