Work and the City Essay Example

Work and the City Essay Example Work and the City Essay Work and the City Essay In the â€Å"Allegory of California† and â€Å"Construction†, both artworks both graphically symbolized the condition of workers in the industrialized period but situated in two different locations, a rural place in a powerful first world country and a city at a developing nation. Mexican painter Diego Rivera’s mural represented the California landscape in which illustrated a workplace that connected the agricultural side with the advancements of technology. Rivera made a â€Å"positive view of the hybridization of the mechanical and the organic, of culture and nature† (Sackman 3). Meanwhile, Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado’s photograph depicted a seemingly captured moment of a construction worker gazing at the beauty of the city at the expense of his own safety by merely hanging on unstable bars of steels without any safety precautions. According to Salgado, â€Å"photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression† (cited in Ritchin, â€Å"The Lyric Documentarian†). Rivera showed the condition of workers during the 1930s while Salgado displayed the status of workers in the 1990s. The â€Å"Allegory of California† manifested the several types of work that were prevalent during that time. It showed farmers farming their crops, miners mining for gold, engineers creating new technologies and scientists conducting studies. The only endangerment that was demonstrated was the effects of technological advancements to nature and human workforce. The rise of the machines can destroy the beauty and richness of the beauty of nature and it can also replace the capabilities of human in terms of providing essential products and services. On the other hand, the â€Å"Construction† by Salgado showed a more evident form of danger for a worker. Thy physical aspect of the work environment illustrated the work hazard of the place because of the absence of precautionary safety elements such as safety harness, protective clothing, warning signs and other s. More so, the hanging position of the worker indicated the possibility or the imminent threat of falling hundreds of feet to the ground. This construction site at Rasuna complex of apartment and office buildings in the commercial and financial district of Kuningan in Indonesia showed the neglect of most employers over the safety of their workers. The mural of â€Å"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Allegory of California† was created by Rivera to remind the upper class that the resources that they have consumed and enjoyed were products of hard arduous labor of farmers and workers.   Rivera’s representation of the workforce emphasized their importance in the development of a society. However, through the combination of the â€Å"the labor of workers, the power of technology and, ultimately, the fertility of the earth,† the condition of social inequality is upheld and the commoditization of resources is actuated (Sackman 10). The images represented a stratified society wherein workers are at the bottom or middle level of the pyramid who do all the laborious works in order to provide for other members of the society. Meanwhile, the photograph of Salgado symbolized an unsung hero who performs his duties at the expense of risking his own life for monetary rewards. This scenario showed how countries like Indonesia, a developing country, have disregarded the condition of their labor force in order to minimize the cost of their project. Salgado in most of his photographs had demonstrated a very creative and subtle form of social conscience (Wald 4). Salgado makes sure that every image that he takes; he captures the essence of that image â€Å"including culture and the internal resources that allow for self-determination,† in which promotes compassion and awareness for the viewers† (cited in Ritchin, â€Å"The Lyric Documentarian†). Moreover, a mural compared to a photograph, I think that a photograph is more powerful and persuasive than a mural or a painting because in photographs reality is captured without any enhancements or alterations. Paintings and murals are artist’s outputs based on his understanding and perspective about the subject matter. A subject can either exaggerate or downplay depending on the artist’s mood or thinking. But photographs, particularly Salgado’s works, are â€Å"confined to the moment by the mechanics of the camera, which are drawn less to celebrating and taming an instant’s arbitrariness, their   material manifestations, but more to articulating their eternity, their ephemeral profundity, and to locating a mythic, entwining presence (cited in Ritchin, â€Å"The Lyric Documentarian†).