The Weatherspoon Art Museum

My class recently took a trip to the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNCG to listen to Benjamin Filene discuss photography as art and also as document.  The photograph he presented, “Bruce’s Mirror”, did not really seem like much to the naked eye, however, when all the elements where observed more closely, the people in the audience would agree that some sort of connection was made. The picture consisted of a mirror with photographs, stickers and other trinkets all around it and in the center a mysterious figure in the background. This photo, which looked like it could have been taken with a simple disposable camera, made everyone see something inside of it. It was not the quality of the photograph that mattered, but the small objects that seemed to be a representation of Bruce’s life. No one in that museum knew who Bruce was, where he came from, or even why the image was taken in the first place, but I believe that everyone who came to her Mr. Filene speak took a little piece of Bruce with them, whether it was the apple stickers on the side of the mirror or the wilted flowers in front of it. Everyone had a theory as to who Bruce is and what his personality is like and that is the true purpose of photography… to provoke thought.