# 4

Edward Steichen took this picture of Gloria Swanson in the twenties. It looks like he was playing up the aura of mystery and superior elegance that Hollywood had in its early days, to capture the dramatic beauty of the times. It's an example of using photography to make something beautiful to look at, and a way to monumentalize a person or a time. Knowing she is a movie star changes how I look at this photograph; it makes more sense. The lace is kind of like the glamour and elegance seperating her from the viewer, the realm of average people, turning her into more of a piece of art than an actual human being.

Edward Weston was obsessed with taking pictures of peppers. I think he was really trying to get the viewer to look at things differently, to look at things the way he does; I think he saw beauty and importance in every ordinary thing. Before seeing this photograph I never knew peppers had such elegance! Knowing that this wasn't just a one-time project, that he really spent hours and hours trying to create the perfect pepper picture, changes the significance of this photograph. It makes it feel even more confident and powerful.

This photograph was taken by Duchenne de Bologne, a french doctor in the late 1800s. It was included in the first medical book containing photographs. This particular photo was used to help explain the muscle mechanics of human facial expressions. It is a perfect example of how photography is used to spread knowledge or clarify and support a point. Knowing this is a medical photograph certainly makes it easier to swallow; it's a very unsettling image if you don't know why it was made.