Chelsey Tatum 
Hannah Henderson 
Shawn Ogden 
Nil Santana 
Sara Beth Almquist 
Ashlee Justice Paul Strand
Versatile American photographer who helped establish photography as an art form. His works ranged from wide photographic genres such as street photography to portraiture. Paul Strand had a long and productive career with the camera. His pictorialist studies of the 1910s, followed by the coolly seductive machine photographs of the 1920s, like the contemporary work of Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped define the canon of early American modernism and set its premium on the elegant print.
Ashlee Justice
10:41 pm, 09.14.11
I admire this photo. Not only because it’s simple, but because it tells a story in a simple way. At first glimpse, the viewer immediately is drawn to the woman’s face, which obviously has something wrong with it. But then you see one simple word. “Blind”. This changes the mood completely. The viewers thoughts have now gone from that of being taken aback, to that of sympathy. It poses questions. What happened to her? Why is she wearing a sign? Is it a label? I also really love that Strand chose to place the woman right in the center of the photo. This brings all the focus onto her and her sign, like it should be.
Bryan Couchman
11:37 pm, 09.14.11
I agree with you Ashlee. This is a very interesting photograph. Not only does it tell a story and raise questions about this woman’s life, but also questions about the location and time period she belonged to. I feel it exemplifies the snooty, arrogant nature of human beings to label someone who is different; how society will make someone an outcast for not being able to take care of themselves or for being a burden on someone else.
Stephanie Kennedy
5:18 pm, 09.16.11
I love this photograph. At first I didn’t know how to receive it but as I further observed it, I see the blind sign she is wearing. To me, this photograph describes the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” I completely agree with Bryan and how it exemplifies human nature to label people with just the first look.
Kelcie Broom
11:24 pm, 09.25.11
I agree with all the above! I think it’s fascinating how one simple sign with one word can create so many thoughts and questions. It tugs at my heart that this woman was probably an outcast because of this label. I believe Paul Strand was successful in sending the message he wanted to send with this photo.
Chelsea Pattillo
9:37 am, 09.26.11
I love street photography, mostly because they are the most interesting photographs and they also tell a story. The composition and contrast of this picture is beautiful. This picture is appealing in that when you look at it you see these woman’s eyes and it pulls a string in your heart and hits that emotional pit in your stomach. I love it when photographers can get you emotion by looking at a picture.