Andrew Heller's Annotated Bibliography 2

Andrew Heller's Annotated Bibliography 2

Observation

At first glance what is particularly striking to me is the American flag in the background. The stars have an older design and are not clean-cut like the stars on the flag today. Additionally, there are only 48 stars on the flag and it is hung with the stars in the top left corner. There are some stripes that are thinner than the others as well. Also, a mop and broom are placed in front of the woman who is dressed in formal and conservative clothing. She has a short haircut, and is frowning in the picture  There also appears to be a desk or some sort of piano in the background. The Woman is also wearing glasses and has buttons along the waist of her dress. She may or may not be holding the broom in her right hand, but the mop is definitely leaned up against something. The woman has wrinkles on her face and neck, and also has a slim physique. The walls in the background are white and the woman is staring directly at the camera. Finally, the woman’s dress has polka-dots and sleeves that cover her shoulders, but don’t extend beyond her elbow. 

Inference

The biggest inference I can make from Park's work in this photograph is its resemblance to the classic photo called "American Gothic" by Grant Wood's. In Grant Wood's photo, two farmers face the camera with stoic expressions and are holding pitchforks with a dismal farm scene in the background. Similarly, in this photo, an African American woman is holding a mop and a broom and the dismal scene remains evident. I assume that the African American woman is working in a custodial position, and I affirmed this assumption while researching about Parks' photography. According to PDN online, Parks was inspired to take the photograph while photographing the Farm Security Administration and assessing the unfair distribution of labor experienced between the whites and blacks working at the D.C organization (American Gothic, PDN Web). Such was the case in many places all across America as African Americans were typically forced to work in blue collar fields. Additionally, while in D.C, Parks met this woman and questioned her on her job as a custodian in the FSA building and were response proved unenthusiastic and grim (American Gothic, PDN Web). Therefore, it seems like Parks was trying to portray the plight of African American workers that were forced to work low level positions, like the woman photographed above. He does so in this picture with the mop and broom acting in place of the pitchforks, and the American flag in the background also appears to represent the fact that such inequality exists in a land where the flag supposedly represents equal opportunity for all. Her lack of a smile also confirms the fact that she is unhappy with her current state of being, and the picture is clearly taken with that idea in mind. Overall, I'd assert that this picture is taken to exemplify the unreasonably poor working conditions African Americans were experiencing during the 1930's and 1940's, and emphasize the idea that they were downtrodden with an even harder struggle than the white farmers portrayed in Grant Wood's classic painting of rural poverty. 


"American Gothic, 1942." PDNgallery.com. PDNgallery and Kodak Professional, n.d.Wed. 14 September 2015.