New Deal Photography-Phillip Salmo

As I looked through various photos in the New Deal Photography book, I noticed many images that were not only visually interesting and emotionally affecting, but also featured interesting captions to complement the photographs. One that stood out in particular was a picture that actually made me laugh, a emotion that wasn’t the most commonly felt among the photos viewed. The photograph in question was on page 95, depicting members of the Strohl family in Pennsylvania at an August 1940 family reunion (as per the caption). The image is in black and white, and features on the left side of the photograph a woman in a dress and a hat and on the right side a man in a suit and tie. They are both eating ice cream cones. However, the woman is really digging into the ice cream, not eating “lady-like” or delicately as could have been expected of women in the era. To be clear, I am not saying that there is an actual masculine or feminine way of eating ice cream, but only that the woman seems to be going against perceived gender norms. Perhaps the artist is commenting on gender roles with this image. In contrast to the woman, the man doesn’t seem as though he is enjoying himself or the ice cream, as he has a very stern expression his face. There is nothing really focused on in the background, and no other person’s face is featured in the photograph. I think that this quality of the image is intentional by the photographer, perhaps to highlight the differences in expressions between the man and the woman. I am not entirely sure why the photo itself made me laugh upon first view. It might have just been the candidness of the image, as the two, especially the woman, are not photographed with particularly flattering facial movements. The fact that this was at a family reunion just seemed to remind me of differing, and sometimes clashing, personalities at such events. I think that the image is examining gender roles in the early 1940s, while also attempting to realistically portray life in the decade.