Amid the works present in the Des Moines Art Center one may pass through a room of black and white prints and sketches seemingly less appealing to visiting Iowans compared to the bright colored and quirky modern art section, the presentation consisting of the roaring sound of a deep water resurrection , and the country landscapes and Great Depression scenes in the exhibit: "After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism, and the Midwest". Though appeal may draw viewers to specific paintings and works of art I argue that the viewers ability to relate to the art allows the artist to transfer their perception of reality.
"Different Realities", the “less appealing” exhibit that I mentioned earlier, presents similar works by artists from America and Europe allowing the viewer to decide if the world really is or is not as the artist sees it. For example in this exhibit, Edward Hopper developed prints that depict cityscapes overcast with shadows and scenes of solitude. On the other hand, European artists created prints that execute a liveliness to the city with outside cafes and social gatherings. Different Realities", serves a main point Sontag makes about how photographs construct a particular way of looking at something by promoting a skewed sense of reality. She says photographs, “fiddle with the scale of the world, themselves get reduced, blown up, cropped, retouched, doctored tricked out." The prints in this front room are manipulated to present the world as the artist sees it or how they position themselves in different scenes of society.
One particular print that stood out to me was Prentiss Taylor’s Macedonia A.M.E. (1934).This print, hanging in an Iowa art museum, displays a view that few from this homogenously white, rural state can relate to. Because of the viewers inability to relate to the work they may trust the perception of the artist. How many Iowans have attended an all black Pentecostal church service? Probably not many, especially since the overall Christian church attendance averages around 27% among citizens of Iowa(www.TheAmericanChurch.Org) For an avid, holy spirit filled, church goer this event may represent a spiritual experience, but for those who do not have this background they may trust the framing and layout of the image for truth of the events occurring inside this type of church. Taylor’s persuasion of his perceived reality rests in the framing of the print, but even then the final interpretation of the message conveyed through the print is left for the viewer to decide.
Therefore, the images in Taylor’s print, which consists of raising hands and flopping all over the place may appear to crazy because to many Iowans it is unlike any church experience that they have ever encountered. Furthermore, a divide between those fervently worshiping presents itself to the viewer through Taylor's lens of the scene. The framing of the columns creates more distance between the viewer and those involved in the service. What is Taylor doing at the time of this print? His lack of participation in the service and angle that he takes in this room creates distance. Because of this, we, like Taylor, are outsiders peering in to this moment in time. This fits Sontag’s understanding of how photos promote a skewed sense of reality.
Pictures from the "After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism, and the Midwest" exhibit portray the world in a way that Iowans can relate to. Many involve scenes of destitution, sadness, and despair which many Iowans can relate to in these difficult economic times and a season of natural disasters that have left many Iowans homeless. The farm scenes from this exhibit only invigorate the senses by promoting images that the Iowans typically can relate to. Sontag states that photos are “touched with pathos,” but I would add that the emotion released reaches its ultimate effect when the viewer can somehow relate to the image presented to them. Reality is what we want it to be but that sometimes depends on our ability to relate to the subject.
