The picture I decided to analyze is titled: Untitled, by William Eggleston, 1965
The photograph was taken by William Eggleston, as a photographer, his first photos were taken in black and white. He later on began to take pictures in color around the 1960's.
In the photo, one can tell that the stores are closed and a young man appears to be working quickly in order to put away the carts in the store. Behind him, one can see a classier older lady walking towards him, probably with intentions to want to go in the store; even if it’s closed.
Personally, at a glance I believe that this photograph is trying to educated the public. It is trying to educated the public by showing how some people work really hard, (young boy) are sometimes “stepped” on by wealthy people who believe they can do everything and anything because they are “classy” and “wealthy” (older woman).
The elements of this photograph that stand out are the facial expressions of each character. The young boy looks as if he is in a rush or hurry to get his work done. The facial expression of the lady is as if she’s walking on top of the world, free of worries and just looking fashionable.
The composition of this photograph emphasizes hard work. The contrast in this photo gives one details that are important and only thought of, if thought carefully. Although the position of the worker is in front of the classy lady, in the shadow, the hard worker is behind the wealthy woman.
In the photograph the creator shows the values of each character. The young man is worried about his job, and getting the store carts inside, and ready for closing. However, the classy woman, looks as if she’s just ready to barge into the store regardless of whether or not it’s closing; showing that her value is that of her money.
The feelings that this work seems to intend is that of hard work. Viewers who see this photograph can in some cases relate their own life to it. The reason being because many people work extremely hard to have the little they have, but there are always people who like to come and just act like they can do whatever they want or act however they want because they have money.
This photograph affects me in many ways. One being that I have seen this happen, I have seen people who work very hard trying to fold clothes in stores or organize books just to have someone come and make a complete mess of everything, all because they believe they “can” just because they are “wealthy” or have the mentality that “it’s their job to fix it”.
The creator’s work does not offend me, amuse me, bore me, but it does affect me in the way that it moves me. It moves me because its reality; reality of life captured and frozen for many to see and analyze.
Personally, I believe the work was creative. It was creative because William Eggleston was able to capture everything. He was able to capture; the glare, the facial expression of each character, and most importantly the shadow in the photograph, which to me, said a lot.
