minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Introduction
I confess that this is the Masters’ Critique offering I have most wanted to write. I began ruminating on the concept soon after I took over the Master’s offerings from Steve during the first year of FYC. Because I’ve had a lifelong love affair with literature, I’ve always been intrigued with the intermingling of literature and photography. And because I knew Eudora Welty and lived near her, I was especially fascinated with how her little known but surprisingly accomplished photography seemed to inform her acclaimed writing.

Welty was born in 1909 and lived most of her life in Jackson, Mississippi, except for a brief early stay in New York following college. She did a stint as a WPA photographer which undoubtedly helped prepare her for her later work. Her keen observational skills, as evidenced in both her photography and her fiction, can provide guidance for us that is as valuable today as it was when it was first put to paper. And her secret strength, which was the trust she established with her subjects through empathy and respect, could help us navigate the photographing of subjects just as sensitive as the subjects she captured. Most of Welty’s photographic work was done in the 1930s. For reasons explained in some of the links, she quit photography after her literary work became successful.

This summer, thanks to an online friend I made in the course of my dam bird project, I had a chance to see and handle the original images Welty developed in her darkroom in the state archives research facility, many that have never been published. The image I’m presenting here for critique was widely published and had an extra twist of interest in that its commonly known title was originally different. It is officially known as “Window Shopping.” Welty had pencilled a different title on the back: “Teachers Don’t Get Paid”.

Do yourself a favor and review the photographic collection revealed through the link below. Share your response to this image. Here are some questions to spur your thinking. Respond to any that interest you, or simply share your views.

Questions To Consider
1. What to you think of “Window Shopping”? Its composition? Technical qualities? Style? Impact? Would you want it on your wall? Why or why not?
2. Titles of photographs have an effect on the viewer, research has shown. Which title for this image do you prefer? Why?
3. Does the photo tell a story? What story do you see? Does the title you prefer affect the story you find in the image? How important is story in an image? Welty said of photography: “The camera was a hand-held auxiliary of wanting-to-know.” Does focus on story make more difference in some genres of photography than others? If so, which ones?
4. What do you make of the interchange between writing and taking photos. How might those two work together? or not? If you’ve read any of Welty’s fiction, please share your thoughts on how her work in these two creative fields integrates, or not.
5. Welty often chose to shoot directly into harsh light, and her images were not always tack sharp. For exhibits, she sometimes even pencilled in light lines on the prints to demarcate edges in areas with lost detail, such as on the subject’s hat in this image. Do you think the technical imperfections detract from the value? Do we have stronger expectations of technical perfection today than in the 1930s? Is that a good or bad change?
6. Critique of Welty’s photographs often focus on her ability to convey her subjects’ dignity, pride, and humanity even though her subjects were often poor African Americans in a time and place where racial violence was common. What can we learn from her approach that could be applied to street and travel photography today?
Links for Further Study
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/arts/design/09welt.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
https://ewr.gsu.edu/2016/09/26/weltys-window-shopping-used-cover-art-coste-lewiss-voyage-sable-venus-poems/
https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/4694?lang=en
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/eudora-welty-as-photographer-117044298/
https://eudorawelty.org/life-works/photography-art/
https://lithub.com/how-eudora-weltys-photography-captured-my-grandmothers-history/
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/20/eudora-welty-photography/

fair use: https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/4694?lang=en

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

“The camera was a hand-held auxiliary of wanting-to-know,” she said. From her work, I think she is guileless, and her work is guileless. She seems much less concerned about what we here are often concerned about, composition, technique, all content in the frame.

The example posted is a good example. Underexposed. Contains elements not necessary, if not distracting--who needs the car? But the feeling! Mainly for the subject, who is centered, a good-enough composition (the photo dimensions would be about 11 x 7 in.). This woman pauses in thought. I feel for her, because so many possibilities come through my mind, not the least of which is the once-again overemphasis on race caused by politics. Welty, and I, are most comfortable just immersing ourselves in the human pondering of "can I afford this?" The depths of that allow for much "wool gathering."

Of course there is room for social commentary photographs. It is, for me, more rejuvenating and real to be shown the human condition.

Here are a few of my "Welty" photos.

(Download)


(Download)

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thank you Bob for an "artful" reply! I agree, Welty's photography is feeling-intensive. Very little of it is documentary. Disentangling her photography from her writing is nearly impossible, for she brought the same sensibility to both.

Thank you for your own postings, which are windows into life. I will post a couple of my own if I can resurrect my dead computer with all my photos. There is backup, but of course it is complicated and may take a while to sort out.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

Thank you for choosing Eudora Welty this month. Everyone, it seems, has heard or her; but I realized when I saw the topic, that I don't know much about her and now I'm interested to find out more.

On to the photograph. No, I would not want this on my wall. It needs to be on a wall in a museum so that the public can see what it was like to live in the depression. I like the links you provided because we got to see her New York Photos (some of them) as well.

I often thing that titles don't belong on photographs. Let the photo speak for itself; but you are right that titles can influence the way we see a photo. For example the title scribbled on the back: "Teachers don't get paid" says more about this photograph than its official title. We can imagine this woman as a teacher. She has dignity and poise; but can't afford what she so intently desires inside that window. Wonderful.

You asked about the interplay between writing and photography. She certainly answered that question for herself when she intentionally left her camera on a park bench in Paris sometime in the 1950's. One or the other; but not both. Personally I think they can coexist. That could be because I'm a dilletent at both.

You asked about her giving the subjects their dignity. I think this is critical in street photography. You don't have to like; but I think you do have to have empathy for the people you photograph. Especially if you want them to trust you enough to allow you to get close.
Erich

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for a thorough and thoughtful reply. I am utterly charmed by her photography, which for me acts as a rich adjunct to her writing, though either can be enjoyed quite apart from the other. I find that the perceived "story" an image tells me is much of what I like about viewing photographs, but I was enamored of words long before I picked up a camera. That she laid her camera down in exchange for words also intrigues me. I was not doing photography when I had a passing acquaintance with Welty during the 80's, and was only marginally aware of her photography then. There are so many things I wish I had asked her.

MattPhox Loc: Rhode Island

I don't have much to say beyond the interesting observations that have already been made.

I like the composition. As has been noted, today many would want to clone out "unnecessary detail" such as the auto but I find that the auto and other details put the photo (and the story) into the historical context that I think she was trying to achieve. She could have stood a bit to the left to avoid capturing it but then the photo would not have been nearly the same. We would not get the sneak peek of the idled men congregating on the sidewalk and it may have shown some of what the woman was looking at, in effect removing some of our ability to create our own story. Shooting into the light in this case provided an anonymity to the woman and in a sense made her story the story of many such as her.

Titles definitely influence what we see. I prefer "Window Shopping" because I can easily imagine a story behind it and also because I found the other title to be a bit too specific, taking away some of the fun of imagining.

I think that "telling" a story with a photo lends itself to people/street photography. Being able to tell a story with words and with a camera can both be difficult. Courses on writing will often advise to keep it simple. I think that the same applies to street photography and I believe that this photo achieves it saying so much with so little. I guess one difference is that words by their nature have to be more descriptive with detail, whereas a photo lets us absorb and process more detail on our own.

Lastly I found it interesting that she left her camera on a park bench when she decided to devote herself to writing. I suspect that she was an intense person, going in 100% on whatever she decided to take on. So I interpret her leaving the camera as her realization that she would not have the energy to do both at the level that she wished. So she had to make a choice and in making that choice she decided to remove any temptation to retreat from that choice. I think this speaks to her esteem for story telling in the photographic sense. But apparently she enjoyed language more.

Also I really liked artBob's offerings.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thank you for weighing in on this one. Keeping stories and photographs simple are challenges for me so I appreciate seeing either done well.

Having read much of her writing before I ever saw her photographs, I am drawn to connections between the two. Now that I've had an opportunity to see the photography I find myself looking for the characters in the photos to show up in the stories. I haven't found the characters, but I do find locations that turn up in both.

deer2ker Loc: Nashville, TN

I haven't been able to participate in much of the "hog" forums lately due to work but I wanted to chime in on this one - I LOVE it! I had not heard of her but instantly from this one pic I could tell she was a "storyteller" so it doesn't surprise me that she is also a writer. I will be looking her up.

This is, to me, what a true street photographer is - a storyteller. Her composition is spot on for this and makes you want to imagine this lady's thoughts and life. Thanks for sharing :D

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for dropping in and always feel free to comment on these Masters Threads even long after they've moved down the visible topic list. You will not be disappointed with Welty. Her photography is masterful visual storytelling, laying out the story line, presenting the characters and the context, but leaving just enough mystery to allow the viewer to come to his/her own conclusions.