Identity is something many people spend their time building, to every person they construct their own self and views on how they want to be perceived to others and themself. Many do on the other hand struggle to find what their identity is and who they are and take a while to understand it and themself more. Throughout life there are many things that can alter and transform a person's identity easily. Your identity can be formed from those you associate yourself with, your culture, society, media and many more that all build and mix together to form something greater. In "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger, he states that "we never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves" (pg 9). I think this is very important in the sense of identity we grow up seeing so many different types of things around us and looking for ways to find a relation between said things to build and form ourselves from whether it be from materialistic desires or hobbies and interests we reach put and grab for them to try and find something to make you, you. Though one can also form many identities within themself, when you go out you show a different side of you depending on the type of people you are around which also relates to the statement as well since you they and find a relation between the person you can form and identity around that may best suit being around them or having a interaction or relationship to them by doing so. In "The Society of the Spectacle" by Guy Debord he states that "As long as necessity is something dreamed, dreaming will remain a social necessity". In the novel Debord focuses on media and its influences on people, it changes their desires, what they identify as and what they do. In the statement he talks about how as long as people in society desires something there will continue to be a growth in that thing and become a necessity. A lot of people in society find things of interest of find something they want to do or dream of doing or having to identify with and that becomes almost a necessity because with that they associate themself with and in some cases people feel the need to attain things to build their own identity. In the end many people find their identity through many ways and influences. Social media in a way have altered the views of many, it changes how we as a society values certain things more than others, placing value on items and appearances and giving the expectations to others to live up to the expectations or adapt them into their identity. It makes people feel as if they have to live up to a certain standard or change who they are or even adapt themself through change to fit what they feel the need to identify with sometimes. Though on the other hand through the use of media some people are more encouraged to be who they are and what they identify, through seeing what they aspire they can feel more comfortable with taking on that identity and living their lives with content with who they are.
In the museum there were a couple of works from artists that focuses on identity.
Dawoud Bay, in his work "Smokey", 1953, explores identity in his works by focusing one taking pictures of urban youth with the intentions of exploring how young people see themselves through the lens of race, gender, class and culture which are all a part of forming an identity. He does his works with the intentions of learning more about how young people view themself and what they identify with rather than how society views them and label them as.
Nan Goldin in her photograph, "Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse", 1992, she takes a photographs of her friends and drag queens everyday lives and focuses one exploring sexual identity and relationships. Using this she is able to explore all types of identities from sexuality to even gender as there is many identities a person can identify with.
Catherine Opie's photograph "Jo", 1993, focuses on portraits of LGBT+ community and their identies that is not represented in the mainstream. Through this she brings attention to sexual and gender identities that people take on.
Alec Sloth's photograph "Lenny", 1969, focuses on marginalized peoples' identities such as nudists, circus performers and members of the transgender community as a way to show the different identities of people around the country.
Lorna Simpson's work "Coiffure, 1991, focuses one the cultural and individual identity and does that by incorporating African American women's hair into her work to explore their identity and as a way to invoke the viewer to take time and look and try to understand the message of identity that comes from her work.
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