Author: Vivian

Thomas Holton’s “A Stern Lecture” gives the audience a glimpse into the life of the Lams. In the photo, a total of five people can be identified in a photograph of the sleeping area in the Lams’ apartment. The “main point” of focus, however, is on the right of the photo where we see the father of the family hovering above his son and presumably giving him a stern lecture as the photo’s title implies. What is interesting about this photo is that despite it being the “main point” according to the title, the father and the son are located in the background while the mother of the household is located at the center of the photograph and in the foreground as if to say that these different events occurring around her—the stern lecture and sharing a bed between three people—are things that are a part of her daily life. If one views the photograph with the title in mind, however, then it would quickly become apparent that there is a lack of privacy for the son who is being lectured by the father. This is important because it then leads one to consider the next set of themes in the photograph: the lack of space and boundaries shared amongst the Lams and the closeness (figurative and literal) derived from it. 

In order of least to greatest in significance, the identifiable formal elements in this photograph are: frame within a frame, figure to ground, and leading lines. To the left of the photograph, the mother as well as two other members of the family can be identified to either be sitting or lying down on the bottom section of a bunk bed. The bunk bed serves as a frame that separates the subjects within it from the rest of the photograph and imitates what could be a boundary that sections off the “stern lecture” taking place to the right of the photograph when, in fact, no such boundary or privacy exists, and so the recurring theme of a lack of space is highlighted once again. This leads to the next element: figure to ground; while there is a sharp focus on the mother of the family (the figure), the rest of the photograph—even the stern lecture—appears almost secondary (the ground.) In contrast to this, however, Holton chose to name this work after the secondary aspect of the photograph, which begs the question: why would one make the mother the center of focus for the photograph when it is the secondary aspect that the photo is named after? While it cannot be concretely confirmed what Holton’s intentions were, it is clear that the placement of the Mrs. Lam at the center of the photograph is anything but arbitrary. As the audience, one not only gets a glimpse into her life, but Mrs. Lam’s gaze that stares directly at the camera establishes a sort of connection between herself and the viewer of the photograph. It is the first thing that one’s eyes gravitate towards in the photograph and then gradually the rest of the photograph is explored by the audience’s eyes, effectively placing the audience in the shoes of Mrs. Lam. Lastly, while it is not outright apparent, one can observe an assortment of furniture, items, and decor to the right of the photograph that acts as leading lines: the ladder in the foreground, the wooden pole behind the bed, the linear pattern on the pillowcase, and even the linear ridges/raised surfaces along the white walls. This is an interesting take because the co-existence of the leading lines and the figure to ground relationship creates not one but two points of focus in the photograph. The most obvious of the two points of focus, as previously discussed, is Mrs. Lam who is located at the center of the photograph while the less obvious point of focus would be the stern lecture taking place to the right of the photograph. If Mrs. Lam was meant to be the subject that the audience should take notice of first, then the stern lecture taking place in the background is where the audience’s eyes should be drawn to next. From Mrs. Lam’s point of view to the stern lecture that takes place in the background, this sequence of events inclines the audience to relate to Mrs. Lam who experiences the lack of boundaries, closeness of her family, and parenting in her daily life.