This photograph features a young boy standing in the door way of his home. It appears he is looking at the street. He is missing the lower half of his right leg and uses crutches to support himself. The light is directly shining on his body and it seems like a sunny day. His left arm remains slightly bent, while his right arm is tight by his side. The doorway is very barren and the child stands alone. His shirt has horizontal stripes, which contrasts the natural vertical stripes the doorway and wall paneling create. The floor, which seems to be made of hard, also has stripes guiding the viewer out the door in a vertical manner. Inside the home seems quite dark. Across the street two children or individuals sit on the steps to a white home with at least two floors. The building is very plain looking at lacks any "life" or decorations. There is no other motion in the photograph or any other person or vehicle on the street.
Inference:
Based on the caption I already know that this child was hit by a streetcar while playing in the road in Washington, D.C.. Gordon Parks according to The Gordon Parks Foundation was a twentieth century photographer that focused most of his work on racism, social injustice and poverty from the 1940's until 2006 when died (par. 1). This child could signify not only the injustices in class and race, but also in humanity as well as the struggles Parks faced throughout his life. I feel the use of the vertical and horizontal lines is not only a photography technique and aesthetically pleasing, but also used to force the viewer to look out of the doorway and witness the devastation of the times, i.e. an African American boy trying to support himself in a world full of suffering where his people only have "one leg to stand on". The crutches symbolize the support the African American race struggled to acquire throughout the twentieth century. The fact that the child stands alone could also imply the lack of support and equality as well as a representation of the innocence lost during such a trying time in history. Parks had a very difficult childhood, especially with the lose of his mother at the age of 14 and faced a great deal of poverty and instability throughout his life (Gordon Parks Biography par. 3). Yet, it is this instability that caused his rise to fame as he worked diligently to prove to the world that a high school dropout could make changes. Andy Grundberg of the New York Times supports my claims when he affirm, "The man who never finished high school was a recipient of 40 honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in the United States and England (par. 39).The picture represents that even alone Parks could achieve greatness with a lack of support. I also believe the reason that Parks has the boy standing outside of the doorway and in the sunlight is to show there is hope. In fact at the end of the New York Times article he is quoted stating, "I suppose a lot of it depended on my determination not to let discrimination stop me" (Parks qtd. in Grundberg par. 41). Parks photographs shed a lot of light on the problems in society and that is what he is remembered most for. I think using children as a symbol in photography is interesting as well the simplicity this photograph shows. I believe that the two together send a powerful message. Not all social issues are complicated and even when they are the solution is often simple, we just complicate them with our excuses. Photography, especially more simple photographs, expose the bare and raw truth without fogging up our rose-colored lenses, just as child answer questions honestly because that's the only way he or she knows how.
"Gordon Parks Biography Pianist, Director, Photographer, Songwriter, Writer (1912–2006)." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
"Biography." - The Gordon Parks Foundation. The Gordon Parks Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
Grundberg, Andy. "Gordon Parks, Photojournalist Who Showed Dignity Amid Oppression, Dies at 93." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Mar. 2006. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
This photograph really captured my attention and I think that your observation about the vertical and horizontal lines leading into the center towards the injured boy was what drew my attention. I like the theme of instability that you talk about, with the young boy trying to support himself in a world of racism and injustice. Also you made a good point by bringing in Parks’ childhood and how he had to face many hardships, such as his mother’s death. This is a very powerful picture and good job introducing the important themes within the photograph.
ReplyDelete