"There are stories everywhere in your own house, your backyard, your town. You need to find out what you're interested in, what you're passionate about, what you want to change, celebrate, illuminate, interpret. It's right there. Jodi Cobb. Join veteran National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb on a whirlwind retrospective of her distinguished career, spanning the social and cultural milestones of four decades of global history."
That was the description I received in an email about upcoming CHASS events. I knew I needed to find something to do before the thirtieth, and I figured this one had the most potential. I have always enjoyed art and photography, so it would be better than my backup of going to a restaurant.
The day of I wasn't particularly excited. I even considered trying to convince one of my friends to come with me. I ended up going alone though, and in retrospect I am very glad I did.
Part of her humor came from when she told stories from her times traveling with widely known bands and singers. She had some photos from those times, always in black and white. They were entertaining anecdotes, but I appreciate its significance in portraying how she wasn't always a contributing photography to global awareness.
She seemed to have a natural desire to travel the world with her photography, and in doing so she started discovering beauties the world had to offers, and well as the misfortunes. She seems to be extremely famous for her work on Geisha. At the time she got a glimpse into their world, it was very allusive and many citizens of Japan never even got to see a Geisha, Cobb explained. She explained the social significance of Geishas while previewing her photos, displaying a beauty in the world brought by traditional Japanese culture. This photo, she later revealed in the Q&A at the end, is one she is most famous for:
I have some prior knowledge of Geisha from previous Japanese language and culture classes, so her insight into their world was nothing new to me. That did, however, not make her explanation any more beautifully explained. While this is on the gentler side of her photography, to so much exposing but revealing traditions from a foreign culture, this project was the first major way her work has connected people across the globe. As she said, Geisha life was not something easily shared with the public of their own country, much less those outside of it. Even now many of her photographs would probably be considered a rare view into their daily life. She displayed photographs revealing inner relationships within the Geisha houses:
And explained how woman are raised into this career starting as young children, and can sometimes work into their elderly years.
After this beautiful period of her work, Jodi Cobb shared what is, in my opinion, a much more detrimental side of her work. The work that I would describe as 'the exposing.' I believe it started when Cobb, through much legal red tape, was able to enter Saudi Arabia to research woman through her photography. She shared the immense rejection she took for months on end. Woman being photographed was very scandalous, she explained. She would first have to get a woman to agree to being photograph, which rarely happened.
Then, even if they did agree, they would then have to ask permission from their father or husband. It was even more often that they would refuse. Through her trails Cobb exhibited a personal perseverance that we now know would pay off. However I think it is important to note that being in a very foreign country, alone, and taking rejection on a daily basis would discourage most people.
Fortunately, Cobb found that out in the desert, woman were much more open. They actually loved being photographed, and weren't as severely covered. She recalled how if men were to ever come back, they would stash Cobb's photography equipment away in pots, and tell her to hide in their tents. Once the men would leave, they would bring the cameras back out. I appreciated that story as an insight into what woman over their can be like. Considering photographing a woman was so taboo, having found some that eagerly had their picture taking is somehow uplifting to me.
This is a major way I find Jodi Cobb to be a global citizen who has contributed and connected the world. If she has done as activist or charity work, she did not say, however the photographs she took are enough of a contribution to this world in my opinion. She exposed so much wrong doings, and forced people to be aware and truly see. That is why I left the presentation unhappy. Cobb made me feel that if all I work towards does not in some way make a difference in this world to someone, it will have all been for nothing.
Changing objectives slightly, Cobb went on to show her exploration into human beauty. She was fascinated by varying cultures and what they valued as beauty as well as the means by which they achieved it.
I believe she said this was from Cancun, spring break. She said believes this fairly blatantly shows what the people in this photograph value as beauty.
Miss Universe.
Being a feminist, I found her statement on male versus female standards of beauty to be most profound. She collected picture form many different cultures, some continents away, where men alter their appearance in ways that perceive them as being strong, bigger, or more masculine.
Woman, however, are often mutilated through their 'beauty seeking methods.' The neck rings, she says, traditionally have a hook on the back. So while it is said the rings are for beauty, or protection from animals, it is speculated they make also have been used as collars.
Ending the presentation on a lighter note, Jodi Cobb showed pictures she took for her own personal use. While in some cities, she said she would stop and take pictures of reflections off of water, cars, and random things. It would annoy the people she would be working with, constantly making them pause for her pictures, and she said she was told it was a waste of time because those pictures would never actually be used professionally. Cobb said she didn't care however, because those pictures were for her. I believe it, because it is near impossible to find any of the ones she showed us on the internet, unlike the photographs clearly used professionally.
Showing these photographs, while ending the presentation on a lighter note, also showed that she enjoys what she does, and it is important to take the time to indulge beauty wherever you see it.
