The depicted white people in the poster tend to be in a position of power over the black people lined up not only because they are above them but also because they are larger in size. Essentially, the poster is a picture-within-a-picture. It is a characteristic of this pictorial device that it heightens the realism of the line-up below; hence, the illusion of the photograph is strengthened by the poster within it. Is this a correct view of life in the 1930's or even now? Or is it merely a perspective of us, the viewing audience, or perhaps those in the line-up tasting the irony of the juxtaposition? Conversely, the encompassing photograph heightens the artificiality of the poster; the billboard is not real in the same way the soup line-up of men, women and children certainly are. The contrast between the billboard's artificiality and the photograph's realism is also a consequence of the types and facial expressions of the people represented: the whites are idealised stereotypes, whereas the blacks are all unique human beings whose response to their predicament, and to the presence of the camerawoman, varies enormously. They are individuals; but they may also be seen as a disadvantaged people with a long, sad heritage of exploitation and abuse by the whites who have been put in a position (again hierarchy of placement) over them.
The depicted white people in the poster tend to be in a position of power over the black people lined up not only because they are above them but also because they are larger in size. Essentially, the poster is a picture-within-a-picture. It is a characteristic of this pictorial device that it heightens the realism of the line-up below; hence, the illusion of the photograph is strengthened by the poster within it. Is this a correct view of life in the 1930's or even now? Or is it merely a perspective of us, the viewing audience, or perhaps those in the line-up tasting the irony of the juxtaposition? Conversely, the encompassing photograph heightens the artificiality of the poster; the billboard is not real in the same way the soup line-up of men, women and children certainly are. The contrast between the billboard's artificiality and the photograph's realism is also a consequence of the types and facial expressions of the people represented: the whites are idealised stereotypes, whereas the blacks are all unique human beings whose response to their predicament, and to the presence of the camerawoman, varies enormously. They are individuals; but they may also be seen as a disadvantaged people with a long, sad heritage of exploitation and abuse by the whites who have been put in a position (again hierarchy of placement) over them.
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