This photo was given to me in Seminar 2, in which we were asked to respond to it – answering the following questions:
What time period, decade or year do you think this photograph was created in? What visual cues support your choice?
I Believe this photo was taken fairly recently, possibly within the last 8-10 years. My thoughts behind this are that the photo is of a good quality, possibly denoting the idea that this was taken with a rather new camera in order to create the professional quality. As well as this, because it is a photo of people who are presumably from a third world country (based on the Mise-on-scene and clothing they are wearing), it reinforces this being a modern photo because the idea of poverty and the likes have only recently been pushed to the public eye in the way it has nowadays, and this photo is therefore in accordance with the social progress and aid being pushed by the government and people in British society – therefore alluding to the idea that this photo was taken fairly recently.
Where in the world was this photograph taken? Again, please detail your reasons for asserting your choice.
I believe this photo was taken in a third world country, potentially somewhere in Africa. My reasoning behind this assertion is that the subjects of the photo are of ethnic origin, as well as the Mise-en-scene is very lower class and very dirty – with the wall in the background being very grubby and unkept. As well as this, the ground is very muddy and the subjects within the frame are not wearing any shoes or socks, something that is commonly seen in documentaries reporting from places such as Africa and other third world/poorer countries, therefore reinforcing my assumption on the photos origin. Another way in which I can tell this is from a third world country, is that the children look very malnourished – particularly the young boy in the middle of the frame. He has ‘pot belly’, which is a common trope of being malnourished and therefore shows that the location of this photo is from somewhere in which the inhabitants do not have access to a lot of food.
In a short paragraph, how would you describe the key visual elements of the photograph? What is contained within the frame?
Within the frame, there are 5 people contained within the frame, all of them of ethnic origin and are looking rather miserable. They are placed against a grubby and unkept wall in which denotes poverty and poor living standards. Of the 5 people in the frame, 4 of them are young children dressed very barely in stereotypically unfashionable clothes, adding to the idea of the impoverished. The expression of their faces are very sad and they are looking directly forward, towards the camera. The other person in the photo is a man dressed as Jesus before he was killed on the Cross. He is wearing a white cloth around his waist and is wearing the traditional thistle crown in which he was given before Jesus was crucified. The man also has lashes across his body and arms, and has his right hand raised, with his other hand on a boy’s shoulder, to his left. Everyone is stood facing directly towards the camera and they all are looking very blankly – presenting an aura of unhappiness about the piece.
How is/are the human subject(s) of the photograph engaging with the camera/photographer?
The 5 subjects of this piece are engaging with the camera and photographer in a very minimal way, as they are simply starting blankly at the camera. I believe this was intentional by the photographer to create a sense of unhappiness about the piece, as mentioned previously.
What, if any directions do you think the photographer may have given to the subject(s) of the photograph?
It is clear that there has been a lot of direction given to the 5 participants of this photograph, as I believe the photo looks very unnatural. The first obvious direction given by the photographer would be the man dressed as Jesus, as this is very out of place among the impoverished background. The next direction the photographer will have given to the subjects is their positioning within the frame, especially since the man dressed as Jesus is raising his hand as well as placing his other hand on the shoulder of one of the child subjects.
What do you believe the photographer wants, you, the viewer to take from the image?
I believe this photo is a social commentary, highlighting the life and living conditions of those in third world countries. I also believe this piece has religious motives, hence the man dressed as Jesus. It could be argued that there is an irony in the fact that Jesus is around the children, and engaging with one of them with his hand on their shoulder and the sadness on the children’s’ faces, due to Jesus traditionally loving all of his subjects. However, the fact that the children are looking sad diverts the religious meaning as, if ‘Jesus’ did love his subjects, they would not be living without food and looking unhappy. Therefore it can be argued that this photograph is to highlight social issues regarding poverty, with some religious undertones about the piece.
Leave a comment