Kerry Goodman Post #15

Stephen Shames

1. Stephen Shames is a photographer that focuses on the social issues of the world. He takes photographs of social inequality in American neighborhoods, people plagued with disease, racial injustices, and many more cultural issues all over the world. He takes photos in both  color and black & white. He decides on which medium of color to use depending on the subject he is photographing. He has shown for years his mastery over photography and the messages it can deliver.
2. Stephen Shames and his book "Black Panther Party", catalogs the struggle and frustration of the Black Panther Movement during the fight for equality in America. He uses black and white photography as his medium for color. The use of dynamic lighting contrasts with the intense subject matter of the movement. They images shown above are just a few of the powerful images stored within the book. He really wanted to capture every moment possible the black people had to go through to achieve equality in America. Sadness, anger, frustration, pride, and even happiness are all emotions he captures perfectly within his book.
3. I find Stephen Shames images very impacting due to his inclusion of dynamic lighting and human emotion in his photography. They invoke the emotions that maybe my ancestors had to go through. Some people are not understanding towards other people's emotions because they are not able to feel and visualize those emotions, but if others were to see Shame's images, then they would be able to feel the raw emotion captured in these photographs.