Photograph As Metaphor
On Discovering The Metaphors, This Morning’s Images Reveal
This is the first image I made this morning. The first photograph of the day often sets the tone for what I will see on my camera roll when I return home.
This abstract image set me to thinking about photographs as metaphor. Some photographers think all photos are metaphors. There is a long history in photography, of photographers intentionally making images as metaphors.
Alfred Steiglitz, in the early part of the last century, made a famous series of cloud photographs he called, Equivalents. He thought of them as metaphors for his turbulent, and often conflicted emotions. Emotions generated by his difficulties in loving his free spirited wife, the painter, Georgia O’Keefe.
Three decades later, Minor White intentionally focused on making images that he considered metaphors. His inspiration was often spiritual, as he studied and absorbed Eastern Religions, throughout the last half of his life.
As a gay man in the mid twentieth century, he had little choice to express the emotions he felt openly. He found the solution was to make photographs that were metaphors for his feelings, the passion he felt in all aspects of his life. In doing so, he offered a map to other sensitive and inquiring souls.
