Faces in the Walls

Faces in the Walls

When photography entered the mainstream market, people envisioned an ability to capture and prove what they claimed was real. The concept that a photo captured reality within the image and not a falsehood has been the basic tenant of photography. In reality, the photographer’s ability to influence the story that the picture tells and how their own personal influences can be used to alter the audiences impression. It was this realization, that a photograph as an expression of a persons views, that caused photographs to become viewed as an art form. Early in the history of photography there were different views for what a photograph was and what they showed. One of the first to express an view was Ansel Adams. As one of the co-founders of the Museum of Modern Art (MuMA), Adams felt that photographs should be “intimate” exhibitions of “pictures that are personal expressions of their maker’s emotions (Alinder page 108)”.  This view is validated by Guimond with the statement about documentary photography “authenticates the existence of persons and things at specific times and places (Guimand page 8)”. What a photograph is or does changes depending on the person telling it, the viewers experiences, and the overall state of mind of all parties involved. With this in mind, what are these two photos below saying to you? These photos potentially can tell two vastly different tales of what can be found on the Iowa City Ped Mall.

            

    

       

The photo on the left could be the story of the decline of the area and how urban blight is causing eyesores (that should and need to be addressed). There is trash, stains from unknown substances, graffiti and a beer bottle. The second image on the right can also show a decline in the area. There are bricks missing, grass growing in the cracks, and overall there is disrepair along the wall. Both images also show the determination for artistic expression. Even though the “art works” are on different surfaces, both are located on the ally wall of an Art Gallery. If you look closely at the doorway, just to the right of the opening to the door, the viewer sees an image from the movie “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”, a classic horror movie from the early 70s. In addition to this artistic expression, there is graffiti on the surfaces of the inner door adding to the expression of the image. The second photo on the right is a sharp contrast to the “graffiti” on the left. There is a somewhat framed image of what appears to be a wrinkled person or an image of an indigenous person illustrated on a type of durable canvas attached to the brick wall. With the utilization of photographs, both the images are viewed for their aesthetic value rather than the value of the placement of the images. Each image (and the expression) depicts a personal artistic expression that was happening on the Iowa City Ped Mall.

These two photos express the point of view that is often found within American Studies. In class we have learned how being self-reflexive and we should be able to think through the deeper meanings within our environment or culture. How we use the various methodologies to analyze what we observe within American culture causes our conclusions to be altered. Alinder states that Edward Steichen from the Museum of Modern Art would use photographs as “… amnesic dupes –. They could be made to project meaning without retaining the residue of their previous contexts (page 108)”. Steichen together with Herbert Bayer “…used photographs as potent graphic material that could be easily detached from their original social and rhetorical functions and reinserted into a narrative constructed by the designer (page 108)”. American culture is often viewed as being a paradigm expression of the American Dream- always being able to be fulfilled. With this American dream, romanticized in a way that it possible for everyone to have one the question becomes is it the same American dream? Gene Wise demonstrated in his essay that the American mind set had grown out of the progressiveness from World War. American exceptionalism had been used as the propaganda to made Americans feel that they were part of the American culture (and dream). With this public age of innocence, it became obvious (not so much at first) that instead of an isolative 

culture of America, there was an interrelationship with other cultures of the world.

The study American culture can be viewed like the two different works of “art” pictured above. There is not just one story that these two photographs are demonstrating. These images tell of the very human need to express human creativity and that the location and method of the art is part of the process. American culture can views both of these expressions as different. How we interpret the graffiti and “Creature” as fine art or if we only view the person’s image as fine art is contextual, based upon our own point of view and what experiences we bring with us. To judge the image of the “Creature” as graffiti is inappropriate, just as viewing the image of the person on the wall as art is equally inappropriate. Guimond asks whether or not it is the American dream or the American nightmare based upon whether or not there is an America-the land of opportunity. Whether or not you see a dream or nightmare in these photos depends upon your past experiences and how you interpret

your world.