The picture I chose here is of a man “Ole’ing” a bull in a Spanish bull fight. In the picture the bull is obviously on the lower end of the stick. The bull is upside down, horns stuck in the ground, in mid roll. While the Matador stands there, unarmed except with a mere cape in hand, letting the bull run by and plant its horns in the ground. A picture that to some is amazing. Yet if you look further past the bull and the Matador you notice the audience all cued in on the sight at hand. They do not stand, wave their arms, or even drop their jaws as you might see at a football game. They are sitting calmly as if watching a movie or some rerun on the television set. Obviously unmoved by the bulls unnatural display. Yet with such a spectacle happening before them they seem to be un-amused by it. This may be because it has been tradition for so many years and people may be ignorant of the bull’s pain. Yet to some this picture, perhaps in America, may be considered animal cruelty. I see in this picture two stories. One a women at a conference or meeting describing the picture to her colleagues about the cruelty the bulls have to go through during bull fights. Conjuring up some story on how they can save the bulls from its eminent death. While the other story may be of an advertiser showing how great the Matador that was hired really is; using the picture as advertisement to show the Matadors skill during bull fights. Therefore I think this picture has two audiences. A picture used for a group of people trying to abolish the cruelty of bulls during bull fights, while the other is for advertising and promoting the bull fight and the Matador collectively. I feel the picture was most likely taken out of interest and of great accomplishment from the Matador, but may have unexpected repercussions because of the bulls pain.
2 comments:
I like how you talked about the different aspects of how people could interpret the picture. And although I agree with your two aspects (the women in her office presenting this picture as cruelty and the man showing off the Matador himself and his skill). I think it would have been even more effective if you would have gone into how this picture of a simple Matador represents something so vital in Hispanic culture. Going into more detail about the Matador profession itself and how it ties into Hispanic culture could be another possible point of view for people looking at the photo. That being said I think the audience of the photo could be people who don't understand how important the bull fighting industry is to the people of Mexico,Spain, ect. Sweet pic no doubt!
I believe that this picture can also be a representation to Americans that there are more sports out there then just football, baseball, and basketball. The amount of spectators reveals that this sport and tradition is a big deal. It also shows that their customs are kinda similar to ours in the aspect of the rodio. You mention that this is animal cruelty and I agree but we too do the same thing.
Post a Comment