By: Emma Frengel
When I saw this photograph, I was immediately intrigued, so I did a bit more research. The woman in the photograph is Anna Fisher, who was an astronaut in the 80’s. This photograph was featured in LIFE magazine in 1985, after Fisher won the Mother of the Year Award in 1984. She was the first mother to go into space.
On first glance, I immediately noticed her eyes. They are looking away from the camera, since this is a profile shot. She seems to be looking up and out, one could say looking at space. There is so much un-nameable emotion evident in her eyes. The lighting is notable in this image; we can see that some kind of flash or light is reflected in the glass part of her helmet. The helmet she is wearing is another interesting aspect of the photograph. On the outside, all one sees of her is that she is an astronaut, not even that she is a woman. The helmet represents her career and what she projects to the world. When we look deeper and past the helmet, we see who she truly is: a woman who has hopes and dreams for herself and her family. The background is simple and gray, making Fisher the focus of the photograph. Since this is a black and white image, color does not play a very large role in the image. However, the shadows and reflections seen in her helmet make the image visually interesting and make the viewer wonder what/who is behind the photographer.
Visual Communication Fall 2014 
Emma Frengel’s Blog Post
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