Monday, June 9, 2014

Women Photojournalists-Trials and Triumphs

Ann Rosener
November 25th 1914-May 19th 2012

Photo of Ann Rosener 
Photo By: anonymous

Photo of Ann Rosener
Photo By: unknown 

Ann Rosener was born on November 25 1914 in San Francisco California.  An American photojournalist mostly remembered for her photographs of home front activities for the Farm Security Administration in 1942-1943(local gov). Ann came from a well off family from mother Beatrice Scheelin from Bavaria and Businessman Leland Stanford Rosener. They were fortunate enough to be able to send her to Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts where she grew and developed to become an independent thinking, later graduating in 1935(wiki).
Along with her love for photojournalism she had a passion for poetry, photography, and graphic design(obituary). One of the first ways that she became an independent thinker was going against her parents republican views and voting as a democrat(local gov). This courageous thinking lead her to photograph the Farm Security Administration from June 1941- June 1943, eventually with the name changing to the Office of War Information to show the entrance to world war 2(local gov).
Ann went around for 31 assignments traveling everywhere from Washington DC to Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and California. She mostly photographed woman taking over the jobs that needed to get done while the men were away at war. This included everything from farming to factory working. In the 1940’s pre-war it was unheard of for woman to use heavy equipment to do physical labor, but when all the husbands and fathers got drafted it left the women with no choice but to get the work done themselves.  And with no men to document Ann stepped up as one of the head photojournalists of the time and took control of the field and contributed with all of the “man’s work”.(local gov)
On May 19 2012 Ann passed away in her home after fighting a short illness. She was always quite proud of herself for breaking through a male dominant career. She never let men get in the way of her dreams and aspirations. Not even her four different husbands could get her in her way(obituary).


Photo By: Ann Rosener
Year Taken: 1942

Principle 1: Keep it simple: in this photo by Ann it shows the simple subject of the woman on the tractor tending to the farm. It has a simple backdrop of the farm land and crops with trees and a road in the distance.     
Principle 2: Use of Shadows:  in this photo there is one large shadow under the tractor. This shows me that the lady is out working in the sun most likely around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, the hottest time of day.

Principle 3: Texture: This photograph shows many different forms of texture. You can see the dusty ground and all most feel the giant rubber tires. There is also texture with all the different plants and the woman’s hair blowing in the breeze.  

I chose this image because it really shows the effort that women put towards helping during World War 2. If they did not step up and tend to the farms there would have been no source of food for their families. It takes strength to have your husband or son go to war, let alone having to manage to survive without them.    

Photo By: Ann Rosener
Year Taken: 1942

Principle 1: Rule of Thirds: In this photograph Ann used the rule of thirds but in a cleverly different way. She used it diagonally where the main subjects are in the center and the backgrounds are off to the sides.
Principle 2: Subjects Expression: This Photo shows women hard at work sewing. All of them have a blank look on their faces as they are trying to concentrate to get the job done. It also shows that many of them may have other things on their minds like their loved ones who are off to war.

Principle 3: Quality of Light: In this photo the quality of light is somewhat poor. This dim-lit factory gave off an eerie glow of light from up above.

I chose this photo because it is another example of the hard effort that woman put towards the war in factories. These women seem grim as they work to get the job done and over with, but I am sure that they have their husbands, sons, brothers, and nephews on their immediate minds.  

Photo By: Ann Rosener
Year Taken: 1942

Principle 1: In or Out of Focus: This photo is in great focus. It is sharp and crisp with no blurs of any kind.

Principle 2:  What feeling dose the image create?: this image gives feelings of female empowerment. It shows that jobs such as welding car parts is not just for men.

Principle 3: dose the image remind you of a work of art or photograph:  this photo reminds me of the famous propaganda of Rosie the Riveter.

I originally chose this photo because it reminded me of Rosie the Riveter and how propaganda was used to encourage woman to get through the war. It also reminded me of my grandfather who worked as a welder all of his life. It is a hard and physically demanding job that you do not see women doing that frequently. 



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