I would like to contrast this picture with Joel Meyerowitz's photo
Ballston Beach, Turro 1976-77
. This is an obvious beach scene with people doing various activities on the beach, the water in the background. The
Four Pairs of Shoes in the Sand (Mitch Diamond)
merely suggested -- you had to provide the images from your own experience -- while the Meyerowitz photo gives you more to look at. But it isn't just conjuring up the beach. Here the centerpiece is the lifeguard. People seem to be falling in and out of the picture but the center holds the lifeguards and his perch high above the beach. In the background the ocean is calm. The one male life guard sitting in the chair has a relaxed attitude. Students could tell by the way his arms were hanging over the chair that everything was peaceful. The distinct horizontal lines on the horizon and the shore of the beach help to emphasize the calm. The lifeguard's resting arms are in line with the horizon line. The only things breaking the horizontal lines are the vertical lines of the lifeguard's chair and the flag pole.
A female guard sits on the sand in back of the chair. We know who they are because they wear orange. The children readily knew that the orange color they were wearing would be easy to see. They also knew that the orange cross on the flag waving above the lifeguard's chair was meant to show where help was available my students sensed that the picture told of the dangers of the beach as well as its beauty and opportunity for fun. While people play and have fun the guards are always there to protect us. We hardly know that they are there. There seems to be a line between the people on the beach and the water and a very distinct horizon line between the water and the sand and water and sky. Students noticed that the guard's chair blocked out part of the water.
While the
Four Pairs of Shoes in the Sand (Mitch Diamond)
photo showed how minimalism could work this photo was different. Meyerowitz took what might be a typical scene but chose a point of view that does not tell us the typical story. He might have stepped in front of that lifeguard's chair and taken the shot of people on the beach. As one of my students suggested by not doing this he makes us think more. He is telling us about a part of the beach we don't think about -- the danger.
I suggest that students could imagine they are one of the lifeguards and talk about the responsibility they have for guarding the people on the beach. They might talk about the equipment that we see in the photo and how they might use it. Still they might offer a
story about being rescued. Perhaps they rescued someone or were rescued themselves.
Next, I would use is called
House and Tornado
(Chuck Carlton)
building on the other photos we are merely trying to work on expanding an idea and seeing what details we could find. In this photo the house is calmly sitting in the left front of the picture while to the right a tornado looms! Both the house and tornado are in black and white. The photos show how certain images can evoke a myriad of ideas. Most of the students were impressed with the tornado. We talked about the fact that the title of the picture was
House and Tornado
and not
Coming Danger
or A
Tornado about to Strike
. Is there a particular reason for it being title simply H
ouse and Tornado
? Both images can be looked at separately. What if we just saw the house? Curiously two distinct reactions came from my students. Some thought the house was a place they would like to live in. Some thought the house had people inside while others thought the house looked empty because all the shades were down. Some of the students thought the house was strange. It seemed isolated and alone. A few thought they would like it better if it were another color. The black shutters seemed to make the house somehow creepy. They speculated that there might be someone in the house who needed to be warned. The tornado was awe-inspiring.
Looking at the way the photo is set up also provides some interesting ideas. Cutting the picture in two provides us with the house in the forefront and left a mixture of strong rectangles and triangles which emphasize strength and immobility. The tornado on the right side of the picture swirls up and dominates the top half of the photo. Those curves which show the might of the cyclonic winds also has a wildness as it extends to the top that suggests a genie being let out of a bottle. We expanded our conversation into the telling of personal experiences about storms and recollections of films they had seen about tornados. I was even able to go the weather channel web site and show them video of actual tornadoes.
How do the streets look before a storm? Perhaps our uneasiness with the house was just the fact that people were absent or hiding. One writing assignment might consist of students coming up with a list of things to do before a storm. They might also write a few rules that should be followed during a storm or tornado. Since most students are fascinated with tornadoes and hurricanes this might be linked to a science unit on these phenomena.
What would happen after the storm? I would like to contrast this with a picture of people inspecting the aftermath of a storm. I have found a few pictures that show a few of the emotions of people after a storm. There is dealing with loss and the damage of the event while also a sense of celebrating life and the fact they have survived. Again, students might be asked to write a journal entry describing how they might feel after surviving a destructive storm. I have also thought of playing some music like
La Mer
or the storm sequence from the
William Tell Overture
.
