Kara's Studium/Punctum Assignment
For this assignment, I decided to call upon William Eggleston, as I felt like he always had a pretty clear studium (he was the guy who always shot the "Anywheresville, USA"-type shots, so it kind of went along with my Americana trend). This photo shows up in several locations, but I found it here. The studium for this photo is quintessential American diner scene, and for me, the punctum was the row of pins in the woman's hair. Although potentially a very obvious point of punctum, what came to mind later on for me was the sense of eerie, attempted perfection with these pins, but the fact that the pins were not entirely straight nor perfect. This, in turn, seemed somewhat symbolic of the idea of the "American dream", and took on a whole new meaning.
I agree with your idea of the punctum and would personally take it even farther with the misalignment of her pearl necklace and the zipper of her dress. It also seems uncomfortable that her head is straight on to the camera and her back seems slightly turned.
ReplyDelete-Meghan
I agree as well with the punctum - and I do think the pearls and the slight opening at the top of her dress really draw us into the photograph. Interesting how they draw the eye through the frame.
ReplyDeletesaw