Susan Sontag's Plato's Cave Picture

Homework For 2/16

One of the sources I found to use in my essay was a book called Rethinking the Boundaries of the South. It describes traditions and the culture in the south portion of the United States. In William Eggleston’s Guide, John Szarkowski mentions that Eggleston’s “pictures were based compositionally on the Confederate flag- not the asterisk, or the common daisy, or the dove of the Holy Ghost, but the Confederate flag. (11)” Many people believe that the Confederate flag represents racism, however this isn’t true. It stands for southern heritage and the way of living in the south. It also symbolizes the independence of the diverse cultural tradition.

The South can easily be distinguished from the rest of the United States. According to Rethinking the Boundaries of the South, “the south differs demographically, economically, politically, and, most important for our purposes, culturally.” Also, in the 1950’s, C. Vann Woodward was on a quest to find the true ‘southern identity’. He closely studied “the wealth of cultural meanings inherent (natural) in almost any aspect of the South’s popular culture, self-expressions, images, and stereotypes.” These quotes represent Eggleston’s photographs. His pictures do not contain luxurious items; it’s the simple, everyday things that would be found in southern America.   

Thesis Statement

1. In William Eggleston's Guide, simplicity is the key word to reading his pictures; there are limited 'props' in the them which helps viewers notice the main focus.

2. Through the eyes of others, the interpretation of William Eggleston's photographs can be viewed differently; the observer might notice the clean, simpleness or a deeper meaning that isn't superficial.

3. The sequence of the pictures in William Eggleston's Guide isn't random; you need to look at the pictures and figure out the story behind it to understand the order they're in.

Joel Meyerowitz

 

 Joel Meyerowitz was born in 1938 in the Bronx, New York. He went to Ohio State and graduated in 1959 with a degree in painting and medical illustration. In 1962 he started photographing street views in color. At the time, color was rarely used so Meyerowitz helped introduce the world to its new ways. In the 70’s, he taught a color photography course at Cooper Union. Even though he spent most of his career in New York, he traveled to the Gateway Arch in St.Louis and photographed it. After September 11^th, he was one of the few privileged photographers to shoot some pictures of Ground Zero. I found that most of his work was composed of simple pieces; there usually weren't many objects in his photos. I also noticed that quite a few of his pictures seemed very relaxing.