Photo for Analysis: From the Archive - Politician, St. Paul, MN Frogtown (1993 - 1995) - Wing Young Huie
Link: http://know.wingyounghuie.com/post/23019334551
This photo was taken four years ago in St. Paul, Minnesota. First seeing the photograph, I noticed that being in black in white reflected its age, which may possibly contribute information for further analysis. In terms of content I see that there is a man, who appears could be white based on his hair, standing in front of a group of children of mixed racial backgrounds holding signs. The signs all seem to be trying to encourage people to join 'block clubs'. However, looking more closely at the image it becomes obvious that many of the children are not even looking at the man in the foreground. Many seem to be more interested in things going on behind him and off to the sides, possibly signifying that there was more to the situation that we could not see through one image. Also, it could be interpreted as the children were placed here to be used as advertising for a campaign as the man could be a politician or head of an organization giving a speech. This assumption is made based off of the fact that he is standing on a raised platform with a microphone in front of him. Looking more closely at the signs it is observed that they each have very different slogans or phrases on them, some including names, possibly representing people who died or had something happen to them and these children are trying to help in some way.
Both Margaret Atwood and Wing Young Huie both present this concept of 'othering' in their works, but do so in different ways. This is largely due to the fact that their styles of work are different and in so allow each of them to use certain techniques in place of others. In this image by Huie, it is presented in the positioning of the people in the photo, as well as their dress and racial background. It is seen that the man in the foreground, who is dressed in a suit, while the children are in normal clothes with thrown together signs, thinks or does hold a higher position of power over them not only due to dress, but the fact that he is raised above them on a platform to accentuate the height difference and allow him to look down on them. In contrast, Atwood presents 'othering' by social status dictated by gender and assigned position. These positions hold titles of familial or biblical connotations. These positions and discrimination between people was voluntary in the same way as in the photograph. In Atwood's novel, 'othering' was done by a higher power who subjugated the others and left following generations with no options or freedom, which she showed through language. In Huie's photo the people seem to have congregated by choice, while allowing the man in the suit to stand above them on the platform and did nothing to oppose it, while the man purposefully did this to separate himself from them.
