2nd Visit to Carrie Mae Weems Exhibit I Found so Much More

I had seen the Carrie Mae Weems exhibit @ the Guggenheim but I had missed an entire other room filled with her work.   Fortunately for me, I had was more vigilant and was able to see this body of work. This room from Ms. Weem's 3 Decades of Photography & Video has the indelible series of blood red daguerreotypes of "From Here I saw What Happened and I Cried" which Ms. Weems appropriated from Harvard adding her artistic interpretations for everyone to bear witness & take ownership of from history.  I eavesdropped in on an elementary class that was seated in front of Weem's photos where she shoots herself from behind (all in black or white) in various settings.  The group leader asked the youngsters what is the woman feeling in these photos?  One student said "sad," one said "bored" {perhaps akin to the attention span allotted for some children.}  "Why do you think the photographer has put herself into the photographs?"  One student answered "She wants us to put ourselves into the photograph and become a part of it." "Why would Ms. Weems want us to do that?" prodded the woman, "because it's important to be a witnesses to what we're seeing and it's not as important who is doing the looking."  The voice of this young GIRL acknowledges the significance of Carrie Mae Weems work as a document of history as well as its power to engage us (at all ages) in thought & dialogue.