# B&W photo of scene at home wake - child in foreground **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625 "2010-04-28T14:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/1 "2010-04-28T14:51:07Z")
Trying to find a photograph of a scene at a home wake in the rural south in the late 70’s early 80’s. The image might be associated with an update to James Agee’s and Walker Evan’s _Let Us Now Praise Famous Men_ (I don’t think it’s part of _And Their Children After Them_) - descendants of the subjects of Evan’s pictures, maybe, or current residents of Hale County, Alabama. I think I might have the seen the photo most recently in _Fortune_. Or I might just be looney. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/2 "2010-04-28T16:13:43Z")
Is it [this picture](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Capturing-Appalachias-Mountain-People.html)? ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/3 "2010-04-28T17:04:08Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Is it [this picture](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Capturing-Appalachias-Mountain-People.html)? It is indeed. You rock. I referenced the wrong photographer, the wrong time frame, the wrong state and the wrong magazine I had seen it in and you still got it. Gotta love this place. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/4 "2010-04-28T17:12:48Z")
That piece is beautiful and haunting. The kid by the casket creeps me out, but in a beautiful, poignant way. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/5 "2010-04-28T17:12:58Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > It is indeed. You rock. I referenced the wrong photographer, the wrong time frame, the wrong state and the wrong magazine I had seen it in and you still got it. Gotta love this place. 😃 I almost didn’t post it because it was so wrong, but the picture was so poignant that I remembered it clearly, and figured even if it wasn’t the exact pic you were looking for it might fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/6 "2010-04-28T17:23:02Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > That piece is beautiful and haunting. The kid by the casket creeps me out, but in a beautiful, poignant way. The image is irresistable. I guess I just associate it with the same mood of many Walker Evans photos that I just got confused. In trying to find the photograph online, I ran across a Fortune article from the late ninetiess about _Let Us Now Praise Famous Men_ and I was completely thrown off track. Thing is, I was sure the funeral/wake was for a grandmother and that the family had given her a typical southern appellation - mee maw, maw maw, somesuch. Turns out it was mamaw (I’m guessing first “a” is pronounced like the “a” in “man” and the second vowel sound is like “maul”) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/7 "2010-04-28T17:39:57Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > Turns out it was mamaw (I’m guessing first “a” is pronounced like the “a” in “man” and the second vowel sound is like “maul”) That’s the way we did it in our family. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/8 "2010-04-28T21:17:31Z")
May I ask what you folks find interesting about this photo? I mean, it’s black and white, which makes most any image look more striking and serious–but what else? ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/9 "2010-04-28T21:57:10Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > May I ask what you folks find interesting about this photo? > > I mean, it’s black and white, which makes most any image look more striking and serious–but what else? I find myself drawn to the image, but I can’t really put my finger on why. There is the wall diving the castket and the baby. But that’s not quite it. It feels almost like voyeurism into this families life, but then they are looking at the camera with looks of such sadness. I don’t know why I like it, I just do. It’s like they were just living thier lives and the photographer walked in the door and they all looked to see who it was. It just feels real. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/10 "2010-04-28T23:23:55Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > May I ask what you folks find interesting about this photo? > > I mean, it’s black and white, which makes most any image look more striking and serious–but what else? It’s the emotion conveyed by the looks on the faces of the woman and two girls. The woman’s face shows a sort of resignation, maybe even shame and perhaps a bit of aggravation. She’s tired and sad. The girl in the foreground just looks curious. The girl by the casket, ‘nay-bug’, is solemn, proud and innocent. Then there is the “authenticity” of the photo - it doesn’t look costumed or staged. I was trying to recall this picture because I was having a discussion with a co-worker who collects photography about a photograph I purchased this weekend. We were discussing some of the photographer’s other work, which includes some very interesting images of rural poor folks. I told the co-worker that as moving as those images are, I just can’t bring myself to display a photo like that in my home. His collection focuses on images of celebrities (mainly musicians). I was trying to explain how that didn’t bother me one bit. It’s the quiet, intimate images that make me uneasy. I feel like a voyeur. But the attraction is undeniable. ETA: it’s so honest ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/11 "2010-04-28T23:41:52Z")
Okay. You’re right–it is real and honest. I do not see shame, or any reason for it. To me the most notable thing about it is the slightly odd visual-field effect of the wall. I guess I’m defensive about Southern rural folk who get patronized and insulted pretty regularly around SDMB. > [@whole\_bean](#): > > I just can’t bring myself to display a photo like that in my home. Like what? And why not? ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/12 "2010-04-28T23:47:43Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Okay. > > You’re right–it is real and honest. I do not see shame (or any reason for it). > > To me the most notable thing about it is the slightly odd visual-field effect of the wall. > > I guess I’m defensive about Southern rural folk who get patronized and insulted pretty regularly around SDMB. I write this as a southerner from a working class background (I won’t bore you with the specifics of my bona fides). When I see this picture, I can’t help but look for myself or someone I know in it. And yes, I see some shame. Not that she should feel shame, but she appears to , to me at least. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/13 "2010-04-28T23:52:35Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Like what? And why not? I feel like I don’t have the right to display their images. Celebrities have given their images away, but these people haven’t. I can look, but it just seems presumptious to display it in my home (as opposed to in an exhibition). It seems disrespectful and makes me uneasy. I am not saying it’s wonrg. This is a personal reaction and in a way speaks to the “real-ness” of the images. Don’t get me wrong, I display similar images of my family or friends. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/14 "2010-04-29T00:07:12Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > I feel like I don’t have the right to display their images. Celebrities have given their images away, but these people haven’t. They haven’t? They didn’t give the photographer permission? (Not sure I’m following you.) I can’t really hold with displaying a photograph _anywhere_ without the subject’s permission. Some feel they should be able to take any picture anytime. > [@People taking my picture at work- would this annoy you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-taking-my-picture-at-work-would-this-annoy-you/537250/8): > > Your image doesn’t belong to you. You’re part of the world and anyone who sees you in it has the right to record that image, when you’re not in a place where you’d have a reasonable expectation of privacy. > > As a photographer it’s an issue that really annoys me in the other direction - I’ve seen some people doing things that would make amazing shots, and asked them if I could take their picture and been told _no_ (even though I had every legal right to do so). ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-w-photo-of-scene-at-home-wake-child-in-foreground/537625/15 "2010-04-29T00:14:59Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > They haven’t? They didn’t give the photographer permission? (Not sure I’m following you.) I can’t really hold with displaying a photograph _anywhere_ without the subject’s permission. > > Some feel they should be able to take any picture anytime. I am not talking about the legalities of displaying the images. I am talking about my personal feelings.