“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” -- Elliott Erwitt
Photography as a medium, has the potential to shape our perception of people. When a photograph is taken, we believe the story it tells us as objective truth. However photographs are manipulated, whether it’s for better or worse. In the case of photographs that are within the genre of social documentation or street style photography, portraits tend to be taken with the intent of elevating the individual and capturing reality in its totality. More clearly put, portraits such as the ones in this collection, were made with the simple goal of praising the ordinary or mundane. If this is the artist’s goal, it becomes crucial to prove that you don’t have to be “somebody” in order to be worthy. Instead, the artist must prove that worthiness (or Americanness) is not in any sort of status, wealth, or merit, but in simply being human. In order to do this, photographers make decisions about subject, location, composition, lighting, posing, and more.
The photographs in this collection are all examples of how different photographers elevate the beings of everyday people, going about their lives. The question that remains is not what these photographers were trying to say, but whether or not the viewer believes them. At the end of the day, despite all efforts, the artist cannot force the viewer to perceive what he aims to portray but can only hope others will see the world the same way they do.
Le Marchand de Concombres, Irving Penn, 1950, printed 1976, platinum-palladium print, 2014.268.33
Penn’s Marchand de Concombres works to give power and identity to a vendor who would otherwise be ignored in his typical context of a busy, Parisian street corner. With his chest open and exposed, hands at his hips, and head tilted high, the vendor stands in a pose that communicates power. Penn furthers this sense of power through a balanced and central that is tightened to the height of the man. Filling up the horizontal space beside him are the vendors limbs extending away from his body. The studio setting helps all attention to be brought to the vendor and the harsh lighting that Penn chooses helps to draw attention to the subject’s face, and consequently the vendor’s identity and humanity.
Man Talking On Cell Phone/Bedford Avenue - Williamsburg, Brooklyn, William Castellana, 2013, archival primal ink print, Hunter Museum of American Art.
Man Talking On Cell Phone demonstrates common techniques that portray people as important or powerful. For instance Castellana shoots at a close, up angle which communicates qualities of power, strength, and respect. Much like Penn’s Marchand de Concombres, Castellana fills the frame with a centralized figure. But in this portrait, the subject comes out towards the viewer’s space and imposes some of his being. This man with such an authoritative presence, is literally looking down on the viewer and we feel this sense separation from him as his face is partially hidden by his facial hair, smoking hand, and cell phone. Castellana notes the location in the title because Bedford Ave. is a center of life for people in Brooklyn. The location shows that in such a common place, a man like this exists. Castellana shows that you in your own context can be like this man.
Flower Messenger, Times Square, New York City, Frank Paulin, 1955, gelatin silver print, Hunter Museum of American Art.
Flower Messenger may remind one of Penn’s cucumber seller in that the subjects have similar occupations. In this way, Paulin enters into to this commentary of workers and whatever occupation they hold being noble and important. However, we see that Paulin takes this commentary a step further than Penn by keeping the messenger in his context. This shows that like the man on his cell phone, the value lies not in the fact that someone picked them out, but in them and the lives they already live. The flower messenger being placed to the side of the composition, makes it feel as if the viewer had stepped out of his way. Additionally the hat, glasses, leather jacket, and big bag of flowers all close off and separate us from this man, creating a sense of intrigue around his identity.
Short Order Cook and Worker in Lunchroom Doorway on Second Avenue, New York City, Walker Evans, 1931, 1994.256.138
In this portrait we have another partitionary element created by the railing between us and the workers. There is yet again, these stabilized figures in a central and triangular composition that draw the eye to the subjects at hand. They look right at the camera as they ground themselves on each other and the wooden railing. Though very different, both men communicate power and authority. The short order cook, being more assertive, stands with an open posture in an all white uniform that contrasts the darker tones throughout the image. The light above his head communicates both enlightenment and a sort of holiness which is furthered by the light, glowing outline around his body. Meanwhile, the other worker sits in a twisted profile, closing himself off. He does not need to prove himself the some way his younger coworker seems to. His authority is in his seniority and stability in himself.
American Gothic, Washington D.C., Gordon Parks, 1942, silver print, Library of Congress, 2016.646.280.
The only image of a woman in this collection, Parks’ American Gothic does plenty to elevate this woman. There is much to be said about the composition, the context, and the dramatic side lighting that highlights her stoic face and static posture. But Parks’ image does much more than simply portray an individual as someone powerful and worthy. He elevates this black woman to the status of an American and even a patriot, which is significant considering that people like her were once not even considered human. He sets up this image as one that shows how she serves America in her own way. As a woman of color, the woman in this image acts as an icon for everything the culture would not want one to be and still, she is captured as a strong American who is worthy of your attention. This image is part of a larger conversation going on both then and now on reshaping the narrative of black Americans.
Steamfitter, Lewis Hine, 1921, gelatin silver print, 1987.1100.146
Hine’s Steamfitter is the earliest photo of this collection and reads differently in some ways from the other portraits. Here we have a man who, like the other subjects, is simply doing his job. But this differs in that Hine communicates power and strength less with technique, and more with comparison and juxtaposition to the machine that he works on. Hine pays great attention to the form of this machine and uses a spiral, central composition to draw the eye to the man. All the heavy rounds and curves of this steel machine seem to parallel the hunched posture and muscular arms of the steamfitter. Taken in the 1920s, it is certain that Hine could have photographed a more fascinating subject and yet, he choose this blue collar worker as his symbol for what it is to be American and as a way of shaping cultural ideals around hard work as opposed to extravagance and wealth.
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