Courtney Moreland

TMA 112

1/15/17

Some may call it weird.  Others may describe it as disturbing.  Some may scratch their heads and wonder what in the world the artist was trying to tell us.  Alex Stoddard’s photograph is an untitled picture of a little girl, a tall man, and smoke in the distance.  This picture--and specifically the collection it comes from--very accurately embodies the mood of not only his particular style of photography, but of an entire artistic genre.  I have noticed in recent years, especially since the ever-increasing influence of social media, an influx of very young online photographers experimenting with storytelling through the lens of a camera.  While some up-and-coming photographers capture landscapes, smiling pictures of friends and family, or nature’s beauty, others stand out as being astoundingly creative with a seemingly natural talent for conveying a story through powerful symbols.  Alex Stoddard is one of these young prodigies.  He taught himself the use of a camera and, at the age of 17, began a 365 project, a challenge to take and post a picture every day for a year.  It is young photographers like Stoddard who are using surrealism, dark themes, and symbols in order to complement their models (very often the photographers themselves) to bring their photographs to life.  This type of photography such as Stoddard’s “Girl and Smoke” portrait is much more effective in telling a story to inspire its audiences than more traditional pictures of landscapes or flowers or posed, smiling  people.

The way photography is presented can tell us much about where our culture trends in terms of what it is comfortable with.  Photography that earnestly tries to tell a story will often be accompanied by heavy themes and difficult content, presenting a harsh but true message about society and humanity.  Many times, it reveals something very personal about the artist.  Viewers in our society may see this and interpret it simply as weird or even disturbing.  For me, this is what makes photograph storytelling—or any storytelling, for that matter—moving and impactful.  One can see from this photograph how he improved to be able to tell a powerful story through his art.  Much of the time he uses himself as a model and, through body language, props, surrealistic post-processing, lighting, and color, hits the audience with an emotionally charged message.  This picture shows a little girl standing on a hill, prevented by a tall, suited man from seeing a tower of smoke billowing up in the distance.  This picture may have societal themes, such as showing the danger of the government trying to prevent us from knowing the truth in order to “protect” the people.  It may have more personal themes, expressing that we as humans are sometimes blinded by some unknown thing from seeing reality as it is.  Whatever the interpretation, it certainly tells a story much more than it would have had it simply been a picture of a grassy hill. 

While I can appreciate as art the type of photography that showcases a beautiful piece of scenery or landscape, these sorts of pictures seem more to me like the set of a story.  If you sat down in the audience of a theater and observed a beautifully designed set behind the curtain, you would probably be very impressed.  If, however, the curtain were to close in that instant and the audience began to file out of the theater, you would probably be left unsatisfied.  Where was the story? The actors? The conflict and resolution?  I feel similarly with photos that capture a majestic mountain range.  What a wonderful setting!  Where, however, is the story?  I could even go as far as to say that some photography that simply captures a smiling person with no other elements has achieved the same effect: there is a model—even a “main character,” if you will—but the viewer is left without a story.  Of course, this type of picture-taking has its place in our world.  Travel catalogs, family memories, and advertisements are just a few examples of places where we might appropriately see landscapes and portraits such as these.  However, in order for the viewer to actually take something away—some impactful, insightful, and emotional tidbit that they can use in their lives and in society—a story needs to be presented.  A story like Alex Stoddard’s in this photograph wondering about their role in society.  Are they the girl, blinded by a lack of knowledge or even an unwillingness to accept problems in personal life and in society?  Are they the tall dark man, attempting to hide the truth for fear of mass panic, disappointment, or anger?  It leaves the audience with a new insight.  Though the landscape, the models, the costumes, and other elements contribute to the power of the story being told here, it's all of these elements of this picture combined that impress a theme upon the audience's mind, one that may leave us hungry for more stories that will reveal even more about our society, our humanity, and ourselves.