What’s Everyone Looking At?
You may have noticed a trend in photographs — particularly pictures seen here on Medium.
A person in the foreground (not facing the camera, but away from it) is looking outward over a wide expanse of landscape or seascape. These photos tend to be featured on stories about life (hacking, lessons, tips or otherwise), self-help, self-improvement, love, writing or inspiration.
Big open skies usually factor into these shots of this person…doing what?:
Pondering life? Pondering death? Considering death? Considering this location for a shot in their movie? Remembering a movie? Watching an animal? Looking for an animal? Looking for their friend’s house?
Unsplash is loved by many writers on Medium and it was an email for their curated collection (#100) that actually sparked the idea for this story. Punch in “person” into the site’s search engine and you are bound to hit upon one of these every 4–5 pictures. (See this companion collection for a more visual idea of this phenomenon.)
The composition of the person in the foreground is reminiscent of the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina’s World: (which was inspired by the artist witnessing a woman — whose lower body was paralyzed by polio—crawling across a field)
“This type of pose is actually relatively modern,” said Samantha Simpson, an art lover and gallery worker completing her Masters in Art History. Simpson specializes in 13th-16th century European paintings and noted these poses rarely, if ever, happened during that period. “Figures were never facing completely away from the viewer in this manner. At most, they would be in profile.” She believes the pose “could evoke feelings of isolation” and may suggest a disconnect with the viewer and perhaps the world in general.
“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.”
— Rene Magritte
The artist Rene Magritte (1898–1967) has a few works that feature image of a man wearing a bowler hat — often his face is hidden. Magritte also covered or visually obstructed faces in a number of other paintings. Legend has it, the artist witnessed the body of his mother pulled from a river where she drowned herself. Her dress covered her face as she was retrieved.
Many of the photographers in the featured collection above hadn’t put much thought into the meaning behind snapping their subjects from behind. Some suggested they were “catching the moment” or “a nice scene.” Photo team Danka Bobulska and Peter Seman noted they were “trying to capture man in nature and share beautiful places with other people… to inspire them to go outdoors.”
One of the visual artists, however, had a deeper interpretation. Luke Pamer proposed that a faceless subject allows the viewer to identify with the person in the photo. “It’s a way to put ourselves into the shoes of that subject and put our own thoughts into their head.”
♡ Liked this? Check out Ernio’s previous photo features:
