Martha Rosler: The Bowery in two inadequate systems 1974-1975

Martha Rolser is an American Photographer known for her photography of everyday life. She captured a series of photographs depicted through as everyday life.

Her documentary styled photography tends to focus on the unbalanced relationship between vulnerable society and their visual representations.

In this project what Martha has done is taken pictures of the streets and then created a list of synonymous words. Why has she done this?  Using a combination of images and texts she responds to the preceding photographs of drifters and alcoholics in her run-down neighbourhood in Manhattan. She criticises the earlier photographs as devoid of motivation to change, hence, juxtapositions her own with shots of typewritten words associating them with drunkenness. As a result with the use of words and imagery she humanises the photographs with the collaboration to address the complex social problems, hence, making her work more than just a pretty picture on a wall.