Robert Frank and Film Art

The Robert Frank photo "Charleston, South Carolina" could be interpreted in many different ways. Chapter 2 of Film art discusses how every aspect of a piece of work should be taken into account when trying to decipher the overall meaning of the piece. It also discusses how what may seem like small or insignificant aspect of a piece may play a large part into the pieces meaning.

The most obvious aspect of this photo is that it is in black and white. While this was most likely a stylistic choice common throughout the entire Robert Frank photo set, the median of black and white film may have some significant meaning for Robert Frank. He may have been trying to portray an overall serious feel to the photo series.

The next most apparent aspect of this piece is that it is an older black woman holding a white baby. Frank traveled the United States in the mid 1950's taking many photos and only published 83, yet this was the photo he chose to represent Charleston, South Carolina. This by no means a coincidence. It is fairly safe to assume that the baby is not the woman's child, yet the child seems content. What at first may seem like an ordinary photo may be a much more complex statement on racial divide in the south. What this image portrays to me, is the innocence of a child. The child doesn't know racism, it may not even acknowledge skin color.

This picture shows to people of different skin colors getting along with each other, something that probably wasn't to common in Charleston, South Carolina in 1956. Sadly one of them was an infant.

Overall I can understand why Robert Frank chose this photo to represent Charleston South Carolina.