WP1 Statement of Purpose: A Simpler Place, Not a Simpler Time

Go here, go there. Do this, do that. Watch out, hurry up. Computers, networking, future, investments, economics, goals and dreams. We live in, undoubtedly, an extremely difficult world to grasp, understand and excel within. So many things rush past us without a second to take a gander. Globally significant events can occur and be the talk of everyone's dinner table conversation one night, but forgotten completely a week later. The phrase is heard often of a "simpler place and a simpler time. Yet as simple as it may seem to us, it is quite possible the times were just as harried, just on a smaller scale.

Who would argue with a person proclaiming World War II to be an incredible worldwide event? Obviously with its complete historical significance and brutality, World War II will stand for centuries as one of the greatest wars in mankind’s history. The war spread over several continents and millions of people were killed, so it’s safe to say the war had an impact and likely changed every human’s life at the time and since. Strangely enough, there were still places in the world where, even in some of the worst days of the war, pictures like the one below could be taken that show none of the mass murdering, brutality, killing or even hardship.


In fact, photos like this can purely describe a “simpler place, in a not so simple time.” Surely folks that lived in this rural area in upper New York were concerned for the welfare of their country as much as anyone else, though they may not have felt any imminent danger in the midst of their country lifestyle. There are many questions left unanswered as well. The owners of this farm may have had a child that was debating whether to enlist in the military or work in the family business. The father and his family may be trying to figure out how to survive on their rationed meals. Yet as terrible as all of this sounds, there may have been no issues at all. The family may be too far away from any civilization and hardly be able to follow the war except for weekly or monthly trips into town.

It would have been easy to say a picture like the one below was taken in the midst of great turmoil and catastrophic events.


With soldiers marching through the ruble-strewn streets of Italy wondering whether or not they’ll ever see their family, belongs or another game at Yankee Stadium ever again, surely it can be agreed their lives were much more distressed than that of the farmer. At the same time, does that in turn mean that the farmer’s life is not complicated? Most definitely, the comparison is a matter of perception. The farmer himself may say he has an easy life, and the soldier may imply he is simply doing his job, but in truth, American civilians often had quite the set of complexities thrown at them during the late 1930s and early ‘40s. Granted on a smaller and more intrinsic scale, the civilians faced food rations, lack of convenience they enjoyed before the war, increased pressure from the government in both propaganda and factory work to sustain a military, and in the case of the farmer, maybe not being able to cater to everything he needs for his farm because the materials may be being used for other things to benefit the war effort.

Finally, by understanding the farmer’s predicament as more than a similar type we see today, we can understand that the barn in the first picture may be seeing beautiful, serene landscape, but by standing during this time period, the best description is most definitely “a simpler place in a not so simple time.”

Blog Post 10: History of a Barn

Starting with a random barn located in the hills of a far off state from a time so long ago can make for a bit of difficulty in finding information about it. I decided to begin by the most obvious; a barn in the Catskill region of New York. The Catskills are proclaimed to be “America’s first wilderness” because it is regarded as the origin of the conservation movement. As described, only one of the six Catskill counties are comprised of rolling hills like that of my picture, so it would be a decent wager to say the picture was likely taken in Sullivan County. In fact, saying the picture is of the Catskill region seems to be a bit of a misrepresentation. A true Catskill depiction would look more like this:

The Catskills make up a 6000 square mile area of New York which is about the same size as the state of Connecticut. It also contains about 36 summits over 3,500 feet. Using this information of a mountainous, higher elevation and cold area, I wouldn’t have thought it would be very ideal for farming, which may be the reason why the barn looks so decrepit. Another possibility could be the farm’s use for cattle rather than crops, which would make more sense. Apart from that, it would seem difficult to cultivate on such a hilly, uneven ground. The way there are no indications of typical farm equipment, or crop rows, could also lead me to believe that the barn is a holding place for animals more than equipment.

The second part of the information I was given circled around the time period. The photograph was taken in 1943. Of course, during that same time period, the United States and the rest of the world were in the heat of World War II. Possibly the most interesting part of my chosen photo is how the picture looks so serene and quiet in a time of such international turmoil and onslaught. Also, the Catskill Mountains were an area for World War II pilot training. Possibly, since the area where this picture is taken is one of the flattest and least mountainous in the area, it could be near where the airstrip was for the trainers to take off and land from. This could also be a possibility as to why the barn looks run down. With planes doing missions constantly in the area, it would be difficult to keep a herd of cattle under control. The rancher may have decided to move on since his cattle were not in a suitable environment, but at the same time, it’s tough to imagine the barn would have fallen to such disorder. Though there aren’t any signs of life in the picture as it is cropped here, but notice the grass still seems quite well kept.

Though the photograph leaves many questions unanswered while asking still more, having a background and a deeper realization of the meaning of the picture will surely help develop a clear purpose behind the the simple barn, hills and sky as random objects.

Works Cited
Bennett, Aaron. "The Catskill Mountain Region." 2005. The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. 1 Oct. 2009 .

Jordan, Jennifer. "The Catskill Park: As Unique as They Come." Unknown date. Catskill Farms. 1 Oct. 2009 .

Blog Post 9: Arrangement of the Vectors

Through further analysis of my chosen picture of a barn overlooking a valley in upstate New York, I found out more interesting points. Starting with arrangement, I noticed a few very key items. For instance, the point of the roof line on the visible side of the barn is nearly perfectly centered in within the photo. This also falls under cropping, but I believe this is a key focal point of what the audience is meant to see. Though the roof itself is not a very bright, lit up object within the picture, if it is framed by itself, it can be viewed as a main dividing line between the barn on the ridge and the massive expanse of the valley below. Again, with arrangement, the silo below the point of the roof line is also directly aligned with the photo’s center. It may seem slightly off because of the shadowing on the left side, but it is unmistakably also meant to be a visual focus. The centering of an object within the photo is important to draw the viewers gaze into the picture. By seeing the roof point and silo, the audience will quickly fall to one side or the other and either take in the barn or the abyss in the background. For instance, in the photo below, the photographer did a similar thing, also in the New York Catskills:

The photographer took a picture of a small manufactured home and put it to one side. Notice that the center of the picture is also right where the hill begins to slant downward. The viewer will either look at the main object of the picture, or fall off to the right side with the hill.

While obviously there are no people present in the picture, there are still vectors of attention displayed by other means. One point would be the open barn door entrance that makes the audience look off toward the right hand side of the picture, especially as the picture has been cut off to leave the viewer wondering what else is out of sight. Another could be the roof point itself. If imagined the silo and roof crest put together, it looks remarkably like an arrow pointing upwards toward the pristine blue sky. The ground sloping downward into the distance also brings one’s gaze down the side of the hill if the frame is on the ground only.

Using all of these logical examples, it shouldn’t be too difficult to see a pathos type result come to fruition. With the open feeling of a wide country farm and the bright blue sky with ample lighting to see most everything in the photo, the picture could quite possibly have some very deep meanings. One such possibility could be that of religion, noting the “arrow” pointing toward the sky. Another could be one of industrial and developed versus open and untamed by the way the photo is split nearly in half with one side being the barn and the other being a wide open country scene. Either way, the picture is most definitely more than what meets the eye at first glance.