Humorous manipulations of photos are not new to us. Instagram and Snapchat users have the option to choose from a variety of filters and other forms of photo distortion. Not to mention, there are editing apps for smartphones such as the Huji app which lets you add an 80’s filter to any photo you take. However, using funny backdrops or unique filters is not as modern as we may think. Students in the Art History course Perspectives on Photography, taught and co-taught by Professor Christopher B. Steiner and Professor Karen Gonzalez Rice respectively, recently curated an exhibit outside the Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives called “Humor and Illusion in the History of Photography.” This display showcases 28 photos from Professor Steiner’s overwhelming 7,000 photo collection. Students in the class categorized the photos into four categories: text and image, the representation of social status, the manipulation of identity and reality, and the social construction of gender.
One requirement of the course was to curate an exhibition of photography. Thus, Professor Steiner uploaded 2,000 photos from his photography collection to an online portfolio so students would be able to download photos which they would like to curate. Then students chose a theme: humor. The class then chose four additional themes to divide between the four groups. Each student chose their own photo to analyze and connect to the themes and after collaborating with each other, created a supplementary text to the photographs. I felt that the subcategories within the overall display were helpful towards understanding the meaning behind the photographs, but I was confused at how certain photographs related to the overarching theme of humor. But then again, humor is subjective and there are different forms of “funny.” Professor Steiner explained that these themes were loose and overlapped. One of the questions the students struggled with was “does humor travel across time?” Jake Goldberg ‘21, thinks “that anyone can derive their own reason for something to be funny, and the less complicated that the photo is, the easier I think it is to derive your own meaning.”
The “Text and Image” category highlights “the use of text as a vehicle for humor,” according to the plaque in the display case. The images employ technical tricks, perspective, and comical foregrounds to create humor. Goldberg was part of this group and he explained that sometimes an image was humorous because of how outdated it was, while other times it was only funny during the time it was taken. Goldberg’s photo was a a black and white photo of two young boys: one boy is in the foreground, kneeling down on one knee with his hand out so that the boy in the background looks like he is standing on top of the other boy’s hand. The photographer uses forced perspective, which creates an illusion that the subject appears closer or farther away from the viewer, to achieve the composition. On the bottom of the photograph, taken in February 1959, is the astutely written? phrase “smallest kid” in blue ink.
I also gravitated towards the postcard labeled “Basket of Peaches” from the Cornell Studio in Detroit, Michigan from 1910, depicting five men wearing suits and top hats, all snuggled in a “woven basket” that is clearly made out of cardboard. Here, text interacts with image again to clarify what is supposed to be funny. However, I laughed due to the connotations of “peaches,” a slang term often used to refer to the curves of a woman or as a term of endearment. Thus, it is ironic that men, rather than women, are sitting in this basket. Professor Steiner stated in an interview that if the text of “peaches” was not included in the image, it probably would not have been as funny — and I have to agree.
By the end of the 19th century, photography had blossomed into a new art form for portraits, which was previously only accessible to the elite. Photography allowed you to “ride a rocket in the jet age without leaving a photo studio in China,” as is portrayed in a 1960s photograph from China in the section about the manipulation of identity and reality. This particular photo actually made me laugh out loud and for that reason was one of my favorite photos from the collection. The photo depicts a small, Chinese baby smiling with puffy cheeks as he rides a rocket through the clouds with a moon in the background. I could hear the joyous laughter of the baby through the photo’s composition. In the upper lefthand corner, there are Chinese characters, although no translation is provided.
A similar theme of breaking down privilege within photography is seen in the category of photographs related to the social construction of gender. According to the plaque in the display case, “each photography in this [section] serves to entertain by either revealing or subverting gender stereotypes.” Although these photos originate from the 20th century, the issues which they address are still present in today’s society. A 1920s postcard depicts ten women dressed in formal attire with one woman in the front holding a sign which states “help wanted.” A 1910 postcard is also relevant to mention as it depicts a young boy “holding up” a 5,000 pound weight. The plaque explains that this photo imposes a gender stereotype of strength for young men. Often, women are the focus for unhealthy habits when it comes to working out and eating, but men can also be susceptable to these fixations.
Ginger Miller ‘21, another student in the class, was part of the group which focused on social class and social identity. Miller’s group went through the general collection of the photos and looked for themes to focus on, specifically wilderness, transportation, travel, and vacation. Miller focused on transportation and how this theme “would emit social class and identity.” She ended up picking a 1920 photograph from Germany depicting nine individuals, both men and women, on a blimp. Fifteen years after this photo was taken, the Hindenburg blimp exploded resulting in 36 casualties. The clothes, specifically the big feather hats, which the individuals were wearing showcased their social class. Miller felt her photo was particularly funny due to the poses the men and women were making in the photograph: the men expressed funny poses, while the women appeared more serious.
The last category was on the manipulation of identity and reality. These photos employ “tropes of eroticism, religion, warfare, technology, power dynamics, and morbidity” to “offer both social commentary and visual humor,” according to the exhibit plaque. I will admit that these photos were the most difficult to engage with as their meaning was more abstract. However, the photo of a man at the Kek, Lok Si Temple at Air Itm, Penang, Malaysia from the 1970s touched upon the theme of religion in society. The photo depicts a man who has his hands together in prayer, but he has been transposed onto the postcard of the temple so that he is as large as the structure; thus, “he becomes as important as his religion” as the plaque explains.
Photos courtesy of Sophia Angele-Kuehn
When photography was originally introduced as a new medium in the art world, it was not as respected compared to other forms such as painting or sculpture. I am not sure where this stigma originated, but I hope artists recognize the technical skill and creativity needed to capture a single moment in human interaction that only a photograph can succeed in accomplishing. A photograph has the unique ability to capture the moment when our lips curl into a smile before laughter even escapes our mouths, as may happen to you if you view this exhibit. •
