punctum baby ~ personal meaning which "escapes" language / part I

A number of years past I acquired a book, The Art of the American Snapshot ~ 1888-1978. The book is a catalog of a 2007 exhibition of the same name at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, I missed the exhibition which dearly wanted to see. In any event, the book itself is quite interesting and impressive. In the description of the book (found on the inside fold of the dust cover), with which I emphatically concur, it is written that:

The publication shows that among the countless snapshots taken by American amateurs, some works, through intention or accident, continue to resonate long after their intimate context and original meaning have been lost.

To my eye and sensibilities, one such snapshot which resonates with me, long after its intimate context and original meaning has been lost to the ages, is the baby in a highchair snapshot which accompanies this entry. It so resonates with me that I consider it to be one of the most beautiful and intriguing / involving pictures I have ever seen.

This picture is a found picture. Several years ago, I acquired it in a small second-hand store in a central Pennsylvania town where the wife and I had stopped for lunch during a drive from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. It was buried in a shoebox of old snapshots and, when I saw it, I was stopped dead in my tracks. To this day I can not adequately explain in words its hold on me and my thoughts.

I know on one level, that of the picture making craftsman in me, I find the picture to be quite beautiful. The rich-in-detail dark tones contrasted against the luminous light on the baby and upper highchair is simply gorgeous. The quality of the slanting light - most likely late day, is one reason why I react to the picture as very "warm". However, the absolutely wonderful distinct shadows of the highchair, of the porch pillar and fretwork, the foliage as well as the rather indistinct shadows in the lower third of the picture, all combine to create a somewhat "cool", ominous and mysterious feeling which stands in contrast to the "warmth" of the late day light.

And, with the primary referent, that of the baby in his highchair, nearly centered within the frame, all of the aforementioned seem to swirl around the balance of the frame so that it all works together to create a well ordered and harmonious pictorial space.

And, it is the well ordered and harmonious pictorial space in addition to the light and dark play of light that causes me to wonder about the maker (was it a man or woman?) of this picture. iMo, the picture evidences either the result of a of a "lucky" snapshot, or, that of a picture maker with an awareness of good framing and the interplay of highlight and shadow. I lean toward the notion of a picture maker with awareness inasmuch as ...

... the picture maker seems to have selected a POV which not only includes, one might even say features, the play and quality of the light but which also stands in contrast to what a very casual snap shooter might do - move in closer in order to fill the frame with the baby. I think it also safe to write that a casual shape shooter would barely, if at all, noticed or cared about the surrounding environment / background.

All-in-all, to my eye and sensibilities, the picture evidences a rather sophisticated awareness on the part of the picture maker to visual matters other than the baby. Then again, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.

While I can go on and on describing why the picture appeals to my craft sensibilities - what Roland Barthes might label, at least in part, as studium ... the fact that the image is a unified and self-contained whole whose generalized meaning can be taken in at a glance - it is when I get to the punctum - the wounding, personally touching detail which establishes an intensely private / personal meaning which "escapes" language - that I get rather tongue-tied (or, if you prefer, typing-tied).

In part II of this topic I will try my best to put into words that which "escapes" language. That is, to elucidate my reaction to the personally touching detail which establishes the intensely private / personal meaning that I experience with this picture.