WP1: Pre-Writing Assignment 2

This particular photograph by Twagira is very intriguing in that at first glance, the viewer may feel the evocation of some type of emotion, but may not know which emotion or from what exactly it is derived. After some examination and further analysis of the photo, it becomes apparent that the more technical aspects of this photo are what draw the viewers in and create within them the feelings that they are feeling. Regardless of whether Twagira considered these technical aspects when capturing the photos in his collection, the utilization of each works in his favor. People are paying attention to and are captured by his photos because of the many different factors that work together to bring them into being.


In almost every situation in life, as humans (and as animals) we base our actions and our decisions upon those which we have seen other people fulfill. A concrete example of this phenomenon is the utilization of vectors of attention in Twagira’s Fishing photograph. Normally, when viewing a photograph in which people are present, the viewer is able to visually determine where the attention of the people in the photograph is focused, thus communicating to us the important physical aspects of the photograph as well as possible emotional cues. In Fishing, however, the men in the boat are not even facing the camera and are most likely unaware that their picture is even being captured. Even so, it is possible to distinguish the focuses of attention of these two gentlemen as well as to pick up any possible emotional cues from the “characters” of this text by tuning into how the head of each man is turned and by making inferences as to where each character might be looking. For instance, because the men are turned away, a distant feeling is created. They are looking away from “us” as the viewers of the text, and away from everything that is physically much closer behind them. Their attention is focused on what seems to be the gear with which they are preparing to go fish.


Furthermore, the way in which the waves on the sea are recognizably shadowed and defined evokes a darker and more complicated emotion. This shadowing, along with the melancholy, gray hue of the water, works to create this emotion in the viewer. The framing of the photo is yet another aspect that instills in the viewer a “negative” emotion. The photo is framed just perfectly so that the sea looks endless from all angles apart from the shoreline in the foreground. The emotion developed here is one of loneliness and even of insignificance. This vast, open-looking sea, along with the utilization of more somber colors and the unusual function of vectors of attention all come together to express to us as the viewers what I believe Twagira as the photographer and collector of the text wanted to convey to us through his photo. The two men are not very happy being out on the open sea, but fishing is a source of important nutrition so they must work together to get done what they need to get done.