Tina Barney

The son

Tina Barney
This photograph titled The Son was part of a set of photographs titled A theater of manners. Tina Barney was born into a wealthy family in the USA. She usually used friends and family as her subjects for her photographs. Around the time of the photograph being shot there was an elite class of boarding schools which were very appealing to the upper class. The Diane Arbus of the rich

Represented/Communicated
What we see in this photograph seems to be some sort of a confrontation between ambitious parents and the son. There seems to be a certain amount of distress shown by the young boy. We think that maybe the son is not reaching the parents expectations. Maybe they wanted to son to attend a boarding school but did not want this? We think that photograph has some significance in the background. Maybe the father is pointing to the photograph and explaining that this was him when he was a boy, and maybe his parents sent him to a boarding school which then lead him on to be this wealthy father.

Portray
The eldest is the biggest in the photograph showing that he is the man of the house and possibly has an example to set for his son. The camera is eye level with the boy focusing more on the distress and the problems that he has.

Meaning (Narrative)
We think that the meaning behind this photograph has something to do with the whole confrontation between the father and son. We think that there is an ongoing argument going on possibly to do with the boarding school situation that we previously mentioned. Wealthy families were concerned with representation of themselves and their social roles within society, so the elder could possibly be telling this to the younger: maybe his behavior not reaching expectations of the class

Our reaction
The reaction that we all received from viewing this photograph was curiosity. We all felt that when we saw the image, it made us even more curious as to what is going on and what the meaning really is.

Visual choices
She often used friends and family as her sitters, so these people could be close to her in the sense that she was born into a wealthy family and these people are obviously wealthy. Lavishly decorated backdrops often used in her work, we can see this one is slightly more subtle They had agreements to where it was shot, the clothes they wore, what time it was shot, however it was completely up to the sitters where they sat and how they posed. (Often came naturally) direction she uses in her photography ranges from posing her subjects amidst their elaborately ornate living environment to requesting that her subjects repeat a certain unplanned gesture Barneys photography, with its mundane subject matter and stiffly posed subjects, recalls works of 19th century portraiture in which every detail included alludes to the social status of the individual being portrayed. The older male has his hands in pockets which could show he has some authority over the household/child. The woman appears to be gazing away which could mean she is not quite focusing on the pressing matter, which could then also lead to situation not being as important as originally thought. Analyses social and family dynamics