Young framers, 1914
Title unknown. From book, : The face of our time, published in 1929
AUGUST SANDER
SUBJECT MATTER/CONTENT
This photo consists of an elderly man using his two walking sticks seen in the foreground to walk up the lane in the background. The man appears to be cold as he is wearing a large jacket to keep him warm, and his face is not a very happy one. We can tell the man is old by his posture, being bent and twisted around stiffly to face us, and the white facial hair that lines his jaw. He looks as if he has been walking along the road and stopped suddenly to take a look around. Down the lane in the background of the photo i can see two large houses, these appear to be his destination, but if that is true we will never know. The shrubbery around the houses mean that it is easy for us not to focus on the houses that surround the old man but the old man himself. Something about the bushes allows us to focus on the man first and then the great big houses.
If looking at it i can see a story or a written sketch, easily seen because of the way he interacts with the camera. I can imagine someone has called out to him and told him to "wait up" and e has turned around in curiosity of who this might be. Because of the eye contact that the old man holds with the camera it appears a very striking image, as you feel like the old man is looking right at you.
If looking at it i can see a story or a written sketch, easily seen because of the way he interacts with the camera. I can imagine someone has called out to him and told him to "wait up" and e has turned around in curiosity of who this might be. Because of the eye contact that the old man holds with the camera it appears a very striking image, as you feel like the old man is looking right at you.
COMPOSITION
The two lines that i have drawn horizontal upwards from the mans walking sticks is where i believe the man has been framed. The angle of the sticks lead the eye directly to the mans piercing face and therefore show you the focal point of the image. The line that follows the path is a leading line towards the house, which is ironic as that is the main purpose of a path. However the definition between the path and the shrubbery i clear and this is what makes the leading line more effective. From that line we notice the large house, which is aided by the side of the house and the chimney. This is an old fashioned house, built to last not for style, so it is hard to miss. The building is a strong object that stands tall, which is something that shows comparison as the man is bent and does not look strong, but perhaps frail. The depth of field helps to keep our eye focused on the man, as he is in the foreground and in focus, whereas the building is not. The mans face is quite central to the image, but this is mainly because of the weird way in which his body has twisted to meet the camera. Therefore his body is actually in the right hand side of the photo. which leaves the house to be in the left hand side, looking closely it could appear that Sander has used the rule of thirds to help construct this image, as thee house, the mans face and the mans body are all evenly spaced sections. I believe once again that this image was taken with a medium format, because the image and the subject matter is very confronting, i don't think it needs to be big to make an impact on a person. It also is true to its time and is not able to create a large printing of the image as all things would have been created in the dark room. I believe the photo was taken from a distance and then zoomed into the shot that we see know. I say this with a meaning that doesn't exactly make sense, but the image appears to be taken from a distance, yet the subject matter is quite close in the foreground. There is an aged sepia look to the photo, and i cant be sure whether that is from the age of the photo or purposely done to it. However the overall concept of black and white makes the image more piercing, and like i have said previously results in an image that an be focused on the subject matter and we are not enticed to the image because of bold colours. We are also not distracted by colours and it means we can examine the photo for the subject matter and not anything else.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CONVENTIONS
The photograph was created outside which leads me to believe that photo was constructed with natural lighting. With the age of the photo being unknown we cannot say for certain, but i am sure there was not many flash cameras, and nor would they be needed on a bright day like it appears in the photo. The subject matter appears to be standing in the position, and not moving and therefore i would describe that he has used a normal shutter speed that would allow him to focus on the foreground. However, it may just be the old age but the position in which the old man has stopped does not look 100% natural so there is a possibility that the photo was taken with a very fast shutter speed as the man turned around. However i find this more unlikely and feel if the photo was constructed this way it may not have looked as effective. Like previously said the photo is old and would have been printed in the dark room, and could have been done so on a cart. There is no clarity to the photo and we can therefore be assertive to this prediction, as this is an affect that chemically produced photos can have. This piece of work is part of a series where Sander takes images all connected to this one by the way it feels, yet i know that we do not need to view the other images to understand what is going on in this image. It is left up to our interpretation and what the viewer makes of the image is the most important aspect. The piercing eyes can tell a lot of the story, and thats what sander was trying to get across.
WORKING METHODS
I think the artist, Sander, was trying to show his audience the story of people. Sometimes we forget that we all have our own backgrounds when truly this is what makes people interesting. In an evolving world, where the depression was fast evolving and the world war had just diminished, people had more depth to their souls as the had experienced more and this is what Sander was trying to portray through his images. Sander doesn't necessarily get involved with the image, but has made a strong connection between the subject matter and the viewer. This is done mainly through the eyes, and because they are looking right through the camera we have mad a connection.
PERSONAL RESPONSE
I like the image as i feel like i have made a connection with the subject matter. The eyes of the old man are the most successful part of the image and without them the image would be quite boring. I think it is very important to focus on real people and the impact that greater things have on them, and through this photograph we can see this concept.
ARTISTIC INFLUENCE
I cannot be sure who has influenced the work of Sander, but i know the the world war and the effects it has on people has influenced Sander. at the time the photographs were taken we can expect there was more and more talk of the Nazis and living in Germany would have been frightening and this has been portrayed through his work.