I selected a photograph of Willie Neal playing the fiddle while Charles Todd and Robert Sonkin record. 1930’s documentation was a mixture of photographs, and recordings. This photo is an example of both. When I glitched the image I was hoping that it would separate Willie Neal from Todd and Sonkin. We learned in class that specifically Alan Lomax would record folk music artists, sometimes take them on tour around the country, and copyright their recordings under his name. I’m not sure if Charles Todd and Robert Sonkin did the same thing, but if they did, I wanted to look at this photo and only focus on Willie Neal if possible.
Rather than focusing on the recorders, I want to focus on the folk music artists. Lead Belly’s name is linked with Alan Lomax’s, as are dozens of other musicians. The questions I asked myself were: How are folk musicians depicted in relation to those recording them? Does the composition of the photo impact the perception of those depicted? I’m more interested in the social aspects of image analysis, and I used that lens to interpret the glitched image, as well as the original. The different scopes of analysis help us to fully understand the image, from many different points of view.
The social aspects of image analysis encompass where the image was created, the subject of the photo, when it was taken, who it was taken for and why it was taken. I’ve always been more interested in societal representations and social interpretations. It’s very interesting to me. Because of this, I chose to focus on social issues. Based on what I know about Lomax’s recording and what he did with them, I wondered if other recorders did similar things. If so, I wanted to show Willie separately, and my final glitched image does that 1 It literally cuts the recording equipment out and places it to Willie’s left, leaving him center and only showing the people around him enjoying his music. The recordings of folk music are important; they kept a regional culture alive and thriving, but the artists themselves rarely got direct credit for their own compositions and performances.
Link to original photo: http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/items/show/189
Link to glitched image: http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/items/show/190
Citations: In class lecture with Professor Jessica Dauterive on image analysis
https://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000394/ Library of Congress, Voices of the Dust Bowl, Photo of Willie Neal playing the fiddle while Charles Todd and Robert Sonkin record him.
