Response 4: Into the Wild

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesec/124673194/in/set-1509355/

 “Absolute Truth and Honesty. Reality.  Independence. 

Finality—Stability—Consistency.”  -Alex

I was drawn to the simplicity of this photograph, a boat still, at sunset.  It is a very calm yet strong image.  I saw in it a sense of sincerity, of honesty.  It is very balanced although the boat is over water.  The paddles are aligned supporting each other creating this sense of stability.  The water that the boat sits on is very still and consistent while the water that lies ahead looks more dynamic.  The picture just seemed complete to me, satisfying.  When I thought of a quote in Into the Wild of an equal sense of strength I thought of the quote above.  Because the photograph looks so satisfying and complete to I thought it perfectly described “finality—stability—consistency”.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjb/129603364/in/photostream/

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure”   -Alex

This is a photograph of a memorial of three statues of men standing in a row; the photographer might have cropped the other part of the memorial.  This image of three sullen, sad, conforming men drew my attention because it was the opposite of the ideal state that a person should be in according to Alex.  They capture this strong emotion in them.  They seem dissatisfied with their lives, yet they are still conforming to them.  None of them has his eyes open.  As if they were blinded into conforming to their conventional lives.  Because it is a close up picture, the person on the right seems as if he is about to pass the medium of time.  The next man is awaiting his turn to live the same mundane life without even allowing his instinct to lure him away from his predicated path.   I choose this caption because I wanted to create a sense of irony stemming from these men’s ignorance of their true spirit.  I guess they do not have a living spirit because they have suppressed their passion for adventure indicated by the unwillingness to even look around.  They are portrayed walking with their eyes are fixated on the ground crushing any spirit of curiosity, let alone adventure. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrefrancoise/129380815/

“When I lay down to sleep, I was overcome by a wrenching loneliness.  I’d never felt so alone, ever.” –Krakauer 

This is a picture of a park in Italy.  The photograph is taken when the park is empty and elicits a feeling of loneliness.  I chose it because it captures a still, lonely moment in time.  No movement is seen in the photograph, it is a subtle yet deep loneliness.  When I see it I feel, as if the bench closest to the camera is the lonely one because it is not aligned vertically like the rest of the benches.  My attention is drawn to this bench because it is different in a way from the other benches.  Even the tree which lies next to it does not form a shadow with the other trees.  The bench is lonely and it knows it’s lonely.  The whole park is lonely because no one is there.  No movement is captured in this photo, which instills a feeling of loneliness.  Furthermore, the choice of making it black and white distances the viewer from the photograph.  These feelings of loneliness that are elicited by the photograph are why I chose this photo instead of other ones.  The other photographs I have encountered in this website do not have this sense of stillness in the photo which I desired.  I chose this particular quote because it is a personal quote which spoke about Krakauer’s loneliness at that particular moment in time.  I don’t think that Krakauer is always lonely, only at that moment.  Likewise, the park and the bench in the park are not always lonely—only at that particular moment. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mosredna/129362717/

“Actually, I just climbed the Devils Thumb.  I’ve been over here twenty days.”  -Krakauer

This is a photograph of a young man on a small hill.  He seems to feel in control and confident.  The place looks spooky somewhat devilish.  I choose this caption because I wanted it to seem easy to climb the Thumb.  The steps that this man took to climb this small hill seem effortless, nothing to be proud of.  I wanted to show that Krakauer’s achievement here is not really great in the spiritual sense, but I wanted to show that literally.  It’s ironic because this small climbable hill is no Devils Thumb yet the guy on top of it feels that it is just as glory worthy.  In this same sense Krakauer’s climb to the Devil’s Thumb did not provide any spiritual satisfaction although he thought it would. 

Synthesis: When I added a quote to a picture it added more meaning to it, at the same time it narrowed the meaning of it to the one I specified within the quote.  The photograph slightly narrowed the meaning of the caption.  Fore example, since the photograph of the boat is simple, it made it seem that the absolute truth is simple, that finality stability and consistency is found in simplicity and in nature, by not disturbing nature.  In a larger scale this photograph influenced into the wild by giving the adventure a peaceful sense.  The adventurer (represented by the boat) did not seek to disturb the wild–only be in it.  In return, the quote shifted the attention to the deeper meaning of the photograph.  It downplayed the consideration of it as a representation of a beautiful scene, or the appreciation of the aesthetic beauties of it.  The caption in this photograph draws our attention to the sense of balance in the photograph, the stillness of it as a representation of the quote. 

When I quoted Into the Wild out of context it still in a way highlighted the main point that of the paired quote.  Actually, it might have highlighted what I thought that the quote meant.  It did so through showing it in the opposite light.  For example, the photograph of the statues paired with the quote about the man’s true spirit highlights their suppressed spirit.  It emphasizes their spiritual and emotional state.  It does not focus the attention on the social status (which is clearly low) nor does it emphasize their aging, or the time period they live in.  Thus, the apparent irony of the photographs only focuses the attention of the viewer to the specific aspect of the picture that I thought was important.