1. The photos above are from Joakim Eskildsen's project titled American Realities. Most photos from this project have this dark tone to them. Some have a specific subject in focus and some features a landscape or environment. Some are overhead shots of objects and some are focus on facial expressions of people. It looks like they might have been captured on film because of this grainy feel the photos.
2. Joakim Eskildsen's American Realities Project focuses on poverty in the United States. The photos ranges from landscapes to portraits of people. Most of them have this shady, dark tone to them. It feels like the photos were captured in the shadow of this fake reality Americans try to hide from. Eskildsen is illuminating that reality in his photos. One show old business cards all lines up on a table, folded, ripped to shreds, and unused. Perhaps those business could have been valuable to a person a long time ago. Another one shows a street outside from what looks like a store. Although in the foreground it is dark, the background is brighter that showcases an optimistic look of the future on a rainy day. The third picture show a child on a hammock. Although it could be fishing net. His life is hanging by those thin threads above a rusty, old fishing boat.
3. I love the title of this project. Poverty is a reality here in the United States. It is a reality that most people would not like acknowledge. Behind the pretty Facebook or Instagram pictures, there is a sense of reality that we hide. We are a very materialistic and image obsessed country. As beautiful as these photos are, they are very eye opening to what some people are experiencing in our country. Aesthetics and meaning are two different things. Some things can look pretty with no depth, while some could look ugly and be thought-provoking.
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