Creator: Danny Lyon
Date: 1967-68
Collection: George Eastman House Collection
I chose this image because I was struck by the composition. I love how the man in the foreground draws the eye, and how the stark white of his outfit is contrasted by the dark background. I also like how his relative stillness is contrasted by the obvious labor his peers are engaging in behind him. It doesn't look like the photographer placed his subjects, so it has a bit of spontaneity to it. This type of picture makes me wonder about the men in it -- what are they hoeing? Who are they? Why are they at this place at that time?
This is a photograph of a chain gang, convicts being supervised by the man on the horse. Photographer Danny Lyon is well known for his work during the Civil Rights era. This image is from his book Conversations with the Dead, published in 1971. He got permission from the Texas Department of Corrections to visit and photograph in six prisons when working on this book. Does anybody else see the tension between the man on the horse in the background and the kneeling man in the front? The metadata accompanying this image should have included mention of the book title. Some subject headings might have helped too.
ReplyDeleteThis picture caught my eye with the intense contrast of black and white color. The white color stands out from the photo as Amanda mentioned. The contrast of composition is also interesting. All workers are in the same white uniform and hoeing in almost the same posture.
ReplyDeleteThere are two men who stand out from this group: the man who is on a horse seems to be a supervisor and he is apparently distinguished from the laborers. He is on horseback and stands at the top of the hill, which is the highest place of this picture. The difference in the height shows visually his higher position than workers.
The other man is apart from his group, going down on one knee which is the lowest posture in the picture. Also, the foreground he kneels on the grass but other hoeing workers are standing on the ground without any grass around them.
Two distinctive men are placed in the middle of the picture vertically showing the gap in height. I thought this could be interpreted as a confrontation between working class and ruling class before I read professor's comment... The vantage point is placed on the worker, so I assumed that the photographer's point of view is supporting the workers.