A photograph is not meant just for the viewing purposes of a photojournalist. Just like in the old adage “every photo is worth a thousand words,” every human being is drawn to the various stories that the photo attempts to tell, bringing the brilliant images of relatives, friends and people we work with in an abstract and lively way for our amusement and remembrance as well as that of others. Photographs tell the stories that are inherent in the minds of the artist, evoking latent emotions in the viewer that are either an attempt, by the artist, to capture their character, feelings, places or even events (Warren 23). Now more than ever, the power of telling and recreating a story has been harnessed through the use of photographs, taking more than the skills and power of critique of a photographer but the imagination of the viewer. In an abstract way, photos taken of nonfigurative and conceptual images are sometimes far removed from the original meaning that the artist intended them to be, their interpretation being subject to the discretion and judgment of the viewer (Wells 74).
Michelle Chiquita’s photograph shows the documentation of a pencil throughout a period of two weeks. In the picture, you can see the transition of a pencil, with regards to its size and background, as it goes through the different phases of ‘life.’ The picture shows a series of scenes depicting a yellow pencil on a foolscap background, each with different mathematical calculations and formulas. Looking at each of the pieces, the size and scale of the pencil keeps getting smaller with regards to the foolscap background, while more and more calculations keep being added to the background. White framing all through the picture makes the slides more visible to the viewer, bringing them into focus and making it possible for the viewer to concentrate on them. The vertical, restive position of the pencil in each of the slides is indicative of a resort to have finished a particular task, presumably that of writing on the foolscap, with the pencil resting in an awkward horizontal position after having finished its ‘work.’ On first sighting, the attention of the viewer is immediately turned to the pencil, constantly trying to figure out the different phases that it goes through and the true essence of the photograph.
The picture can be interpreted in relation to my life, with regards to the yellow pencil and the different phases that it seems to be undergoing. In the very first slide, a, presumably new, pencil is shown laying on a blank piece of foolscap. In relation to life, the unsharpened piece of pencil shows a new entrance into life; a new born baby that has not been ‘sharpened’ by the experiences of life. The foolscap has nothing written on it as it is with real-life; every child has to chart their own livelihoods and histories. As the pencil get sharpened throughout its life, so does the life of a human being as he or she goes through life, facing life’s problems and being taught by them. As the person gets older, their minds are clouded by thoughts, emotions and feelings of new and unknown experiences, some of them proving to be problematic and unsolvable. This is the same case with the pencil. It has to solve various mathematical problems, most of which are complex and seemingly unsolvable.
As it is with everyday life, sometimes we make the wrong choices of which, at one time or the other, we have to go back and make right again. Whether this is done by seeking forgiveness from those that we have wronged or by pledging to never commit the wrong again, realizing the mistake before it is too late is one of the most vital human emotions that is innate to all of us, keeping us from committing future mistakes and mending our relationships with those that we associate ourselves with. In the same way, the picture initially shows the eraser-end of the pencil being completely untouched since nothing has been erased. Just like the baby is born without having done or made any wrong choices, the pencil has not made any wrong calculations and as thus, there is nothing to delete. However, as time goes by, the baby grows older and makes some wrong choices just in the same way the pencil makes wrong calculations. Luckily, these ‘miscalculations’ are discovered in time and are corrected, significantly reducing the size of the rubber. This is also typical with human beings as sometimes, the more they forgive, the more their level of forgiveness diminishes (Wells 85). At one point in their lives, they cannot forgive repeated mistakes; in the same way that the rubber of the pencil eventually cannot erase any more of the miscalculations done on the paper.
In the end, there is only one answer to the problem; whether it is one concerned with life or a mathematical calculation. However long the struggle is, as is depicted by the strenuous calculations carried out on various foolscaps, a final answer has to be arrived at so that the problem can be laid to rest. The various subjects, colors and compositions that are undertaken by the pencil provide meaning and attachment to its user, just in the same way that the various experiences that a person faces everyday lay meaning to their lives. Every page of the foolscap is necessary to arrive at the right answer. If one single step is removed or left out, then it becomes impossible to arrive at the solution. Similarly, one has to go through all the different stages of life, each one of them adding value and quality to the eventual person that they are meant to become. After a resolution has been arrived at, the pencil is allowed to rest. There are sometimes, however, when rest is arrived at even when a satisfactory solution has been gotten since either the mathematical operation is too hard for the pencil’s user or the user does not detect a miscalculation in their operation (Wells 94). In the same way, people sometimes do not realize that they have wronged others or made the wrong choices until it is too late in their lives. In this case they cannot do anything about their past mistakes.
Works Cited
Warren, Bruce. Photography: the concise guide. London, UK: Rutledge, 2002.
Wells, Liz. Photography: a critical introduction. London, UK: Rutledge, 2004.