Gabriela Bulisova

I attended the talk by Gabriela Bulisova on Wednesday, March 23. Her talk was in Cole cinema and her photos where up in Monty outside of the gallery for quite some time. Gabriela’s photos where very dramatic and really poked a subliminal vein which has the potential to wake up Americans that are out of touch with war stricken countries.

Gabriela’s photojournalism was to reveal the reality of being an Iraqi refugee in the supposed wonderful United States of America. Most Americans are self assure and proud to think of the USA as the best nation in the world because of capitalism, freedom, and equality, however Gabriela shows the loneliness and unfamiliarity of the Iraqi refugees. These refugees are forced to deal with the realities of a war stricken homeland and relatives and loved ones lost because of it.

Photography, as we have discussed in class is able to evoke emotions that were present when the photo was taken. It is a representation of a true event but can stimulate a like feeling by which allowed Gabriela to create representations of the like and dislike relationships of these Iraqi people. For example reflections off glass and mirrors were used and created an interesting presence of the subject. Most of the refugees feel as though they are nonexistent within the States. She used this technique several times.

Another technique used to convey a similar feeling is the obstruct the subjects face within the frame. So the outline of the head was present but the face was hidden to reveal a person but take away that which we identify each other by. Both of these strategies were used to convey her message.

Gabriela’s photographs were very interesting and stopped me over and over again in the hall on the way to class. Americans have been hearing about unrest in the Middle East for so long resulting in a dulling of perception. Her photographs really made me contemplate those past events and brought to light the aftermath of the war which is the refugee’s current situation within the United States.