significance of existence

Image 1

I chose the image of this young man, because it was posted in the Tallahassee Democrat online and received several comments.

Some of the commentors identified the background color as the background for jail photos and therefore, this person's story became affected and the focus of it--the life of this individual--was rendered insignificant by some. It affected the senses of the posters taking their eyes away from the heading Endangered & Missing Tallahassee Man.

In reality the background is similar to that of an FSU student who would go Image 2. missing a year and a half later--and to hundreds of thousands of Floridians who possess a driver's license.

Image 1 is simply a picture of my brother getting a driver's license. A responsible act of a citizen wishing to participate in lawfully in an act that is statutorily controlled. Looking at the background of the picture from this standpoint, questions about his deviance, raised by several commentors on Tallahassee.com and wctv.tv may have been different. However, perhaps not.

Berger states that the for him photography is "foremost a means of expression" that "tells nothing of the significance of existence" but presents us with dual messages wherein a photos of strangers are held to the first which is a message concerning the event photographed. Berger's discussion on page 87 asks readers to imagine losing a loved one to disappearance. He goes on to illustrate the meaning attached to knowledge of subject and the meaning one invents from a subject unfamiliar to them. "What the photograph shows goes with any story one chooses to invent", he says before calling attention to the broader variables at play within a photograph and includes the "thereness of the world". The background color of the pictures in my post tie them to a known thing that a few readers could identify. Through the medium of color, questions were raised and meaning was assigned, then shared and discussed.

Without a story, Berger continues, there is no meaning. Therefore, the very raising of the question of the location from which the picture was taken led to investigation into this person's background which, did reveal he had broken the law in the past. What then do the words begin to mean when the images lead to a different set of questions--instead of where is this person? discussion focused on what has this person done to get themselves in this situation?

How do our connections to color and environment affect a reader's ability to focus on the headings or the author's suggestion of the focus?

How does this affect interest and urgency in the story or it's call to action? While the skin color of the individuals in the photos can be included in this discussion it is for me, a secondary (though integral!) issue within this post. Because here, the meaning associated with the background overshadows what seems to be most clearly in focus. Looking at Berger's photographic choices and lableing of "peasants" while pulling in what he attributes to be its primary raw materials: Light and time--the dark shawdowy pictures of especially the children give treatment to the meaning I associated with the plight of the individuals shown here.