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| "When you face what's in front of you, |
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| go for it. |
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| Release everything pent up inside. |
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| Take steps of bravery. |
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| Feel the victory, feel the joy." |
With
this photo essay I wanted to convey a singular, or linear, story with a series
of images that were completely different from each other. Although that is what
I set out to do, there was still a degree of arbitrariness involved with the final
selection of photos. I was not completely sure what I wanted put across in the essay,
but I am pleased with the message of the final product. Having the input from classmates
was extremely helpful and interesting to read. I admire the level of insight
given to some of the photos. Everyone’s interpretation, to one degree or
another, helped me articulate what I sensed the photo essay was about. It was
not a matter of not understanding my own project, but more of not knowing how
to express its cohesive meaning. It is a rather unorthodox way of arriving at a
conclusion, but it worked out well in the end.
While
I enjoyed all of the responses to the essay, the two key words that were especially helpful in
my characterization of the photo essay were ‘bravery’ and ‘peace.’ In different
ways, each of those words connotes intensity or feeling emotional, and I
believe the photos reflect those ideas in their own ways. For example, my
favorite picture is the one that reads “To: Andrea,” and at first glance it
seems to be the least telling of all the pictures because it lacks action. The
photo was taken in July when I visited the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan, and while walking around
the North Tower memorial site the note to Andrea was the only thing left behind by somebody. My instinct was to open the letter and read it, but I refrained. I
kept thinking to myself what would happen to the letter. Was it going to be
tossed out? Blown away by the wind? I felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy
for whoever wrote it because I saw the note as one that contained “last words”
for Andrea, ones that she never got to hear. To write the note probably
provided a great deal of emotional relief, and perhaps some degree of fulfillment.
I interpret this to reflect Berger’s idea of the long quotation. The photo
illustrates an isolated moment in time, yet it is representative of something
much bigger. The contents of the note to Andrea are unknown, but its image
tells a story of its own. Carry on with bravery and live peacefully.
Catching a movement, a moment- These images highlight different movements: running, swimming, jumping, and the sliding of a note. Moreover, this sequence also highlights the thought process of a movement. Someone sitting by a pool thinking of going in, someone looking at a note thinking of grabbing it, and someone thinking about pulling their cat out of the water. This sequence doesn't just capture the movement contained- it captures the entire moment and the surroundings of that central movement.
ReplyDeleteFreeze - Not only do these images capture actions, they embody the ideas we were discussing in class regarding intention and reality. Clearly, the photographers did not have a lot of control on many of these moments, except for maybe the image of the envelope and the first one with the swimmer. Therefore, there seems to be a lack of control and a sense of spontaneity throughout the essay.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the varying degrees of momentum present in this essay, I am interested in the stark contrast between the restraint of the first and third photos with the fluidity of the remaining images. Do these images follow a devised sequence, or are they interchangeable in terms of layout? Would the note to Andrea be the same note if it had been placed at the beginning or end of the essay?
ReplyDeleteBrave. Arnold's essay strikes me as a linear story of bravery. Pondering, then moving toward the act, performing the act, struggling with the outcome, but eventually moving along and finding peace. The pondering and the struggle are highlighted by frames of water and color. The actions themselves are suspended by frames of black and white. Ambiguity runs throughout the entire essay and I don't find historical context to interpret. I suspect the story is deserving of a long and complete quote. It doesn't appear that "curiosity killed the cat" and for that he should feel brave and rewarded.
ReplyDeleteI tried to look for a narrative in this piece, but I was at a lost. Maybe that's a theme in and of itself. Either way, I really look forward to hearing the story behind this essay.
ReplyDeleteFor these photos I got the sense of chaos but in a good way. It speaks of a child’s summer day in which the possibilities seem endless. The usual restrictions (school, bedtime) are gone and one can release all of the pent up energies that have been repressed. I think this is why there is such a dynamic feel to these photos. There is also the sense that anything can be done (like putting the cat in the bathtub). These photographs really presented a sense of happiness and joy to me.
ReplyDeleteI really love the image of the cat here and I think it refers to the way we ascribe meaning to images based on our own experiences and the idea of the long quotation. By itself, a swimming cat is just a swimming cat--bizarre, unexpected, amusing--but within the context of the other photos the cat becomes an innocent, brave subject, as if it has been wanting to swim for a long time and has finally worked up the courage. I think this is a really brilliant example of the long quotation, and the cat photo is definitely the punctum of the essay for me. But I also just really like cats.
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ReplyDeleteTwo words come to mind: chlorine and adrenaline.
ReplyDeleteChlorine ~ used for keeping a large pool of water clean. Preventing the growth of bacteria and fungi. Sterility. Keeping the organic at bay.
Adrenaline ~ the excitement and anxiousness of leaving a special note for someone. The thrill of running with others and being a child. Risk taking: jumping across building or swimming in a deep unknown body of water.
The pensiveness of the first photograph puts the rests at a challenging and curious angle. Is the following ferment bottled in the body of the boy, holding himself together with ankles and wrists locked? Perhaps I am writing brackets into this essay, containing an internal dialogue of the boy at the pool - trying to balance his chlorine and the adrenaline.
Moving- These photos are about setting things in motion: running, roof-hoping, swimming, or perhaps beginning a narrative with a letter. My favorite photo is the letter because it made me stop and question the placement. This static placement of a letter is filled with excitement and a different kind of future movement. Will and I talked about the photos as a cat-nap, but I now think that was one dimensional for this piece. I totally agree with what Daune said about "curiosity not killing the cat" It encourages the viewer to move and experience life.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way the captions tied the whole essay together and created a linear narrative as a single sentence where one did not exist before. The explanation of the single image, "To Andrea" was absolutely necessary here and takes what seems to be a very lighthearted arrangement of photos and gives them a tremendous gravitas.
ReplyDeleteThe mixture of the black and whites with the color and the found photos with the photos you took yourself is also a very important part of the essay. An essay about bravery which is a montage of different visions reflecting not on the photographer but on the editor is, indeed, a very brave undertaking. I wonder if there is some place in this essay for reflection on the fact that the photographs originated in different times and different places and are not necessarily to be understood in a linear narrative dictated by the photographing eye, but by the editing and viewing eye.