Weekly Selfie 1 - Kitchen Table - BinChao Yang

 

Carrie Mae Weems --- Untitled (Woman and phone) from the series The Kitchen Table, 1990

Recreation of The Kitchen Table Series

This photo is the most special to me. This reminds me of a time when I suddenly felt lonely, unable to get comfort from others, so I can only comfort myself, but this made me more independent and strong inside.

Susan Sontag excerpt from On Photography

"To collect photographs is to collect the world."

"To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. "

I think photos are vehicles of emotion. They carry people's different emotions, record people's thoughts and perceptions, and convey these emotions.

Revisiting Carrie Mae Weems’s Landmark “Kitchen Table Series”
by Jacqui Palumbo for Artsy

"“Everyone can relate to this work,” Sann said. “It’s not just Black women; it’s white women, Asian women. Men can see the women in their lives—memories from their childhood or scenes from their marriage or their family life. It’s so universal and yet representation like this is so rare.”"

“This woman can stand in for me and for you; she can stand in for the audience, she leads you into history. She’s a witness and a guide.”

These photos represent a microcosm of people's family life, regardless of race or color, and make people think about the problems women face in family life. There are so many problems that women face in the family. Women invest more time and energy in their families than men. For example, the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between parents and children, etc.

NY Times: How Carrie Mae Weems Rewrote the Rules of Image-Making

““Men put me down as the best woman painter. I think I’m one of the best painters.” This marginalization, being categorized as “black artist” or “woman artist” rather than simply artist, is something Weems has dealt with her entire career. ”

“a young girl is also learning, perhaps unwittingly, what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be looked at by men. “What do women give to one another? What do they pass on to one another?” says Weems”