Contentment

At first glance my eyes are drawn to the vegetable garden that appears to be flourishing, and a woman whom appears to be perfectly content with life. I also noticed how small the house this woman is living in. There are also plain white sheets hanging out to dry. With away the photo is arranged the viewer is drawn to the woman working in her garden, with the house, and the sheets hanging out to dry in the background. As I take a closer look the there does not appear to be any other houses in sight. There does appear to be a bicycle propped up next to the house, and a horse in an overhanging like structure in the top left. There are also telephone poles, which meant that the woman has electricity.

            The picture appears to have been taking during the day with a few clouds in the sky. The picture does not appear depressing based on the lighting like one would expect for that time period, but at the same time it does not appear happy either. The overall mood of the photo based on the lighting is a happy medium between the two extremes, which would be contentment. The photographer appear to have taken the photo standing below the woman so that he could get her garden, house, and horse into the photo. I think he did this so that the viewer could get a proper view of the sky to see what time of day it was and so the overall mood of the picture could be expressed.

            The overall mood of this photo is one of contentment. Growing up American’s often learn about how rough life was during the Great Depression. We also are taught about the dust bowl and how there was a shortage of food. This photo, however, depicts the time period in a different light. The woman’s garden seems to be doing surprisingly well for the time period. Her house is small, but she appears to have all that she needs. She has a roof over her head, food to eat, electricity, and clothes. She also has a bicycle and a horse to help provide some entertainment and joy. I think the photographer was trying to depict how people during this time period may not have been able to get all that they wanted, but they got what they needed to survive and enjoy life. Times were most certainly tough, but not to the extreme that we make it out to be today, and that is what the photographer wanted to get across. 

A very engaging game of checkers

In this picture, two men are playing a game of checkers and one man watching. There are two other men in the photo but you can not see what they are doing. The first thing I noticed in this picture was the fact that both man are about to move a checker piece. Then I noticed the expression on the men's faces. I thought it was interesting that you can not see what the two men in the back are doing. It made me wonder why the man in the black hat was watching the checkers and not the other two men.

The location stuck out in this picture. The men seem to be in a building but, not in a room by itself. The room seems to be divided by a hanging sheet. I did not notice this until I noticed the open window. The window is open but you cannot see the entire window. Showing the room must be divided by a sheet of some type. I thought this was peculiar at first but then I inferred that the men might have set up a separate area from the main living area. This makes sense because the houses were probably one room. The photographer seems to be at a higher lever then the rest of the men. I inferred this as the photographer was standing instead of sitting like the rest of the men.

The mood of this photo seems to be relaxed, or concentrated. I inferred the mood relaxed because all the men are just sitting around not showing any worry. Two of the men are taking the time to play a game of checkers showing that they have some free time from work. I also chose concentrated as a mood because although it is free time, everyone seems very focused and concentrated on what is occupying their time. I think the photographer wanted to show that the labor camps are not as bad as everyone is making them out to be. I believe that the photographer wanted to show that the workers still had time to play games and enjoy themselves.

Watching the play in the recreation hall.

This picture is a good example of the content times in the migrant labor camps. The theme of this picture, I would say, is exactly that: contentment. I think it shows that there are still good moments in these camps, even though that is not how they are made out to be. Everyone from the little kids, to the men and women, are gathered to watch a play together. Just by looking at the crowd, you can tell that it is a big event. There are even people standing in the back because sitting spots ran out. At this point in time, the kids seemed to be much more thankful for an event like this than it seems that kids nowadays are.  The reason for this is probably that back in their time, and even their location, these opportunities were few and far in between.  I would say this picture was taken at the end of the day, probably showing an event happening after a day of work for everyone.  It also looks like a good family gathering time, so there is still time to keep people in touch and give opportunities for a social life.  Looking at their clothes, the migrants seemed to be well dressed - instead of how some imply that they do not have decent clothes.  As well as the cleanliness of everyone, showing that the camps were a lot different than some other camps we might be familiar about.  You can even see hair accessories and necklaces on some of the people, including hats; they had privileges of dressing the way they preferred instead of being forced to wear certain things. I look at this picture and see that there was hope in this camp, there was faith in the future and happiness in the present!

Danielle Thompson

Who Do You Let Run Your Life?

                                              

                                 

The reason I chose this photo to pick a theme about was because Rothstein was told to base most of his pictures on mothers and children to demonstrate child welfare rights. The major theme that I have gathered from this picture is obedience. The kids in this nursery are forced to take a nap at a certain time. Everything about this photo is controlled. These children were controlled with everything they did in their life; they didn’t have a decision to make, or any opinions. The theme obedience fits this picture very well, because the children led lives of obedience. They worked and done everything they were instructed to do by others.

The photos that were taken by Rothstein were faked; he was told by Stryker to make them have the image of a “positive side.” So, the photos he took of the camps were planned and he only go the pictures that he thought looked good or their image. When they didn’t even work, they were not successful in quieting all of the harassment and dissatisfaction talk from the people in Washington. This photo’s theme I have chosen as obedience fits it well, because everyone else also seen it as a dissatisfaction and it was a bad image on the camps and Washington didn’t want people treated like that; forced under obedience. Who knows what pictures he could have taken that would have shown what other obedience was occurring in the camps? After all Rothstein said that people didn’t have any western hospitality anymore, so I mean it was obvious something was going on. These kids may not feel like they have to do what they are told about everything but, from this picture it seems like they are being told when to sleep, or take their afternoon nap. So to me this photo deserves the theme obedience.

     

Sunny Days During Dark Times

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.31887/?co=fsa

In this photograph a young mother is giving her son a wagon ride. I first noticed the house in the background because it is a large and domineering object. There are very few objects in this photo. The three main ones being the child in the wagon, the mother pulling the wagon, and the house directly behind them. However, there are other identical housing structures even farther in the background, as well as the cloudy sky above them, and sparse shrubbery behind them. The ground beneath them appears to be dirt, although it is hard to tell since the photograph is black and white, not color. I did not first notice this detail of the dirt ground until I examined the photo carefully. 

It is difficult to tell what time of day it was when this photo was taken because there is no color. However, the photo itself is quite light and the clouds above appear to be fluffy, as though the sun is shining rather than the ominous clouds that rule the sky when a storm takes place. The young woman is smiling and her body language is relaxed as if she is happy and carefree. The little boy holds an intent expression on his countenance that is shaded by a cowboy hat, which I assume was placed on the child’s head to protect him from the dangerous rays of heat exuding from the sun.  The subjects in the photograph seem out of place because the house and other surroundings are not happy sights. They are not attractive like the people in the photo, and look to be poor and lifeless. The photographer is at the same level as the subjects, standing several feet away from them. I like that he snapped the picture from this vantage point because it’s as though he is looking at them as equals, rather than standing over them, judging their lack of wealth. 

The mood is one of family and playtime. One can learn from this photo that people don’t need much in order to enjoy themselves and the ones they love. People can live in tiny houses without grass and still be thankful for a roof over their head, a hat to wear to protect their skin, and a little wagon in which to play. The photograph depicts the 1930’s as a time that lacks money, but it does not lack joy or appreciativeness of the possessions one is blessed to own. Mostly, pictures of the 1930’s express grief and this photo does not. This is the main point of this photograph. No time in history is all bad. There are times of sunshine and love and family even in the darkest years and greatest depressions.