Dog Smiling
I once had a
picture of my grandfather like this. This is not my grandfather.
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco
and Bartolomeo Vanzetti wearing their
Sunday's best. They are linked together, not only by handcuffs, but also by
their Italian descent and their inclusion in the lower rungs of the working
class. They are soon to be executed after what many believe to have been
trumped up accusations and a sham of a trial. They were both anarchists
politically active in Massachusetts in the 1920s.
When I began this assignment I started trolling through photographs in an
attempt to come up with an essay that I could form around a central narrative.
However, I realized quickly that my efforts would be going in the other direction.
I stumbled upon the first photograph. A man, who I assumed to be homeless, is
sitting out on a sun filled street with his dog. There was much about this
photograph that fascinated me: The fact that the two bowels in the lower right
hand of the corner indicate that the dog has means of sustenance while the man
does not; how the man embraces the dog lovingly and yet guardedly, while warily
eying the photographer as if he or she may try and take away the man's only
friend. However all of these things came to me upon further study. What first
attracted me to this photograph was the smile that was painted on the dog's
face. This photo serves as an example of punctum that is completely personal.
My family dog, an old chocolate lab who has long gone gray and walks eerily
similar to an alligator due to joint pain, has a smile just like this dog in
the photograph. My dog is still alive, in my parent's home in Philadelphia, but
whenever I think about him I am flooded with feelings of loss. My dog Wonka (at
one time we had two chocolate labs, Willy and Wonka. But Willy is now long
gone, leaving Wonka with a name which has no beginning) to me embodies the loss
that cannot be avoided due to the inevitable passing of time.
I
began thinking of loss. Because of this I decided to choose the second picture.
This photograph fascinated me because of the relationship presented within it
between the general and the specific. While a photograph of a young soldier can
produce many general feelings of loss, I was more interested in the specific
loss that I was reminded of. I lost no family members in battle, but rather
what I had lost, many years ago, was a photograph just like this one of my
grandfather. I had moved away from home for the first time and my father had
entrusted the photo to me for safe keeping as well as remembrance. I was young
and careless, and in the course of switching apartments the photograph became
lost to me forever.
The
rest of these photographs follow in the narrative of loss. In the case of Sacco
and Vanzetti the loss was of their lives, and this photograph to me cannot be
separated from their deaths no matter how hard I try. As for the other two photographs
(which I could not bring myself to caption since the fatigue present in them
seemed too thick for words) indicate loss of a variety of things: dreams, time,
sleep, health... hope?
I
knew that when picking a narrative so personal to myself, the need for captions
would be critical for the audience to interpret my intentions. I feel that in a
case where something this intimate is being attempted, the author or
photographer must be given immense leeway in the addition of text to his or her
photographs. What fascinated me most was the fact that nearly everyone felt
that there was some type of class dichotomy being presented throughout the
pictures; I am assuming having to do with the photograph of Sacco and Vanzetti.
I feel that this photograph in particular emphasizes the importance that needs
to be placed on captions for a narrative as personal as the one I have
attempted to present being that knowledge of the subjects can vary one's
perception of the photograph incredibly.
*The inseparable relationship between subject and photograph
*The prevalence of death in photography
*The dichotomy between artistic and journalistic photography
*The relationship between the specific and the general.
Expressions- these images, for me, had a punctum in each one. And, they were the expression on the subjects' faces. Some, I can tell people are smiling despite their circumstances and, in others, I can tell people are frowning despite their circumstances. I wonder what these subjects were thinking when they had their photograph taken.
ReplyDeleteEmotionless - I find something interesting in the idea of the subjects all being men and men without emotions. The settings/contexts for each image are not similar in any sense, yet the state of each man seems relative. There could be a sort of universal theme going on with the idea of everyone is in the same position regardless of their physical/social location.
ReplyDeleteThe Cost Of Patriotism. Kyle's essay speaks with political rhetoric. I read the story as a whole, as opposed to a linear narrative. The sum of the parts show me the obscene irony which exists when a country violates the very souls who has sacrificed in its name. The homeless man has been left behind were it not for the love of a dog...the young soldier has nothing more to give...the government is no match for those that try to reveal the truth of its corruption. The cost of patriotism is a added up in all the different ways that each frame shows that these men have been left behind. And the cost is steep.
ReplyDeleteI second Grace's observations about the relationships of these figures to their particular circumstances. "Class" is the chief studium at work in my understanding of the essay, particularly as a function of costume. Hence, "Men in Varying Degrees of Dress..."
ReplyDeleteThe men in each of the pictures clearly come from different walks of life, and it is represented by their differences in wardrobe. Their respective wardrobes tell a "story" about them and highlight the dichotomy between those who are well-groomed and those who look more rugged. Despite the possible differences in background, the outfits represent the struggle/hardship the men have been through. It is what defines them as "men."
ReplyDeleteI'll Make a Man out of You. The essay alternates from pictures of men who might be stereotyped as "bums" to men who would be considered successful. The last photo leaves the story unfinished. It is of a man who seems to be living in poverty. Are we the next photo in the sequence?
ReplyDeleteI agree that these photos emphasize the humanity of the subjects in a rare way. Even the posed picture seem more focused on expression than portraits ordinarily are, and these successful men look as human as the ones living in poverty. I think it's a great step away from the tendency to portray only the poor and suffering as truly human and the rich as caricatures of greed and coldness.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"A Man Needs A Maid" - Neil Young
My life is changing
in so many ways
I don't know who
to trust anymore
There's a shadow running
thru my days
Like a beggar going
from door to door.
I was thinking that
maybe I'd get a maid
Find a place nearby
for her to stay.
Just someone
to keep my house clean,
Fix my meals and go away.
A maid. A man needs a maid.
A maid.
It's hard to make that change
When life and love
turns strange.
And old.
To give a love,
you gotta live a love.
To live a love,
you gotta be "part of"
When will I see you again?
A while ago somewhere
I don't know when
I was watching
a movie with a friend.
I fell in love with the actress.
She was playing a part
that I could understand.
A maid. A man needs a maid.
A maid.
When will I see you again?
These are photos of men, men with men, and men with man's best friend. They look like snap-shots except for the obvious portrait of the military man. Their gaps in time and space makes the essay's history or narrative uncohesive, giving a sense of timelessness.
DeleteThere is a terse tone of the series that says: These things happened. This man suffered. That man served in the military and look away from the camera as directed like a child at his school's picture day. That man waited for a train leaning forward in the cold station. The terseness within the images resonates with the terseness of the composition of the essay. It does not generously offer its photos, but rather says, like the unseen person serving soup or the invisible person selling train tickets: take this if you care, and do what you want with it.
The eyes of the military man, the loving caress of the man with his dog, and the uncertainty of the futures of the men in the following photos makes me think of Neil Young's song "Every Man Needs a Maid."
Poor Little Rich Man- These photos brilliantly alternate between society's definition of poverty and success in the monetary manner. My favorite photo is the shot of the man in the subway. The contrasts between the train, his stuff, and his face are extremely striking. Also, the angle shoots down at the subject indicating that the photographer is above the subject. Despite ranging through different eras, there is a sense of culture being conveyed in these photos. These specific shots of the poor and rich men create a generalized portrayal of what it means to be a "man"
ReplyDeleteThe last photo pair either has no caption or the whole photo essay is the caption. It is as if there is a missing caption? Or the whole essay is a caption for that one photo.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you consider this personal -- because indeed it couldn't be construed as such without the captions. The most striking example of this is the photo of the soldier who isn't your grandfather and the story of loss that accompanies it.
The masculinity that I read into this essay seems to have very little to do with the actual narrative you were trying to tell -- or else, indeed, it is a smokescreen or a front for the kind of intimacy and self-revelation woven through the essay. Whereas you would think the tough, untouchable men in the present and the past would be impervious to the humanity of the narrator, in fact they are the key to his humanity.