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The True Meaning Of Pictures And Dark Days Analysis

Decent Essays

Poverty is something that we cannot ignore. Shelby Adams once said that we must look into the dark so that we may improve. It is important to let the world know the other side of the story specifically how impoverished people live. This is precisely what both Marc Singer and Jennifer Bachwal do in The True Meaning of Pictures and Dark Days. Both of these films are very different but similar at the same time.

In Jennifer Baichwal’s The True Meaning of Picture, she focused on the subject of American photographer Shelby Lee Adams’ works. Adams’ pieces emphasize the culture people in poverty from the Appalachian Mountains. Baichwal also spends some time focusing on the controversy of the photographer’s images. The documentary shows direct quotes from Adams himself, the subjects of his pictures, the subjects’ family, and even art critiques. The film collides the views of all these people so that we may learn more about the Appalachian people. Throughout the course of the documentary, the …show more content…

Singer also uses many rhetorical devices to make the viewer feel for these people. The documentary is black and white, which I feel adds to the effect. Different from Baichwal’s documentary, when talking to the people they are not pulled aside and filmed, rather they are in the same place they would be if the film crew wasn’t there. There aren’t any special camera angle or anything; they are simply filmed. The only people in this documentary are the film crew and the ‘tunnel dwellers’. Throughout the course of the documentary, the viewer feels attached to these people. When they score a victory, the audience also feels that sense of accomplishment. This is powerful and done through learning about these people’s stories and history. The documentary makes the viewer realize that they too are people like you and

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