To help generate a full-bodied and quality response to my personal study question regarding the photography of both Matt Eich and LaToya Ruby Frazier, I will need to develop a detailed analysis of one of each of their images from their recent projects looking at family. Below, I will begin to develop a critical analysis of the image taken from Frazier’s project ‘The Notion Of Family’. I will use topics such as form, meaning, judgement and context as discussion points.
Describing – FORM – What is here? What am I looking at?
This is an image taken from LaToya Ruby Frazier’s project, The Notion Of Family which is an “incisive exploration of the legacy of racism and economic decline in America’s small towns. The work also considers the impact of that decline on her communicability and her family” (taken from statement on website).
The photograph frames both Frazier as a teenager and what looks like her dad or possible step-dad. The project was completed over a period of 13 years in which, during this time, Frazier and her family grew yet declined due to the economic state of the town the were living in. We see Fraizer sat on the edge of her bed in her bedroom on the right side of the image as she is cropped to by the frame of the image and, on the left side, her dad lies, relaxed on his bed in the parents room, with his back ti the camera, she he was probably oblivious to the camera’s presence.
I would imagine that this is taken in the Frazier house and both Frazier and her dad are captured within the frame. Frazier is wearing a strappy white top with pyjama shorts and is lying on the edge of her bed. The door is wide open and hanging from the handle is a white towel drying. Underneath her bed, we see a baby doll with a dummy in its mouth, arms up, as though it is crying for help as it pokes its head from underneath the bed frame. Frazier sits there with a blank expression on her face looking away from her dad in the opposite room.
There is a physical divide between the two subjects, but, what also looks like an emotional divide. In the room on the left, her dad, styling a vest reading ‘THE SMOOTH EDGE’ on the back lies, in a relaxed manner on the end of the bed with his back to the camera. This door also wide open and the joining of the two doors is what provides the separation between the two people, giving structure to the image.
Interpreting – MEANING – What is it about?
As I mentioned just above, the visual divide we see between both subjects can also represent an emotional separation between the two of them; the relationship they have with one another may be very weak and this could be as result of the economic crisis in which the town for Braddock faces due to the ever-expanding bombardment of racism on locals. They both have their back to each other and this could represent their perhaps dislike for each other.
We can’t actually see the father’s face and instead, get a view of his back in which, in his vest, it reads ‘THE SMOOTH EDGE’ and this could be an accurate or perhaps ironical representation of him – he may in fact be the smooth edge or instead, may be a figure that causes a division between the whole family – a person who Frazier may not like and from this, the statement can be seen as ironic as he could be instead branded as ‘THE SHARP EDGE’ portraying the idea that he could in fact be a figure who provides unease to the family house. Maybe, as us as the audience cant see his face, this is how he is seen to Frazier a as teenager – as though he doesn’t show his face in the most crucial of times, like when she has been growing up – he may not have been there and instead dislocated from family life.
Looking at the setting of the image and the other objects within the photograph a,so gives an indication to how the family may live and the condition of their lives. Looking at the bedding, it looks very old fashioned and quite out of date ion its old, floral-like pattern. It doesn’t look like the beds have been made and the fact that Frazier’s towel is hanging to dry on the handle of her door indicates that perhaps they can’t afford a heated towel rail. Looking at the wall, there is nothing hanging on them, such as art or paintings or any shelves and we can see just a mirror in the parents bedroom. Also, the doors themselves look quite worn and battered, as if they are in need of a paint job but this is not a priority of the Frazier family.
In conclusion, this image could represent the breakdown of family life, shown in one image due to the crisis that Braddock face as a result of explicit and constant discrimination against the black community. They are crying for help within and it is kept this way – internal and within the four walls of their house because they are too scared to speak up. As a result, they become isolated and hurt to a point that they don’t know how to show it – detachment from social norms and distancing from society as a collective – this is Frazier’s family, dislocated from the rest of America and detached from one another because of it.
Evaluating – JUDGEMENT – How good is it?
In terms of the quality of the photograph, I would confidently say that it is a very good image – to be very basic and straight-the-point about it. And I am also sure that if you asked anyone else whether they personally liked the image or if it was a “good” image, the would say yes because of how highly regarded Frazier is as both a photographer and a motivational talker which she undertakes alongside her photography and video work to coincided with the images she produces. She is a very well-known artist and is regarded highly and this status is shown throughout her work due to the pure thought that goes behind little details such as composition and framing.
The image above is one of my favourites from the project ‘The Notion Of Family’ because of how well thought out and composed it is. She has probably used a fixed 35mm lens mounted on a tripod tp capture this self-portrait of herself and her dad. Frazier would have used a timer to allow her to get to her bed in tome for the shutter release and the framing is probably the best aspect of the image. Although the two doors take up the whole centre of the image from head to toe, it frames the split perfectly and we get sense that it si almost like a split screen with Frazier on one side looking very dull and the back of her father on the left. It gives a sense that Frazier has to live in this very enclosed space where everyone within the house is in close proximity of one another but it is against her will and she finds it difficult to grow into a young adult when she lives in a small bungalow in a town which defines and shapes her state of living.
In terms of tones and shadows, the image is black and white and the balance of tones is perfect. The whites highlight and provide a border to the subjects for the to stand out against, as the Frazier and her father are both black and the neutral tones of greys are balanced equally in the image. Overall creating a very balanced image. All elements within the photograph are in focus and therefore a deep depth of field has been used at a high aperture.
Theorizing – CONTEXT – Is it art? How does it relate to the history and theory of photography, art and culture?
The image of Frazier’s in question represents a very truthful illustration of family life. Although to some extent, it has been staged in Frazier’s positioning within the image as she lies on the bed indirect opposition to the other subject on the left, the image possesses more features of documentary than tableaux. Frazier’s intent was likely to represent her feelings towards her family, as well as the house she is confined to and the town she has to grow up in as it is ruled by racism. The image represents the project as a whole as it represent the breakdown of not only the Braddock town as a whole but it shows how it affects the families within it as they were defined by the racism that circulates North America at the time. It was time of uncertainty and fear and the image does a very good job of showing this.
The image, in its documentary form, posses features of realism photography – an art movement introduced in the early 1900s which pioneered not only art but photography as it gradually muscled its way to the forefront of visual arts throughout the 1900’s and is still in use by many photographers in the current day as we, regularly, as consumers and producers of media, create real and raw representations of life as it is in. We expose people, places etc in our photography and the truth of them is revealed through the visual we create. Straight photography is the opposite to pictorialism where the manipulation of imagery was seen as a way to improve it. With realist art, the photographer uses the camera as a witness to life itself without alerting reality to romanticise or fragment the truth. The image produced by Frazier shows exactly this but in a more poetic, and indeed staged way but to emphasis the reality of what was occurring at the time – the racist and economic decline of America. The image speaks in one sense about family life but in a whole other sense about how this detachment from the other parts of the world due to the discrimination faced about local families origins.
However, even though the image does possess features of realism, it can also lean more towards the art movement of post-modernism. This movement is defined to borrow from references of historical, cultural, social and psychological issues – which it does exactly that – as expressed above – that it is more than just an image about family life – it is an image which presents the life of family within the struggle of racism. Frazier uses references of racism and economic decline throughout the book with added reference to Bill Cosby – a household name in the American society in the mid-late 1900’s but then further allegations of sexual assault against his name was released and he became a figure of hate and remorse – as though he betrayed the black culture. Frazier uses this post-modernist approach to highlight key events in American history.