>>3342041I literally just did. They say nothing. They evoke nothing. They show nothing. They reveal nothing. What little is seen in one appears accidental when compared to the rest.
A man feeds pigeons center frame, in shallow focus. His face is plain and unremarkable, as is his expression. It is in ordinary moment. No real relationship is established between him and the birds, or the woman behind him. It is a man feeding birds.
A man, center frame, looks into the distance. What is he looking at? No one else seems to notice or care. Is he pensive, does he long for something? Is he bored? We see nothing of his situation, or the situation around him. He is a stranger, alone in his thoughts. There is nothing to see.
Two women walk towards the frame. To us, they are dressed strangely, but what they wear is ordinary to them. We have little sense of their relationship. Perhaps it is a daughter walking with her mother. Their surrounding is out of focus. There is no movement. They seem slightly concerned at having their photo taken, but in all accounts are ordinary, as is the light.
A black man rides a horse down the street. The tracks of a trolley take up one third, the pavement, another, and the horse the middle. It would appear the horse is going slowly. Unusual, particularly to us now, but not extraordinary by any means. Nothing else is in the frame, so we have little to consider.
A man is crumpled on the sidewalk, center frame. In one sense, it is vaguely remeniscient of Weston's body shapes, but lacks the aesthetic quality. Without his face, he is a stranger. He stands in for some broader sense of suffering. But we are given nothing in particular. He could just be hiding from the camera. His largeness in the frame grants intimacy, and yet his manner denies it. There is no horror, no clear shame, no feeling.
