Annie Leibowitz's iconic photo of Whoopi Goldberg in a tub of milk.

 This week in our photo-journalism practical class we were asked to choose a famous photographer and choose an iconic photograph that they had produced. I immediately thought of this picture of Whoopi Goldberg by Annie Leibowitz. The picture shows Whoopi submerged in a bath of milk in a pose that highlights her personality but that many had believed had political and racial connotations. According to Annie Leibowitz in her book Black and White Photography the picture was inspired by one of Whoopi's stage routines in which she plays a little black girl who uses Clorox to wash her skin in an attempt to be white.


Whoopi is a very special person in pushing the boundaries of race. Her 1990’s comedy act where she opened for Billy Connolly she started her set singing “Where have the negroes gone?” She got the whole crowd singing and singled out everyone from white people to her sisters to the old people. Talking about the producers of the comedy act, she said “And you know they said you wouldn’t do that?!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrwsEIl9Kw In 1994 she was the first African-American woman in history to host the Academy Awards and proved to be so successful that she was invited back in 1996, 1999 and 2002.


I like this picture as it is very visually appealing with the deep contrasts of colour. It also tells a story and makes you wonder what it could be referring to. It may be a depiction of Whoopi's victory in trumping racial stereotypes yet it may also simply be a humorous pic of one of our most beloved comediennes and actresses in a bath of milk. 

In my rendition of the photo a couple of odds were against me in terms of natural lighting and finding a adequate place to stand in a bathroom! It also cost my student budget dearly for the ingredients for the milk effect so this really was a once off attempt. It went rather well and my model I believe has great facial expressions. She was a good sport as the bath was quite cold!


Some things I would do differently would be to find a set where natural light is most prominent and I believe other factors such as having the same shaped bath would have to be sacrificed. Overall it was alot of fun and I gained great respect for the professional photographer.