Suzanne Stein – Jerry
Suzanne Stains photograph Jerry shows how isolated the world can seem when we are alone and how we seek help and guidance from those around us, both the child and man juxtapose each other as a child has youth and time but the homeless man does not. There is also the sense of being young and having hopes to find new experiences within life. The child looks to Spider-Man as his hero, while the homeless man looks to money as his hero. I also love the fact that the man’s face is covered by the smoke, as if society has forgotten him, while the child’s face is shown to show that he still has a chance to become a hero or what he hopes to be. I’m interesting detail I love about the photo is that there are chains above the man’s head, which can represent that shackled down by his past mistakes. The child has no chains and is free from any mistakes.
Suzanne uses rule of thirds to show isolation within the picture as both the homeless man and child are seamlessly so close but for a part she also uses leading lines to show connection and movement within society each line guides our eyes towards something new which can add to the image’s story and the message that the photographer is trying to tell us about society and our disconnection towards each other young or old, experience or no experience deep down we are all alone.. We also see many patterns within the background of the picture which adds to many focal points within the picture. The patterns seem almost hidden as it is not what you would see first in the picture, which shows that society may block out tiny intricate details in our day to day lives.
What a powerful photo. As you clearly state, the meaning of the photo revolves around the juxtaposition of the boy and the man. It reminds me that the man was once a boy.
Stein certainly places the two figures each in the left and right thirds of the photo. The strong diagonal line of the floor pulls the two figures together.