Image with Text - pre exercise.

As I worked towards this exercise, I at first scored the newspapers that my wife brought home whenever she managed to pick one up on the bus, I found little of interest in the stores and the images were invariably surrounded or interfered with by blocks of text tight and captions within the image itself.

I fell back to browsing the news via a tablet and examining the images produced for usable images.

I came across the following image and I could not remove myself from the interpretation of the image. Every time |I look at the image I start to peer closer and closer into the image examining and reading the image for subtext.

The caption I started with was "politicians meet to discuss future" or  "a meeting of minds"  However once I started to examine the image I started to notice certain elements within.

• The men are dining in a exclusive restaurant with fine tablecloths, silver flower decorations and low light giving an impression of not only exclusivity but privacy.

• Romney appears surprised and embarrassed almost as if her did not expect the press to be present and is surprised by the photographer. The tile of the image also helps in giving the image an almost paparazzi feel.

• Trump leans forward into the image, acknowledging the camera with a knowing expression as if had carefully stage managed the image and the photographer had jumped from a large cake.

• Both men are drinking water but there appears to be a bottle of wine chilling in the background.

Romney's starter is untouched and Trumps has been pushed away across the table and has been replaced with what appears to be a large breakfast bowl and a serving spoon.

The irony of the image is that Romney and Trump were both in contention for the same political party nomination for President and both men took to the press and to the internet to shame and deride one another. Now that the dust has settled, this image speaks to note that not only has Romney had to eat humble pie and crow but also his dignity in the chase for continued power, and this image shows that not only did Romney not expect the photo to be taken but he has been caught red handed "dealing with the devil"

The country Doctor, The Dad Project

The Country Doctor

Smith cleverly shot with no film initially so that the doctor would not only get used to his presence but also would become familiar with and then ignore the sound of the shutter.

The project documents the life of the Dr Ceriani, the project only last 23 days but in appearance seems to cover a longer stretch of time. While following the doctor, Smith was able to capture the work of Dr Ceriani as he helped the community. It is especially telling, when during a short break away from his duties, where he tries to relax and fish, he is called back to attend to an emergency. It is one of these shots that calls out to me as it expresses the helplessness feeling that Dr Ceriaini is having as he struggles to find a way to telling the family that although he has done all that he can it is not enough and that the girls eye cannot be saved.

 

W. Eugene Smith—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

The county Doctor is a uncompromising document which shows the life of the community and the hard but rewarding work of DR Ceriani.

Personally I prefer Smiths harder hitting photo essay Nurse Midwife, which documents Maude Callens work as an all encompassing health worker for the desperately poor of the rural south.

Cosgrove, B. (2013) W. Eugene Smith’s landmark photo essay, ‘nurse midwife’. Available at: http://time.com/26789/w-eugene-smith-life-magazine-1951-photo-essay-nurse-midwife/ (Accessed: 20 November 2016).

The Dad Project

The milkshake moment:

The image talks to me on multiple levels, it demonstrates the failing health on her father, suddenly losing his balance and dropping the milkshake, the splatter on the floor the colour of dried blood, the loss of the required energy drink which is the lifeblood of her father, something to try and increase his strength and this resistance to the effects of the cancer on his life.

Grappling with the plan; how to manage the project, Briony struggles with how to manage the concept and the documentation of the subject, does she plan what she will shoot, will she stuck to a methodology. In the end, she decides to documentation what she can as neither method nor pan would allow her the flexibility that she really needed to document the ongoing situation.

The main difference between the two essays is the emotional narrative within the overall context of the essay. The country doctor gives you an insight into the overall activities and situations that the doctor has to attend to and how this affected the many people that he comes into contact with. The My Dad essay is a much closer, emotionally guided narrative of just three people, it also has a beginning, middle and end narrative but at the same time leaves the viewer with some insight into how the narrative will continue to play out as the intense emotions captured effect each of the individuals left at the end of the essay. 

Certainly for me the My Dad project brought some memories and emotions back t the loss of my father and the ongoing loss of my mother to dementia 

  

Endng with ending; Brionys work has allowed her to express not only her feelings, but process them in a manner that grants the viewer a level of empathy with Briony. The Dad project is only the start of the project, the journey is really has just begun as others see it for the first time and their reactions and feelings interact with Brionys own.