Blog Post 9: Pre-writing assignment 2

The photo of the Marcella Plantation was taken by Marion Wolcott, where she worked for the Farm Security Administration from 1938 to 1941. As you look at the photo, you can see that the two adults are looking straight ahead as they continue to walk without acknowledging the photographer. The small boy, following shortly behind the two adults, does not follow the same pattern as the others in the photo and looks straight to the camera. Perhaps this was intended, or maybe he just couldn’t keep focus. The “vectors of attention” for the two adults are likely to be the farm house which is not located to far from where they are. The child’s attention is drawn to the photographer.

The vectors of attention gesture towards the rhetorical appeal of logos, ethos, and pathos by coming together and making an ideal image and/or statement. This photo, when looked at in depth, has a lot of reason behind it; you can see beauty mixing with a day’s work and struggle. I think that the author is trying to capture that beauty because it is often overlooked, and connect with the audience on a personal level. The mood(s) in this photo is somewhat neutral; there is not direct form of sadness or happiness for that matter.

The photographer employs the techniques of framing by selecting the people in the photo as her vector of attention. She then also wants the audience to notice the environment in which they are in by including a large portion of the plantation into the photo as well. The coloration in this photo is not very well. For hue, the main colors are mostly blue and brown, with a little green. The saturation is low, the reds, yellows, and blues are not fully pure in the photo. I would say the brightness is medium to low as well because there is not a lot of white in the color, except for parts of the blue in the sky. I think that the coloration of this photo gives it a darker and gloomier look, hence, the feeling of depression or sadness from poverty. However, if the colors were brighter and the saturation wasn’t so low, the photograph would appear to be happier and more joyful; possibly even think they may not be going, or walking home, from a long days work.

I find that the lighting works particularly well with this specific photo, only because it was taken during a time of need. The setting of the plantation with the dirt road to the side also shows economically what was important during this time. It touches us on an emotional level of work, and the thought of how much labor went into the job. Times have changed so much over the years and it is nice to see a flash back of what reality really used to be like. Looking at this photo in modern day, you learn to appreciate what you have.