{"id":6963,"date":"2022-10-25T20:15:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T20:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/?page_id=6963"},"modified":"2022-12-06T22:17:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T22:17:51","slug":"salinsky-ike-cavan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/salinsky-ike-cavan\/","title":{"rendered":"Salinsky, Ike Cavan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thesis & Background<\/h2>\n
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The body of work that I will be focusing on is<\/span> Social Graces<\/span><\/i> by Larry Fink. This book juxtaposes the social life of the wealthy in New York against pictures of rural life in Pennsylvania, as if to judge the wealthy\u2019s lifestyle. Fink admitted to the judgmental process that went into his book. In an interview with Lens he describes that he \u201c<\/span>went into these very voluptuous and elegant bourgeois circumstances, and I would judge these people as if they were the enemy\u201d (Teresa\u00a0 1<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics and historians acknowledge the value of showing a leftist view of the rich and the artistic juxtaposition brought by pictures of rural America. However, critics also state that the work feels forced in a way that speaks most \u201cabout the artist’s preconceptions\u201d (Johnson 1<\/a>). This criticism is validated by the skewed perspective of his Jewish upbringing, which drove him to see the divides in society. When talking about his life Fink Describes that he “came from a family of left-wing activist people” (Fink 0:12<\/a><\/span>). His viewpoint as an outsider along with the influence of his politically active Jewish mother drove his photography to criticize the wealthy, capturing their careless lifestyles.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Larry Fink on Why He Chose Photography”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His photography was innovative, as he takes a unique perspective by photographing as an outsider in both the rural and the bourgeois sides of society. Through his lens he introduces a divisive way of viewing the social classes of the 70s and artistically uses juxtaposition to display his skewed political opinions. In my work I hope to honor and explore the theme of socioeconomic divides and the criticism of materialism that Fink\u2019s work presents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Social Graces <\/span><\/i>drew me in as being a first year out of state student I related to the juxtaposition of social cultures that I saw in Finks work. \u00a0His work evokes a level of judgment of the world and makes me think about the differences of the classes that I am surrounded by. His position as a Jew pushes him to look at the largely unseen rural working classes and highlight them. Being Jewish and a stranger to the nature of this college and the state, I have a unique perspective which allows me to view largely different and unfamiliar groups at the same time. The class divide presented by Fink is something I find myself viewing frequently while in Michigan. I hope to juxtapose the partying college students lavishing in their taste of freedom with normal middle-lower class Michiganders living out their lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

Just as Fink captured the wealthy and the working class, I will display the highly dressed college students juxtaposed by normally clothed Michiganders. In this way I will mimic the way Fink displayed class divides in his work showing the excess of the wealthier students and the humbler situation of the working class. In particular, Fink as a photographer plays with the positioning and eyes of his subjects and how this demonstrates their connections. I hope to honor and mimic this method in my work to present the theme of the excess and disconnect within the higher classes as opposed to the authentic bonds of the less privileged. I believe this theme still exists and I seek to show that the excess and materialism of college parties results in lesser human connections.<\/span><\/p>\n

As class differences continue to widen, Finks work only becomes more relevant. To hone in on my theme three photos from <\/span>Social Graces <\/span><\/i>I will explore are <\/span>\u201cGallery Opening NYC 1974\u201d, \u201cStudio 54. 1977,\u201d and \u201cSabatine-Miller Grad Party, 1977.\u201d I want to focus on imitating these photographs as I believe that they are where Fink best displays his themes and uses eye contact and body language to contrast the wealthy and the poor in a critical way. By considering the iconic juxtaposition of <\/span>Social Graces<\/span><\/i> I will present my own view on the severity of Michigan’s class divides. <\/span>Using Fink as inspiration, my photographs will argue that the connections built by wealthier university party culture are disingenuous when compared to the familial bonds of the working class.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"Fink <\/span>\u201cStudio 54. 1977<\/span>\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Fink \u201cGallery Opening, NYC 1974\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fink \u201cSabatine-Miller Grad Party, 1977\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>

Methodology<\/h2>\n
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The subjects and opinions of Fink\u2019s photography were clear. He exclusively focused on the wealthy parties of New York City and the home life of rural Pennsylvania. He viewed these two different social settings as a stranger, by photographing the interactions of people at the family events of the working class and the parties of the wealthy. All of his images focus directly on people having them fill almost the entire frame, suggesting the social focus of his photography. Throughout <\/span>Social Graces,<\/span><\/i> he juxtaposes and compares the classes to further display the great divides in our society. While Fink was not interested in staging his photographs, he very selectively photographed the rich at their lows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finks focus was on capturing his biased perspective through moments he saw, and as such he incorporates both stillness and motion. He also makes the working class more aware of his presence, making them more likely to perform and pose for his camera. In this way there was a discrepancy in the way he photographed his two groups of subjects. Fink plays with his subjects body language and eyes showed the strength of their connection or their shallowness. His biased photographing style clearly paints his biased perspective. By taking selective photos he forces his negative perspective of the wealthy onto the viewer.<\/span><\/p>\n

I will take black and white photos of college party culture and middle class Michiganders to capture similar contrasts to Fink. As I am new to both Ann Arbor and Michigan I will be able to take the perspective of a stranger in both of these settings. To add Fink\u2019s point of view to my photography I will focus on being hyper critical of college students and use my phone camera to be unnoticed. I will look for the disconnections between parties and their reliance on the materialist experience of nice parties to socialize. On the other hand, I will take more flattering and intimate photos of the lower middle class. By emulating Fink I will be able to understand the relationships formed within polar social classes and make the claim that the connections of the working class are more genuine then those of partying students. Additionally I tried my best to take my time as Fink talks about in an interview with time magazine, his photographing style is very purposeful and as such I tried to not take too many photos at one time(Fink 1:18<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

To emulate the theme and style of Social Graces best I plan to spend the upcoming week taking multiple photographs of college students at tailgates and other social events. I will take these using my phone in order to be unnoticed, and select only the ones that seem to capture shallowness. On the other hand, while visiting the working class part of my family in Lansing and Grand Rapids I will take photos of family gatherings and select ones that most sympathetically capture their connections. Specifically, I will mainly focus on photographing Thanksgiving as I believe that this holiday will best present the strong bonds of my family. By using this biased method I will imitate the perspective of Fink at the time of <\/span>Social Graces<\/span><\/i>. By focusing on photographing two vastly different groups with these methods I will be able to capture similar photos to the two main types of photographs used in Social Graces. Below are some examples of Finks photos of the wealthy and his opposing photos of the working class.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fink’s Critical photos of the wealthy: <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image\"Image\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Fink, “Peter Beard and Friends”\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fink, “Studio 54,” NYC May 1977<\/p>\n

Fink’s Sympathetic photos of the working class:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image\"image\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Fink John Sabatine and His Father in-Law\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Fink Graduation Bangor High School, June 1981<\/p>\n\n<\/div>

Photo Analysis<\/h2>\n
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College Party Scene Photos:<\/p>\n