Looking At Photographs - Garry Winogrand's Untitled

Garry Winogrand

Untitled (1962)

The photograph that captured my eye, almost right away, was Garry Winogrand's Untitled.  As Szarkowski says, Windgrand's picture is "so rich in fact and suggestion."  Photographs sometimes tell a story to it's viewers.  In this photograph, however, the viewer isn't exactly sure what "the story is".  Unlike "conventional" portraits, the subjects (the couple) are not in the middle of the frame, however, the viewer's eyes are still directed to them based on how Windgrand has positioned the couple in comparison of the first fence, directly behind them.  The couple is looking at each other, not directly into the camera, it's as if he was trying to capture/suggest an intimate moment between the two, in what looks like a day at the zoo.  The vertical lines of the cage draw away the viewer's attention, again, allowing all the attention to be drawn onto the couple.  The little objects that are seen in the background are not really in focus, even though the animal is white, and stands out against the gray shadowy background, his gaze seems to be focused on the couple as well.