Negative from the Los Angeles Examiner Collection, September 11, 1956
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This image, taken in the year 1956 by a news photographer credited simply as "Miller," comes from a negative in the Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection at the USC Libraries.
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2020-11-21T19:09:46-08:00
This image, taken in the year 1956 by a news photographer credited simply as "Miller," comes from a negative in the Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection at the USC Libraries. The way the women are posing, the lighting, and the low view from which we see them makes a very captivating photograph. Although it was written for a very different context, the reading that came to my mind while looking at this picture was Federick Douglass's “Pictures and Progress” (1864-65). In this reading, Douglass stressed that “man[kind] is a picture making and a picture appreciating animal.” Through the invention of photography, he argued, humans are able to use nature and their surroundings to showcase “all the attributes of distinct personality, so that it becomes the subject of distinct observation and contemplation.” We can see how this applies to this image. In a sense, the women used what they were wearing and posed in a way to make a fashion statement. The contrast of the black-and-white image emphasizes their dark-colored clothes. Photography in this case is being used as an “instrument of expression” in the sense Douglass touched upon. He states that through the use of such images, people are now able to see themselves the way others see them and as others in the future will see them. Douglass also stated that “where there is no criticism there is no progress.” As this image circulated in its time, it might have been admired. But it there could have also been criticisms and ideas to improve its quality. By acknowledging the defects, one is able to work and improve photographic technology and technique.
