Blog #2

Joel Sternfeld's photo of a memorial scene in Detroit impacts its audience to respect human life. The phrase, "When you take someone's life you forfeit your own," along with each detail of the storefront building and its environment moves a person to contemplate the person who was seemingly murdered and his effect on all other people. Each little memento from the "MOM" outlined in flowers, to the white cross on the ground symbolizing death and innocence, to the long, emotional writing on the door signifies the emotional impact many different people had on this scene. A story is also being told throughout the photo by different elements of the scene. For example, the tree blowing in the wind reveals part of a drawing on the wall behind the building which, around one man bent and covering his face and another wearing a suit and tie, the words, "Guilty, Aug 23 1993, Life in prison, Oct. 12, 199..." can be seen. The white and black writing is also mirrored on the other side of the photo by a sign saying, "Do the right thing." This was probably done on purpose by Sternfeld to frame the shot, balance it out, and drag the reader's eye across the same level as the store's window decorations of everything from posters of racecars, people, and bumper stickers to letters, plywood, and writing on the door above a "sold" sign; therefore, telling more of the story of what happened to the people who lived there obviously for a while.
When added together, each mark, of mourning and even the repetition of capital letters and the phrase "Malice Green Ave," composes the depressing tone that the photographer captured. The building itself is depressing to see, not only because it is old and almost falling apart, but also because of the two colors, pale green and plywood brown. The faded green symbolizes the loss of money, power, and strength and the puke-green inference reminds one of being sick. This could be used to emphasize the pain and struggle that encompassed the characters of this scene's every day life. The plywood in the windows and along the roof, representing poverty, work, and care, catch and drag the eye up the scene to a house in the background. With another boarded up window in the attic, this house also represents home, and brings the audience to an emotional level by imposing the thought of a life these people had fought so hard to build and keep, destroyed by a powerful act of violence. In addition to content alone, each element of the photo, including the frame, scale, point of view, structure, and context, is an important piece which combines to be able to stimulate the audience on such an emotional level. The lines framing each story of the building run parallel to the curb, thus creating three main levels of structure. The first level, on the bottom, is strictly a memorial with flowers, artwork of a man, and a cone, a metaphor for police or authority involvement. The second and most busy level is that of the storefront windows, which also aligns with most of the writing. Comparatively, the third level is blank and vacant with only the first and largest phrase written in spray paint and punctuated with handprints. This final level contains the broken, empty windows into a life once lived. The overall impact of this photo, taken from across the street, uses each of its elements to tell a detailed, emotional story of the people of Malice Green Ave.