House

Photo taken by me.
Recreation of "The Damm family in their car" next scene.

Mary Ellen Mark created the image "The Damm family in their car (1987)" while spending a week with the family. The Damm family were a homeless family comprising of a mother, a step-father, a brother and sister and their Pit bull.

I used this assignment to fast forward in the week that Mark spent with the family and stopped at a moment in time where Crissy, the daughter, was drawing a house.

The next paragraph is an except from the magazine "Life" and was written by Annie Fadiman.

Crissy draws a picture of a house on a paper bag. There are four faces at the windows and a four-legged figure in front. "Look at my house, Mommy," she says. "We can put furniture in it when we're rich." (http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/life/905W-000-031.html)

Original 

By Mary Ellen Mark

The Damm Family in their car

The word "Photograph"

To me, a "photograph" is a snapshot in time. The subject in the photograph exists within the world and the photograph captures a moment of its existence.  It is not the photographer that makes the photograph, it is the subjects being captured. Each photograph has a story behind it, whether one may think it is interesting or not.

Imagine a World Without Photographs

Before photographs, the world relied on artists to render their portraits and capture the beautiful landscapes here on Earth. Without photographs, Exotic and far away places would be left to our imaginations, instead of taking only a click of the computer mouse to show us a snapshot. Masses moved by pictures of orphans in third world countries would instead be left ignorant. 

Photographs enable us to experience events over again or even for the first time. They let us save the memories of a babies first steps or a child's new achievement. They allow us to capture important moments in history, the good and the bad. Without photographs, the world would be further separated and unaware of the beautiful cultural diversity within each continent.