DAY 170

SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Power

MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLEHILLS

Power is movement, action, energy. Power is active even when it appears to stand still. Power is the force behind change yet it can also become an obstacle to change. Mountains are symbols of power as are trains, automobiles, weaponry, and machinery. Power exists in nature as a force that can constrain or enable—weather, rivers, and fire are all examples. We (society, people, governments, religions) define who or what has power to constrain or enable us. Our personal perspective informs the definition of power.

Worker inspecting a locomotive on a pit in the roundhouse at the C&NW RR’s Proviso Yard, Chicago, Illinois, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano; courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Photographs convey power through the use of a particular set of visual tools. Simply filling the greater portion of the image with a figure or object creates a sense of power—the figure visually overtakes or controls the rest of the composition. Placing a particular figure in the forefront imparts a sense of power, ability, and importance while the figures or objects in the background become visually smaller and less capable of controlling their environment. The photographer can create a story where there is none, and often the choice of cropping and framing creates the story when one does not exist. —MLR