Sandra K. Friday
Now ready for the photos of Gordon Parks, we will begin the process with what many consider his most famous photo, "American Gothic" (
HPA
, p.33), shot in 1942 on his first day of work at the Farm Security Administration in Washington D.C.. Parks said he had been discriminated against three times that day, and somewhat out of anger, he created this photo of a cleaning lady he had met in the building, Ella Watson, a weary, spare black woman holding a large mop in one hand and a broom in the other, standing before a huge American flag hanging on the wall. Students might go on the Internet and find out just what was going on in this country in 1942 that might add to the poignancy of this photo. For example, Blacks were mounting the "Double V" campaign for democracy at
home
as well as abroad. Blacks in the military and at home, even those who had fought in the War for democracy abroad, were severely discriminated against. This "Double V" campaign (victory for democracy at home and victory for democracy abroad) gained tremendous support. Students will not be able to study the photographs of Gordon Parks from the '40's through the '60's without having an understanding of his use of irony - a weary black woman holding a large mop and broom before a huge symbol of equality and justice for all.
With "American Gothic" on the overhead projector, I will guide students through
the looking through the lens process
they have practiced on photos of themselves and their contemporaries, and on the photographs of the African American and Euro-American fathers holding their children in vastly disparate settings.
The first question on the graphic organizer, "What is the
composition
of the photo?" is objective, relying on facts. In "American Gothic" there are verticals for the most part, with Ella Watson dead center flanked by the mop and broom she is holding, standing almost as tall as she, in front of the vertical stripes of a huge American flag hanging on the wall behind her. Her somber expression and direct eye contact with the photographer and hence with the viewer could be construed as an indictment, depending on who's looking. But I am ahead of myself if I am to follow the process I have set out. Adding to the composition of the photo, the broom head, itself, is nearly as large as Ella Watson's torso, perhaps a condemnation of a democracy that expects hard labor from this lean black woman.
The second question, "What
props
are visible in the photo?" includes the mop, the broom, and the American flag. As to "the
condition of the room
," it is difficult to discern except to note that the wall behind Ms. Watson is large enough to hold a large American flag that reaches upward and out of the frame. The condition of the room and the mop and broom is unremarkable. But, Ms. Watson's simple housedress, while neat, seems to be missing two front buttons and may be pinned shut, possibly indicative of her economic plight. But this interpretation comes later in the process. As to "the
significance of the proximity of items
and people
to one another," we could make the observation that while the flag is behind Ella Watson, it nearly overpowers this diminutive cleaning lady in a housedress with missing buttons holding the tools of her labor: a mop and broom. We might speculate on Ella Watson's plight in our democracy represented by the giant flag. To help us with this, we need to study her expression and body language. Her facial expression is somber and her gaze is directly on us.
To answer the question, "What
emotion is expressed
in Ella Watson's face?" some students may perceive that she is resolved to take up her mop and broom and do her job with what strength she has. Others may note resignation in her demeanor, that there is no joy, no optimism for a better future for her, posed here in this real-life photo as an individual on the one hand, and, on the other, as a representative of humanity that democracy left behind or forgot.
I will remind my students of the presence of irony in photographs that I will have introduced in the photos of the African American urban father and the Euro-American suburban father holding and hoping for the well-being of their children in vastly disparate settings. What may be perceived as ironic in "American Gothic" is a middle-aged, spare, African American woman standing before the American flag, symbol of equality and democracy, with her symbols of her government's discrimination and neglect, a mop and a broom. Then of course there is the historical irony that in 1942 we were in the midst of WW II in which African American soldiers were fighting and dying for democracy abroad, and, those who weren't killed, coming home to racism and discrimination.
Having made our way through most of the graphic organizer's questions, students will now
write a caption
for this photo, followed by a
monologue or dialogue
, respectively: the cleaning lady alone or the student, more or less, interviewing the cleaning lady. To build the confidence of my students, we may need to work on this as a team, modeling it.
Perhaps most difficult is the last question on the graphic organizer, "
What do you feel
looking at this person and this photo?" The class might brainstorm possible feelings that the photo elicits, again to jump-start this process and give students prompts, because some of my students don't have a range of vocabulary to express all of the possible feelings that this photo might elicit. Confidence and success are important at the outset so my students don't become intimidated by trying "something unfamiliar."
Armed with the answers on their graphic organizers, their captions, monologues or dialogues, and their own emotional responses to "American Gothic," students will write the
story to go with the photo
. They must include as much as they possibly can of the
socio-
economic
,
cultural
and
historical
context for Ella Watson as she stands before the American flag with her mop and broom. It might build confidence and generate ideas if students worked in pairs or teams of not more than three for this story-writing activity. The make-up of the class might dictate the strategy for this activity.