Atta girl, Atwood
Summary:
This photo shows a black man standing in front of what seems to be his house, holding his young dog. It was taken between 1997-2000 (the exact date is unknown by the photographer), in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The picture shows the man in a comfortable position with his dog behind his table that has a couple of beers on it. In the background, you can see trees and a fence, which we can infer is his home since his dog is with him. He is shown smiling in the middle of the picture, holding his dog up by the neck. In the photo description, the man in the pictures states that his dog is wearing the chain around his neck to strengthen his back muscles. The man told Huie that he wants his dog to be big and threatening to protect him and his house from harm. He also said that at first, his dog didn't like the chain around him but now he is used to it and will grow into the neck wrapping.
Wing Young Huie, when taking photos, wants to present people as they want to be presented. This is important when looking at this picture because it means that the man featured in the picture cares about his dog and loves him. We can also infer that where this man lives suffers from violence or something that is harmful enough that causes him to do this to his dog. That shows that he doesn't feel safe enough to defend himself, even when one can see a knife at the bottom of the picture on his table.
How do Wing Young Huie and Margaret Atwood present the concept of "othering" through color?
The way Huie uses color is very different than Atwood's approach in The Handmaid's Tale. In the photo, there is no color; in The Handmaid's Tale, color is used to represent different people and social classes. In the picture, the use of no color allows the audience to not focus on just one thing in the picture. Your eyes focus on the dog first, then to the man, then to thebackground, and so on. The colors are neutral which avoids all color schemes and makes you imagine the coloring. In The Handmaid's Tale, different social classes are forced to wear different colored clothes. For example the Handmaid's wear all red, except for their wings, and the Wives wear all blue. This makes the hierarchy within The Republic of Gilead blatantly obvious, something that's done on purpose. This allows Atwood to present the concept of "othering" in a very distinct way, rather than leaving you questioning the color in Huie's photograph.
This blog presents a picture of a black man holding his dog outside of a house. Brianna did a great job describing the picture, seeking out each detail. I agree with her inferences about the man's surroundings. This accurately reflects reflects her assumption that Wing Young Huie wants to present people as they wish to be presented.
ReplyDeleteBrianna's main point about the picture comes from the neutrality of color Wing Young Huie chooses to represent this man with. I am in agreement with her statements relating this image to The Handmaid's Tale about social classes. In the novel, Handmaid's were forced to wear red in order to take away individuality of all of the women of Gilead. This creates the effect that clothing does not have influence on the opinions about women. Relating to the picture, the use of black and white colors eliminates us from judging based on colors of him and his surroundings. I might view the man in the picture as more wealthy if his grass is a fresh cut green compared to the stereotypical brown color of dying grass in lower class areas.
Brianna summarizes her post by saying that Atwood creates "othering" by the mandatory use of red clothing for women. I am in complete agreement and am quite impressed from her deep analyzation and comparison of the image and The Handmaid's tale. While Atwood sets a fine line of taking away individuality, Huie opens it to interpretation and creativity by removing color and allowing us to speculate based off of our [different] opinions.
Nice first post, but I want more (though I do think there isn't much beyond the image to bring in). Your writing is clear and concise; additionally, I like that your selected image had commentary from Huie that you could bring in for additional context.
ReplyDeleteFor the othering sections, your post could go a bit further by looking beyond just othering and color. Think more about Huie's purpose beyond the image. It's not a visually interesting image, but Huie has a greater message with the images in the series.
Good job in going into detail about the picture. I like your stance that you take on how people you surround yourself with can influence you. You did a great job discussing Wing Yound Hie POV and why he chose to add the elements he did. Great job.
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