DAY 310

SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Quality of Life

THE DOCTOR VISIT

Conveying ideas and concepts requires photographers to place themselves into the action and movement of the topic. In order to convey the concept of quality of life, Dorothea Lange placed herself in an environment that caters to supporting it: health care. Documenting an actual visit to the doctor places the children in the appropriate environment to convey the concept. The actions of the doctor and nurse are obvious and recognizable to the audience. Environment and setting are important to creating a whole photograph, a photograph that speaks fully to the viewer.

Symmetry is an important component of this photograph’s composition. It is used here to convey tradition and a highly developed level of order. The body and its health are based on systems of order. The work of the doctor and the nurse are based on a particular order that is repeated for every patient—the checking of vital signs, the testing of reflexes, the measurement of weight and height in relation to age. The doctor and nurse stand back to back, one’s actions reflecting the other’s. The doctor stands in the foreground, indicating a level of dominance and control. —MLR