July142010
austinkleon: Who is the maid and who is the employee? Bobulate: 50 pairs of women — maids and their employers — stepped away from their daily routines to be photographed about what unites them: For the photos the employers and maids wore the same thing: a white shirt and no jewellery or decoration. With the images made under these “equalizing” conditions, the artists leave it up to the viewer to guess — using one’s own cultural codes — which woman is which. What happens: The act of seating them facing the camera in the same position was an exercise in dignifying the two women, so that they would look at the camera with the same pride, with the same openness. Without a caption, you might never know. (This also reminds me of how much I like the idea of school uniforms…) This is so incredibly interesting. Wanted to post it on the Cookieskids.com blog, but it was too informal. My family rarely hires a maid, but when we do, they’re normally Hispanic immigrants who rarely speak English and need the job in order to feed their families. We attempt to treat them with the utmost respect (even feeding them before we serve the food onto the table), but I do know how awkward it is to be around them while they clean up your mess. Strange world we live in.

austinkleon:

Who is the maid and who is the employee?

Bobulate:

50 pairs of women — maids and their employers — stepped away from their daily routines to be photographed about what unites them:

For the photos the employers and maids wore the same thing: a white shirt and no jewellery or decoration. With the images made under these “equalizing” conditions, the artists leave it up to the viewer to guess — using one’s own cultural codes — which woman is which.

What happens:

The act of seating them facing the camera in the same position was an exercise in dignifying the two women, so that they would look at the camera with the same pride, with the same openness.

Without a caption, you might never know. (This also reminds me of how much I like the idea of school uniforms…)

This is so incredibly interesting. Wanted to post it on the Cookieskids.com blog, but it was too informal.

My family rarely hires a maid, but when we do, they’re normally Hispanic immigrants who rarely speak English and need the job in order to feed their families. We attempt to treat them with the utmost respect (even feeding them before we serve the food onto the table), but I do know how awkward it is to be around them while they clean up your mess. Strange world we live in.

Maids Culture Assumptions Equalization 

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