New Deal Photography: 1935-1943 Comments – Micaela Millan

Pick one photograph from New Deal Photography and say what elements of it are immediately visible and what element requires a bit of time to emerge.

The book, New Deal Photography depicts American life in the 1930s and 1940s. On page 192-193, a photo from the Midwest shows children playing. Most notably, the three children front and center on the page are the most immediately visible elements in this piece. Their position in the photo and the fact that they are being focused on by the camera brings the audience’s attention to them right away. From right to left, there is a brightly smiling younger boy laying down on and held in an embrace by a slightly older boy. Next to the pair is a young girl in a checkered dress squatting down with her hands gently clasped together on her knees. They are all on what seems to be a wooden flooring or base.

The longer the photo is lingered upon and examined, less obvious elements and smaller details emerge such as the the three children’s expressions and body language which can tell a story. The two boys, as mentioned previously, are smiling as if they are having fun. The older boy’s embrace around his body and neck on the younger can be interpreted as a play fight. In contrast, the older girl’s thin-lipped, slightly furrowed browed expression can depict an annoyance by the pair beside her. She is also positioned away from them and her arms are held in such a way that she in “enclosed” which supports her emotions of being annoyed. Her white shoes show signs of wear and have dirt on them, meaning that they can be old, hand-me-downs, or signs that she uses them outside frequently. Not as noticeable elements are the child on all fours out of focus in the far left and another boy right behind the girl. The child on the left has no shoes on, meaning that they are young (maybe a toddler). There are automobiles in the background as well. The wooden planks the children are on also seems to be in the place where the trunk of a pick-up truck would be.