Bleacher advertisement, Southern California, 1938
6
The selected image, or rather images, shows an advertisement for bleachers. Although this is clearly a print of two photographs with text included, the document itself is a photograph of the print.
plain
2020-11-24T19:33:32-08:00
The selected image, or rather images, shows an advertisement for bleachers. Although this is clearly a print of two photographs with text included, the document itself is a photograph of the print. The advertisement boasts “safe, economical, practical” bleachers “built from highest quality materials.” Accompanying the text are two photographs of the bleachers from two different angles. It is common in advertising for the viewer to see the product from multiple angles in order to showcase the whole product and leave nothing in question. However, these images do not simply serve the purpose of being an objective representation of the product being sold; the photographs also serve an artistic purpose in the advertisement. Moholy-Nagy writes in reference to advertising, “It is obvious that for any kind of work to be effective, it must be carried out in a creative manner.” The bleachers themselves are quite beautiful due to their simplicity. The top photo shows rows of bleachers that seem to go on forever. The bleachers’ perpendicular lines create a satisfying focal point that leads the viewer’s eyes along the endless rows of seating. Additionally, the lighting creates a strong contrast which turns the bleachers into a pattern of intersecting lines. Thus, this advertisement carries a certain artistic satisfaction along with its inherent objectivity. Moholy-Nagy argues that photographic advertisements “mainly exploit the impression of truth conveyed by photography.” A common social concept at the time was that clear and sharp photographs conveyed truthful objectivity, while blurry and soft images were either seen as untruthful or visions of a world that the human eye could not see without a camera. In the example of this advertisement for bleachers, both the exploitation of photography’s inherent objectivity and its ability to be used artistically are at work.
