Unfortunately, the initial theme of this thread has been derailed. And, as the first responder to Michael’s post, the ‘language of photography’, I feel some responsibility to 1) try to get it back on a track hopefully headed for higher ground and 2) expand on the concept of Equivalence/ Transcendence as defined by Minor White. The best way to achieve both aims is by introducing an example.
The following site shows a B&W photograph by W. Eugene Smith, a now deceased LIFE (magazine) photographer.
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/sm...amata_full.htmlNow, WES would be the last guy on the face of this earth to declare himself a fine art photographer. He considered himself a hard working, dedicated photojournalist, an ordinary guy trying to make a living by telling stories by way of thematically related photographic images.
WES spent 1971-3 in the fishing village of Minamata, Japan where he documented the effects of mercury poisoning on its residents. This is probably the best know image from the resulting photo essay. On one level this picture is one in a documentary series revealing the tragic results of corporate wrong-doing. It cries out for social justice and demands an awakening of conscience. In some it may even arouse anger.
On closer look, and regardless of whether WES intended it or not, the image goes far beyond its photojournalistic style and social content. The mother’s gaze becomes the central theme and not the particular circumstances that brought her to the bath with her daughter. At the risk of seeming non-objective in an otherwise technically oriented forum, the essential theme of this picture is the profound unconditional regard radiating from mother to child. In the words of Paul Simon from the same LP that coincidentally brought us ‘Kodachrome’:
"Oh, my mama loves me.
She get down on her knees and hugs me.
She loves me like a rock.
She loves me like the rock of ages."
The radiant regard projected by mother gives infinite meaning and value to a seemingly barely human and wholly non-functioning being. Ryoko becomes the universal mother playing second fiddle possibly only to god in a solar symphony. Her gaze trumps social comment and breaths life into her damaged child. So, in the words of Minor White, Gene Smith in this image, has transcended his medium and subject matter to portray undying spirit.
This is one example of Equivalence or Transcendence. I could have picked an image by another photographer, famous or not, depictinging a natural landscape, nude or rusted truck. The important concept here is when you distill an image down what essence, if any, lives on beyond the paper it’s printed on? If an image is worth its salt, its afterlife supercedes its physical content. This is what I believe Minor White meant by Equivalence/ Transcedence.
Whether Gene Smith fully intended all of this doesn’t really matter. (In fact, his sole intention for setting up this bath scene complete with flash fill was to reveal the physical and mental devastation resulting from mercury poisoning. But what he accomplished went far beyond his initial aim and hence the huge international response to this image.) What is important is when one is consciously persistent for long enough one can achieve personal milestones and leap plateaus. This level of competence is not only a matter of will but grace.
