Melanie Walton

Week 5 Reading Post

My first impression of the photographs was that they were uncomfortably invasive. Although photographs can be important in terms of affording a glimpse into subjects, places, etc. that one might not normally get, their inclusion can be complicated. Specifically, the photographer has a job of whether or not to display the subjects as accurately and unbiased as possible. Subjects, however, do not always have a choice when choosing how they are displayed and represented. I guess what bothered me was the missing captions. Where are the names? This seems to invoke a sense of the subjects’ voices being missing also. Instead, they seemed to be grouped together on their circumstances, rather than their own personal stories. Nayun comments on this when she says, “Therefore, the lack of individual markers in the photographs serve to make the members of the tenant family appear as representatives of a certain group of people rather than products of Agee’s imagination.” However, even though the purpose of the book was more documentary, I still think that this is problematic because viewers have complete control of how they interpret the photographs which can be inaccurate and do more harm without any guiding information being included. Being grouped as a people feels like being grouped as a commodity to me.

I still have mixed feelings about the photographs after learning that most of them weren’t included in the published version of the book. Was this better? To not have them seen and therefore not be viewed as invasive? But then, the writing stands alone in telling the story of the subjects. I don’t know if this is better since the portrayal of the subjects is left up to the author. Admittedly, the author does comment on this extensively before even delving into describing the lives of the subjects. However, it is hard to truly believe the author’s declarations about his genuine motives to portray the subjects accurately and maybe not being qualified to do so. He was paid for the book to be published after all. Reflecting on the discussion of Keene and Hartman last week, I think that whenever someone else is trusted to tell someone else’s story, there will always be missing information and perspectives. I wonder how this would differ if the subjects read what was written and had the opportunity to approve it before it was published. This topic made me think of an article that I read for my Psychology of Race, Ethnics, and Social Change class on the dehumanization of poverty. I think that no matter the author’s intentions, his own privilege and biases jump out (such as his discussion of African Americans). Because of this, I think that more needs to be done to include subjects in sharing their voices and the behind-the-scenes of the publishing/recording of their stories. Methodologies have developed to help accomplish this with conducting research in psychology, but there is still work to be done. This extends into literature too.