Robert Frank: Visual Interpretation Strategies

For my Studium/Punctum piece, I ended up using two of Robert Frank’s photos and combining them. In the picture of the couple on the motorcycle, the couple seemed to be distinctly looking down and I expanded on that by placing another picture “underneath” them. I was thinking of it metaphorically as them not only visually looking down upon the people in the bottom picture, but as them disliking them and finding them not as worthy as themselves. In the bottom picture, the people are predominantly Caucasians and the couple on the motorcycle are African American, as are most of the people in the background of their picture. The story that I created in my mind was that the black couple was either resentful for segregation and racism or they felt some pity on the ignorant white people who force themselves above blacks. I think with the hard looks on their faces, though, that the former seems more fitting.

Another detail I added was a sense of more depth by changing the darkness/brightness of the different pictures. I see that as metaphorical in a sense, also, because it’s showing that racism isn’t a simply one-dimensional issue. There are many layers of truths and different reasons for people acting the way they do (not that I’m justifying prejudice in any way, shape or form). The overall idea is that the picture invokes thoughts about racism and its meaning.