Pasadena City College carnival, May 15, 1952
This image uniquely captures a scene at the Pasadena City College carnival in 1952 and thereby identifies the significance of photography in everyday life. Striking is the convincing representation of the fact that individuals are actively pausing their activities to manipulate their behavior in order to have their photograph taken in a given moment. This type of behavioral modification might have previously been observed in photographic studios, where subjects actively chose to spend their time working for the art of photography. However, this image depicts an evolution of photographic application in everyday life which would have never been imagined before. People would consciously stop their activity in everyday life situations in order to take a photograph or likewise have a photograph taken, even though the very moment implies no intersection with the direct interest in and affinity to art and photography at all. This type of behavior identifies the significant shift in the meaning of photography to society and may propose the directionality of this novel movement of photography as a form of modern media.
Most striking about this picture is the candid representation of the photographer in the action of taking the photograph. The observer of the photograph gets a glance of the equipment that is set up in order to capture a social scene outside of the studio. However, just like it was practiced earlier in studio photography, the subjects of the image are very aware of the photo being taken. In fact, they actively chose to be photographed and possibly even spent money on the service. At this point, photography evolves into a service that is available to almost any social group, and becomes a widespread practice that mobilizes and inspires.
Most striking about this picture is the candid representation of the photographer in the action of taking the photograph. The observer of the photograph gets a glance of the equipment that is set up in order to capture a social scene outside of the studio. However, just like it was practiced earlier in studio photography, the subjects of the image are very aware of the photo being taken. In fact, they actively chose to be photographed and possibly even spent money on the service. At this point, photography evolves into a service that is available to almost any social group, and becomes a widespread practice that mobilizes and inspires.