I was going to write about Jill Greenberg for this prompt. Then I googled Mark Laita just in case. Plans cancelled. In a sense you could call his work a series of a series, but I think it's something more than that. Each piece contains two photographs, side by side. Compositionally, the two balance each other out, but it's in the subject matter where the content really lies. (Is that sentence like saying a circle is a circle?) Regardless, Laita takes very specific, minute details of society and compares them side by side. Often these details are the extremes of any spectrum, such as obesity vs. anorexia. The title of this work is "Created Equal", a reminder of humanity in each of his examples. The desaturation and balance of composition is vital to strike this point home. As the viewer stares at each subject, there's a deeper connection than just appearance. When you can lock into their humanity, they don't look as different anymore. Actually try it, it works.
It was really difficult to pick, but the picture below has to be my favorite. Laita plays with the idea of cowboys and indians, but in a very modern light. The cowboy looks semi-traditional, though it feels more like the outfit is more for show than for any practical purpose. The shocking part happens when you look at the Native American in the Lakers jersey holding a bottle of liquor. They're still opposites, but in a much different lighting.
The fact that Mark Laita had to travel the entire country just to find these people amazes me. It represents a meticulous thought process that I'd like to incorporate into my own portraiture. Sometimes just the thought behind a photograph can be stronger than the photograph itself.
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