Pt 4: Research Point

Liz Jobey’s essay ‘A Young Brooklyn Family Going For A Sunday Outing, N.Y.C 1966’ is an excellent example of how to use some of the analytical mechanisms discussed in the previous chapter; Reading Pictures. Her first line of text ‘The fictions we make about photographs are as unreliable as they are unavoidable.’ (Jobey, 2005, 67), is true, in regard of relating to individual interpretations. We all come at reading pictures from our own mindset attributed to our own personal experiences; so, interpret accordingly. If 10 different people were asked to opine on the image, 10 differing fictions would present, which would be true, all of them? Thus, the opening line sums up the intertextuality when reading an image.

The essay is then split into two different parts. The first is Jobey’s rendering of the image and the second a more forensic analysis of Arbus and underlying opinions and viewpoints pertaining to her; some of which are positive such as Szarkowski’s inclusion in the New Documents exhibition and his catalogue statement, ‘The portraits of Diane Arbus show that all of us – the most ordinary and the most exotic of us – are on closer scrutiny remarkable.’ (Szarkowski, 1967, 3), others not so; Sontag’s opinions, which form parts of her essay’s in On Photography, ‘For what would be more correctly described as their dissociated point of view, the photographs have been praised for their candour and for an unsettling empathy with their subjects. What is actually their aggressiveness towards the public has been treated as a moral accomplishment.’ (Sontag, 1977, 33). These differing opinions and other investigations help to form a wider interpretation of the image and form a vital role in the reading.

Looking at Jobey’s reading of the image itself I can’t help but wonder if she has been influenced by some of the criticism of Arbus and her pursuit of ‘Freaks’ and the marginalised, with her persistent reference to them being victims and negative connotations connected to Arbus. ‘Are they victims of some sort of tragedy waiting to happen? Will they fight, separate, divorce, marry other people? Will they die an early death? Or will they live out the clichéd, doomed existence of a blue-collar couple in a Bruce Springsteen song?’ (Jobey, 2005, 67). Maybe this reading is more emblematic of Jobey’s own background or perhaps what she sees as signified is the broken family, whereas, my reading of signified is matriarchal dominance; as David Bates suggests ‘Unintended meanings occur, and what Roland Barthes once called “obtuse” meanings, as much as the “obvious” meanings, may be in the play in a photograph interacting with the viewer.’ (Bate, 2016, 32).

Project 2: Reading Pictures

I complete this exercise in the time of COVID lockdown, so rather than go and purchase a supplement magazine specifically for this, I grabbed a special interest magazine from my shelves and tore out an advertisement from it instead. The magazine in question is Singletrack, a magazine dedicated to mountain biking.

When initially scanning the image, it is not completely obvious as to the product promoted in the advertisement; you have to put the relative information from text and image together to form a conclusion.

First line of sight is drawn to the figure. He’s young, looks fit and healthy and is engaged in in the physical activity of riding a mountain bike. There is a very determined, focused and concentrated look on his face, as if he would be in peril if he lost his concentration; the implication being that the figure is risk adverse. Along-side this, there is also a strong sense of masculinity, an overriding feeling of the strong, determined male; a quasi-heroic figure of Greco athletic prowess. The suggestion being that riding a mountain bike improves manliness.

I am next drawn to the bold box of text in the top right-hand corner. The word has a registered symbol next to it so I can ascertain that this is the brand and my memory fills in the gaps. I know that Gore is the shortened version of Gore-Tex, a water-proof fabric, and the logo is replicated on the breast of the figures jacket; therefore, the product is the jacket. This information is further enhanced by the text underneath the image. The slogan ‘Ride more, be better’ implies an improvement in your riding technique can only be gained by more and more riding. How can this be achieved? ‘We conceive, design and construct gear for you to ride in all weathers’, is the answer. The manufacturer is past implication now, they are telling you ‘Wear our jacket and you too can ride in all weather’s; therefore, you can spend more time on your bike and be a better rider’.

The jacket is quite stylish too. The two-tone blue banding relates to calm and gives the jacket a subtleness that hints at confidence, of not needing to draw attention to oneself. The cut and style of the jacket is best suited to those with an athletic shape to their body and could be worn out of context, yet people would still know that the person wearing it was sporty.

The imagery is made up of two composited images. First, there is the main figure, the man, intently focused with an out of focus background. Overlaid on top of this is an image of bush or scrubland with its red sand path. The way that the overlay is constructed heightens the sense of being in the outdoors. The strong diagonal composition of the overlay gives a feel of speed; of hurtling through the bush. The frozen bushes are not something that is usually seen when travelling at speed, so, to freeze them highlights the risk the rider is experiencing – that of having to pick his path through the scrub at speed. The design further enforces the slogan and product; ‘In our jacket you can ride more and be better’. Also, the graphic design of the overlay hints at experimentation and with that innovation. It says to me that the brand like to be trying out new approaches, that they don’t rest on their laurels.

The final point of interest is the hashtag slogan. Immediately it signifies youth. It is a symbol connected to those with a social media presence, commonly attributed to youth culture and it implies that the brand is part of a 21^stcentaury lifestyle.

So, the advertisement is telling me that to improve myself, to be better, I need to get outdoors more and ride my bike more and the best way to do that is by wearing a stylish Gore-Tex jacket that enables this. Also it enables me to be more of a man, not unlike a Marlboro cigarette advertisement, but fitter.

Project 1: The Language of Photography

Erwitt’s image is constructed with the strong use of vertical lines, drawing the viewers eye down through the frame, eventually resting on the small dog. The lines add emphasis to the size of the dog enabling the image with comical sensibilities. Its height, or lack of, is accentuated when compared to the legs of the woman and dog standing next to it and the hat sandwiched between two oversized ears gives further credence to the images comedic value. To give further emphasis, you only need to look at the size of its legs in comparison to the small dogs legs beside it. The framing and cropping and use of space around the figures creates the emphasis in size differentials and so enables us to have a little chuckle at the small dog.

Regarding as to what the image is saying, I look at further information within the image and text. I can see that the image was made in New York and surmise through the background setting that it could perhaps have been shot in Central Park. I already know the area surrounding Central Park contains some very exclusive properties and hotels, not dissimilar to Hyde Park in London and looking at the fashionable (for the time) boots and woollen coat can further conclude that the person is obviously concerned with their appearance and perhaps also concerned with showing their self-appointed status within New York society. To further accentuate this are the dogs themselves; one being of the toy dog variety, to be fussed and petted excessively, a lap dog if you will, the other looks as if it may be a Great Dane, a form of guard dog, protector of wealth and an emblem of status associated with wealth. So, for me Erwitt is letting me see comedy not only in the size and character of the small dog but also on a social level, I am as much laughing at the absurdities of supposed social standing and status through accumulation of objects meaning to signify wealth.