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The photograph “Atlanta, police car window” was taken in 1963 by a famous American New Journalism photographer, writer, and filmmaker, Danny Lyon, and was exhibited at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The medium that was used is Gelatin Silver print, and the dimensions are 13 in x 8 3/4 in; mat: 20 in x 16 in; paper: 14 in x 11 in. The picture shows a police car with a group of arrested blacks inside it (Lyon, 1963). This photo is a great example of the New Journalism movement, it is expressive and has many things to say.
Danny Lyon was born in Brooklyn in 1942 and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in Arts. During his university years, Danny Lyon became engaged in the Civil Rights Movement. He started to make photographs in the New Journalism style, which implies the author’s participation in the developments he is trying to record. Since 1963, Lyon, while being a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, managed to witness and document with his camera a great part of historical events related to the Civil Rights Movement. Along with his photographic work, Danny Lyon is also known as a writer and a filmmaker. Similar to his photographs, Lyon’s books and films cover acute social topics. Danny Lyon got several important awards, including fellowships, the Missouri Honor Medal, and the Lucie Awards for his outstanding work in the field of art.
I selected this photograph because it is very relevant nowadays and resonates very much with today’s society. The photo perfectly reflects the zeitgeist of the 1960s with the uprising of the civil rights movement and the government’s violent reaction against it. Unfortunately, this agenda is still topical today because the police violence against African Americans still exists and people still go to jail and are murdered because of bias. This picture affects me very much because I am African American and can fully understand the message of the picture.
Speaking about the aesthetical values of the picture, I can say it is very evocative and meaningful. It has a very strong symbolist dimension, which makes it deep and thought-provoking. We can see a group of arrested people who are being kept in the police car. Most of the faces are blurred and cannot be recognized. However, there is one face that can be seen clearly and which is located near the center of the picture. It is a face of a young African-American, between 18-19 years old. She keeps her hands on the bars and is screaming something.
The first association that comes to my head after seeing this screaming face is the famous Munch’s expressionist masterpiece “The Scream”. In both of these pictures, we see a great disenchantment with the existing reality that is cruel and repressing to the people. However, if “The Scream” has a philosophical and relevant meaning primarily, “Atlanta, police car window” goes into social and political problems of the current society. Another great symbolist moment in this photograph is a padlock on the top of the door. It says a lot about the situation that all African Americans find themselves in. The answer to the question of who is to blame can be found at the bottom of the image: a large inscription in white letters that reads “Police.”
To conclude, Danny Lyon’s “Atlanta, police car window” is a great example of good photography with a deeper message in it. It is thought-provoking, symbolic, and conveys the spirit of the time. It was shot in 1963, but all the events shown in the picture are still topical today. African Americans still have to struggle and protest in order to protect their rights, freedoms, and lives.
Reference
Lyon, D. (1963). “Atlanta, police car window”. [Photograph]. Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, United States. Web.
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