Walking into the International Center of Photagraphy, I was immediately entranced by the photographs. I tried to keep my focus on what the curator was saying during the intro, but my eyes immediately jumped to the photographs already on the wall. The eyes, the images of the woman with the animals, I wanted to just stop and stare at everything, but I didnt think of myself as actually analyzing anything or retrieving some message. It wasn't until the John Wood exhibit that I realized the power of photography as art.

The picture that most surprised me was the Mai Lai Massacre photographs. Here is the thought process I went through when I looked at the art work from left to right, top to bottom.

"Ok... a blob of black?... oh now there are more of them... like a pattern hmm... now it looks kinda wierd... reminds me of the Mod style... wasnt that during John Wood's time?... ok now its a foot... ew.... a dirty foot... oh wait no now theres a body?... Two bodies... sprawled on top of each other... what ew it looks dead... oh God, its a whole row of dead bodies! ugh! What is this?!"

As I stepped back, the curator gave us the background story of Mai Lai Massacre and how it was kept a secret by the American government for so long and that it wasn't until much later that American people knew about it. I dont remember ever hearing about this massacre, but I wasn't all that surprised, governments are always doing these shady things. But what did surprise me was that my thought process as I looked at this series of photography made complete sense for the time frame and the message I think John Wood was depicting. My thought process as I looked at these photographs was the same of that of the American public during that time! At first completely unknowing, then seing a pattern between things, perhaps slightly distracted by media or pop culture, but then aware that something was up, next a clear indicator of corruption, until finally the truth is revealed. John Wood is saying WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Whenever I would look at photographs, or many arts, I never thought of myself as the intended audience. I used to think you had to deeply analyze and know central terms to understand art pieces, but art truly is the message. The message you get from a piece. Perhaps it's not the exact message the artist was thinking, but all artist create things to provoke thought of some sort. I truly realized the power of photography with that artwork.