There are two ways you can read a photograph. There's the denotative way, which means what you can see in the picture, and the connotative way, which is what you imply from looking at it finding deeper meanings, there's no right or wrong answer with being connotative.
We were assigned to look at two photos from the photographer, 'Diane Arbus'.
The first picture we had to analyse was, 'Identical Twins'. Thinking and looking denotatively, I can see there are two twins standing beside each other wearing the same clothes. The twin on the right is smiling more and her hair and outfit is neater then the twin on the left. There is also a black plain background with a dirty brick floor bisecting the girls' knees and not being parallel. However, thinking connotatively, even though the twins look the same at first glance, the many small differences imply that nothing is the same even if they seem it at first. The plain white background removes context making it seem like something is wrong and that they could be hiding something. The off balance line between the wall and the floor bisecting the twins' legs adds to that. Many people could find the photo quite creepy thanks to pop culture with movies like 'The Shining'.
Another picture we had to analyse was 'A Family on Their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester'. Looking denotatively again, a family of three are in a huge garden. the Mother and Father are sitting on beach chairs, the Dad leaning away and covering his face. There's a small circle table in the middle with some food and drinks. There is also a child in the background playing with a paddling pool. There are swings, ball games, benches and a see saw but are all either cut out or pushed far back. Thinking connotatively though, it seems like they are dysfunctional, trying to be a normal family but they're distracted. The Dad's position shows he's either upset, stressed or fed up, him leaning away from the rest of the family could imply he's left out or trying to leave. There also seems to be quite a few circles or objects resembling circles in the picture, they could represent family. The swings, see saw and ball games being pushed away suggest all the fun times being pushed away. The child playing with the pool is positioned closer to the mother, this could show that he is closer with his mother rather then his father.
Well done, main points covered.
The Early Years
What is a Camera Obscura? One of the earliest forms of photography back in the 1600s was the Camera Obscura. A camera obscura is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. This was used in the renaissance period by artists like Vermeer to paint more accurate pictures.
Unfinished
Herbert Bayer
'Lonely Metropolitan'
Herbert Bayer was born in Austria on 5th April 1900 and is one of the most famous people associated with the Bauhaus program. He was a student first before becoming a teacher at Bauhaus. Later he moved to Berlin to open a graphic design firm whose clients included the magazine 'Vogue'. Because of the increasingly repressive political situation in Germany, he moved to New York to keep working.
The piece of work we analysed is, 'Lonely Metropolitan' Looking at it denotatively, there is a building with windows and there are two hands that are the main focus of the picture. The most obvious thing we can notice are the eyes on the hands, if you look closer, the hands aren't attached to anything and that the eyes look slightly different to each other. Looking connotatively though and considering the name of the piece and the time and place he was in (Berlin, politics), he seems to have a much deeper meaning within the picture. For example, the fact the hands are detached could represent isolation from society, the eyes within the hands could represent the feeling of being watched everywhere you go, considering the repressive situation in Germany at the time, or the eyes looking different could represent mental health, maybe he was looking at himself and lost the sense of who he was.
Documentary Photography
Jacob Riis
Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a Danish-American journalist who worked with police and took photos of illegal living spaces. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America during the late 19th - early 20th century.
I chose him as his life was quite interesting and how he helped bring attention to the issues of the city showing the middle and upper class the harsh reality of the lower class.
One of his images that really helped was 'Five Cents Lodging' from 1889. It was one of the pictures he took when he was working with the police to take photos. It is a picture of a very small, cramped and dirty place. Six people (or more seeing a leg on the right) staying in a shelter built for 3 people can be seen sleeping very uncomfortably mostly in a sitting position. The picture was taken just as police were about to clear the place and he used a flash lamp as the place they raided was dark. The end result was effective because it captures the damp and dirty condition of the place and how cramped and uncomfortable these people have to live.
Another photo I feel that was very effective was 'Street Arabs Sleeping On A Steam Grate From An Underground Newspaper Press Room For Warmth' from 1901. Please complete this and also consider any issues with in terms of the photographer’s objectivity of the issue or moment they were photographing.