I selected the image through the FSA colored photographs section because I’m interested in the dynamic between women and the work force during the New Deal era. This image very clearly shows that there was a presence of women in work environments after the great depression. More specifically, this image allows the current audience to develop a better understanding of the different components that go into the creation of a documentary photograph. For example, critics of this photograph might argue that because the photograph was staged, the authenticity of the photograph and the presence of women in the workforce might be lessened. This photograph makes me question whether women were accepted in male-dominated work forces and how unions played a role against gender discrimination.
Image analysis is a very useful method in thinking more critically about digital history. According to Trever Owens, “the integrity of objects is something that can be expressed through a range of software enabled readings of it.”1 History, as a discipline, has not always prioritized the analysis of a primary source image beyond what is given at face-value, so these principles of image analysis are actually quite progressive.
The process of analyzing an image might actually teach a lesson that is more important than what the image is saying in the first place; the lesson being that sources can perpetuate a very certain perspective on history and that should be deconstructed.
Moreover, this western perspective has monopolized the way historians react to the past and glitching photographs is an excellent way towards destabilizing that monopoly. As Michael Kramere argues in his article, glitching photographs can produce “a more accurate interpretation of the history it captures.”2. I found the glitching method to be more engaging and useful than the principles of image analysis because in addition to creating a more accurate representation, it can help people better analyze the relationship between agency, systems of oppression, and the creation of historical narrative.
The principles of image analysis and glitching helped me interrogate my historical question by helping me think beyond what is given at face-value. I glitched the photograph so that the gender of the person in the photograph is less obvious, yet still recognizable if viewed closely. The transition between the original and the glitched image allows the audience to be more critical of the original artists intentions on emphasizing the woman in the work environment.
Omeka exhibit: http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/exhibits/show/hibba-khan/lucile-mazurek-working-in-1943
Omeka item: http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/items/show/161
